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Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Prayer for the Morning

Oh Lord, most heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who has safely brought me to the beginning of this day; I give you thanks for my creation, preservation, and all the blessings of my life. Grant that this day I fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger; but that all my doings, being governed by your will, may be righteous in your sight. Through Christ our Lord, I pray.

Psalm 67

Community of Prayer

Heavenly Lord, I know I am not alone saying these prayers or reading your Word this morning, but many people unknown to me, from all stations of life, have joined together in this brief moment of devotion. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be among the community of all who pray in the name of Christ this morning, and remain among us always.

God be with you 'til we meet again.

1 Samuel 2:27-36

Eli Receives a Warning

One day a man of God came to Eli and gave him this message from the Lord:

"I revealed myself to your ancestors when the people of Israel were slaves in Egypt. I chose your ancestor Aaron from among all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the priestly vest as he served me. And I assigned the sacrificial offerings to you priests. So why do you scorn my sacrifices and offerings? Why do you give your sons more honor than you give me — for you and they have become fat from the best offerings of my people Israel.

"Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me. . . . Those who survive will live in sadness and grief, and their children will die a violent death. And to prove what I have said, I will cause your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to die on the same day.

"Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I desire. I will establish his family, and they will be priests to my anointed kings forever. All of your surviving family will bow before him, begging for money and food.

Notes on the Scripture

The saying "what goes around, comes around" was never more true than in the Old Testament. A mysterious and unnamed "man of God" appears at Eli's doorstep with a sinister warning of violent death and humiliation for his family, as retribution for their abuse of the priesthood.

Levi was one of the twelve sons of Jacob, and his descendents — the Levites, one of the twelve tribes of Israel — held special status. They were the family who had kept faith in the Lord in Egypt; Moses and Aaron were descendents of Levi. After the Exodus, they were center of resistance against worship of the "golden calf". Even today, Levites have special duties and privileges in both Orthodox and Conservative Judaism.

The name became very popular and was frequently given to Jewish children, much like "Mary" and "John", and was also taken as a last name (both by legitimate Levites and non-Levites). Even the occasional Christian child would be named "Levi". The name was translated into numerous languages during the diaspora, e.g. "Levine" and "Leventhal"; most recently it was (unfortunately) in the news in its Polish form, "Lewinsky".

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