Bible Readings for November 6, 2015

Today our passages are Ezekiel 14:12–16:42; Hebrews 7:18-28; Psalm 106:1-12; and Proverbs 27:4-6. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal. 

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Ezekiel 14:12-16:42 (Contemporary English Version)

Judgment on a Sinful Nation

 ¹²The LORD God said:     ¹³Ezekiel, son of man, suppose an entire nation sins against me, and I punish it by destroying the crops and letting its people and livestock starve to death. ¹⁴Even if Noah, Daniel, ^[a] and Job were living in that nation, their faithfulness would not save anyone but themselves. ¹⁵Or suppose I punish a nation by sending wild animals to eat people and scare away every passerby, so that the land becomes a barren desert. ¹⁶As surely as I live, I promise that even if these three men lived in that nation, their own children would not be spared. The three men would live, but the land would be an empty desert.
    ¹⁷Or suppose I send an enemy to attack a sinful nation and kill its people and livestock. ¹⁸If these three men were in that nation when I punished it, not even their children would be spared. Only the three men would live.
    ¹⁹And suppose I am so angry that I send a deadly disease to wipe out the people and livestock of a sinful nation. ²⁰Again, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, I, the LORD, promise that the children of these faithful men would also die. Only the three of them would be spared.
    ²¹I am the LORD God, and I promise to punish Jerusalem severely. I will send war, starvation, wild animals, and deadly disease to slaughter its people and livestock. ²²And those who survive will be taken from their country and led here to Babylonia. Ezekiel, when you see how sinful they are, you will know why I did all these things to Jerusalem. ²³You will be convinced that I, the LORD God, was right in doing what I did.
   

Ezekiel 15

Jerusalem Is a Useless Vine

 ¹Some time later, the LORD said:     ²Ezekiel, son of man, what happens to the wood of a grapevine after the grapes have been picked? It isn't like other trees in the forest, ³because the wood of a grapevine can't be used to make anything, not even a small peg to hang things on. ⁴It can only be used as firewood. But after its ends are burnt and its middle is charred, it can't be used for anything. ⁵The wood is useless before it is burned, and afterwards, it is completely worthless.
    ⁶I, the LORD God, promise that just as the wood of a grapevine is burned as firewood, ⁷I will punish the people of Jerusalem with fire. Some of them have escaped one destruction, but soon they will be completely burned. And when that happens, you, Ezekiel, will know that I am the LORD. ⁸I will make their country an empty wasteland, because they have not been loyal to me. I, the LORD God, have spoken.
   

