The Ark Returned to Israel

6 Now the ark of the Lord had been in the territory of the Philistines for seven months. ² And ^(A)the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us ^[a]how we may send it to its place.” ³ And they said, “If you are going to send the ark of the God of Israel away, ^(B)do not send it empty; but you shall certainly ^(C)return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be revealed to you why His hand does not leave you.” ⁴ Then they said, “What is to be the guilt offering that we shall return to Him?” And they said, “Five gold ^(D)tumors and five gold mice ^(E)corresponding to the number of the governors of the Philistines, since one plague was on all of ^[b]you and on your governors. ⁵ So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that are ruining the land, and ^(F)you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps ^(G)He will lighten His hand from you, ^(H)your gods, and your land. ⁶ Why then do you harden your hearts ^(I)as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, ^(J)did they not let ^[c]the people go, and they left? ⁷ Now then, take and ^(K)prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there ^(L)has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves back home, away from them. ⁸ Then take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart; and put ^(M)the articles of gold which you return to Him as ^(N)a guilt offering in a saddlebag by its side. Then send it away that it may go. ⁹ But watch: if it goes up by the way of its own territory to ^(O)Beth-shemesh, then He has done this great evil to us. But if not, then ^(P)we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.”

¹⁰ Then the men did so: they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut in their calves at home. ¹¹ And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the saddlebag with the gold mice and the likenesses of their tumors. ¹² Now the cows went straight in the ^[d]direction of ^(Q)Beth-shemesh; they went on ^(R)the same road, bellowing as they went, and did not turn off to the right or to the left. And the governors of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

¹³ Now the people of Beth-shemesh were gathering in their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced at seeing it. ¹⁴ And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stopped there where there was a large stone; and they split the wood of the cart and ^(S)offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ And ^(T)the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the saddlebag 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. ¹⁶ When the ^(U)five governors of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.

¹⁷ Now ^(V)these are the gold tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron; ¹⁸ and the gold mice, corresponding to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five governors, ^(W)both of fortified cities and of country villages. ^(X)The large ^[e]stone on which they placed the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.

^19 (Y)Now He fatally struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck 50,070 men among the people, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. ²⁰ And the men of Beth-shemesh said, “^(Z)Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom will He go up from us?” ²¹ So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of ^(AA)Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord; come down and take it up to yourselves.”

Job Says He Longs for God

23 Then Job responded,

The Warnings of History to the Ungodly

^1 [a](A)Jude, a ^(B)bond-servant of Jesus Christ and brother of ^[b]James,

To ^(C)those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and ^(D)kept for Jesus Christ: ^2 (E)May mercy, peace, and love ^(F)be multiplied to you.

^3 (G)Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our ^(H)common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you ^(I)contend earnestly for ^(J)the faith that was once for all time ^(K)handed down to ^(L)the ^[c]saints. ⁴ For certain people have ^(M)crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand ^[d](N)marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn ^(O)the grace of our God into ^(P)indecent behavior and ^(Q)deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

⁵ Now I want to ^(R)remind you, though ^(S)you know everything once and for all, that ^[e]the Lord, ^(T)after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, ^[f]subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And ^(U)angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling place, these He has ^(V)kept in eternal restraints under darkness for the judgment of the great day, ⁷ just as ^(W)Sodom and Gomorrah and the ^(X)cities around them, since they in the same way as these angels indulged in sexual perversion and ^(Y)went after ^[g]strange flesh, are exhibited as an ^[h](Z)example in undergoing the ^(AA)punishment of eternal fire.

⁸ Yet in the same way these people also, dreaming, ^(AB)defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak abusively of angelic ^[i]majesties. ⁹ But ^(AC)Michael ^(AD)the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about ^(AE)the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him an abusive judgment, but said, “^(AF)The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ But ^(AG)these people disparage all the things that they do not understand; and ^(AH)all the things that they know by instinct, ^(AI)like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone ^(AJ)the way of Cain, and for pay ^[j]they have given themselves up to ^(AK)the error of Balaam, and ^(AL)perished in the rebellion of Korah. ¹² These are the ones who are ^[k]hidden reefs ^(AM)in your love feasts when they feast with you ^(AN)without fear, like shepherds caring only for themselves; ^(AO)clouds without water, ^(AP)carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, ^[l]doubly dead, ^(AQ)uprooted; ^13 (AR)wild waves of the sea, churning up ^(AS)their own shameful deeds like dirty foam; wandering stars, ^(AT)for whom the ^[m]gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁴ It was also about these people that ^(AU)Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “^(AV)Behold, the Lord has come with ^[n]many thousands of His holy ones, ^15 (AW)to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ^(AX)ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” ¹⁶ These are ^(AY)grumblers, finding fault, ^(AZ)following after their own lusts; ^[o]they speak ^(BA)arrogantly, flattering people ^(BB)for the sake of gaining an advantage.

Keep Yourselves in the Love of God

¹⁷ But you, ^(BC)beloved, ^(BD)ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by ^(BE)the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸ that they were saying to you, “^(BF)In the last time there will be mockers, ^(BG)following after their own ungodly lusts.” ¹⁹ These are the ones who cause divisions, ^[p](BH)worldly-minded, ^[q]devoid of the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, ^(BI)beloved, ^(BJ)building yourselves up on your most holy ^(BK)faith, ^(BL)praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, ^(BM)looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. ²² And have mercy on some, who are doubting; ²³ save others, ^(BN)snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, ^(BO)hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

^24 (BP)Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to ^(BQ)make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with ^(BR)great joy, ²⁵ to the ^(BS)only ^(BT)God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, ^(BU)be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority ^(BV)before all time and now and ^[r]forever. Amen.