Rediscovering Hope: Experiencing God’s Healing to Expect Again

Life to the Full: A Study on Whole-Life Generosity

Friend in High Places: 5-Day Devotional

Faith-Fueled Leadership: Embracing Gratitude and Grace

Watch Your Mouth!

It Is Christmas: The Journey of the Nativity

Fervent Still

Promises

Romans

Come Away: Learning to Rest With Jesus

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1SA">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="1SA.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">The Birth of Samuel</div><div class="p"> 1There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite#1:1 See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 6:26-27,33-35; or from Ramathaim Zuphim. from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.</div><div class="p"> 3Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord. 4Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. 6Because the Lord had closed Hannah&#8217;s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. 8Her husband Elkanah would say to her, &#8220;Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don&#8217;t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don&#8217;t I mean more to you than ten sons?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord&#8217;s house. 10In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11And she made a vow, saying, &#8220;Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant&#8217;s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14and said to her, &#8220;How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15&#8220;Not so, my lord,&#8221; Hannah replied, &#8220;I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. 16Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17Eli answered, &#8220;Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18She said, &#8220;May your servant find favor in your eyes.&#8221; Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.</div><div class="p"> 19Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,#1:20 Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for heard by God. saying, &#8220;Because I asked the Lord for him.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Hannah Dedicates Samuel</div><div class="p"> 21When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, 22Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, &#8220;After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.&#8221;#1:22 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls always. I have dedicated him as a Nazirite&#8212;all the days of his life.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23&#8220;Do what seems best to you,&#8221; her husband Elkanah told her. &#8220;Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good his#1:23 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac your word.&#8221; So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.</div><div class="p"> 24After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,#1:24 Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint and Syriac; Masoretic Text with three bulls an ephah#1:24 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. 25When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, 26and she said to him, &#8220;Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.&#8221; And he worshiped the Lord there.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">Hannah&#8217;s Prayer</div><div class="p"> 1Then Hannah prayed and said:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;My heart rejoices in the Lord;</div><div class="q2">in the Lord my horn#2:1 Horn here symbolizes strength; also in verse 10. is lifted high.</div><div class="q1">My mouth boasts over my enemies,</div><div class="q2">for I delight in your deliverance.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 2&#8220;There is no one holy like the Lord;</div><div class="q2">there is no one besides you;</div><div class="q2">there is no Rock like our God.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 3&#8220;Do not keep talking so proudly</div><div class="q2">or let your mouth speak such arrogance,</div><div class="q1">for the Lord is a God who knows,</div><div class="q2">and by him deeds are weighed.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 4&#8220;The bows of the warriors are broken,</div><div class="q2">but those who stumbled are armed with strength.</div><div class="q1"> 5Those who were full hire themselves out for food,</div><div class="q2">but those who were hungry are hungry no more.</div><div class="q1">She who was barren has borne seven children,</div><div class="q2">but she who has had many sons pines away.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 6&#8220;The Lord brings death and makes alive;</div><div class="q2">he brings down to the grave and raises up.</div><div class="q1"> 7The Lord sends poverty and wealth;</div><div class="q2">he humbles and he exalts.</div><div class="q1"> 8He raises the poor from the dust</div><div class="q2">and lifts the needy from the ash heap;</div><div class="q1">he seats them with princes</div><div class="q2">and has them inherit a throne of honor.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1">&#8220;For the foundations of the earth are the Lord&#8217;s;</div><div class="q2">on them he has set the world.</div><div class="q1"> 9He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,</div><div class="q2">but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1">&#8220;It is not by strength that one prevails;</div><div class="q2"> 10those who oppose the Lord will be broken.</div><div class="q1">The Most High will thunder from heaven;</div><div class="q2">the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1">&#8220;He will give strength to his king</div><div class="q2">and exalt the horn of his anointed.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy ministered before the Lord under Eli the priest.</div><div class="s1">Eli&#8217;s Wicked Sons</div><div class="p"> 12Eli&#8217;s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. 13Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest&#8217;s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled 14and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. 15But even before the fat was burned, the priest&#8217;s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, &#8220;Give the priest some meat to roast; he won&#8217;t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16If the person said to him, &#8220;Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,&#8221; the servant would answer, &#8220;No, hand it over now; if you don&#8217;t, I&#8217;ll take it by force.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord&#8217;s sight, for they#2:17 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text people were treating the Lord&#8217;s offering with contempt.</div><div class="p"> 18But Samuel was ministering before the Lord&#8212;a boy wearing a linen ephod. 19Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. 20Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, &#8220;May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to#2:20 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text and asked from the Lord.&#8221; Then they would go home. 21And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 22Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23So he said to them, &#8220;Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. 24No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord&#8217;s people is not good. 25If one person sins against another, God#2:25 Or the judges may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?&#8221; His sons, however, did not listen to their father&#8217;s rebuke, for it was the Lord&#8217;s will to put them to death.</div><div class="p"> 26And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.</div><div class="s1">Prophecy Against the House of Eli</div><div class="p"> 27Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him, &#8220;This is what the Lord says: &#8216;Did I not clearly reveal myself to your ancestor&#8217;s family when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh? 28I chose your ancestor out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your ancestor&#8217;s family all the food offerings presented by the Israelites. 29Why do you#2:29 The Hebrew is plural. scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 30&#8220;Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: &#8216;I promised that members of your family would minister before me forever.&#8217; But now the Lord declares: &#8216;Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained. 31The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age, 32and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, no one in your family line will ever reach old age. 33Every one of you that I do not cut off from serving at my altar I will spare only to destroy your sight and sap your strength, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.</div><div class="p"> 34&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you&#8212;they will both die on the same day. 35I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always. 36Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread and plead, &#8220;Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat.&#8221;&#8198;&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1SA">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="1SA.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">The Lord Calls Samuel</div><div class="p"> 1The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.</div><div class="p"> 2One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4Then the Lord called Samuel.</div><div class="p">Samuel answered, &#8220;Here I am.&#8221; 5And he ran to Eli and said, &#8220;Here I am; you called me.&#8221;</div><div class="p">But Eli said, &#8220;I did not call; go back and lie down.&#8221; So he went and lay down.</div><div class="p"> 6Again the Lord called, &#8220;Samuel!&#8221; And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, &#8220;Here I am; you called me.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;My son,&#8221; Eli said, &#8220;I did not call; go back and lie down.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.</div><div class="p"> 8A third time the Lord called, &#8220;Samuel!&#8221; And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, &#8220;Here I am; you called me.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9So Eli told Samuel, &#8220;Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, &#8216;Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; So Samuel went and lay down in his place.</div><div class="p"> 10The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, &#8220;Samuel! Samuel!&#8221;</div><div class="p">Then Samuel said, &#8220;Speak, for your servant is listening.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11And the Lord said to Samuel: &#8220;See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. 12At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family&#8212;from beginning to end. 13For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God,#3:13 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition (see also Septuagint); Masoretic Text sons made themselves contemptible and he failed to restrain them. 14Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, &#8216;The guilt of Eli&#8217;s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16but Eli called him and said, &#8220;Samuel, my son.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Samuel answered, &#8220;Here I am.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17&#8220;What was it he said to you?&#8221; Eli asked. &#8220;Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.&#8221; 18So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, &#8220;He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel&#8217;s words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. 21The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.</div>
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New International Version

