1 Samuel 4-8 (New American Standard Bible)

1 Samuel 4

Philistines Take the Ark in Victory

 ¹Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside ^(A)Ebenezer while the Philistines camped in ^(B)Aphek.

 ²The Philistines drew up in battle array to meet Israel. When the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.

 ³When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, "^(C)Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? ^(D)Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies."

 ⁴So the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts ^(E)who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

 ⁵As the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, ^(F)all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded.

 ⁶When 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.

 ⁷The Philistines were afraid, for they said, "God has come into the camp." And they said, "^(G)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"^(H)Take courage and be men, O Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, ^(I)as they have been slaves to you; therefore, be men and fight."

 ¹⁰So the Philistines fought and ^(J)Israel was defeated, and ^(K)every man fled to his tent; and the slaughter was very great, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.

 ¹¹And the ark of God was taken; and ^(L)the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

 ¹²Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with ^(M)his clothes torn and dust on his head.

 ¹³When he came, behold, ^(N)Eli was sitting on his seat 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.

 ¹⁴When 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.

 ¹⁵Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and ^(O)his eyes were set so that he could not see.

 ¹⁶The 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, "^(P)How did things go, my son?"

 ¹⁷Then 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."

 ¹⁸When he mentioned the ark of God, ^(Q)Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel forty years.

 ¹⁹Now 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.

 ²⁰And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, "^(R)Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son." But she did not answer or pay attention.

 ²¹And she called the boy ^[a]Ichabod, saying, "^(S)The glory has departed from Israel," because ^(T)the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

 ²²She said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken."

1 Samuel 5

Capture of the Ark Provokes God

 ¹Now the Philistines took the ark of God and ^(U)brought it from Ebenezer to ^(V)Ashdod.

 ²Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to ^(W)the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.

 ³When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, ^(X)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD So they took Dagon and ^(Y)set him in his place again.

 ⁴But when they arose early the next morning, behold, ^(Z)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

 ⁵Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon's house ^(AA)tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

 ⁶Now ^(AB)the hand of the LORD was heavy on the Ashdodites, and ^(AC)He ravaged them and smote them with ^(AD)tumors, both Ashdod and its territories.

 ⁷When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god."

 ⁸So they sent and ^(AE)gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" And they said, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath." And they brought the ark of the God of Israel around.

 ⁹After they had brought it around, ^(AF)the hand of the LORD was against the city with very great confusion; and He smote the men of the city, both young and old, so that ^(AG)tumors broke out on them.

 ¹⁰So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the Ekronites cried out, saying, "They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to us, to kill us and our people."

 ¹¹They ^(AH)sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people " For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; ^(AI)the hand of God was very heavy there.

 ¹²And the men who did not die were smitten with tumors and ^(AJ)the cry of the city went up to heaven.

1 Samuel 6

The Ark Returned to Israel

 ¹Now the ark of the LORD had been in the country of the Philistines seven months.

 ²And ^(AK)the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we shall send it to its place."

 ³They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, ^(AL)do not send it empty; but you shall surely ^(AM)return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you."

 ⁴Then they said, "What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?" And they said, "Five golden ^(AN)tumors and five golden mice ^(AO)according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords.

 ⁵"So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and ^(AP)you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps ^(AQ)He will ease His hand from you, ^(AR)your gods, and your land.

 ⁶"Why then do you harden your hearts ^(AS)as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, ^(AT)did they not allow the people to go, and they departed?

 ⁷"Now therefore, take and ^(AU)prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which there ^(AV)has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them.

 ⁸"Take the ark of the LORD and place it on the cart; and put ^(AW)the articles of gold which you return to Him as ^(AX)a guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it away that it may go.

 ⁹"Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to ^(AY)Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil But if not, then ^(AZ)we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance."

 ¹⁰Then the men did so, and took two milch cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.

 ¹¹They put the ark of the LORD on the cart, and the box with the golden mice and the likenesses of their tumors.

