1 SAMUEL 1:1-2:21
JOHN 5:1-23
PSALM 105:37-45
PROVERBS 14:28-29
1 SAMUEL 1:1-2:21
There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham and grandson of Elihu, from the family of Tohu and the clan of Zuph. 2 Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, while Hannah did not. 3 Each year Elkanah and his family would travel to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at the Tabernacle. The priests of the LORD at that time were the two sons of Eli--Hophni and Phinehas. 4 On the day Elkanah presented his sacrifice, he would give portions of the sacrifice to Peninnah and each of her children. 5 But he gave Hannah a special portion because he loved her very much, even though the LORD had given her no children. 6 But Peninnah made fun of Hannah because the LORD had closed her womb. 7 Year after year it was the same--Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Hannah would finally be reduced to tears and would not even eat. 8 " What's the matter, Hannah?" Elkanah would ask. " Why aren't you eating? Why be so sad just because you have no children? You have me--isn't that better than having ten sons?" 9 Once when they were at Shiloh, Hannah went over to the Tabernacle after supper to pray to the LORD. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance. 10 Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD. 11 And she made this vow: " O LORD Almighty, if you will look down upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the LORD, his hair will never be cut." 12 As she was praying to the LORD, Eli watched her. 13 Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. 14 " Must you come here drunk?" he demanded. " Throw away your wine!" 15 " Oh no, sir!" she replied, " I'm not drunk! But I am very sad, and I was pouring out my heart to the LORD. 16 Please don't think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow." 17 " In that case," Eli said, " cheer up! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him." 18 " Oh, thank you, sir!" she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad. 19 The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the LORD once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the LORD remembered her request, 20 and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, " I asked the LORD for him." 21 The next year Elkanah, Peninnah, and their children went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the LORD. 22 But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, " Wait until the baby is weaned. Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the LORD permanently." 23 " Whatever you think is best," Elkanah agreed. " Stay here for now, and may the LORD help you keep your promise." So she stayed home and nursed the baby.24 When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and half a bushel of flour and some wine. 25 After sacrificing the bull, they took the child to Eli. 26 " Sir, do you remember me?" Hannah asked. " I am the woman who stood here several years ago praying to the LORD. 27 I asked the LORD to give me this child, and he has given me my request. 28 Now I am giving him to the LORD, and he will belong to the LORD his whole life." And they worshiped the LORD there. 2:1 THEN Hannah prayed: " My heart rejoices in the LORD! Oh, how the LORD has blessed me! Now I have an answer for my enemies, as I delight in your deliverance. 2 No one is holy like the LORD! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. 3 "Stop acting so proud and haughty! Don't speak with such arrogance! The LORD is a God who knows your deeds and he will judge you for what you have done. 4 Those who were mighty are mighty no more; and those who were weak are now strong. 5 Those who were well fed are now starving; and those who were starving are now full. The barren woman now has seven children, but the woman with many children will have no more. 6 The LORD brings both death and life; he brings some down to the grave but raises others up. 7 The LORD makes one poor and another rich; he brings one down and lifts another up. 8 He lifts the poor from the dust-- yes, from a pile of ashes! He treats them like princes, placing them in seats of honor." For all the earth is the LORD's, and he has set the world in order. 9 He will protect his godly ones, but the wicked will perish in darkness. No one will succeed by strength alone. 10 Those who fight against the LORD will be broken. He thunders against them from heaven; the LORD judges throughout the earth. He gives mighty strength to his king; he increases the might of his anointed one." 11 Then Elkanah and Hannah returned home to Ramah without Samuel. And the boy became the LORD's helper, for he assisted Eli the priest. 12 Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the LORD 13 or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli's sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling, 14 the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli's sons. All the Israelites who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way. 15 Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal's fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting. 16 The man offering the sacrifice might reply, " Take as much as you want, but the fat must first be burned." Then the servant would demand, " No, give it to me now, or I'll take it by force." 17 So the sin of these young men was very serious in the LORD's sight, for they treated the LORD's offerings with contempt. 18 Now Samuel, though only a boy, was the LORD's helper. He wore a linen tunic just like that of a priest. 19 Each year his mother made a small coat for him and brought it to him when she came with her husband for the sacrifice. 20 Before they returned home, Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, " May the LORD give you other children to take the place of this one she gave to the LORD." 21 And the LORD gave Hannah three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.
JOHN 5:1-23
Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. 2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people--blind, lame, or paralyzed--lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew how long he had been ill, he asked him, " Would you like to get well?" 7 " I can't, sir," the sick man said, " for I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get there, someone else always gets in ahead of me." 8 Jesus told him, " Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat, and walk!" 9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up the mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath day. 10 So the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, " You can't work on the Sabbath! It's illegal to carry that sleeping mat!" 11 He replied, " The man who healed me said to me, ` Pick up your sleeping mat and walk.' " 12 " Who said such a thing as that?" they demanded.13 The man didn't know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, " Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you." 15 Then the man went to find the Jewish leaders and told them it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17 But Jesus replied, " My Father never stops working, so why should I?" 18 So the Jewish leaders tried all the more to kill him. In addition to disobeying the Sabbath rules, he had spoken of God as his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.19 Jesus replied, " I assure you, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and tells him everything he is doing, and the Son will do far greater things than healing this man. You will be astonished at what he does. 21 He will even raise from the dead anyone he wants to, just as the Father does. 22 And the Father leaves all judgment to his Son, 23 so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. But if you refuse to honor the Son, then you are certainly not honoring the Father who sent him."
PSALM 105:37-45
But he [the LORD] brought his people safely out of Egypt, loaded with silver and gold;
there were no sick or feeble people among them.
38 Egypt was glad when they were gone,
for the dread of them was great.
39 The LORD spread out a cloud above them as a covering
and gave them a great fire to light the darkness.
40 They asked for meat, and he sent them quail;
he gave them manna--bread from heaven.
41 He opened up a rock, and water gushed out
to form a river through the dry and barren land.
42 For he remembered his sacred promise
to Abraham his servant.
43 So he brought his people out of Egypt with joy,
his chosen ones with rejoicing.
44 He gave his people the lands of pagan nations,
and they harvested crops that others had planted.
45 All this happened so they would follow his principles
and obey his laws.
Praise the LORD!
PROVERBS 14:28-29
A growing population is a king's glory; a dwindling nation is his doom. Those who control their anger have great understanding; those with a hasty temper will make mistakes.
