Deliverance from the Philistines

7 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord and ^(A)brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord. ² From 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.

³ Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “^(B)If you return to the Lord with all your heart, ^(C)remove the foreign gods and the ^(D)Ashtaroth from among you and ^(E)direct your hearts to the Lord and ^(F)serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the Lord alone.

⁵ Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to ^(G)Mizpah and ^(H)I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ They gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and ^(I)poured it out before the Lord, and ^(J)fasted on that day and said there, “^(K)We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷ Now 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, ^(L)they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ Then the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “^(M)Do not cease to cry to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹ Samuel took ^(N)a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel and ^(O)the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But ^(P)the Lord thundered with a great ^[a]thunder on that day against the Philistines and ^(Q)confused them, so that they were ^[b]routed before Israel. ¹¹ The men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car.

¹² Then Samuel ^(R)took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it ^[c]Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” ^13 (S)So the Philistines were subdued and ^(T)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. ¹⁴ The 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 ^(U)the Amorites.

Samuel’s Ministry

¹⁵ Now Samuel ^(V)judged Israel all the days of his life. ¹⁶ He used to go annually on circuit to ^(W)Bethel and ^(X)Gilgal and ^(Y)Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. ¹⁷ Then his return was to ^(Z)Ramah, for his house was there, and there he judged Israel; and he ^(AA)built there an altar to the Lord.

The Resurrection

24 ^(A)But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. ² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of ^(B)the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold, ^(C)two men suddenly ^(D)stood near them in dazzling clothing; ⁵ and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but He ^(E)has ^[a]risen. Remember how He spoke to you ^(F)while He was still in Galilee, ⁷ saying that ^(G)the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” ⁸ And ^(H)they remembered His words, ⁹ and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now they were ^(I)Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to ^(J)the apostles. ¹¹ But these words appeared ^[b]to them as nonsense, and they ^(K)would not believe them. ¹² But Peter got up and ^(L)ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he *saw the linen wrappings ^[c]only; and he went away ^(M)to his home, marveling at what had happened.

The Road to Emmaus

¹³ And behold, ^(N)two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was ^[d]about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. ¹⁶ But ^(O)their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. ¹⁷ And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You ^[e]the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” ¹⁹ And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about ^(P)Jesus the Nazarene, who was a ^(Q)prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, ²⁰ and how the chief priests and our ^(R)rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. ²¹ But we were hoping that it was He who was going to ^(S)redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. ²² But also some women among us amazed us. ^(T)When they were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³ and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that ^(U)the prophets have spoken! ^26 (V)Was it not necessary for the ^[f]Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” ²⁷ Then beginning ^[g]with ^(W)Moses and ^[h]with all the ^(X)prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

²⁸ And they approached the village where they were going, and ^(Y)He acted as though He were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day ^[i]is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. ³⁰ When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and ^(Z)blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. ³¹ Then their ^(AA)eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from ^[j]their sight. ³² They said to one another, “^[k]Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He ^(AB)was ^[l]explaining the Scriptures to us?” ³³ And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and ^(AC)found gathered together the eleven and ^(AD)those who were with them, ³⁴ saying, “^(AE)The Lord has really risen and ^(AF)has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵ They began to relate ^[m]their experiences on the road and how ^(AG)He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

Other Appearances

³⁶ While they were telling these things, ^(AH)He Himself stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be to you.” ³⁷ But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing ^(AI)a spirit. ³⁸ And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your ^[n]hearts? ^39 (AJ)See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; ^(AK)touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰ And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. ⁴¹ While they still ^[o](AL)could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “^(AM)Have you anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; ⁴³ and He took it and ^(AN)ate it before them.

⁴⁴ Now He said to them, “^(AO)These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the ^(AP)Law of Moses and the Prophets and ^(AQ)the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then He ^(AR)opened their ^[p]minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and He said to them, “^(AS)Thus it is written, that the ^[q]Christ would suffer and ^(AT)rise again from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷ and that ^(AU)repentance ^[r]for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed ^[s]in His name to ^(AV)all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are ^(AW)witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, ^(AX)I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but ^(AY)you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

The Ascension

⁵⁰ And He led them out as far as ^(AZ)Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. ⁵¹ While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³ and were continually in the temple ^[t]praising God.

BOOK 2

Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.

For the choir director. A ^[a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.