 ¹²And the cows took the straight way in the direction of ^(BA)Beth-shemesh; they went along ^(BB)the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

 ¹³Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark and were glad to see it.

 ¹⁴The cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stood there where there was a large stone; and they split the wood of the cart and ^(BC)offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.

 ^15(BD)The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the box that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the LORD.

 ¹⁶When the ^(BE)five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.

 ^17(BF)These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a guilt offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron;

 ¹⁸and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, ^(BG)both of fortified cities and of country villages ^(BH)The large stone on which they set the ark of the LORD is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.

 ^19(BI)He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter.

 ²⁰The men of Beth-shemesh said, "^(BJ)Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?"

 ²¹So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of ^(BK)Kiriath-jearim, saying, "The Philistines have brought back the ark of the LORD; come down and take it up to you."

1 Samuel 7

Deliverance from the Philistines

 ¹And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the LORD and ^(BL)brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.

 ²From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

 ³Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "^(BM)If you return to the LORD with all your heart, ^(BN)remove the foreign gods and the ^(BO)Ashtaroth from among you and ^(BP)direct your hearts to the LORD and ^(BQ)serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines."

 ⁴So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the LORD alone.

 ⁵Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to ^(BR)Mizpah and ^(BS)I will pray to the LORD for you."

 ⁶They gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and ^(BT)poured it out before the LORD, and ^(BU)fasted on that day and said there, "^(BV)We have sinned against the LORD." And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah.

 ⁷Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard it, ^(BW)they were afraid of the Philistines.

 ⁸Then the sons of Israel said to Samuel, "^(BX)Do not cease to cry to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines."

 ⁹Samuel took ^(BY)a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the LORD; and Samuel cried to the LORD for Israel and ^(BZ)the LORD answered him.

 ¹⁰Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But ^(CA)the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and ^(CB)confused them, so that they were routed before Israel.

 ¹¹The men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car.

 ¹²Then Samuel ^(CC)took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it ^[b]Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped us."

 ^13(CD)So the Philistines were subdued and ^(CE)they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

 ¹⁴The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and ^(CF)the Amorites.

Samuel's Ministry

 ¹⁵Now Samuel ^(CG)judged Israel all the days of his life.

 ¹⁶He used to go annually on circuit to ^(CH)Bethel and ^(CI)Gilgal and ^(CJ)Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places.

 ¹⁷Then his return was to ^(CK)Ramah, for his house was there, and there he judged Israel; and he ^(CL)built there an altar to the LORD.

1 Samuel 8

Israel Demands a King

 ¹And it came about when Samuel was old that ^(CM)he appointed his sons judges over Israel.

 ²Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in ^(CN)Beersheba.

 ³His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and ^(CO)took bribes and perverted justice.

 ⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^(CP)Ramah;

 ⁵and they said to him, "Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^(CQ)appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations."

 ⁶But the thing was ^(CR)displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us " And ^(CS)Samuel prayed to the LORD.

 ⁷The LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for ^(CT)they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.

 ⁸"Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day--in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods--so they are doing to you also.

 ⁹"Now then, listen to their voice; ^(CU)however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of ^(CV)the ^[c]procedure of the king who will reign over them."

Warning concerning a King

 ¹⁰So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to ^(CW)the people who had asked of him a king.

 ¹¹He said, "^(CX)This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: ^(CY)he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and ^(CZ)they will run before his chariots.

 ¹²"^(DA)He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

 ¹³"He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers.

 ¹⁴"^(DB)He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants.

 ¹⁵"He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants.

 ¹⁶"He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work.

 ¹⁷"He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants.

 ¹⁸"Then ^(DC)you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but ^(DD)the LORD will not answer you in that day."

 ¹⁹Nevertheless, the people ^(DE)refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, "No, but there shall be a king over us,

 ^20(DF)that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles."

 ²¹Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, ^(DG)he repeated them in the LORD'S hearing.

 ²²The LORD said to Samuel, "^(DH)Listen to their voice and appoint them a king." So Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Go every man to his city."