Bible Readings for May 8, 2015

Today our passages are 1 Samuel 2:22–4:22; John 5:24-47; Psalm 106:1-12; and Proverbs 14:30-31. The readings are the Contemporary English Version. 

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1 Samuel 2:22-4:22 (Contemporary English Version)

Eli Warns His Sons

 ²²Eli was now very old, and he heard what his sons were doing to the people of Israel. ^{[a] 23-24}"Why are you doing these awful things?" he asked them. "I've been hearing nothing but complaints about you from all of the LORD's people. ²⁵If you harm another person, God can help make things right between the two of you. But if you commit a crime against the LORD, no one can help you!" But the LORD had already decided to kill them. So he kept them from listening to their father.    

A Prophet Speaks to Eli

 ²⁶Each day the LORD and his people liked Samuel more and more.     ²⁷One day a prophet came to Eli and gave him this message from the LORD:
   When your ancestors were slaves of the king of Egypt, I came and showed them who I am. ^28-29Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your family to be my priests. I wanted them to offer sacrifices and burn incense to me and to find out from me what I want my people to do. I commanded everyone to bring their sacrifices here where I live, and I allowed you and your family to keep those that were not offered to me on the altar.
   But you honor your sons instead of me! You don't respect ^[b] the sacrifices and offerings that are brought to me, and you've all gotten fat from eating the best parts. ³⁰I am the LORD, the God of Israel. I promised to always let your family serve me as priests, but now I tell you that I cannot do this any longer! I honor anyone who honors me, but I put a curse on anyone who hates me. ³¹The time will come when I will kill you and everyone else in your family. Not one of you will live to an old age.
    ³²Your family ^[c] will have a lot of trouble. I will be kind to Israel, ^[d] but everyone in your family will die young. ³³If I let anyone from your family be a priest, his ^[e] life will be full of sadness and sorrow. But most of the men in your family will die a violent death! ^{[f] 34}To prove to you that I will do these things, your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will die on the same day. ³⁵I have chosen someone else to be my priest, someone who will be faithful and obey me. I will always let his family serve as priests and help my chosen king. ³⁶But if anyone is left from your family, he will come to my priest and beg for money or a little bread. He may even say to my priest, "Please let me be a priest, so I will at least have something to eat."
   

1 Samuel 3

The LORD Speaks to Samuel

 ^1-2Samuel served the LORD by helping Eli the priest, who was by that time almost blind. In those days, the LORD hardly ever spoke directly to people, and he did not appear to them in dreams very often. But one night, Eli was asleep in his room, ³and Samuel was sleeping on a mat near the sacred chest in the LORD's house. They had not been asleep very long ^{[g] 4}when the LORD called out Samuel's name. "Here I am!" Samuel answered. ⁵Then he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. What do you want?"    "I didn't call you," Eli answered. "Go back to bed."
   Samuel went back.
    ⁶Again the LORD called out Samuel's name. Samuel got up and went to Eli. "Here I am," he said. "What do you want?"
   Eli told him, "Son, I didn't call you. Go back to sleep."
    ⁷The LORD had not spoken to Samuel before, and Samuel did not recognize the voice. ⁸When the LORD called out his name for the third time, Samuel went to Eli again and said, "Here I am. What do you want?"
   Eli finally realized that it was the LORD who was speaking to Samuel. ⁹So he said, "Go back and lie down! If someone speaks to you again, answer, `I'm listening, LORD. What do you want me to do?' "
   Once again Samuel went back and lay down.
    ¹⁰The LORD then stood beside Samuel and called out as he had done before, "Samuel! Samuel!"
   "I'm listening," Samuel answered. "What do you want me to do?"
    ¹¹The LORD said:
   Samuel, I am going to do something in Israel that will shock everyone who hears about it! ¹²I will punish Eli and his family, just as I promised. ¹³He knew that his sons refused to respect me, ^[h] and he let them get away with it, even though I said I would punish his family forever. ¹⁴I warned Eli that sacrifices or offerings could never make things right! His family has done too many disgusting things. ¹⁵The next morning, Samuel got up and opened the doors to the LORD's house. He was afraid to tell Eli what the LORD had said. ¹⁶But Eli told him, "Samuel, my boy, come here!"
   "Here I am," Samuel answered.
    ¹⁷Eli said, "What did God say to you? Tell me everything. I pray that God will punish you terribly if you don't tell me every word he said!"
    ¹⁸Samuel told Eli everything. Then Eli said, "He is the LORD, and he will do what's right."
   