Ezekiel 16

Jerusalem Is Unfaithful

 ¹The LORD said:     ²Ezekiel, son of man, remind the people of Jerusalem of their disgusting sins ³and tell them that I, the LORD God, am saying:
   Jerusalem, you were born in the country where Canaanites lived. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite. ^{[b] 4}When you were born, no one cut you loose from your mother or washed your body. No one rubbed your skin with salt and olive oil, ^[c] and wrapped you in warm blankets. ⁵Not one person loved you enough to do any of these things, and no one even felt sorry for you. You were despised, thrown into a field, and forgotten. ⁶I saw you lying there, rolling around in your own blood, and I couldn't let you die. ⁷I took care of you, like someone caring for a tender, young plant. You grew up to be a beautiful young woman with perfect breasts and long hair, but you were still naked.
    ⁸When I saw you again, you were old enough to have sex. So I covered your naked body with my own robe. ^[d] Then I solemnly promised that you would belong to me and that I, the LORD God, would take care of you. ⁹I washed the blood off you and rubbed your skin with olive oil. ¹⁰I gave you the finest clothes and the most expensive robes, ^[e] as well as sandals made from the best leather. ¹¹I gave you bracelets, a necklace, ¹²a ring for your nose, some earrings, and a beautiful crown. ¹³Your jewelry was gold and silver, and your clothes were made of only the finest material and embroidered linen. Your bread was baked from fine flour, and you ate honey and olive oil. You were as beautiful as a queen, ¹⁴and everyone on earth knew it. I, the LORD God, had helped you become a lovely young woman. ¹⁵You learned that you were attractive enough to have any man you wanted, so you offered yourself to every passerby. ^{[f] 16}You made shrines for yourself and decorated them with some of your clothes. That's where you took your visitors to have sex with them. These things should never have happened! ^{[g] 17}You made idols out of the gold and silver jewelry I gave you, then you sinned by worshiping those idols. ¹⁸You dressed them in the clothes you got from me, and you offered them the olive oil and incense I gave you. ¹⁹I supplied you with fine flour, olive oil, and honey, but you sacrificed it all as offerings to please those idols. I, the LORD God, watched this happen. ²⁰But you did something even worse than that--you sacrificed your own children to those idols! ²¹You slaughtered my children, so you could offer them as sacrifices. ²²You were so busy sinning and being a prostitute that you refused to think about the days when you were young and were rolling around naked in your own blood.
    ²³Now I, the LORD God, say you are doomed! Not only did you do these evil things, ²⁴but you also built places on every street corner ²⁵where you disgraced yourself by having sex with anyone who walked by. And you did that more and more every day! ²⁶To make me angry, you even offered yourself to Egyptians, who were always ready to sleep with you.
    ²⁷So I punished you by letting those greedy Philistine enemies take over some of your territory. But even they were offended by your disgusting behavior.
    ²⁸You couldn't get enough sex, so you chased after Assyrians and slept with them. You still weren't satisfied, ²⁹so you went after Babylonians. But those merchants could not satisfy you either.
    ³⁰I, the LORD God, say that you were so disgusting that you would have done anything to get what you wanted. ^{[h] 31}You had sex on every street corner, and when you finished, you refused to accept money. That's worse than being a prostitute! ³²You are nothing but an unfaithful wife who would rather have sex with strangers than with your own husband. ³³Prostitutes accept money for having sex, but you bribe men from everywhere to have sex with you. ³⁴You're not like other prostitutes. Men don't ask you for sex--you offer to pay them!

Jerusalem Must Be Punished

The LORD said:

 ³⁵Jerusalem, you prostitute, listen to me. ³⁶You chased after lovers, then took off your clothes and had sex. You even worshiped disgusting idols and sacrificed your own children as offerings to them. ³⁷So I, the LORD God, will gather every one of your lovers, those you liked and those you hated. They will stand around you, and I will rip off your clothes and let all of those lovers stare at your nakedness. ³⁸I will find you guilty of being an unfaithful wife and a murderer, and in my fierce anger I will sentence you to death! ³⁹Then I will hand you over to your lovers, who will tear down the places where you had sex. They will take your clothes and jewelry, leaving you naked and empty-handed.     ⁴⁰Your lovers and an angry mob will stone you to death; they will cut your dead body into pieces ⁴¹and burn down your houses. Other women will watch these terrible things happen to you. I promise to stop you from being a prostitute and paying your lovers for sex.
    ⁴²Only then will I calm down and stop being angry and jealous.

Footnotes:

1. Ezekiel 14:14 Daniel: Or "Danel," possibly a well-known hero or wise man.
2. Ezekiel 16:3 Amorite. . . Hittite: People who lived in Canaan before the Israelites and who worshiped idols.
3. Ezekiel 16:4 rubbed your skin with salt and olive oil: People believed this toughened the skin of the babies.
4. Ezekiel 16:8 I covered your naked body with my own robe: To show that he would protect and take care of her.
5. Ezekiel 16:10 most expensive robes: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
6. Ezekiel 16:15 so you offered yourself to every passerby: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
7. Ezekiel 16:16 These things should never have happened: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
8. Ezekiel 16:30 wanted: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 30.

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Hebrews 7:18-28 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁸In this way a weak and useless command was put aside, ¹⁹because the Law cannot make anything perfect. At the same time, we are given a much better hope, and it can bring us close to God.
    ^20-21God himself made a promise when this priest was appointed. But he did not make a promise like this when the other priests were appointed. The promise he made is,
   "I, the Lord, promise that you
   will be a priest forever!
   And I will never
   change my mind!"
    ²²This means that Jesus guarantees us a better agreement with God. ²³There have been a lot of other priests, and all of them have died. ²⁴But Jesus will never die, and so he will be a priest forever! ²⁵He is forever able to save ^[a] the people he leads to God, because he always lives to speak to God for them. ²⁶Jesus is the high priest we need. He is holy and innocent and faultless, and not at all like us sinners. Jesus is honored above all beings in heaven, ²⁷and he is better than any other high priest. Jesus doesn't need to offer sacrifices each day for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. He offered a sacrifice once for all, when he gave himself. ²⁸The Law appoints priests who have weaknesses. But God's promise, which came later than the Law, appoints his Son. And he is the perfect high priest forever.
   

