Capture of the Ark Provokes God

5 Now the Philistines took the ark of God and ^(A)brought it from Ebenezer to ^(B)Ashdod. ² Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to ^(C)the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. ³ When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, ^(D)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and ^(E)set him in his place again. ⁴ But when they arose early the next morning, behold, ^(F)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; ^[a]only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. ⁵ Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon’s house ^(G)tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

⁶ Now ^(H)the hand of the Lord was heavy on the Ashdodites, and ^(I)He ravaged them and smote them with ^(J)tumors, both Ashdod and its territories. ⁷ When 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.” ⁸ So they sent and ^(K)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. ⁹ After they had brought it around, ^(L)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 ^(M)tumors broke out on them. ¹⁰ So 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 ^[b]us, to kill ^[c]us and ^[d]our people.” ¹¹ They ^(N)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 ^[e]us and ^[f]our people.” For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; ^(O)the hand of God was very heavy there. ¹² And the men who did not die were smitten with tumors and ^(P)the cry of the city went up to heaven.

The Ark Returned to Israel

6 Now the ark of the Lord had been in the ^[g]country of the Philistines seven months. ² And ^(Q)the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us ^[h]how we shall send it to its place.” ³ They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, ^(R)do not send it empty; but you shall surely ^(S)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.” ⁴ Then they said, “What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?” And they said, “Five golden ^(T)tumors and five golden mice ^(U)according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of ^[i]you and on your lords. ⁵ So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and ^(V)you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps ^(W)He will ease His hand from you, ^(X)your gods, and your land. ⁶ Why then do you harden your hearts ^(Y)as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, ^(Z)did they not allow ^[j]the people to go, and they departed? ⁷ Now therefore, take and ^(AA)prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which there ^(AB)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 ^(AC)the articles of gold which you return to Him as ^(AD)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 ^(AE)Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then ^(AF)we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.”

¹⁰ Then the men did so, and took two milch cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. ¹¹ They put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the box with the golden mice and the likenesses of their tumors. ¹² And the cows took the straight way in the ^[k]direction of ^(AG)Beth-shemesh; they went along ^(AH)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.

¹³ Now 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. ¹⁴ The 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 ^(AI)offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ^15 (AJ)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. ¹⁶ When the ^(AK)five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.

^17 (AL)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; ¹⁸ and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, ^(AM)both of fortified cities and of country villages. ^(AN)The large ^[l]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 (AO)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. ²⁰ The men of Beth-shemesh said, “^(AP)Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?” ²¹ So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of ^(AQ)Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord; come down and take it up to you.”

Deliverance from the Philistines

7 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord and ^(AR)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, “^(AS)If you return to the Lord with all your heart, ^(AT)remove the foreign gods and the ^(AU)Ashtaroth from among you and ^(AV)direct your hearts to the Lord and ^(AW)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 ^(AX)Mizpah and ^(AY)I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ They gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and ^(AZ)poured it out before the Lord, and ^(BA)fasted on that day and said there, “^(BB)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, ^(BC)they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ Then the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “^(BD)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 ^(BE)a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel and ^(BF)the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But ^(BG)the Lord thundered with a great ^[m]thunder on that day against the Philistines and ^(BH)confused them, so that they were ^[n]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 ^(BI)took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it ^[o]Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” ^13 (BJ)So the Philistines were subdued and ^(BK)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 ^(BL)the Amorites.

Samuel’s Ministry

¹⁵ Now Samuel ^(BM)judged Israel all the days of his life. ¹⁶ He used to go annually on circuit to ^(BN)Bethel and ^(BO)Gilgal and ^(BP)Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. ¹⁷ Then his return was to ^(BQ)Ramah, for his house was there, and there he judged Israel; and he ^(BR)built there an altar to the Lord.

The Lord’s Supper

13 Now before the Feast of ^(A)the Passover, Jesus knowing that ^(B)His hour had come that He would depart out of this world ^(C)to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them ^[a]to the end. ² During supper, ^(D)the devil having already put into the heart of ^(E)Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, ³ Jesus, ^(F)knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that ^(G)He had come forth from God and was going back to God, ⁴ *got up from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He ^(H)girded Himself.

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

⁵ Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to ^(I)wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. ⁶ So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand ^(J)hereafter.” ⁸ Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “^(K)If I do not wash you, ^(L)you have no part with Me.” ⁹ Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” ¹⁰ Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and ^(M)you are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ For ^(N)He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² So when He had washed their feet, and ^(O)taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call Me ^(P)Teacher and ^(Q)Lord; and ^[b]you are right, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, ^(R)the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I gave you ^(S)an example that you also should do as I did to you. ¹⁶ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(T)a slave is not greater than his master, nor is ^(U)one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are ^(V)blessed if you do them. ^18 (W)I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have ^(X)chosen; but it is ^(Y)that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘^(Z)He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ ¹⁹ From now on ^(AA)I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that ^(AB)I am He. ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AC)he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

²¹ When Jesus had said this, He ^(AD)became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that ^(AE)one of you will ^[c]betray Me.” ²² The disciples began looking at one another, ^(AF)at a loss to know of which one He was speaking. ²³ There was reclining on ^(AG)Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, ^(AH)whom Jesus loved. ²⁴ So Simon Peter *gestured to him, and *said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.” ²⁵ He, ^(AI)leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, *said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” ²⁶ Jesus then *answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He *took and *gave it to Judas, ^(AJ)the son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ After the morsel, ^(AK)Satan then ^(AL)entered into him. Therefore Jesus *said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” ²⁸ Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. ²⁹ For some were supposing, because Judas ^(AM)had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we have need of ^(AN)for the feast”; or else, that he should ^(AO)give something to the poor. ³⁰ So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and ^(AP)it was night.

³¹ Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus *said, “Now ^[d]is ^(AQ)the Son of Man ^(AR)glorified, and ^(AS)God ^[e]is glorified in Him; ^32 [f]if God is glorified in Him, ^(AT)God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. ^33 (AU)Little children, I am with you ^(AV)a little while longer. ^(AW)You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴ A ^(AX)new commandment I give to you, ^(AY)that you love one another, ^(AZ)even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ^35 (BA)By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

³⁶ Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “^(BB)Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but ^(BC)you will follow later.” ³⁷ Peter *said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? ^(BD)I will lay down my life for You.” ³⁸ Jesus *answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(BE)a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.