1 Samuel 1–3
1 Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim Zuphim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 And he had two wives; the name of one was Hannah and the name of the second was Peninnah. Now Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3 This man went up out of his city annually to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh. And there the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the Lord. 4 When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved Hannah, but the Lord had closed her womb. 6 Now her rival provoked her greatly, making her miserable because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 Thus it was yearly, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her. So Hannah wept and did not eat. 8 Then said Elkanah her husband to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? And why do you not eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
9 So Hannah arose after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a seat by the door of the tabernacle of the Lord. 10 And she was bitter, and prayed to the Lord, and wept severely. 11 So she made a vow and said, “O Lord of Hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant, and remember me and not forget Your maidservant, but will give to Your maidservant a baby boy, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”
12 And as she was praying before the Lord, Eli watched her mouth. 13 Now Hannah was speaking in her heart. Her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine from you.”
15 And Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrow. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not consider your handmaid to be a sinful woman, for out of the abundance of my concern and provocation I have spoken until now.”
17 Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant you your request that you have asked of Him.”
18 And she said, “Let your handmaid find grace in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was not sad as before.
19 They rose up in the morning early and worshipped before the Lord. And they returned and came to their house to Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. 20 And it came to pass that Hannah conceived and bore a son. And she called his name Samuel saying, “Because I have asked him of the Lord.”
21 Then the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord and live there forever.”
23 So Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may the Lord establish His word.” So the woman remained, and nursed her son until she weaned him.
24 When she had weaned him, she took him up with her with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine. And she brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, though the boy was young. 25 Then they slaughtered a bull, and they brought the boy to Eli. 26 And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman that stood by you here praying to the Lord. 27 For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. 28 Therefore also I have let the Lord have him. As long as he lives he will be dedicated to the Lord.” And he worshipped the Lord there.
Chapter 2
1 Hannah prayed, saying:
“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
my horn is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth is bold against my enemies,
because I rejoice in Your salvation.
2 “There is none holy as the Lord,
for there is none besides You,
and there is no rock like our God.
3 “Do not multiply proud speech,
nor let arrogance come out of your mouth,
for the Lord is the God of knowledge,
and by Him actions are examined.
4 “The bows of the mighty are broken,
but those who stumbled are girded with strength.
5 Those that were full have hired out themselves for bread,
and those that were hungry ceased to hunger.
Even the barren has borne seven,
and she that has many children wastes away.
6 “The Lord kills and makes alive;
He brings down to the grave and brings up.
7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
He brings low and lifts up.
8 He raises up the poor out of the dust
and lifts up the oppressed from the dunghill
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a throne of glory.
“For the pillars of the earth belong to the Lord,
and He has set the world upon them.
9 He will guard the feet of His saints,
but the wicked will be silent in darkness.
“For by strength shall no man prevail.
10 The adversaries of the Lord will be broken to pieces;
He will thunder against them out of heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to His king
and exalt the horn of His anointed.”
11 Then Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the boy ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.
12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt. They did not know the Lord. 13 The priest’s custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant came while the flesh was cooking with a three-pronged fork in his hand. 14 And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot, and all that the fork brought up the priest took for himself. This they did in Shiloh to all the children of Israel who came there. 15 Even before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast. For he will not take boiled meat from you, but only raw.”
16 If any man said to him, “Let them first burn the fat and then take as much as you wish,” then he would answer him, “No, but you will give it to me now, and if not, I will take it by force.”
17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord. For the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.
18 But Samuel ministered before the Lord, as a boy, wearing a linen ephod. 19 Now his mother would make him a little coat and brought it to him every year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “The Lord give you offspring from this woman for the sake of the request which was made to the Lord.” Then they would return to their home. 21 The Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the Lord.
22 Now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, even that they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 23 He said to them, “Why are you doing these things? For I am hearing of your evil dealings from all these people. 24 No, my sons! Truly, it is not a good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading. 25 If one man sins against another, God will judge him, but if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” But they did not listen to the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them.
