The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday May 7, 2022 (NIV)

The Birth of Samuel

1 Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim Zuphim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ² And he had two wives; the name of one was Hannah and the name of the second was Peninnah. Now Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

³ This man went up out of his city annually to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh. And there the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the Lord. ⁴ When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters. ⁵ But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved Hannah, but the Lord had closed her womb. ⁶ Now her rival provoked her greatly, making her miserable because the Lord had closed her womb. ⁷ Thus it was yearly, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her. So Hannah wept and did not eat. ⁸ Then said Elkanah her husband to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? And why do you not eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

⁹ So Hannah arose after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a seat by the door of the tabernacle of the Lord. ¹⁰ And she was bitter, and prayed to the Lord, and wept severely. ¹¹ So she made a vow and said, “O Lord of Hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant, and remember me and not forget Your maidservant, but will give to Your maidservant a baby boy, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”^[a]

¹² And as she was praying before the Lord, Eli watched her mouth. ¹³ Now Hannah was speaking in her heart. Her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. ¹⁴ So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine from you.”

¹⁵ And Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrow. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not consider your handmaid to be a sinful woman, for out of the abundance of my concern and provocation I have spoken until now.”

¹⁷ Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant you your request that you have asked of Him.”

¹⁸ And she said, “Let your handmaid find grace in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was not sad as before.

¹⁹ They rose up in the morning early and worshipped before the Lord. And they returned and came to their house to Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. ²⁰ And it came to pass that Hannah conceived and bore a son. And she called his name Samuel saying, “Because I have asked him of the Lord.”

The Dedication of Samuel

²¹ Then the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow. ²² But Hannah did not go, for she said to her husband, “I will not go up until the child is weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord and live there forever.”

²³ So Elkanah her husband said to her, “Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may the Lord establish His word.” So the woman remained, and nursed her son until she weaned him.

²⁴ When she had weaned him, she took him up with her with three bulls, one ephah^[b] of flour, and a bottle of wine. And she brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, though the boy was young. ²⁵ Then they slaughtered a bull, and they brought the boy to Eli. ²⁶ And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman that stood by you here praying to the Lord. ²⁷ For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. ²⁸ Therefore also I have let the Lord have him. As long as he lives he will be dedicated to the Lord.” And he worshipped the Lord there.

The Prayer of Hannah

2 Hannah prayed, saying:

¹¹ Then Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the boy ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest.

Wicked Sons of Eli

¹² Now the sons of Eli were corrupt. They did not know the Lord. ¹³ The priest’s custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant came while the flesh was cooking with a three-pronged fork in his hand. ¹⁴ And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot, and all that the fork brought up the priest took for himself. This they did in Shiloh to all the children of Israel who came there. ¹⁵ Even before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast. For he will not take boiled meat from you, but only raw.”

¹⁶ If any man said to him, “Let them first burn the fat and then take as much as you wish,” then he would answer him, “No, but you will give it to me now, and if not, I will take it by force.”

¹⁷ Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord. For the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

God Blesses Hannah

¹⁸ But Samuel ministered before the Lord, as a boy, wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁹ Now his mother would make him a little coat and brought it to him every year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “The Lord give you offspring from this woman for the sake of the request which was made to the Lord.” Then they would return to their home. ²¹ The Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the Lord.

The Healing at the Pool

5 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ² Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five porches. ³ In these lay a great crowd of invalids, blind, lame, and paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. ⁴ For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water. After the stirring of the water, whoever stepped in first was healed of whatever disease he had. ⁵ A certain man was there who had an illness for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been in that condition now a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

⁷ The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. But while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

⁸ Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” ⁹ Immediately the man was healed, took up his bed, and walked.

That day was the Sabbath. ¹⁰ The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath day. It is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

¹¹ He answered them, “He who healed me said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”

¹² So they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”

¹³ Now the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in that place.

¹⁴ Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have become whole. Sin no more lest something worse happens to you.” ¹⁵ The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

¹⁶ So the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day. ¹⁷ Jesus answered them, “My Father is working still, and I am working.” ¹⁸ So the Jews sought even more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

The Authority of the Son

¹⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, likewise the Son does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself does. And He will show Him greater works than these so that you may marvel. ²¹ For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. ²² The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all men should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.