Daily Bible GNT May 20 Scroll

Paul Tells of His Work

Acts 26 ¹⁹"And so, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the vision I had from heaven. ²⁰First in Damascus and in Jerusalem and then in the whole country of Israel and among the Gentiles, I preached that they must repent of their sins and turn to God and do the things that would show they had repented. ²¹It was for this reason that these Jews seized me while I was in the Temple, and they tried to kill me. ²²But to this very day I have been helped by God, and so I stand here giving my witness to all, to small and great alike. What I say is the very same thing which the prophets and Moses said was going to happen: ²³that the Messiah must suffer and be the first one to rise from death, to announce the light of salvation to the Jews and to the Gentiles."

²⁴As Paul defended himself in this way, Festus shouted at him, "You are mad, Paul! Your great learning is driving you mad!"

²⁵Paul answered, "I am not mad, Your Excellency! I am speaking the sober truth. ²⁶King Agrippa! I can speak to you with all boldness, because you know about these things. I am sure that you have taken notice of every one of them, for this thing has not happened hidden away in a corner. ²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do!"

²⁸Agrippa said to Paul, "In this short time do you think you will make me a Christian?"

²⁹"Whether a short time or a long time," Paul answered, "my prayer to God is that you and all the rest of you who are listening to me today might become what I am--except, of course, for these chains!"

³⁰Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others got up, ³¹and after leaving they said to each other, "This man has not done anything for which he should die or be put in prison." ³²And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been released if he had not appealed to the Emperor."

Elkanah and His Family at Shiloh

1 Samuel 1 There was a man named Elkanah, from the tribe of Ephraim, who lived in the town of Ramah in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham and grandson of Elihu, and belonged to the family of Tohu, a part of the clan of Zuph. ²Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not. ³Every year Elkanah went from Ramah to worship and offer sacrifices to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD. ⁴Each time Elkanah offered his sacrifice, he would give one share of the meat to Peninnah and one share to each of her children. ⁵And even though he loved Hannah very much he would give her only one share, because the LORD had kept her from having children. ⁶Peninnah, her rival, would torment and humiliate her, because the LORD had kept her childless. ⁷This went on year after year; whenever they went to the house of the LORD, Peninnah would upset Hannah so much that she would cry and refuse to eat anything. ⁸Her husband Elkanah would ask her, "Hannah, why are you crying? Why won't you eat? Why are you always so sad? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"

Hannah and Eli

^9-10One time, after they had finished their meal in the house of the LORD at Shiloh, Hannah got up. She was deeply distressed, and she cried bitterly as she prayed to the LORD. Meanwhile, Eli the priest was sitting in his place by the door. ¹¹Hannah made a solemn promise: "LORD Almighty, look at me, your servant! See my trouble and remember me! Don't forget me! If you give me a son, I promise that I will dedicate him to you for his whole life and that he will never have his hair cut."

¹²Hannah continued to pray to the LORD for a long time, and Eli watched her lips. ¹³She was praying silently; her lips were moving, but she made no sound. So Eli thought that she was drunk, ¹⁴and he said to her, "Stop making a drunken show of yourself ! Stop your drinking and sober up!"

¹⁵"No, I'm not drunk, sir," she answered. "I haven't been drinking! I am desperate, and I have been praying, pouring out my troubles to the LORD. ¹⁶Don't think I am a worthless woman. I have been praying like this because I'm so miserable."

¹⁷"Go in peace," Eli said, "and may the God of Israel give you what you have asked him for."

¹⁸"May you always think kindly of me," she replied. Then she went away, ate some food, and was no longer sad.

Samuel's Birth and Dedication

¹⁹The next morning Elkanah and his family got up early, and after worshiping the LORD, they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the LORD answered her prayer. ²⁰So it was that she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, and explained, "I asked the LORD for him."

²¹The time came again for Elkanah and his family to go to Shiloh and offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice and the special sacrifice he had promised. ²²But this time Hannah did not go. She told her husband, "As soon as the child is weaned, I will take him to the house of the LORD, where he will stay all his life."