Footnotes:

1. Hebrews 7:25 forever able to save: Or "able to save forever."

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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 27:4-6 (Contemporary English Version)

⁴An angry person is dangerous,
   but a jealous person
   is even worse.
    ⁵A truly good friend
   will openly correct you.
    ⁶You can trust a friend
   who corrects you,
   but kisses from an enemy
   are nothing but lies.

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Verse of Day

“and by what Christ has done, God has shown us his own mysterious ways. Then when the time is right, God will do all that he has planned, and Christ will bring together everything in heaven and on earth.” - Ephesians 1:9-10

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who became a legend in his own lifetime by attracting record crowds wherever he pitched, Satchel Paige wrote, “Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching.”

Bible Readings for November 10, 2014

Today our passages are Ezekiel 21:1–22:31; Hebrews 10:1-17; Psalm 108:1-13; and Proverbs 27:12. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson.

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Ezekiel 21-22:31 (The Message)

Ezekiel 21

A Sword! A Sword!

^1-5 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, now face Jerusalem and let the Message roll out against the Sanctuary. Prophesy against the land of Israel. Say, 'God's Message: I'm against you. I'm pulling my sword from its sheath and killing both the wicked and the righteous. Because I'm treating everyone the same, good and bad, everyone from south to north is going to feel my sword! Everyone will know that I mean business.' ⁶ "So, son of man, groan! Double up in pain. Make a scene!
⁷ "When they ask you, 'Why all this groaning, this carrying on?' say, 'Because of the news that's coming. It'll knock the breath out of everyone. Hearts will stop cold, knees turn to rubber. Yes, it's coming. No stopping it. Decree of God, the Master.'"
^8-10 God's Message to me: "Son of man, prophesy. Tell them, 'The Master says:
"'A sword! A sword!
razor-sharp and polished,
Sharpened to kill,
polished to flash like lightning!
"'My child, you've despised the scepter of Judah
by worshiping every tree-idol.
¹¹"'The sword is made to glisten,
to be held and brandished.
It's sharpened and polished,
ready to be brandished by the killer.'
¹²"Yell out and wail, son of man.
The sword is against my people!
The princes of Israel
and my people—abandoned to the sword!
Wring your hands!
Tear out your hair!
¹³"'Testing comes.
Why have you despised discipline?
You can't get around it.
Decree of God, the Master.'
^14-17"So, prophesy, son of man!
Clap your hands. Get their attention.
Tell them that the sword's coming down
once, twice, three times.
It's a sword to kill,
a sword for a massacre,
A sword relentless,
a sword inescapable—
People collapsing right and left,
going down like dominoes.
I've stationed a murderous sword
at every gate in the city,
Flashing like lightning,
brandished murderously.
Cut to the right, thrust to the left,
murderous, sharp-edged sword!
Then I'll clap my hands,
a signal that my anger is spent.
I, God, have spoken."
^18-22 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, lay out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take. Start them from the same place. Place a signpost at the beginning of each road. Post one sign to mark the road of the sword to Rabbah of the Ammonites. Post the other to mark the road to Judah and Fort Jerusalem. The king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road and he decides by divination which of the two roads to take. He draws straws, he throws god-dice, he examines a goat liver. He opens his right hand: The omen says, 'Head for Jerusalem!' So he's on his way with battering rams, roused to kill, sounding the battle cry, pounding down city gates, building siege works.
²³ "To the Judah leaders, who themselves have sworn oaths, it will seem like a false divination, but he will remind them of their guilt, and so they'll be captured.
²⁴ "So this is what God, the Master, says: 'Because your sin is now out in the open so everyone can see what you've been doing, you'll be taken captive.
^25-27 "'O Zedekiah, blasphemous and evil prince of Israel: Time's up. It's "punishment payday." God says, Take your royal crown off your head. No more "business as usual." The underdog will be promoted and the top dog will be demoted. Ruins, ruins, ruins! I'll turn the whole place into ruins. And ruins it will remain until the one comes who has a right to it. Then I'll give it to him.'
^28-32 "But, son of man, your job is to prophesy. Tell them, 'This is the Message from God, the Master, against the Ammonites and against their cruel taunts:
"'A sword! A sword!
Bared to kill,
Sharp as a razor,
flashing like lightning.
Despite false sword propaganda
circulated in Ammon,
The sword will sever Ammonite necks,
for whom it's punishment payday.
Return the sword to the sheath! I'll judge you in your home country,
in the land where you grew up.
I'll empty out my wrath on you,
breathe hot anger down your neck.
I'll give you to vicious men
skilled in torture.
You'll end up as stove-wood.
Corpses will litter your land.
Not so much as a memory will be left of you.
I, God, have said so.'"

