M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

4 So, news about Samuel spread through all of Israel.

The Philistines Capture the Ark of the Agreement

At that time the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer and the Philistines at Aphek. ² The Philistines went to meet the Israelites in battle. And as the battle spread, they defeated the Israelites, killing about four thousand soldiers on the battlefield. ³ When some Israelite soldiers went back to their camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord let the Philistines defeat us? Let’s bring the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord here from Shiloh and take it with us into battle. Then God will save us from our enemies.”

⁴ So the people sent men to Shiloh. They brought back the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord All-Powerful, who sits between the gold creatures with wings. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the Ark.

⁵ When the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord came into the camp, all the Israelites gave a great shout of joy that made the ground shake. ⁶ When the Philistines heard Israel’s shout, they asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”

Then the Philistines found out that the Ark of the Lord had come into the Hebrew camp. ⁷ They were afraid and said, “A god has come into the Hebrew camp! We’re in trouble! This has never happened before! ⁸ How terrible it will be for us! Who can save us from these powerful gods? They are the ones who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of disasters in the desert. ⁹ Be brave, Philistines! Fight like men! In the past they were our slaves. So fight like men, or we will become their slaves.”

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, and every Israelite soldier ran away to his own home. It was a great defeat for Israel, because thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed. ¹¹ The Ark of God was taken by the Philistines, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

¹² That same day a man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battle. He tore his clothes and put dust on his head to show his great sadness. ¹³ When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was by the side of the road. He was sitting there in a chair, watching, because he was worried about the Ark of God. When the Benjaminite entered Shiloh, he told the bad news. Then all the people in town cried loudly. ¹⁴ Eli heard the crying and asked, “What’s all this noise?”

The Benjaminite ran to Eli and told him what had happened. ¹⁵ Eli was now ninety-eight years old, and he was blind. ¹⁶ The Benjaminite told him, “I have come from the battle. I ran all the way here today.”

Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”

¹⁷ The Benjaminite answered, “Israel ran away from the Philistines, and the Israelite army has lost many soldiers. Your two sons are both dead, and the Philistines have taken the Ark of God.”

¹⁸ When he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair. He fell beside the gate, broke his neck, and died, because he was old and fat. He had led Israel for forty years.

The Glory Is Gone

¹⁹ Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and was about to give birth. When she heard the news that the Ark of God had been taken and that Eli, her father-in-law, and Phinehas, her husband, were both dead, she began to give birth to her child. The child was born, but the mother had much trouble in giving birth. ²⁰ As she was dying, the women who helped her said, “Don’t worry! You’ve given birth to a son!” But she did not answer or pay attention. ²¹ She named the baby Ichabod,^[a] saying, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She said this because the Ark of God had been taken and her father-in-law and husband were dead. ²² She said, “Israel’s glory is gone, because the Ark of God has been taken away.”

The Example of Abraham

4 So what can we say that Abraham,^[a] the father of our people, learned about faith? ² If Abraham was made right by the things he did, he had a reason to brag. But this is not God’s view, ³ because the Scripture says, “Abraham believed God, and God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that faith made him right with God.”^[b]

⁴ When people work, their pay is not given as a gift, but as something earned. ⁵ But people cannot do any work that will make them right with God. So they must trust in him, who makes even evil people right in his sight. Then God accepts their faith, and that makes them right with him. ⁶ David said the same thing. He said that people are truly blessed when God, without paying attention to their deeds, makes people right with himself.

⁹ Is this blessing only for those who are circumcised or also for those who are not circumcised? We have already said that God accepted Abraham’s faith and that faith made him right with God. ¹⁰ So how did this happen? Did God accept Abraham before or after he was circumcised? It was before his circumcision. ¹¹ Abraham was circumcised to show that he was right with God through faith before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the father of all those who believe but are not circumcised; he is the father of all believers who are accepted as being right with God. ¹² And Abraham is also the father of those who have been circumcised and who live following the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

God Keeps His Promise

¹³ Abraham^[c] and his descendants received the promise that they would get the whole world. He did not receive that promise through the law, but through being right with God by his faith. ¹⁴ If people could receive what God promised by following the law, then faith is worthless. And God’s promise to Abraham is worthless, ¹⁵ because the law can only bring God’s anger. But if there is no law, there is nothing to disobey.

