1st Samuel 1

¹  Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim-zophim from 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  He had two wives: the name of one was Hannah and the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. ³  Now this man would go up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD there. ⁴  When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters; ⁵  but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, but the LORD had closed her womb. ⁶  Her rival, however, would provoke her bitterly to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb. ⁷  It happened year after year, as often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she would provoke her; so she wept and would not eat. ⁸  Then Elkanah her husband said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?" ⁹  Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. ¹⁰  She, greatly distressed, prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. ¹¹  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 Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head." ¹²  Now it came about, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli was watching her mouth. ¹³  As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. ¹⁴  Then Eli said to her, " How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you." ¹⁵  But Hannah replied, "No, my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD. ¹⁶  "Do not consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation." ¹⁷  Then Eli answered and said, " Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him." ¹⁸  She said, " Let your maidservant find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. ¹⁹  Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. ²⁰  It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, " Because I have asked him of the LORD." ²¹  Then the man Elkanah went up with all his household to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and pay his vow. ²²  But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD and stay there forever." ²³  Elkanah her husband said to her, "Do what seems best to you. Remain until you have weaned him; only may the LORD confirm His word." So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. ²⁴  Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-yearold bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh, although the child was young. ²⁵  Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the boy to Eli. ²⁶  She said, "Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the LORD. ²⁷  " For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him. ²⁸  " So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there.

1st Samuel 2

¹  Then Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. ²  " There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God. ³  "Boast no more so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the LORD is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed. ⁴  " The bows of the mighty are shattered, But the feeble gird on strength. ⁵  "Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, But those who were hungry cease to hunger. Even the barren gives birth to seven, But she who has many children languishes. ⁶  " The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. ⁷  " The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts. ⁸  " He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, And He set the world on them. ⁹  " He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail. ¹⁰  " Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed." ¹¹  Then Elkanah went to his home at Ramah. But the boy ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest. ¹²  Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD ¹³  and the custom of the priests with the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand. ¹⁴  Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. ¹⁵  Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw." ¹⁶  If the man said to him, "They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire," then he would say, "No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force." ¹⁷  Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for the men despised the offering of the LORD. ¹⁸  Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD, as a boy wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁹  And his mother would make him a little robe and bring it to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰  Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "May the LORD give you children from this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD." And they went to their own home. ²¹  The LORD visited Hannah; and she conceived and gave birth to 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, and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ²³  He said to them, "Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? ²⁴  "No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the LORD'S people circulating. ²⁵  "If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?" But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the LORD desired to put them to death. ²⁶  Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the LORD and with men. ²⁷  Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, ' Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house? ²⁸  ' Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons 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, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?' ³⁰  "Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, ' I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever'; but now the LORD declares, 'Far be it from Me-- for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. ³¹  'Behold, the days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house. ³²  'You will see the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that I do for Israel; and an old man will not be in your house forever. ³³  'Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life. ³⁴  'This will be the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: on the same day both of them will die. ³⁵  'But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed always. ³⁶  'Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, "Please assign me to one of the priest's offices so that I may eat a piece of bread."'"

1st Samuel 3

¹  Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent. ²  It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), ³  and the lamp 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  that the LORD called Samuel; and he said, " Here I am." ⁵  Then he 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  The LORD called yet again, "Samuel!" So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he answered, "I did not call, my son, lie down again." ⁷  Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor had the word of the LORD yet been revealed to him. ⁸  So the LORD called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli discerned that the LORD was calling the boy. ⁹  And Eli said to Samuel, "Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, 'Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰  Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for Your servant is listening." ¹¹  The LORD said to Samuel, "Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹²  "In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³  "For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves 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 by sacrifice or offering forever." ¹⁵  So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. ¹⁶  Then Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son." And he said, "Here I am." ¹⁷  He said, "What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to 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  Thus Samuel grew and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fail. ²⁰  All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. ²¹  And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, because the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

Luke 8

¹  Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, ²  and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, ³  and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means. ⁴  When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: ⁵  "The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. ⁶  "Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷  "Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. ⁸  "Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great." As He said these things, He would call out, " He who has ears to hear, let him hear." ⁹  His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. ¹⁰  And He said, " To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND. ¹¹  "Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. ¹²  "Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. ¹³  "Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. ¹⁴  "The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. ¹⁵  "But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. ¹⁶  "Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. ¹⁷  " For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. ¹⁸  "So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him." ¹⁹  And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. ²⁰  And it was reported to Him, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You." ²¹  But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it." ²²  Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake." So they launched out. ²³  But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. ²⁴  They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, " Master, Master, we are perishing!" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. ²⁵  And He said to them, "Where is your faith?" They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, "Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?" ²⁶  Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷  And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. ²⁸  Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, " What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me." ²⁹  For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. ³⁰  And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, " Legion"; for many demons had entered him. ³¹  They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss. ³²  Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. ³³  And the demons came out of the man and entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. ³⁴  When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. ³⁵  The people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. ³⁶  Those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demonpossessed had been made well. ³⁷  And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat and returned. ³⁸  But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying, ³⁹  "Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. ⁴⁰  And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. ⁴¹  And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus' feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house; ⁴²  for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him. ⁴³  And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, ⁴⁴  came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. ⁴⁵  And Jesus said, "Who is the one who touched Me?" And while they were all denying it, Peter said, " Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You." ⁴⁶  But Jesus said, "Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me." ⁴⁷  When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. ⁴⁸  And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace." ⁴⁹  While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore." ⁵⁰  But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, " Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well." ⁵¹  When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl's father and mother. ⁵²  Now they were all weeping and lamenting for her; but He said, "Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep." ⁵³  And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. ⁵⁴  He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Child, arise!" ⁵⁵  And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat. ⁵⁶  Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.