Ezekiel 22

The Scarecrow of the Nations

^1-5 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, are you going to judge this bloody city or not? Come now, are you going to judge her? Do it! Face her with all her outrageous obscenities. Tell her, 'This is what God, the Master, says: You're a city murderous at the core, just asking for punishment. You're a city obsessed with no-god idols, making yourself filthy. In all your killing, you've piled up guilt. In all your idol-making, you've become filthy. You've forced a premature end to your existence. I'll put you on exhibit as the scarecrow of the nations, the world's worst joke. From far and near they'll deride you as infamous in filth, notorious for chaos. ^6-12 "'Your leaders, the princes of Israel among you, compete in crime. You're a community that's insolent to parents, abusive to outsiders, oppressive against orphans and widows. You treat my holy things with contempt and desecrate my Sabbaths. You have people spreading lies and spilling blood, flocking to the hills to the sex shrines and fornicating unrestrained. Incest is common. Men force themselves on women regardless of whether they're ready or willing. Sex is now anarchy. Anyone is fair game: neighbor, daughter-in-law, sister. Murder is for hire, usury is rampant, extortion is commonplace.
"'And you've forgotten me. Decree of God, the Master.
^13-14 "'Now look! I've clapped my hands, calling everyone's attention to your rapacious greed and your bloody brutalities. Can you stick with it? Will you be able to keep at this once I start dealing with you?
^14-16 "'I, God, have spoken. I'll put an end to this. I'll throw you to the four winds. I'll scatter you all over the world. I'll put a full stop to your filthy living. You will be defiled, spattered with your own mud in the eyes of the nations. And you'll recognize that I am God.'"
^17-22 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, the people of Israel are slag to me, the useless byproduct of refined copper, tin, iron, and lead left at the smelter—a worthless slag heap. So tell them, 'God, the Master, has spoken: Because you've all become worthless slag, you're on notice: I'll assemble you in Jerusalem. As men gather silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into a furnace and blow fire on it to melt it down, so in my wrath I'll gather you and melt you down. I'll blow on you with the fire of my wrath to melt you down in the furnace. As silver is melted down, you'll be melted down. That should get through to you. Then you'll recognize that I, God, have let my wrath loose on you.'"
^23-25 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, tell her, 'You're a land that during the time I was angry with you got no rain, not so much as a spring shower. The leaders among you became desperate, like roaring, ravaging lions killing indiscriminately. They grabbed and looted, leaving widows in their wake.
^26-29 "'Your priests violated my law and desecrated my holy things. They can't tell the difference between sacred and secular. They tell people there's no difference between right and wrong. They're contemptuous of my holy Sabbaths, profaning me by trying to pull me down to their level. Your politicians are like wolves prowling and killing and rapaciously taking whatever they want. Your preachers cover up for the politicians by pretending to have received visions and special revelations. They say, "This is what God, the Master, says..." when God hasn't said so much as one word. Extortion is rife, robbery is epidemic, the poor and needy are abused, outsiders are kicked around at will, with no access to justice.'
^30-31 "I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn't have to destroy it. I couldn't find anyone. Not one. So I'll empty out my wrath on them, burn them to a crisp with my hot anger, serve them with the consequences of all they've done. Decree of God, the Master."

