The Birth of Samuel

1 There was a certain man of ^aRamathaim-zophim of ^bthe hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, ^can Ephrathite. 2 He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

3 Now this man used to go up ^dyear by year from his city ^eto worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts ^fat Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. 4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, ^ghe would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.¹ 6 And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? ^hAm I not more to you than ten sons?”

9 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of ⁱthe temple of the Lord. 10 She was ^jdeeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 And she ^kvowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed ^llook on the affliction of your servant and ^mremember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, ⁿand no razor shall touch his head.”

12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” 15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but ^oI have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not regard your servant as ^pa worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” 17 Then Eli answered, ^q“Go in peace, and the God of Israel ^rgrant your petition that you have made to him.” 18 And she said, ^s“Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman ^twent her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at ^uRamah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord ^vremembered her. 20 And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”²

Samuel Given to the Lord

21 The man Elkanah and all his house ^wwent up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord ^xand dwell there forever.” 23 ^yElkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; ^zonly, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24 And when she had weaned him, ^ashe took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull,³ an ephah⁴ of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to ^bthe house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, “Oh, my lord! ^cAs you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. 27 For this child I prayed, ^dand the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 28 Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”

^eAnd he worshiped the Lord there.

Greeting

1 Paul, ^aa servant¹ of Christ Jesus, ^bcalled to be an apostle, ^cset apart for the gospel of God, 2 which ^dhe promised beforehand ^ethrough his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, ^fwho was descended from David^{2 g}according to the flesh 4 and ^hwas declared to be the Son of God ⁱin power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom ^jwe have received grace and ^kapostleship ^lto bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name ^mamong all the nations, 6 including you who are ⁿcalled to belong to Jesus Christ,

7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

^oGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

8 First, ^pI thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, ^qbecause your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 ^rFor God is my witness, ^swhom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, ^tthat without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow ^uby God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For ^vI long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged ^wby each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,³ that ^xI have often intended to come to you (but ^ythus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some ^zharvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 ^aI am under obligation both to Greeks and to ^bbarbarians,⁴ both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

16 For ^dI am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is ^ethe power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew ^ffirst and also to ^gthe Greek. 17 For in it ^hthe righteousness of God is revealed ⁱfrom faith for faith,^{5 j}as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”⁶

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

18 For ^kthe wrath of God ^lis revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be ^mknown about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, ⁿhave been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,⁷ in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they ^obecame futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 ^pClaiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and ^qexchanged the glory of ^rthe immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore ^sGod gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to ^tthe dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for ^ua lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^vwho is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason ^wGod gave them up to ^xdishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, ^ymen committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ^zGod gave them up to ^aa debased mind to do ^bwhat ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know ^cGod’s righteous decree that those who practice such things ^ddeserve to die, they not only do them but ^egive approval to those who practice them.

The Fall of Jerusalem

1 ⁿIn the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. 3 Then all ^othe officials of the king of Babylon came ^pand sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sar-ezer of Samgar, Nebu-sar-sekim ^qthe Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, with all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon. 4 When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and they went toward ^rthe Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in ^sthe plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, at ^tRiblah, in the land of Hamath; ^uand he passed sentence on him. 6 The king of Babylon ^vslaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at ^tRiblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon ^vslaughtered all the nobles of Judah. 7 ^wHe put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. 8 ^xThe Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the house of the people, ^yand broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Then ^zNebuzaradan, the ^acaptain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, ^bthose who had deserted to him, and the people who remained. 10 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, ^cleft in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

The Lord Delivers Jeremiah

11 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying, 12 ^d“Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you.” 13 So ^eNebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, ^eand all the chief officers of the king of Babylon 14 sent and took Jeremiah from ^fthe court of the guard. They entrusted him to ^gGedaliah the son of ^hAhikam, son of ⁱShaphan, that he should take him home. So ^jhe lived among the people.

15 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah ^kwhile he was shut up in the court of the guard: 16 “Go, and say to ^lEbed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^mBehold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and ⁿnot for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. 17 But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men ^oof whom you are afraid. 18 For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your ^plife as a prize of war, ^qbecause you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord.’”

How Long, O Lord?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

The Fool Says, There Is No God

To the choirmaster. Of David.