The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NET. Switch to the NET to read along with the audio.
Eli Rebukes His Sons
22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard (A)all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with (B)the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 23 He said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? 24 No, my sons; for the report is not good (C)which I hear [a]the Lord’s people circulating. 25 If one man sins against another, (D)God will mediate for him; but (E)if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the (F)Lord desired to put them to death.
26 Now the boy (G)Samuel [b]was growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men.
27 Then (H)a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘(I)Did I not indeed reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house? 28 (J)Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before Me; and did I not (K)give to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel? 29 Why do you (L)kick at My sacrifice and at My offering (M)which I have commanded in My (N)dwelling, and (O)honor your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the [c]choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’ 30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘(P)I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever’; but now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for (Q)those who honor Me I will honor, and those (R)who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, (S)the days are coming when I will break your [d]strength and the [e]strength of your father’s house so that there will not be an old man in your house. 32 You will see (T)the distress of My dwelling, in spite of all the good that [f]I do for Israel; and an (U)old man will not be in your house forever. 33 Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from My altar [g]so that your eyes will fail from weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase of your house will die [h]in the prime of life. 34 This will be (V)the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas: (W)on the same day both of them will die. 35 But (X)I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and in My soul; and (Y)I will build him an enduring house, and he will walk before (Z)My anointed always. 36 Everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a [i]piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, “Please [j]assign me to one of the priest’s offices so that I may eat a piece of bread.”’”
The Prophetic Call to Samuel
3 Now (AA)the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And (AB)word from the Lord was rare in those days, [k]visions were infrequent.
2 It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now (AC)his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), 3 and (AD)the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, 4 that the Lord called Samuel; and he said, “(AE)Here I am.” 5 Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6 The Lord called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he [l]answered, “I did not call, my son, lie down again.” 7 (AF)Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him. 8 So the Lord called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” 11 The Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, (AG)I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 In that day (AH)I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For (AI)I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for (AJ)the iniquity which he knew, because (AK)his sons brought a curse on themselves and (AL)he did not rebuke them. 14 Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that (AM)the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
15 So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he (AN)opened the doors of the house of the Lord. But Samuel was afraid to tell (AO)the vision to Eli. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” 17 He said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. (AP)May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “(AQ)It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him.”
19 Thus (AR)Samuel grew and (AS)the Lord was with him and (AT)let none of his words [m]fail. 20 All Israel (AU)from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21 And (AV)the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, (AW)because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
Philistines Take the Ark in Victory
4 Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside (AX)Ebenezer while the Philistines camped in (AY)Aphek. 2 The Philistines drew up in battle array to meet Israel. When the battle spread, Israel was [n]defeated before the Philistines who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. 3 When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “(AZ)Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? (BA)Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that [o]it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts (BB)who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
5 As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, (BC)all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded. 6 When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. 7 The Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” And they said, “(BD)Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8 Woe to us! Who shall deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9 (BE)Take courage and be men, O Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, (BF)as they have been slaves to you; therefore, be men and fight.”
10 So the Philistines fought and (BG)Israel was [p]defeated, and (BH)every man fled to his tent; and the slaughter was very great, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 And the ark of God was taken; and (BI)the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
12 Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with (BJ)his clothes torn and [q]dust on his head. 13 When he came, behold, (BK)Eli was sitting on his seat [r]by the road eagerly watching, because his heart was trembling for the ark of God. So the man came to tell it in the city, and all the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the noise of this commotion mean?” Then the man came hurriedly and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and (BL)his eyes were set so that he could not see. 16 The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped from the battle line today.” And he said, “(BM)How did things go, my son?” 17 Then the one who brought the news replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken.” 18 When he mentioned the ark of God, [s](BN)Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for [t]he was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel forty years.
19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, was pregnant and about to give birth; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “(BO)Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21 And she called the boy [u]Ichabod, saying, “(BP)The glory has departed from Israel,” because (BQ)the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken.”
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and (A)believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and (B)does not come into judgment, but has (C)passed out of death into life.
Two Resurrections
25 Truly, truly, I say to you, (D)an hour is coming and now is, when (E)the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who (F)hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He (G)gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; 27 and He gave Him authority to (H)execute judgment, because He is [a]the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for (I)an hour is coming, in which (J)all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; (K)those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
30 “(L)I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and (M)My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but (N)the will of Him who sent Me.
31 “(O)If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not [b]true. 32 There is (P)another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.
Witness of John
33 You have sent to John, and he (Q)has testified to the truth. 34 But (R)the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was (S)the lamp that was burning and was shining and you (T)were willing to rejoice for [c]a while in his light.
Witness of Works
36 But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for (U)the works which the Father has given Me (V)to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father (W)has sent Me.
Witness of the Father
37 And the Father who sent Me, (X)He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. 38 You do not have (Y)His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He (Z)sent.
Witness of the Scripture
39 [d](AA)You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is (AB)these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. 41 (AC)I do not receive glory from men; 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; (AD)if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you (AE)receive [e]glory from one another and you do not seek (AF)the [f]glory that is from (AG)the one and only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is (AH)Moses, in whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for (AI)he wrote about Me. 47 But (AJ)if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Israel’s Rebelliousness and the Lord’s Deliverances.
106 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Oh (A)give thanks to the Lord, for He (B)is good;
For (C)His lovingkindness is everlasting.
2 Who can speak of the (D)mighty deeds of the Lord,
Or can show forth all His praise?
3 How blessed are those who keep [c]justice,
[d]Who (E)practice righteousness at all times!
4 Remember me, O Lord, in Your (F)favor [e]toward Your people;
Visit me with Your salvation,
5 That I may see the (G)prosperity of Your chosen ones,
That I may (H)rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
That I may (I)glory with Your [f]inheritance.
6 (J)We have sinned [g](K)like our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your [h]wonders;
They (L)did not remember [i]Your abundant kindnesses,
But (M)rebelled by the sea, at the [j]Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them (N)for the sake of His name,
That He might (O)make His power known.
9 Thus He (P)rebuked the [k]Red Sea and it (Q)dried up,
And He (R)led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness.
10 So He (S)saved them from the [l]hand of the one who hated them,
And (T)redeemed them from the [m]hand of the enemy.
11 (U)The waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.
12 Then they (V)believed His words;
They (W)sang His praise.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.