God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 mThe Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the nperfection of beauty,
God oshines forth.
3 Our God comes; he does not pkeep silence;1
qbefore him is a rdevouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
4 He scalls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my tfaithful ones,
uwho made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The vheavens declare his righteousness,
for wGod himself is judge! Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
xI am God, your God.
8 yNot for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
10 For zevery beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 aI know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for bthe world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a csacrifice of thanksgiving,2
and perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall dglorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate discipline,
and you ecast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, fyou are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I3 was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
22 “Mark this, then, you who gforget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will hshow the salvation of God!”
The Lord Calls Samuel
1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And pthe word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
2 At that time Eli, qwhose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 The rlamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, s“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 tknow 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, u“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 at which the two vears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God,1 and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that wthe 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. May 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, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”
19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him xand let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel yfrom 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 at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
The Philistines Capture the Ark
1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.
Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at zEbenezer, and the Philistines encamped at aAphek.
The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection
18 fAnd Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no gresurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, hMoses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man1 must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”
24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, iin the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, j‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
The Great Commandment
28 kAnd one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, l‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall mlove the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: n‘You shall olove your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said pthat qhe is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much rmore than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Whose Son Is the Christ?
35 sAnd as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the tson of David? 36 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared,
u“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.”’
37 David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.
Beware of the Scribes
38 vAnd in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like wgreetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the xbest seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who ydevour widows’ houses and for a zpretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
The Widow’s Offering
41 aAnd he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the boffering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.2 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
