The Lord Calls Samuel

1 ^fNow the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. ^gAnd the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

2 At that time Eli, ^hwhose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 ⁱThe lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down ^jin the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.

6 And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” 11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel ^kat which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli ^lall that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 ^lAnd I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, ^mbecause his sons were blaspheming God,^{1 n}and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli ^othat the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

15 Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16 But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” 17 And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. ^pMay God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, ^q“It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”

19 ^rAnd Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him ^sand let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel ^tfrom Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. 21 And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel ^uat Shiloh ^vby the word of the Lord.

God’s Righteousness Upheld

1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, ^xthe Jews were entrusted with ^ythe oracles of God. 3 ^zWhat if some were unfaithful? ^aDoes their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! ^bLet God be true though ^cevery one were a liar, as it is written,

5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict ^fwrath on us? (^gI speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could ^hGod judge the world? 7 But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, ⁱwhy am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not ^jdo evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

No One Is Righteous

9 What then? Are we Jews¹ any better off?² No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both ^kJews and ^lGreeks, are ^munder sin, 10 as it is written:

19 Now we know that whatever ^vthe law says it speaks to those who are under the law, ^wso that every mouth may be stopped, and ^xthe whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For ^yby works of the law no human being³ will be justified in his sight, since ^zthrough the law comes knowledge of sin.

The Righteousness of God Through Faith

21 But now ^athe righteousness of God ^bhas been manifested apart from the law, although ^cthe Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God ^dthrough faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. ^eFor there is no distinction: 23 for ^fall have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 ^gand are justified ^hby his grace as a gift, ⁱthrough the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God ^jput forward as ^ka propitiation ^lby his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in ^mhis divine forbearance he had passed over ⁿformer sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

27 ^oThen what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith ^papart from works of the law. 29 Or ^qis God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since ^rGod is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and ^sthe uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Gedaliah Murdered

1 ^vIn the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at ^wMizpah. As they ^xate bread together there at Mizpah, 2 ^yIshmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him rose up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him, ^zwhom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land. 3 Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at ^wMizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.

4 On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it, 5 eighty men arrived from ^aShechem and ^bShiloh and ^cSamaria, with ^dtheir beards shaved and ^etheir clothes torn, and ^dtheir bodies gashed, ^fbringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord. 6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out from ^gMizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come in to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” 7 When they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and cast them into a cistern. 8 But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have ^hstores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not put them to death with their companions.

9 Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down along with¹ Gedaliah was the large cistern that ⁱKing Asa had made for defense against ⁱBaasha king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. 10 Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, ^jthe king’s daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom ^kNebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to ^lthe Ammonites.

11 But when ^mJohanan the son of Kareah and ⁿall the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, 12 they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. They came upon him at ^othe great pool that is in ^pGibeon. 13 And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and ^qall the leaders of the forces with him, they rejoiced. 14 ^rSo all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to ^sthe Ammonites. 16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah and ^qall the leaders of the forces with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—soldiers, ^twomen, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan brought back from ^uGibeon. 17 And they went and stayed at Geruth ^vChimham near ^wBethlehem, intending to go to Egypt 18 because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, ^xwhom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

In the Shadow of Your Wings

A ^fPrayer of David.