Philistines Take the Ark in Victory

4 Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside ^(A)Ebenezer while the Philistines camped in ^(B)Aphek. ² The Philistines drew up in battle array to meet Israel. When the battle spread, Israel was ^[a]defeated before the Philistines who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. ³ When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “^(C)Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? ^(D)Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that ^[b]it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies.” ⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts ^(E)who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵ As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, ^(F)all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded. ⁶ When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. ⁷ The Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” And they said, “^(G)Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. ⁸ Woe to us! Who shall deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. ^9 (H)Take courage and be men, O Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, ^(I)as they have been slaves to you; therefore, be men and fight.”

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought and ^(J)Israel was ^[c]defeated, and ^(K)every man fled to his tent; and the slaughter was very great, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. ¹¹ And the ark of God was taken; and ^(L)the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

¹² Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with ^(M)his clothes torn and ^[d]dust on his head. ¹³ When he came, behold, ^(N)Eli was sitting on his seat ^[e]by the road eagerly watching, because his heart was trembling for the ark of God. So the man came to tell it in the city, and all the city cried out. ¹⁴ When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the noise of this commotion mean?” Then the man came hurriedly and told Eli. ¹⁵ Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and ^(O)his eyes were set so that he could not see. ¹⁶ The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped from the battle line today.” And he said, “^(P)How did things go, my son?” ¹⁷ Then the one who brought the news replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken.” ¹⁸ When he mentioned the ark of God, ^[f](Q)Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for ^[g]he was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹ Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, was pregnant and about to give birth; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. ²⁰ And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “^(R)Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. ²¹ And she called the boy ^[h]Ichabod, saying, “^(S)The glory has departed from Israel,” because ^(T)the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. ²² She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken.”

Paul Defends His Apostleship

11 I wish that you would ^(A)bear with me in a little ^(B)foolishness; but ^[a]indeed you are bearing with me. ² For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I ^(C)betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might ^(D)present you as a pure virgin. ³ But I am afraid that, as the ^(E)serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. ⁴ For if ^[b]one comes and preaches ^(F)another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a ^(G)different spirit which you have not received, or a ^(H)different gospel which you have not accepted, you ^(I)bear this ^(J)beautifully. ⁵ For I consider myself ^(K)not in the least inferior to the ^[c]most eminent apostles. ⁶ But even if I am ^(L)unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in ^(M)knowledge; in fact, in every way we have ^(N)made this evident to you in all things.

⁷ Or ^(O)did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the ^(P)gospel of God to you ^(Q)without charge? ⁸ I robbed other churches by ^(R)taking wages from them to serve you; ⁹ and when I was present with you and was in need, I was ^(S)not a burden to anyone; for when ^(T)the brethren came from ^(U)Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from ^(V)being a burden to you, ^[d]and will continue to do so. ^10 (W)As the truth of Christ is in me, ^(X)this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of ^(Y)Achaia. ¹¹ Why? ^(Z)Because I do not love you? ^(AA)God knows I do!

¹² But what I am doing I will continue to do, ^(AB)so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be ^[e]regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. ¹³ For such men are ^(AC)false apostles, ^(AD)deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ No wonder, for even ^(AE)Satan disguises himself as an ^(AF)angel of light. ¹⁵ Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, ^(AG)whose end will be according to their deeds.

^16 (AH)Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little. ¹⁷ What I am saying, I am not saying ^[f](AI)as the Lord would, but as ^(AJ)in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. ¹⁸ Since ^(AK)many boast ^(AL)according to the flesh, I will boast also. ¹⁹ For you, ^(AM)being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly. ²⁰ For you tolerate it if anyone ^(AN)enslaves you, anyone ^(AO)devours you, anyone ^(AP)takes advantage of you, anyone ^(AQ)exalts himself, anyone ^(AR)hits you in the face. ²¹ To my ^(AS)shame I must say that we have been ^(AT)weak by comparison.

But in whatever respect anyone else ^(AU)is bold—I ^(AV)speak in foolishness—I am just as bold myself. ²² Are they ^(AW)Hebrews? ^(AX)So am I. Are they ^(AY)Israelites? ^(AZ)So am I. Are they ^[g](BA)descendants of Abraham? ^(BB)So am I. ²³ Are they ^(BC)servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in ^[h](BD)far more labors, in ^[i](BE)far more imprisonments, ^[j](BF)beaten times without number, often in ^(BG)danger of death. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews ^(BH)thirty-nine lashes. ²⁵ Three times I was ^(BI)beaten with rods, once I was ^(BJ)stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. ²⁶ I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my ^(BK)countrymen, dangers from the ^(BL)Gentiles, dangers in the ^(BM)city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among ^(BN)false brethren; ²⁷ I have been in ^(BO)labor and hardship, ^[k]through many sleepless nights, in ^(BP)hunger and thirst, often ^(BQ)without food, in cold and ^[l](BR)exposure. ²⁸ Apart from such ^[m]external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for ^(BS)all the churches. ²⁹ Who is ^(BT)weak without my being weak? Who is ^[n]led into sin ^[o]without my intense concern?

³⁰ If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my ^(BU)weakness. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, ^(BV)He who is blessed forever, ^(BW)knows that I am not lying. ³² In ^(BX)Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was ^(BY)guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, ³³ and I was let down in a basket ^(BZ)through a window ^[p]in the wall, and so escaped his hands.