Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 oIn you, O Lord, do I ptake refuge;
qlet me never be put to shame;
in your rrighteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
a strong fortress to save me!
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your uname’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4 you vtake me out of wthe net they have hidden for me,
for you are my xrefuge.
5 yInto your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, zfaithful God.
6 I ahate1 those who pay bregard to worthless cidols,
but I trust in the Lord.
7 I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have dknown the distress of my soul,
8 and you have not edelivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in fa broad place.
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am gin distress;
hmy eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and imy bones waste away.
11 Because of all my adversaries I have become ja reproach,
especially to my kneighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street lflee from me.
12 I have been mforgotten like one who is dead;
I have become like na broken vessel.
13 For I ohear the whispering of many—
terror on every side!—
pas they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.
14 But I qtrust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My rtimes are in your hand;
srescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16 tMake your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
17 O Lord, ulet me not be put to shame,
for I call upon you;
let the wicked be put to shame;
let them go vsilently to Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be mute,
which wspeak xinsolently against the righteous
in pride and contempt.
19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
yin the sight of the children of mankind!
20 In zthe cover of your presence you hide them
from the plots of men;
you astore them in your shelter
from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,
for he has wondrously bshown his steadfast love to me
when I was in ca besieged city.
“I am ecut off from fyour sight.”
But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy
when I cried to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you his gsaints!
The Lord preserves the faithful
but abundantly hrepays the one who acts in pride.
24 iBe strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!
Hannah’s Prayer
1 And Hannah prayed and said,
f“My heart exults in the Lord;
gmy horn is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because hI rejoice in your salvation.
2 i“There is none holy like the Lord:
for there is none besides you;
there is jno rock like our God.
3 Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
4 kThe bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble bind on strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
lThe barren has borne seven,
mbut she who has many children is forlorn.
6 nThe Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
7 oThe Lord makes poor and makes rich;
phe brings low and he exalts.
8 qHe raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap
rto make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
sFor the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
and on them he has set the world.
9 t“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness,
for not by might shall a man prevail.
10 uThe adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces;
vagainst them he will thunder in heaven.
wThe Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king
xand exalt the horn of his anointed.”
11 Then Elkanah went home yto Ramah. zAnd the boy1 was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.
Eli’s Worthless Sons
12 Now the sons of Eli were aworthless men. bThey did not know the Lord. 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Moreover, cbefore the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great din the sight of the Lord, efor the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.
18 fSamuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy gclothed with a linen ephod. 19 And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year hwhen she went 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 by this woman ifor the petition she asked of the Lord.” So then they would return to their home.
21 jIndeed the Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. kAnd the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.
Eli Rebukes His Sons
22 Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who lwere serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. 24 No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. 25 If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, mfor it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.
26 Now the boy Samuel ncontinued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.
The Lord Rejects Eli’s Household
27 And there came oa man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, p‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? 28 qDid I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, rto wear an ephod before me? sI gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. 29 Why then do you tscorn2 my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’ 30 Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: v‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ wbut now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, xthe days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 Then yin distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, zand there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 33 The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his3 eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants4 of your house shall die by the sword of men.5 34 aAnd this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die bon the same day. 35 cAnd I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. dAnd I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before emy anointed forever. 36 And everyone who is left in your house shall come to implore him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, “Please put me in one of the priests’ places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.”’”
