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God Sends Trouble for the Philistines Who Have the Ark
5 Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon. 3 When the residents of Ashdod got up early the next day,[a] Dagon was lying on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him back in his place. 4 But when they got up early the following day, Dagon was again lying on the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and his two hands were sheared off and were lying at the threshold. Only Dagon’s body was left intact.[b] 5 (For this reason, to this very day, neither Dagon’s priests nor anyone else who enters Dagon’s temple steps on Dagon’s threshold in Ashdod.)
6 The Lord attacked[c] the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of[d] both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores.[e] 7 When the people[f] of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked[g] both us and our god Dagon!”
8 So they assembled[h] all the leaders of the Philistines and asked, “What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They replied, “The ark of the God of Israel should be moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
9 But after it had been moved the Lord attacked[i] that city as well, causing a great deal of panic. He struck all the people of that city[j] with sores.[k] 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.
But when the ark of God arrived at Ekron, the residents of Ekron cried out saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel here[l] to kill our[m] people!” 11 So they assembled[n] all the leaders of the Philistines and said, “Get the ark of the God of Israel out of here! Let it go back to its own place so that it won’t kill us[o] and our[p] people!” The terror[q] of death was throughout the entire city; God was attacking them very severely there.[r] 12 The people[s] who did not die were struck with sores; the city’s cry for help went all the way up to heaven.
The Philistines Return the Ark
6 When the ark of the Lord had been in the land[t] of the Philistines for seven months,[u] 2 the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place.”
3 They replied, “If you are going to send the ark of[v] the God of Israel back, don’t send it away empty. Be sure to return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why his hand has not been removed from you.” 4 They inquired, “What is the guilt offering that we should send to him?”
They replied, “The Philistine leaders number five. So send five gold sores and five gold mice, for it is the same plague that has afflicted both you and your leaders. 5 You should make images of the sores and images of the mice[w] that are destroying the land. You should honor the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his grip on you, your gods, and your land.[x] 6 Why harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh did?[y] When God[z] treated them harshly, didn’t the Egyptians send the Israelites on their way?[aa] 7 So now go and make a new cart. Get two cows that have calves and that have never had a yoke placed on them. Harness the cows to the cart, and take their calves from them back to their stalls. 8 Then take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, and put in a chest beside it the gold objects you are sending to him as a guilt offering. You should then send it on its way. 9 But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident.”
10 So the men did as instructed.[ab] They took two cows that had calves and harnessed the cows to a cart; they also removed their calves to their stalls. 11 They put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the chest, the gold mice, and the images of the sores. 12 Then the cows went directly on the road to Beth Shemesh. They went along that route, bellowing[ac] more and more;[ad] they turned neither to the right nor to the left. The leaders of the Philistines were walking along behind them all the way to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the residents of Beth Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they were pleased at the sight. 14 The cart was coming to the field of Joshua, who was from Beth Shemesh. It paused there near a big stone. Then they cut up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest that was with it, which contained the gold objects. They placed them near the big stone. At that time the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 The five leaders of the Philistines watched what was happening and then returned to Ekron on the same day.
17 These are the gold sores that the Philistines brought as a guilt offering to the Lord—one for each of the following cities: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 The gold mice corresponded in number to all the Philistine cities of the five leaders, from the fortified cities to hamlet villages, to greater Abel.[ae] They positioned the ark of the Lord on a rock until this very day in the field of Joshua who was from Beth Shemesh.
19 But the Lord[af] struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord; he struck down 50,070 of[ag] the men. The people grieved because the Lord had struck the people with a hard blow. 20 The residents of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark[ah] go up from here?”
21 So they sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down here and take it back home with you.”
7 Then the people[ai] of Kiriath Jearim came and took the ark of the Lord; they brought it to the house of Abinadab located on the hill. They consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord.