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Hebrews 10:1-17 (The Message)

Hebrews 10

The Sacrifice of Jesus

^1-10The old plan was only a hint of the good things in the new plan. Since that old "law plan" wasn't complete in itself, it couldn't complete those who followed it. No matter how many sacrifices were offered year after year, they never added up to a complete solution. If they had, the worshipers would have gone merrily on their way, no longer dragged down by their sins. But instead of removing awareness of sin, when those animal sacrifices were repeated over and over they actually heightened awareness and guilt. The plain fact is that bull and goat blood can't get rid of sin. That is what is meant by this prophecy, put in the mouth of Christ:

You don't want sacrifices and offerings year after year;
you've prepared a body for me for a sacrifice.
It's not fragrance and smoke from the altar
that whet your appetite.
So I said, "I'm here to do it your way, O God,
the way it's described in your Book."
When he said, "You don't want sacrifices and offerings," he was referring to practices according to the old plan. When he added, "I'm here to do it your way," he set aside the first in order to enact the new plan—God's way—by which we are made fit for God by the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus. ^11-18Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem. As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God and waited for his enemies to cave in. It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process. The Holy Spirit confirms this:

This new plan I'm making with Israel
isn't going to be written on paper,
isn't going to be chiseled in stone;
This time "I'm writing out the plan in them,
carving it on the lining of their hearts."
He concludes,
I'll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.
Once sins are taken care of for good, there's no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.

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Psalm 108:1-13 (The Message)

Psalm 108

A David Prayer

^1-2 I'm ready, God, so ready,
ready from head to toe.
Ready to sing,
ready to raise a God-song:
"Wake, soul! Wake, lute!
Wake up, you sleepyhead sun!"
^3-6 I'm thanking you, God, out in the streets,
singing your praises in town and country.
The deeper your love, the higher it goes;
every cloud's a flag to your faithfulness.
Soar high in the skies, O God!
Cover the whole earth with your glory!
And for the sake of the one you love so much,
reach down and help me—answer me!
^7-9 That's when God spoke in holy splendor:
"Brimming over with joy,
I make a present of Shechem,
I hand out Succoth Valley as a gift.
Gilead's in my pocket,
to say nothing of Manasseh.
Ephraim's my hard hat,
Judah my hammer.
Moab's a scrub bucket—
I mop the floor with Moab,
Spit on Edom,
rain fireworks all over Philistia."
^10-11 Who will take me to the thick of the fight?
Who'll show me the road to Edom?
You aren't giving up on us, are you, God?
refusing to go out with our troops?
^12-13 Give us help for the hard task;
human help is worthless.
In God we'll do our very best;
he'll flatten the opposition for good.

 

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Proverbs 27:12 (The Message)

¹² A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks;
a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.

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Verse of the Day

“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’” - Job 37:5-6

Today's passage is from the New International Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

American baseball player who pitched in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball (MLB), Satchel Paige wrote, “Age is a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.”

Bible Readings for May 7, 2014

Today our passages are 1 Samuel 1:1–2:21; John 5:1-23; Psalm 105:37-45; and Proverbs 14:28-29. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. If you missed a day, you can find all the readings at our blog, The Bible in a Year.

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1 Samuel 1-2:21 (The Message)

