Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 2

¹¹ Elkanah went home to Ramah,^(ab) but the boy served the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.^(ac)

Eli's Family Judged

¹² Eli's sons were wicked men;^(ad) they had no regard for the Lord ^{(ae) 13} or for the priests' share of the sacrifices from the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling ¹⁴ and plunge it into the container or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot.^(af) The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. ¹⁵ Even before the fat was burned,^(ag) the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won't accept boiled meat from you—only raw." ¹⁶ If that man said to him, "The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,"^(ah) the servant would reply, "No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don't, I'll take it by force!" ¹⁷ So the servants' sin was very severe in the presence of the Lord , because they treated the Lord 's offering with contempt.^(ai)

¹⁸ The boy Samuel served in the Lord 's presence^(aj) and wore a linen ephod.^{(ak) 19} Each year his mother made him a little robe^(al) and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.^{(am) 20} Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife:^(an) "May the Lord give you children by this woman in place of the one she^[d] has given to the Lord ."^(ao) Then they would go home.

²¹ The Lord paid attention to Hannah's need,^(ap) and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord .^(aq)

²² Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel^(ar) and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.^{(as) 23} He said to them, "Why are you doing these things? I have heard about your evil actions from all these people. ²⁴ No, my sons, the report I hear from the Lord 's people is not good. ²⁵ If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him, but if a man sins against the Lord , who can intercede for him?"^(at) But they would not listen to their father, since the Lord intended to kill them.^{(au) 26} By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men.^(av)

²⁷ A man of God came to Eli and said to him,^(aw) "This is what the Lord says: ‘Didn't I reveal Myself to your ancestral house when it was in Egypt and belonged to Pharaoh's palace?^{(ax) 28} Out of all the tribes of Israel, I selected your house^[e] to be priests, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence.^(ay) I also gave your house all the Israelite fire offerings. ²⁹ Why, then, do all of you despise My sacrifices and offerings that I require at the place of worship?^(az) You have honored your sons more than Me,^(ba) by making yourselves fat with the best part of all of the offerings of My people Israel.'

³⁰ "Therefore, this is the declaration of the Lord , the God of Israel:

³¹ "‘Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your ancestral family, so that none in your family will reach old age.^{(be) 32} You will see distress in the place of worship,^(bf) in spite of all that is good in Israel, and no one in your family will ever again reach old age.^{(bg) 33} Any man from your family I do not cut off from My altar will bring grief^[f] and sadness to you. All your descendants will die violently.^{[g][h] 34} This will be the sign that will come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas:^(bh) both of them will die on the same day.^(bi)

³⁵ "‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest^(bj) for Myself. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him,^(bk) and he will walk before My anointed one for all time.^{(bl) 36} Anyone who is left in your family will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread. He will say: Please appoint me to some priestly office so I can have a piece of bread to eat.'"

Chapter 27

Sailing for Rome

¹ When it was decided that we were to sail to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Imperial Regiment.^{(a) 2} So when we had boarded a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, intending to sail to ports along the coast of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us.^{(b) 3} The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to his friends to receive their care.^{(c) 4} When we had put out to sea from there, we sailed along the northern coast^[a] of Cyprus because the winds were against us. ⁵ After sailing through the open sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we reached Myra in Lycia.^{(d) 6} There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. ⁷ Sailing slowly for many days, we came with difficulty as far as Cnidus. Since the wind did not allow us to approach it, we sailed along the south side^[b] of Crete off Salmone. ⁸ With yet more difficulty we sailed along the coast and came to a place called Fair Havens near the city of Lasea.

Paul's Advice Ignored

⁹ By now much time had passed, and the voyage was already dangerous. Since the Fast^[c](e) was already over, Paul gave his advice ¹⁰ and told them, "Men, I can see that this voyage is headed toward damage and heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives." ¹¹ But the centurion paid attention to the captain and the owner of the ship rather than to what Paul said.^{(f) 12} Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to set sail from there, hoping somehow to reach Phoenix, a harbor on Crete^(g) open to the southwest and northwest, and to winter there.