Come to Our Help
To the choirmaster. cA Maskil1 of the Sons of Korah.
1 O God, we have heard with our ears,
dour fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
ein the days of old:
2 you with your own hand fdrove out the nations,
but gthem you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but hthem you set free;
3 for not iby their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and jthe light of your face,
kfor you delighted in them.
4 lYou are my King, O God;
mordain salvation for Jacob!
5 Through you we npush down our foes;
through your name we otread down those who rise up against us.
6 For not in pmy bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have qput to shame those who hate us.
8 rIn God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 But you have srejected us and disgraced us
and thave not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us uturn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like vsheep for slaughter
and have wscattered us among the nations.
12 xYou have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us ythe taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and zscorn of those around us.
14 You have made us aa byword among the nations,
ba laughingstock2 among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and cshame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of dthe enemy and the avenger.
17 eAll this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our fsteps gdeparted from your way;
19 yet you have hbroken us in the place of ijackals
and covered us with jthe shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or kspread out our hands to la foreign god,
21 mwould not God discover this?
nFor he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet ofor your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 pAwake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! qDo not reject us forever!
24 Why rdo you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our ssoul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; tcome to our help!
uRedeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!
The Birth of Samuel
1 There was a certain man of aRamathaim-zophim of bthe hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, can Ephrathite. 2 He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3 Now this man used to go up dyear by year from his city eto worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts fat Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. 4 On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, ghe would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.1 6 And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? hAm I not more to you than ten sons?”
9 After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of ithe temple of the Lord. 10 She was jdeeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 And she kvowed a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed llook on the affliction of your servant and mremember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, nand no razor shall touch his head.”
12 As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. 14 And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on being drunk? Put your wine away from you.” 15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but oI have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not regard your servant as pa worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” 17 Then Eli answered, q“Go in peace, and the God of Israel rgrant your petition that you have made to him.” 18 And she said, s“Let your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman twent her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at uRamah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord vremembered her. 20 And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.”2
Samuel Given to the Lord
21 The man Elkanah and all his house wwent up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord xand dwell there forever.” 23 yElkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems best to you; wait until you have weaned him; zonly, may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24 And when she had weaned him, ashe took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull,3 an ephah4 of flour, and a skin of wine, and she brought him to bthe house of the Lord at Shiloh. And the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, “Oh, my lord! cAs you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. 27 For this child I prayed, dand the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 28 Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”
eAnd he worshiped the Lord there.
The Rich Young Man
17 uAnd as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and vknelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to winherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: x‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, yall these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, zlooking at him, aloved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, bsell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have ctreasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 dDisheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus elooked around and said to his disciples, f“How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter gthe kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples hwere amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, i“Children, jhow difficult it is1 to enter gthe kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter gthe kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,2 “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus klooked at them and said, l“With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, mwe have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, nthere is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and ofor the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold pnow in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, qwith persecutions, and in rthe age to come eternal life. 31 But smany who are first will be last, and the last first.”