The LORD Helps Samuel

 ¹⁹As Samuel grew up, the LORD helped him and made everything Samuel said come true. ²⁰From the town of Dan in the north to the town of Beersheba in the south, everyone in the country knew that Samuel was truly the LORD's prophet. ²¹The LORD often appeared to Samuel at Shiloh and told him what to say.    

1 Samuel 4

 ¹Then Samuel would speak to the whole nation of Israel.    One day the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. They set up camp near Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek.

The Philistines Capture the Sacred Chest

 ²The Philistines made a fierce attack. They defeated the Israelites and killed about four thousand of them.     ³The Israelite army returned to their camp, and the leaders said, "Why did the LORD let us lose to the Philistines today? Let's get the sacred chest where the LORD's agreement with Israel is kept. Then the LORD ^[i] will help us and rescue us from our enemies." ⁴The army sent some soldiers to bring back the sacred chest from Shiloh, because the LORD All-Powerful has his throne on the winged creatures on top of the chest.
   As Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, ⁵brought the chest into camp, the army cheered so loudly that the ground shook. ⁶The Philistines heard the noise and said, "What are those Hebrews shouting about?"
   When the Philistines learned that the sacred chest had been brought into the camp, ⁷they were scared to death and said:
   The gods have come into their camp. Now we're in real trouble! Nothing like this has ever happened to us before. ⁸We're in big trouble! Who can save us from these powerful gods? They're the same gods who made all those horrible things happen to the Egyptians in the desert.
    ⁹Philistines, be brave and fight hard! If you don't, those Hebrews will rule us, just as we've been ruling them. Fight and don't be afraid.
    ¹⁰The Philistines did fight. They killed thirty thousand Israelite soldiers, and all the rest ran off to their homes. ¹¹Hophni and Phinehas were killed, and the sacred chest was captured.
   

Eli Dies

 ¹²That same day a soldier from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefront to Shiloh. He had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head to show his sorrow. ¹³He went into town and told the news about the battle, and everyone started crying.    Eli was afraid that something might happen to the sacred chest. So he was sitting on his chair beside the road, just waiting. ^14-15He was ninety-eight years old and blind, but he could hear everyone crying, and he asked, "What's all that noise?"
   The soldier hurried over and told Eli, ¹⁶"I escaped from the fighting today and ran here."
   "Young man, what happened?" Eli asked.
    ¹⁷"Israel ran away from the Philistines," the soldier answered. "Many of our people were killed, including your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. But worst of all, the sacred chest was captured."
    ¹⁸Eli was still sitting on a chair beside the wall of the town gate. And when the man said that the Philistines had taken the sacred chest, Eli fell backwards. He was a very heavy old man, and the fall broke his neck and killed him. He had been a leader ^[j] of Israel for forty years. ¹⁹The wife of Phinehas was about to give birth. And soon after she heard that the sacred chest had been captured and that her husband and his father had died, her baby came. The birth was very hard, ²⁰and she was dying. But the women taking care of her said, "Don't be afraid--it's a boy!"
   She didn't pay any attention to them. ^21-22Instead she kept thinking about losing her husband and her father-in-law. So she said, "My son will be named Ichabod, ^[k] because the glory of Israel left our country when the sacred chest was captured."

Footnotes:

1. 1 Samuel 2:22 Israel: The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text adds "He heard that his sons were even sleeping with the women who worked at the entrance to the sacred tent."
2. 1 Samuel 2:28 don't respect: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation "are greedy for."
3. 1 Samuel 2:32 Your family: Or "My house of worship."
4. 1 Samuel 2:32 Not one. . . to Israel: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation do not have these words.
5. 1 Samuel 2:33 his: The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text "your."
6. 1 Samuel 2:33 die a violent death: The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text "die."
7. 1 Samuel 3:3 They. . . long: The Hebrew text has "The lamp was still burning." An olive oil lamp would go out after a few hours if the wick was not adjusted.
8. 1 Samuel 3:13 refused. . . me: Or "were insulting everyone."
9. 1 Samuel 4:3 LORD: Or "chest."
10. 1 Samuel 4:18 leader: The Hebrew word means that Eli may have been an army commander, a judge, and a priest.
11. 1 Samuel 4:21 Ichabod: Ichabod means "where is the glory?" or "there is no glory."