Further Conflict with the Philistines
2 It was quite a long time—some twenty years in all—that the ark stayed at Kiriath Jearim. All the people[aj] of Israel longed for[ak] the Lord. 3 Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you are really turning to the Lord with all your hearts, remove from among you the foreign gods and the images of Ashtoreth.[al] Give your hearts to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will deliver you[am] from the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the Israelites[an] removed the Baals and images of Ashtoreth. They served only the Lord.
5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord on your behalf.” 6 After they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted on that day, and they confessed[ao] there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” So Samuel led[ap] the people of Israel at Mizpah.
7 When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the leaders of the Philistines went up against Israel. When the Israelites heard about this, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 The Israelites said to Samuel, “Keep[aq] crying out to the Lord our[ar] God so that he may save us[as] from the hand of the Philistines!” 9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb[at] and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Samuel cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
10 As Samuel was offering burnt offerings, the Philistines approached to do battle with Israel.[au] But on that day the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines. He caused them to panic, and they were defeated by[av] Israel. 11 Then the men of Israel left Mizpah and chased the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth Car.
12 Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen.[aw] He named it Ebenezer,[ax] saying, “Up to here the Lord has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were defeated; they did not invade Israel again. The hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
14 The cities that the Philistines had captured from Israel were returned to Israel, from Ekron to Gath. Israel also delivered their territory from the control[ay] of the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. 15 So Samuel led[az] Israel all the days of his life. 16 Year after year he used to travel the circuit of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah; he used to judge Israel in all these places. 17 Then he would return to Ramah, because his home was there. He also judged[ba] Israel there and built an altar to the Lord there.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand
6 After this[a] Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias).[b] 2 A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick. 3 So Jesus went on up the mountainside[c] and sat down there with his disciples. 4 (Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover[d] was near.)[e] 5 Then Jesus, when he looked up[f] and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?” 6 (Now Jesus[g] said this to test him, for he knew what he was going to do.)[h] 7 Philip replied,[i] “200 silver coins worth[j] of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little.” 8 One of Jesus’ disciples,[k] Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good[l] are these for so many people?”
10 Jesus said, “Have[m] the people sit down.” (Now there was a lot of grass in that place.)[n] So the men[o] sat down, about 5,000 in number. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed the bread to those who were seated. He then did the same with the fish,[p] as much as they wanted. 12 When they were all satisfied, Jesus[q] said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves[r] left over by the people who had eaten.
14 Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus[s] performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet[t] who is to come into the world.”[u] 15 Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone.[v]
Walking on Water
16 Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the lake,[w] 17 got into a boat,[x] and started to cross the lake[y] to Capernaum.[z] (It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.)[aa] 18 By now a strong wind was blowing and the sea was getting rough. 19 Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles,[ab] they caught sight of Jesus walking on the lake,[ac] approaching the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” 21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the land where they had been heading.
13 They quickly forgot what he had done;[a]
they did not wait for his instructions.[b]
14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving[c] for meat;[d]
they challenged God[e] in the wastelands.
15 He granted their request,
then struck them with a disease.[f]
16 In the camp they resented[g] Moses,
and Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest.[h]
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it engulfed[i] the group led by Abiram.[j]
18 Fire burned their group;
the flames scorched the wicked.[k]
19 They made an image of a calf at Horeb,
and worshiped a metal idol.
20 They traded their majestic God[l]
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They rejected[m] the God who delivered them,
the one who performed great deeds in Egypt,
22 amazing feats in the land of Ham,
mighty acts[n] by the Red Sea.
23 He threatened[o] to destroy them,
but[p] Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him[q]
and turned back his destructive anger.[r]
24 They rejected the fruitful land;[s]
they did not believe his promise.[t]
25 They grumbled in their tents;[u]
they did not obey[v] the Lord.
26 So he made a solemn vow[w]
that he would make them die[x] in the wilderness,
27 make their descendants[y] die[z] among the nations,
and scatter them among foreign lands.[aa]
28 They worshiped[ab] Baal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.[ac]
29 They made the Lord angry[ad] by their actions,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Phinehas took a stand and intervened,[ae]
and the plague subsided.
31 This was credited to Phinehas as a righteous act
for all generations to come.[af]
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