Psalm 139:1–6; Psalm 139:13–18; 1 Samuel 3:1–20; Mark 2:23–3:6; 2 Corinthians 4:5–12

red bookmark icon blue bookmark icon gold bookmark icon
Psalm 139:1–6

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

O Lord, you have psearched me and known me!

You qknow when I sit down and when I rise up;

you rdiscern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, syou know it altogether.

You them me in, behind and before,

and ulay your hand upon me.

vSuch knowledge is wtoo wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.


Psalm 139:13–18

13  For you eformed my inward parts;

you fknitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.1

gWonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

15  hMy frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in ithe depths of the earth.

16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your jbook were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

17  How precious to me are your kthoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18  lIf I would count them, they are more than mthe sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.


1 Samuel 3:1–20

The Lord Calls Samuel

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.

At that time Eli, hwhose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 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.

Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, Here I am! 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.

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. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

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. 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 nand 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, qIt 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.


Mark 2:23–3:6

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

23 rOne Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples sbegan to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, Look, twhy are they doing uwhat is not lawful on the Sabbath? 25 And he said to them, vHave you never read wwhat David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of1 xAbiathar the high priest, and ate ythe bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him? 27 And he said to them, zThe Sabbath was made for man, anot man for the Sabbath. 28 So bthe Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.

A Man with a Withered Hand

cAgain dhe entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And ethey watched Jesus,2 to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man with the withered hand, Come here. And he said to them, fIs it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill? But they were silent. And he glooked around at them with anger, grieved at htheir hardness of heart, and said to the man, Stretch out your hand. iHe stretched it out, and his hand was restored. jThe Pharisees went out and immediately jheld counsel with kthe Herodians against him, how to destroy him.


2 Corinthians 4:5–12

For what kwe proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with lourselves as your servants1 for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, mLet light shine out of darkness, nhas shone in our hearts to give othe light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Treasure in Jars of Clay

But we have this treasure in pjars of clay, qto show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are rafflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but snot forsaken; tstruck down, but not destroyed; 10 ualways carrying in the body the death of Jesus, vso that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So wdeath is at work in us, but life in you.