1 Samuel 1

Hannah Pours Out Her Heart to God

^1-2There once was a man who lived in Ramathaim. He was descended from the old Zuph family in the Ephraim hills. His name was Elkanah. (He was connected with the Zuphs from Ephraim through his father Jeroham, his grandfather Elihu, and his great-grandfather Tohu.) He had two wives. The first was Hannah; the second was Peninnah. Peninnah had children; Hannah did not. ^3-7 Every year this man went from his hometown up to Shiloh to worship and offer a sacrifice to God-of-the-Angel-Armies. Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, served as the priests of God there. When Elkanah sacrificed, he passed helpings from the sacrificial meal around to his wife Peninnah and all her children, but he always gave an especially generous helping to Hannah because he loved her so much, and because God had not given her children. But her rival wife taunted her cruelly, rubbing it in and never letting her forget that God had not given her children. This went on year after year. Every time she went to the sanctuary of God she could expect to be taunted. Hannah was reduced to tears and had no appetite.
⁸ Her husband Elkanah said, "Oh, Hannah, why are you crying? Why aren't you eating? And why are you so upset? Am I not of more worth to you than ten sons?"
^9-11 So Hannah ate. Then she pulled herself together, slipped away quietly, and entered the sanctuary. The priest Eli was on duty at the entrance to God's Temple in the customary seat. Crushed in soul, Hannah prayed to God and cried and cried—inconsolably. Then she made a vow:
Oh, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
If you'll take a good, hard look at my pain,
If you'll quit neglecting me and go into action for me
By giving me a son,
I'll give him completely, unreservedly to you.
I'll set him apart for a life of holy discipline.
^12-14 It so happened that as she continued in prayer before God, Eli was watching her closely. Hannah was praying in her heart, silently. Her lips moved, but no sound was heard. Eli jumped to the conclusion that she was drunk. He approached her and said, "You're drunk! How long do you plan to keep this up? Sober up, woman!"
^15-16 Hannah said, "Oh no, sir—please! I'm a woman hard used. I haven't been drinking. Not a drop of wine or beer. The only thing I've been pouring out is my heart, pouring it out to God. Don't for a minute think I'm a bad woman. It's because I'm so desperately unhappy and in such pain that I've stayed here so long."
¹⁷ Eli answered her, "Go in peace. And may the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him."
¹⁸ "Think well of me—and pray for me!" she said, and went her way. Then she ate heartily, her face radiant.
¹⁹ Up before dawn, they worshiped God and returned home to Ramah. Elkanah slept with Hannah his wife, and God began making the necessary arrangements in response to what she had asked.

Dedicating the Child to God

²⁰ Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, "I asked God for him." ^21-22 When Elkanah next took his family on their annual trip to Shiloh to worship God, offering sacrifices and keeping his vow, Hannah didn't go. She told her husband, "After the child is weaned, I'll bring him myself and present him before God—and that's where he'll stay, for good."
^23-24 Elkanah said to his wife, "Do what you think is best. Stay home until you have weaned him. Yes! Let God complete what he has begun!"
So she did. She stayed home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. Then she took him up to Shiloh, bringing also the makings of a generous sacrificial meal—a prize bull, flour, and wine. The child was so young to be sent off!
^25-26 They first butchered the bull, then brought the child to Eli. Hannah said, "Excuse me, sir. Would you believe that I'm the very woman who was standing before you at this very spot, praying to God? I prayed for this child, and God gave me what I asked for. And now I have dedicated him to God. He's dedicated to God for life."
Then and there, they worshiped God.

1 Samuel 2

¹ Hannah prayed: I'm bursting with God-news! I'm walking on air.
I'm laughing at my rivals. I'm dancing my salvation. ^2-5 Nothing and no one is holy like God,
no rock mountain like our God.
Don't dare talk pretentiously—
not a word of boasting, ever!
For God knows what's going on.
He takes the measure of everything that happens.
The weapons of the strong are smashed to pieces,
while the weak are infused with fresh strength.
The well-fed are out begging in the streets for crusts,
while the hungry are getting second helpings.
The barren woman has a houseful of children,
while the mother of many is bereft.
^6-10 God brings death and God brings life,
brings down to the grave and raises up.
God brings poverty and God brings wealth;
he lowers, he also lifts up.
He puts poor people on their feet again;
he rekindles burned-out lives with fresh hope,
Restoring dignity and respect to their lives—
a place in the sun!
For the very structures of earth are God's;
he has laid out his operations on a firm foundation.
He protectively cares for his faithful friends, step by step,
but leaves the wicked to stumble in the dark.
No one makes it in this life by sheer muscle!
God's enemies will be blasted out of the sky,
crashed in a heap and burned.
God will set things right all over the earth,
he'll give strength to his king,
he'll set his anointed on top of the world! ¹¹ Elkanah went home to Ramah. The boy stayed and served God in the company of Eli the priest.

