Bible Society of South Africa

Season after Pentecost: Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth

First reading and Psalm

Hannah's Prayer

1Hannah prayed:

“The LORD has filled my heart with joy;

how happy I am because of what he has done!

I laugh at my enemies;

how joyful I am because God has helped me!

2“No one is holy like the LORD;

there is none like him,

no protector like our God.

3Stop your loud boasting;

silence your proud words.

For the LORD is a God who knows,

and he judges all that people do.

4The bows of strong soldiers are broken,

but the weak grow strong.

5The people who once were well fed

now hire themselves out to get food,

but the hungry are hungry no more.

The childless wife has borne seven children,

but the mother of many is left with none.

6The LORD kills and restores to life;

he sends people to the world of the dead

and brings them back again.

7He makes some poor and others rich;

he humbles some and makes others great.

8He lifts the poor from the dust

and raises the needy from their misery.

He makes them companions of princes

and puts them in places of honour.

The foundations of the earth belong to the LORD;

on them he has built the world.

9“He protects the lives of his faithful people,

but the wicked disappear in darkness;

a man does not triumph by his own strength.

10The LORD's enemies will be destroyed;

he will thunder against them from heaven.

The LORD will judge the whole world;

he will give power to his king,

he will make his chosen king victorious.”

1 Samuel 2:1-10GNBOpen in Bible reader

In Praise of the LORD's Goodness

1Praise the LORD!

You servants of the LORD,

praise his name!

2May his name be praised,

now and for ever.

3From the east to the west

praise the name of the LORD!

4The LORD rules over all nations;

his glory is above the heavens.

5There is no one like the LORD our God.

He lives in the heights above,

6but he bends down

to see the heavens and the earth.

7He raises the poor from the dust;

he lifts the needy from their misery

8and makes them companions of princes,

the princes of his people.

9He honours the childless wife in her home;

he makes her happy by giving her children.

Praise the LORD!

Psalms 113:1-9GNBOpen in Bible reader
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