M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Ark in Ashdod and Ekron

5 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer^(A) to Ashdod.^{(B) 2} Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon.^{(C) 3} When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen^(D) on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. ⁴ But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken^(E) off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. ⁵ That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.^(F)

⁶ The Lord’s hand^(G) was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation^(H) on them and afflicted them with tumors.^{[a](I) 7} When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” ⁸ So they called together all the rulers^(J) of the Philistines and asked them, “What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?”

They answered, “Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.^(K)” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.

⁹ But after they had moved it, the Lord’s hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic.^(L) He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.^{[b] 10} So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.^(M)

As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.” ¹¹ So they called together all the rulers^(N) of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it^[c] will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy on it. ¹² Those who did not die^(O) were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.

The Ark Returned to Israel

6 When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months, ² the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners^(P) and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”

³ They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift;^(Q) by all means send a guilt offering^(R) to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand^(S) has not been lifted from you.”

⁴ The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”

They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number^(T) of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague^(U) has struck both you and your rulers. ⁵ Make models of the tumors^(V) and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory^(W) to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. ⁶ Why do you harden^(X) your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them,^(Y) did they^(Z) not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?

⁷ “Now then, get a new cart^(AA) ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked.^(AB) Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. ⁸ Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, ⁹ but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh,^(AC) then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”

¹⁰ So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. ¹¹ They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. ¹² Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

¹³ Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat^(AD) in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. ¹⁴ The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering^(AE) to the Lord. ¹⁵ The Levites^(AF) took down the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock.^(AG) On that day the people of Beth Shemesh^(AH) offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. ¹⁶ The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.

¹⁷ These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the Lord—one each^(AI) for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. ¹⁸ And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

¹⁹ But God struck down^(AJ) some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy^[d] of them to death because they looked^(AK) into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them. ²⁰ And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand^(AL) in the presence of the Lord, this holy^(AM) God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”

²¹ Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim,^(AN) saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to your town.”

Peace and Hope

5 Therefore, since we have been justified^(A) through faith,^(B) we^[a] have peace^(C) with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,^{(D) 2} through whom we have gained access^(E) by faith into this grace in which we now stand.^(F) And we^[b] boast in the hope^(G) of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we^[c] also glory in our sufferings,^(H) because we know that suffering produces perseverance;^{(I) 4} perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope^(J) does not put us to shame, because God’s love^(K) has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit,^(L) who has been given to us.

⁶ You see, at just the right time,^(M) when we were still powerless,^(N) Christ died for the ungodly.^{(O) 7} Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.^(P)

⁹ Since we have now been justified^(Q) by his blood,^(R) how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath^(S) through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies,^(T) we were reconciled^(U) to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!^{(V) 11} Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.^(W)

Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

¹² Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man,^(X) and death through sin,^(Y) and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned^(Z)—

¹³ To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.^{(AA) 14} Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam,^(AB) who is a pattern of the one to come.^(AC)

¹⁵ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man,^(AD) how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ,^(AE) overflow to the many! ¹⁶ Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death^(AF) reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life^(AG) through the one man, Jesus Christ!

¹⁸ Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people,^(AH) so also one righteous act resulted in justification^(AI) and life^(AJ) for all people. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man^(AK) the many were made sinners,^(AL) so also through the obedience^(AM) of the one man the many will be made righteous.

²⁰ The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase.^(AN) But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,^{(AO) 21} so that, just as sin reigned in death,^(AP) so also grace^(AQ) might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life^(AR) through Jesus Christ our Lord.

43 When Jeremiah had finished telling the people all the words of the Lord their God—everything the Lord had sent him to tell them^(A)— ² Azariah son of Hoshaiah^(B) and Johanan^(C) son of Kareah and all the arrogant^(D) men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying!^(E) The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’^{(F) 3} But Baruch^(G) son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians,^[a] so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.”^(H)

⁴ So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people^(I) disobeyed the Lord’s command^(J) to stay in the land of Judah.^{(K) 5} Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered.^{(L) 6} They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan—the men, the women,^(M) the children and the king’s daughters. And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch^(N) son of Neriah along with them. ⁷ So they entered Egypt^(O) in disobedience to the Lord and went as far as Tahpanhes.^(P)

⁸ In Tahpanhes^(Q) the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ⁹ “While the Jews are watching, take some large stones^(R) with you and bury them in clay in the brick^(S) pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace^(T) in Tahpanhes. ¹⁰ Then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant^(U) Nebuchadnezzar^(V) king of Babylon, and I will set his throne^(W) over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy^(X) above them. ¹¹ He will come and attack Egypt,^(Y) bringing death^(Z) to those destined^(AA) for death, captivity to those destined for captivity,^(AB) and the sword to those destined for the sword.^{(AC) 12} He will set fire^(AD) to the temples^(AE) of the gods^(AF) of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive.^(AG) As a shepherd picks^(AH) his garment clean of lice, so he will pick Egypt clean and depart. ¹³ There in the temple of the sun^[b](AI) in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars^(AJ) and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”

Psalm 19^[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.