The Philistines and the Ark

5 When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from ^(A)Ebenezer to ^(B)Ashdod. ² Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside ^(C)Dagon. ³ And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, ^(D)Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. ⁴ But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, ^(E)and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. ⁵ This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon ^(F)do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

^6 (G)The hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with ^(H)tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. ⁷ And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.” ⁸ So they sent and gathered together all ^(I)the lords of the Philistines and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there. ⁹ But after they had brought it around, ^(J)the hand of the Lord was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that ^(K)tumors broke out on them. ¹⁰ So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But as soon as the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.” ^11 (L)They sent therefore and gathered together 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, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. ^(M)The hand of God was very heavy there. ¹² The men who did not die were struck with ^(N)tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

The Ark Returned to Israel

6 The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. ² And the Philistines called for the priests and ^(O)the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” ³ They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him ^(P)a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why ^(Q)his hand does not turn away from you.” ⁴ And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden ^(R)tumors and five golden mice, ^(S)according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. ⁵ So you must make images of your ^(T)tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, ^(U)and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps ^(V)he will lighten his hand from off you ^(W)and your gods and your land. ⁶ Why should you harden your hearts as ^(X)the Egyptians and ^(Y)Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, ^(Z)did they not send the people away, and they departed? ⁷ Now then, take and prepare ^(AA)a new cart and two milk cows ^(AB)on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. ⁸ And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side ^(AC)the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as ^(AD)a guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way ⁹ and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to ^(AE)Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not ^(AF)his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”

Behold, the Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, ^(A)the Lamb of God, who ^(B)takes away the sin ^(C)of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ^(D)‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but ^(E)for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John ^(F)bore witness: ^(G)“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and ^(H)it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but ^(I)he who sent me to baptize ^(J)with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, ^(K)this is he who baptizes ^(L)with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son^[a] of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

³⁵ The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ^(M)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ^(N)“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, ^(O)“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.^{[b] 40 (P)}One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus^[c] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found ^(Q)the Messiah” (which means Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^(R)John. You shall be called ^(S)Cephas” (which means ^(T)Peter^[d]).