Through the Bible – Day 105

Bible text(s)

1 Samuel 1

The birth and early childhood of Samuel

Hannah asks the LORD for a child

1Elkanah lived in Ramah, a town in the hill country of Ephraim. His great-great-grandfather was Zuph, so Elkanah was a member of the Zuph clan of the Ephraim tribe. Elkanah's father was Jeroham, his grandfather was Elihu, and his great-grandfather was Tohu.

1 Samuel 2

1Hannah prayed:

You make me strong

and happy, LORD.

You rescued me.

Now I can be glad

and laugh at my enemies.

2No other god is like you.

We're safer with you

than on a high mountain.

3I can tell those proud people,

“Stop your boasting!

Nothing is hidden from the LORD,

and he judges what we do.”

4Our LORD, you break

the bows of warriors,

but you give strength

to everyone who stumbles.

5People who once

had plenty to eat

must now hire themselves out

for only a piece of bread.

But you give the hungry more

than enough to eat.

A woman did not have a child,

and you gave her seven,

but a woman who had many

was left with none.

6You take away life,

and you give life.

You send people down

to the world of the dead

and bring them back again.

7Our LORD, you are the one

who makes us rich or poor.

You put some in high positions

and bring disgrace on others.

8You lift the poor and homeless

out of the rubbish dump

and give them places of honour

in royal palaces.

You set the world on foundations,

and they belong to you.

9You protect your loyal people,

but everyone who is evil

will die in darkness.

We cannot win a victory

by our own strength.

10Our LORD, those who attack you

will be broken in pieces

when you fight back

with thunder from heaven.

You will judge the whole earth

and give power and strength

to your chosen king.

Samuel at the sacred tent

Samuel stays with Eli

11Elkanah and Hannah went back home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel stayed to help Eli serve the LORD.

Eli's sons

12-13Eli's sons were priests, but they were dishonest and refused to obey the LORD. So, while people were boiling the meat from their sacrifices, these priests would send over a servant with a large, three-pronged fork. 14The servant would stick the fork into the cooking pot, and whatever meat came out on the fork was taken back to the priests. That is how these two priests treated every Israelite who came to offer sacrifices in Shiloh. 15Sometimes, when people were offering sacrifices, the servant would come over, even before the fat had been cut off and sacrificed to the LORD.

Then the servant would tell them, “The priest doesn't want his meat boiled! Give him some raw meat that he can roast!”

16Usually the people answered, “Take what you want. But first, let us sacrifice the fat to the LORD.”

“No,” the servant would reply. “If you don't give it to me now, I'll take it by force.”

17Eli's sons did not show any respect for the sacrifices that the people offered. This was a terrible sin, and it made the LORD very angry.

Hannah visits Samuel

18The boy Samuel served the LORD and wore a special linen garment 19and the clothes his mother made for him. She would bring new clothes every year, when she and her husband came to offer sacrifices at Shiloh.

20Eli would always bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “Samuel was born in answer to your prayers. Now you have given him to the LORD. I pray that the LORD will bless you with more children to take his place.” After Eli had blessed them, Elkanah and Hannah would return home.

21The LORD was kind to Hannah, and she had three more sons and two daughters. But Samuel grew up at the LORD's house in Shiloh.

Eli warns his sons

22Eli was now very old, and he heard what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. 23-24“Why are you doing these awful things?” he asked them. “I've been hearing nothing but complaints about you from all the LORD's people. 25If you harm another person, God can help make things right between the two of you. But if you commit a crime against the LORD, no one can help you!”

But the LORD had already decided to kill them. So he kept them from listening to their father.

A prophet speaks to Eli

26Each day the LORD and his people liked Samuel more and more.

27One day a prophet came to Eli and gave him this message from the LORD:

When your ancestors were slaves of the king of Egypt, I came and showed them who I am. 28-29Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your family to be my priests. I wanted them to offer sacrifices and burn incense to me and to find out from me what I want my people to do. I commanded everyone to bring their sacrifices here where I live, and I allowed you and your family to keep those that were not offered to me on the altar.

