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1
Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
1
Samuel 16:1-13
16:1 The LORD said to
Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected
him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set
out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have
provided for myself a king among his sons."
16:2
Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill
me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and
say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'
16:3
Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall
do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you."
16:4
Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The
elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do
you come peaceably?"
16:5
He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD;
sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." And
he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the
sacrifice.
16:6
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the
Lord's anointed is now before the LORD."
16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance
or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for
the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward
appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."
16:8
Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He
said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one."
16:9
Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has
the LORD chosen this one."
16:10
Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said
to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any of these."
16:11
Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he
said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the
sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him;
for we will not sit down until he comes here."
16:12
He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful
eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, "Rise and anoint him;
for this is the one."
16:13
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence
of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon
David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to
Ramah.
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Psalm
23
23:1 The LORD is my
shepherd, I shall not want.
23:2
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still
waters;
23:3
he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's
sake.
23:4
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for
you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me.
24:5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you
anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
24:6
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.
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Ephesians
5:8-14
5:8 For once you were
darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of
light-
5:9
for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right
and true.
5:10
Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.
5:11
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead
expose them.
5:12
For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly;
5:13
but everything exposed by the light becomes visible,
5:14
for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
"Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on
you."
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John
9:1-41
9:1 As he walked along,
he saw a man blind from birth.
9:2
His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?"
9:3
Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he
was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.
9:4
We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night
is coming when no one can work.
9:5
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
9:6
When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the
saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes,
9:7
saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which
means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.
9:8
The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began
to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?"
9:9
Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying,
"No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying,
"I am the man."
9:10
But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes
opened?"
9:11
He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my
eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and
washed and received my sight."
9:12
They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not
know."
9:13
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.
9:14
Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his
eyes.
9:15
Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his
sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I
washed, and now I see."
9:16
Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he
does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can
a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were
divided.
9:17
So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about
him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a
prophet."
9:18
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received
his sight until they called the parents of the man who had
received his sight
9:19
and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born
blind? How then does he now see?"
9:20
His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that
he was born blind;
9:21
but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who
opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for
himself."
9:22
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for
the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be
the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.
9:23
Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."
9:24
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and
they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man
is a sinner."
9:25
He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing
I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."
9:26
They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open
your eyes?"
9:27
He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not
listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to
become his disciples?"
9:28
Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we
are disciples of Moses.
9:29
We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do
not know where he comes from."
9:30
The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not
know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.
9:31
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to
one who worships him and obeys his will.
9:32
Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened
the eyes of a person born blind.
9:33
If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."
9:34
They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are
you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out.
9:35
Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him,
he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
9:36
He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may
believe in him."
9:37
Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking
with you is he."
9:38
He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him.
9:39
Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that
those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become
blind."
9:40
Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him,
"Surely we are not blind, are we?"
9:41
Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have
sin. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.
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