¹⁶ So people receive God’s promise by having faith. This happens so the promise can be a free gift. Then all of Abraham’s children can have that promise. It is not only for those who live under the law of Moses but for anyone who lives with faith like that of Abraham, who is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written in the Scriptures: “I am making you a father of many nations.”^[d] This is true before God, the God Abraham believed, the God who gives life to the dead and who creates something out of nothing.

¹⁸ There was no hope that Abraham would have children. But Abraham believed God and continued hoping, and so he became the father of many nations. As God told him, “Your descendants also will be too many to count.”^{[e] 19} Abraham was almost a hundred years old, much past the age for having children, and Sarah could not have children. Abraham thought about all this, but his faith in God did not become weak. ²⁰ He never doubted that God would keep his promise, and he never stopped believing. He grew stronger in his faith and gave praise to God. ²¹ Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what he had promised. ²² So, “God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that faith made him right with God.”^{[f] 23} Those words (“God accepted Abraham’s faith”) were written not only for Abraham ²⁴ but also for us. God will accept us also because we believe in the One who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ Jesus was given to die for our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.

42 While there, Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah went to Jeremiah the prophet. All the army officers and all the people, from the least important to the greatest, went along, too. ² They said to him, “Jeremiah, please listen to what we ask. Pray to the Lord your God for all the people left alive from the family of Judah. At one time there were many of us, but you can see that there are few of us now. ³ So pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet answered, “I understand what you want me to do. I will pray to the Lord your God as you have asked. I will tell you everything he says and not hide anything from you.”

⁵ Then the people said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and loyal witness against us if we don’t do everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. ⁶ It does not matter if we like the message or not. We will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you. We will obey what he says so good things will happen to us.”

⁷ Ten days later the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then Jeremiah called for Johanan son of Kareah, the army officers with him, and all the other people, from the least important to the greatest. ⁹ Jeremiah said to them, “You sent me to ask the Lord for what you wanted. This is what the God of Israel says: ¹⁰ ‘If you will stay in Judah, I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not pull you up, because I am sad about the disaster I brought on you. ¹¹ Now you fear the king of Babylon, but don’t be afraid of him. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ‘because I am with you. I will save you and rescue you from his power. ¹² I will be kind to you, and he will also treat you with mercy and let you stay in your land.’

¹³ “But if you say, ‘We will not stay in Judah,’ you will disobey the Lord your God. ¹⁴ Or you might say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt. There we will not see war, or hear the trumpets of war, or be hungry.’ ¹⁵ If you say that, listen to the message of the Lord, you who are left alive from Judah. This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you make up your mind to go and live in Egypt, these things will happen: ¹⁶ You are afraid of war, but it will find you in the land of Egypt. And you are worried about hunger, but it will follow you into Egypt, and you will die there. ¹⁷ Everyone who goes to live in Egypt will die in war or from hunger or terrible disease. No one who goes to Egypt will live; no one will escape the terrible things I will bring to them.’

¹⁸ “This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘I showed my anger against the people of Jerusalem. In the same way I will show my anger against you when you go to Egypt. Other nations will speak evil of you. People will be shocked by what will happen to you. You will become a curse word, and people will insult you. And you will never see Judah again.’

¹⁹ “You who are left alive in Judah, the Lord has told you, ‘Don’t go to Egypt.’ Be sure you understand this; I warn you today ²⁰ that you are making a mistake that will cause your deaths. You sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us everything the Lord our God says, and we will do it.’ ²¹ So today I have told you, but you have not obeyed the Lord your God in all that he sent me to tell you. ²² So now be sure you understand this: You want to go to live in Egypt, but you will die there by war, hunger, or terrible diseases.”

A Song of Victory

For the director of music. By the Lord’s servant, David. David sang this song to the Lord when the Lord had saved him from Saul and all his other enemies.