But you honour your sons instead of me! You don't respect the sacrifices and offerings that are brought to me, and you've all got fat from eating the best parts.

30I am the LORD, the God of Israel. I promised to let your family serve me as priests for ever, but now I tell you that I cannot do this any longer! I honour anyone who honours me, but I put a curse on anyone who hates me. 31The time will come when I will kill you and everyone else in your family. Not one of you will live to an old age.

32Your family will have a lot of trouble. I will be kind to Israel, but everyone in your family will die young. 33If I let anyone from your family be a priest, his life will be full of sadness and sorrow. But most of the men in your family will die a violent death! 34To prove to you that I will do these things, your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will die on the same day.

35I have chosen someone else to be my priest, someone who will be faithful and obey me. I will always let his family serve as priests and help my chosen king. 36But if anyone is left from your family, he will come to my priest and beg for money or a little bread. He may even say to my priest, “Please let me be a priest, so I will at least have something to eat.”

1 Samuel 1:1CEVOpen in Bible reader

Luke 11

Being really blessed

27While Jesus was still talking, a woman in the crowd spoke up, “The woman who gave birth to you and nursed you is blessed!”

28Jesus replied, “That's true, but the people who are really blessed are the ones who hear and obey God's message!”

A sign from God

29As crowds were gathering around Jesus, he said:

You people of today are evil! You keep looking for a sign from God. But what happened to Jonah is the only sign you will be given. 30Just as Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh, the Son of Man will be a sign to the people of today. 31When the judgment comes, the Queen of the South will stand there with you and condemn you. She travelled a long way to hear Solomon's wisdom, and yet here is something far greater than Solomon. 32The people of Nineveh will also stand there with you and condemn you. They turned to God when Jonah preached, and yet here is something far greater than Jonah.

Jesus continued:

33No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a clay pot. A lamp is put on a lampstand, so that everyone who comes into the house can see the light. 34Your eyes are the lamp for your body. When your eyes are good, you have all the light you need. But when your eyes are bad, everything is dark. 35So be sure that your light isn't darkness. 36If you have light, and nothing is dark, then light will be everywhere, as when a lamp shines brightly on you.

Jesus condemns the Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses

37When Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him home for a meal. Jesus went and sat down to eat. 38The Pharisee was surprised that he did not wash his hands before eating. 39So the Lord said to him:

You Pharisees clean the outside of cups and dishes, but on the inside you are greedy and evil. 40You fools! Didn't God make both the outside and the inside? 41If you would only give what you have to the poor, everything you do would please God.

42You Pharisees are in for trouble! You give God a tenth of the spices from your gardens, such as mint and rue. But you cheat people, and you don't love God. You should be fair and kind to others and still give a tenth to God.

43You Pharisees are in for trouble! You love the front seats in the meeting places, and you like to be greeted with honour in the market. 44But you are in for trouble! You are like unmarked graves that people walk on without even knowing it.

45A teacher of the Law of Moses spoke up, “Teacher, you said cruel things about us.”

46Jesus replied:

You teachers are also in for trouble! You load people down with heavy burdens, but you won't lift a finger to help them carry the loads. 47Yes, you are really in for trouble. You build monuments to honour the prophets your own people murdered long ago. 48You must think that was the right thing for your people to do, or else you would not have built monuments for the prophets they murdered.

49Because of your evil deeds, the Wisdom of God said, “I will send prophets and apostles to you. But you will murder some and ill-treat others.” 50You people living today will be punished for all the prophets who have been murdered since the beginning of the world. 51This includes every prophet from the time of Abel to the time of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the temple. You people will certainly be punished for all this.

52You teachers of the Law of Moses are really in for trouble! You carry the keys to the door of knowledge about God. But you never go in, and you keep others from going in.

53Jesus was about to leave, but the teachers and the Pharisees wanted to get even with him. They tried to make him say what he thought about other things, 54so that they could catch him saying something wrong.

Luke 11:27-54CEVOpen in Bible reader
Canadian Bible Societyv.4.23.1
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