Samuel Serves God

^12-17 Eli's own sons were a bad lot. They didn't know God and could not have cared less about the customs of priests among the people. Ordinarily, when someone offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant was supposed to come up and, while the meat was boiling, stab a three-pronged fork into the cooking pot. The priest then got whatever came up on the fork. But this is how Eli's sons treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices to God. Before they had even burned the fat to God, the priest's servant would interrupt whoever was sacrificing and say, "Hand over some of that meat for the priest to roast. He doesn't like boiled meat; he likes his rare." If the man objected, "First let the fat be burned—God's portion!—then take all you want," the servant would demand, "No, I want it now. If you won't give it, I'll take it." It was a horrible sin these young servants were committing—and right in the presence of God!—desecrating the holy offerings to God. ^18-20 In the midst of all this, Samuel, a boy dressed in a priestly linen tunic, served God. Additionally, every year his mother would make him a little robe cut to his size and bring it to him when she and her husband came for the annual sacrifice. Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, "God give you children to replace this child you have dedicated to God." Then they would go home.
²¹ God was most especially kind to Hannah. She had three more sons and two daughters! The boy Samuel stayed at the sanctuary and grew up with God.

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John 5:1-23 (The Message)

John 5

Even on the Sabbath

^1-6Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem.

Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, "Do you want to get well?"

⁷The sick man said, "Sir, when the water is stirred, I don't have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in."

^8-9Jesus said, "Get up, take your bedroll, start walking." The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.

^9-10That day happened to be the Sabbath. The Jews stopped the healed man and said, "It's the Sabbath. You can't carry your bedroll around. It's against the rules."

¹¹But he told them, "The man who made me well told me to. He said, 'Take your bedroll and start walking.'"

^12-13They asked, "Who gave you the order to take it up and start walking?" But the healed man didn't know, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd.

¹⁴A little later Jesus found him in the Temple and said, "You look wonderful! You're well! Don't return to a sinning life or something worse might happen."

^15-16The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. That is why the Jews were out to get Jesus—because he did this kind of thing on the Sabbath.

¹⁷But Jesus defended himself. "My Father is working straight through, even on the Sabbath. So am I."

¹⁸That really set them off. The Jews were now not only out to expose him; they were out to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was calling God his own Father, putting himself on a level with God.

What the Father Does, the Son Does

^19-20So Jesus explained himself at length. "I'm telling you this straight. The Son can't independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. The Father loves the Son and includes him in everything he is doing.

^20-23"But you haven't seen the half of it yet, for in the same way that the Father raises the dead and creates life, so does the Son. The Son gives life to anyone he chooses. Neither he nor the Father shuts anyone out. The Father handed all authority to judge over to the Son so that the Son will be honored equally with the Father. Anyone who dishonors the Son, dishonors the Father, for it was the Father's decision to put the Son in the place of honor.

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Psalm 105:37-45 (The Message)

^23-42 Then Israel entered Egypt,
Jacob immigrated to the Land of Ham.
God gave his people lots of babies;
soon their numbers alarmed their foes.
He turned the Egyptians against his people;
they abused and cheated God's servants.
Then he sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he also chose.
They worked marvels in that spiritual wasteland,
miracles in the Land of Ham.
He spoke, "Darkness!" and it turned dark—
they couldn't see what they were doing.
He turned all their water to blood
so that all their fish died;
He made frogs swarm through the land,
even into the king's bedroom;
He gave the word and flies swarmed,
gnats filled the air.
He substituted hail for rain,
he stabbed their land with lightning;
He wasted their vines and fig trees,
smashed their groves of trees to splinters;
With a word he brought in locusts,
millions of locusts, armies of locusts;
They consumed every blade of grass in the country
and picked the ground clean of produce;
He struck down every firstborn in the land,
the first fruits of their virile powers.
He led Israel out, their arms filled with loot,
and not one among his tribes even stumbled.
Egypt was glad to have them go—
they were scared to death of them.
God spread a cloud to keep them cool through the day
and a fire to light their way through the night;
They prayed and he brought quail,
filled them with the bread of heaven;
He opened the rock and water poured out;
it flowed like a river through that desert—
All because he remembered his Covenant,
his promise to Abraham, his servant.

^43-45 Remember this! He led his people out singing for joy;
his chosen people marched, singing their hearts out!
He made them a gift of the country they entered,
helped them seize the wealth of the nations
So they could do everything he told them—
could follow his instructions to the letter.
Hallelujah!

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Proverbs 14:28-29 (The Message)

²⁸ The mark of a good leader is loyal followers;
leadership is nothing without a following.

²⁹ Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding;
a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.

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Verse of the Day

“Always be joyful and never stop praying. Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

American baseball player, Satchel Paige wrote, “Don’t pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.”