26 Now the boy Samuel was growing both in stature and favor with the Lord and also with men.
27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Did I not plainly reveal Myself to the house of your father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? 28 And choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before Me? And I gave to the house of your father all the offerings made by fire by the children of Israel? 29 Why do you kick at My sacrifice and at My offering, which I have commanded in My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’
30 “Therefore the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I surely said that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before Me forever,’ but now the Lord says, ‘Far be it from Me to do so, for those who honor Me, I will honor, and those that despise Me will be humbled. 31 The days are coming when I will cut off your authority and the strength of your father’s house, so there shall not be an old man in your house. 32 You shall see the distress of My dwelling, despite all the good which will be done for Israel. And there shall not be an elderly man in your house perpetually. 33 Yet the one I do not cut off from My altar will be spared so your eyes will not stop weeping or your soul grieving. All the increase of your house will die in their prime.
34 “‘This will be the sign to you which will come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: In one day, they will both die. 35 And I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest; what is in My heart and in My soul he will do it. And I will build him a sure house, and it will walk before My anointed forever. 36 But it will be that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and will say, Please attach me to one of the priestly offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.’”
Chapter 3
1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no vision coming forth.
2 At that time, Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow weak that he could not see), 3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord where the ark of God was.
4 Then the Lord called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” 5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called to me.”
And he said, “I did not call. Return, lie down again.” And he went and lay down.
6 The Lord called Samuel again. So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
And he answered, “I did not call, my son. Return, lie down again.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord been revealed to him.
8 The Lord again called Samuel a third time. So he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling to the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down. And it will be, if He calls you, that you will say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant listens.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came and stood, and He called as at other times, “Samuel, Samuel.”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant listens.”
11 The Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am doing something in Israel which will make both ears ring of every one that hears it. 12 In that day I will bring about against Eli everything which I have spoken with regard to his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I told him that I will judge his house forever, for the guilt which he knew, because his sons are cursed, and he did not rebuke them. 14 Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for with sacrifice nor offering forever.”
15 Samuel lay until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Now Samuel feared to report the vision to Eli. 16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, “Samuel, my son.”
And he answered, “Here I am.”
17 He said, “What is the thing that the Lord has spoken to you? Do not hide it from me. Thus may God do so to you, and more also, if you hide from me a word out of all the things that He spoke to you.” 18 Samuel told him everything, and did not hide from him a thing. And he said, “It is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes.”
19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and did not let any of his words fall to the ground. 20 All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was proven to be a prophet of the Lord. 21 And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
Luke 8:26–56
26 They sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is across from Galilee. 27 When He stepped out on land, a man from the city who had demons for a long time met Him. He wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I plead with You, do not torment me.” 29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. It often had seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles. But he broke the shackles and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged Him not to command them to go out into the abyss.
32 There was a large herd of swine feeding on the mountain. They begged Him to permit them to enter them, and He permitted them. 33 Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and reported it in the city and in the country. 35 Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed by demons was healed. 37 Then the whole crowd from the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So He went into the boat and returned.
38 Now the man from whom the demons had departed asked Him if he could stay with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” So he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
40 When Jesus returned, the crowd gladly received Him, for they were all waiting for Him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell down at Jesus’ feet, and begged Him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying.
As He went, the people crowded Him. 43 And a woman having a hemorrhage for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians, but could not be healed by anyone, 44 came behind Him, and touched the fringe of His garment. And immediately her hemorrhage dried up.
45 Jesus said, “Who touched Me?”
When everyone denied it, Peter and those who were with Him said, “Master, the crowds are pressing against You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”
46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched Me, for I perceive that power has gone out from Me.”
47 When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling. And falling down before Him, she declared to Him before all the people why she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. 48 Then He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
49 While He was still speaking, someone from the synagogue ruler’s house came, saying to Jairus, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.”
50 But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, “Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be made well.”
51 When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, John and James, and the father and mother of the girl. 52 All wept and mourned for her. But He said, “Do not weep. She is not dead but sleeping.”
53 They laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But He put them all outside and took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little girl, arise.” 55 Her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He told them to give her food. 56 Her parents were astonished, but He commanded them to tell no one what had happened.