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John 5:24-47 (Contemporary English Version)

²⁴I tell you for certain that everyone who hears my message and has faith in the one who sent me has eternal life and will never be condemned. They have already gone from death to life.
    ²⁵I tell you for certain that the time will come, and it is already here, when all of the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen to it will live! ²⁶The Father has the power to give life, and he has given that same power to the Son. ²⁷And he has given his Son the right to judge everyone, because he is the Son of Man.
    ²⁸Don't be surprised! The time will come when all of the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man, ²⁹and they will come out of their graves. Everyone who has done good things will rise to life, but everyone who has done evil things will rise and be condemned.
    ³⁰I cannot do anything on my own. The Father sent me, and he is the one who told me how to judge. I judge with fairness, because I obey him, and I don't just try to please myself.
   

Witnesses to Jesus

 ³¹If I speak for myself, there is no way to prove I am telling the truth. ³²But there is someone else who speaks for me, and I know what he says is true. ³³You sent messengers to John, and he told them the truth. ³⁴I don't depend on what people say about me, but I tell you these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵John was a lamp that gave a lot of light, and you were glad to enjoy his light for a while.     ³⁶But something more important than John speaks for me. I mean the things that the Father has given me to do! All of these speak for me and prove that the Father sent me.
    ³⁷The Father who sent me also speaks for me, but you have never heard his voice or seen him face to face. ³⁸You have not believed his message, because you refused to have faith in the one he sent.
    ³⁹You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about me, ⁴⁰but you refuse to come to me for eternal life.
    ⁴¹I don't care about human praise, ⁴²but I do know that none of you love God. ⁴³I have come with my Father's authority, and you have not welcomed me. But you will welcome people who come on their own. ⁴⁴How could you possibly believe? You like to have your friends praise you, and you don't care about praise that the only God can give!
    ⁴⁵Don't think that I will be the one to accuse you to the Father. You have put your hope in Moses, yet he is the very one who will accuse you. ⁴⁶Moses wrote about me, and if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. ⁴⁷But if you don't believe what Moses wrote, how can you believe what I say?

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Psalm 106:1-12 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 106

A Nation Asks for Forgiveness

 ¹We will celebrate    and praise you, LORD!
   You are good to us,
   and your love never fails.
    ²No one can praise you enough
   for all of the mighty things
   you have done.
    ³You bless those people
   who are honest and fair
   in everything they do.
    ⁴Remember me, LORD,
   when you show kindness
   by saving your people.
    ⁵Let me prosper with the rest
   of your chosen ones,
   as they celebrate with pride
   because they belong to you.
    ⁶We and our ancestors
   have sinned terribly.
    ⁷When they were in Egypt,
   they paid no attention
   to your marvelous deeds
   or your wonderful love.
   And they turned against you
   at the Red Sea. ^{[a] 8}But you were true to your name,
   and you rescued them to prove
   how mighty you are.
    ⁹You said to the Red Sea,
   "Dry up!"
   Then you led your people across
   on land as dry as a desert.
    ¹⁰You saved all of them
    ¹¹and drowned every one
   of their enemies.
    ¹²Then your people trusted you
   and sang your praises.
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 106:7 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph " Sea of Reeds," one of the marshes or fresh water lakes near the eastern part of the Nile Delta. This identification is based on Exodus 13.17--14.9, which lists the towns on the route of the Israelites before crossing the sea. In the Greek translation of the Scriptures made about 200 (B).(C)., the " Sea of Reeds" was named " Red Sea."

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Proverbs 14:30-31 (Contemporary English Version)

³⁰It's healthy to be content,
   but envy can eat you up.
    ³¹If you mistreat the poor,
   you insult your Creator;
   if you are kind to them,
   you show him respect.

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Verse of the Day

“When you are with unbelievers, always make good use of the time. Be pleasant and hold their interest when you speak the message. Choose your words carefully and be ready to give answers to anyone who asks questions.” - Colossians 4:5-6

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

American basketball player and coach, John Wooden wrote, “If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”