²³Elkanah answered, "All right, do whatever you think best; stay at home until you have weaned him. And may the LORD make your promise come true." So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her child.

²⁴After she had weaned him, she took him to Shiloh, taking along a three-year-old bull, a bushel of flour, and a leather bag full of wine. She took Samuel, young as he was, to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. ²⁵After they had killed the bull, they took the child to Eli. ²⁶Hannah said to him, "Excuse me, sir. Do you remember me? I am the woman you saw standing here, praying to the LORD. ²⁷I asked him for this child, and he gave me what I asked for. ²⁸So I am dedicating him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he will belong to the LORD."

Then they worshiped the LORD there.

Hannah's Prayer

1 Samuel 2 Hannah prayed:

"The LORD has filled my heart with joy;

how happy I am because of what he has done!

I laugh at my enemies;

how joyful I am because God has helped me!

²"No one is holy like the LORD;

there is none like him,

no protector like our God.

³Stop your loud boasting;

silence your proud words.

For the LORD is a God who knows,

and he judges all that people do.

⁴The bows of strong soldiers are broken,

but the weak grow strong.

⁵The people who once were well fed

now hire themselves out to get food,

but the hungry are hungry no more.

The childless wife has borne seven children,

but the mother of many is left with none.

⁶The LORD kills and restores to life;

he sends people to the world of the dead

and brings them back again.

⁷He makes some people poor and others rich;

he humbles some and makes others great.

⁸He lifts the poor from the dust

and raises the needy from their misery.

He makes them companions of princes

and puts them in places of honor.

The foundations of the earth belong to the LORD;

on them he has built the world.

⁹"He protects the lives of his faithful people,

but the wicked disappear in darkness;

a man does not triumph by his own strength.

¹⁰The LORD's enemies will be destroyed;

he will thunder against them from heaven.

The LORD will judge the whole world;

he will give power to his king,

he will make his chosen king victorious."

¹¹Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel stayed in Shiloh and served the LORD under the priest Eli.

The Foolishness of Trusting in Riches

Psalm 49 Hear this, everyone!
Listen, all people everywhere,

great and small alike,

rich and poor together.

³My thoughts will be clear;

I will speak words of wisdom.

⁴I will turn my attention to proverbs

and explain their meaning as I play the harp.

⁵I am not afraid in times of danger

when I am surrounded by enemies,

⁶by evil people who trust in their riches

and boast of their great wealth.

⁷We can never redeem ourselves;

we cannot pay God the price for our lives,

⁸

because the payment for a human life is too great.

What we could pay would never be enough

⁹

to keep us from the grave,

to let us live forever.

¹⁰Anyone can see that even the wise die,

as well as the foolish and stupid.

They all leave their riches to their descendants.

¹¹Their graves are their homes forever;

there they stay for all time,

though they once had lands of their own.

¹²Our greatness cannot keep us from death;

we will still die like the animals.

¹³See what happens to those who trust in themselves,

the fate of those who are satisfied with their wealth--

¹⁴they are doomed to die like sheep,

and Death will be their shepherd.

The righteous will triumph over them,

as their bodies quickly decay

in the world of the dead far from their homes.

¹⁵But God will rescue me;

he will save me from the power of death.

¹⁶Don't be upset when someone becomes rich,

when his wealth grows even greater;

¹⁷he cannot take it with him when he dies;

his wealth will not go with him to the grave.

¹⁸Even if someone is satisfied with this life

and is praised because he is successful,

¹⁹he will join all his ancestors in death,

where the darkness lasts forever.

²⁰Our greatness cannot keep us from death;

we will still die like the animals.

This reading is from The Holy Bible, Today's English Version, Second Edition copyright © American Bible Society, 1992;
Old Testament copyright © American Bible Society, 1976, 1992; New Testament © American Bible Society, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992.

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