^44 (A)But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp.

⁴³ So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but ^(A)rebelled against the command of the Lord, and ^(B)presumptuously^[a] went up into the mountain.

³ And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? ^(A)Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.” ⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, ^(B)who dwells between ^(C)the cherubim. And the ^(D)two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵ And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. ⁶ Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the sound 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 So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, ^(E)“Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before. ⁸ Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. ^9 (F)Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, ^(G)as they have been to you. ^[a]Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!”

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought, and ^(H)Israel was ^[b]defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. ¹¹ Also ^(I)the ark of God was captured; and ^(J)the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

⁶ Then Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from each tribe; he sent them to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and ^(A)the signal trumpets in his hand.

Law Concerning Presumptuous Sin

^30 (A)‘But the person who does anything ^[a]presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one ^[b]brings reproach on the Lord, and he shall be ^[c]cut off from among his people.

³³ So they departed from ^(A)the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(B)went before them for the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them.