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkLUK">
 <div class="chapter ch12" data-usfm="LUK.12.1+LUK.12.2+LUK.12.3+LUK.12.4+LUK.12.5+LUK.12.6+LUK.12.7+LUK.12.8+LUK.12.9+LUK.12.10+LUK.12.11+LUK.12.12+LUK.12.13+LUK.12.14+LUK.12.15+LUK.12.16+LUK.12.17+LUK.12.18+LUK.12.19+LUK.12.20+LUK.12.21+LUK.12.22+LUK.12.23+LUK.12.24+LUK.12.25+LUK.12.26+LUK.12.27+LUK.12.28+LUK.12.29+LUK.12.30+LUK.12.31+LUK.12.32+LUK.12.33+LUK.12.34">
 <div class="p">1Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: &#8220;Be#12:1 Or speak to his disciples, saying: &#8220;First of all, be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.</div><div class="p"> 4 &#8220;I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don&#8217;t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.</div><div class="p"> 8 &#8220;I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. 9But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. 10And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.</div><div class="p"> 11 &#8220;When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">The Parable of the Rich Fool</div><div class="p"> 13Someone in the crowd said to him, &#8220;Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14Jesus replied, &#8220;Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?&#8221; 15Then he said to them, &#8220;Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16And he told them this parable: &#8220;The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17He thought to himself, &#8216;What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 18 &#8220;Then he said, &#8216;This is what I&#8217;ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19And I&#8217;ll say to myself, &#8220;You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.&#8221;&#8198;&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 20 &#8220;But God said to him, &#8216;You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 21 &#8220;This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Do Not Worry</div><div class="p"> 22Then Jesus said to his disciples: &#8220;Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life#12:25 Or single cubit to your height? 26Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?</div><div class="p"> 27 &#8220;Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you&#8212;you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.</div><div class="p"> 32 &#8220;Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.</div>
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