Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

(By David.)

Praise the Lord with All Your Heart

4 ¹ Then Samuel would speak to the whole nation of Israel.

The Philistines Capture the Sacred Chest

One day the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. They set up camp near Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek. ² The Philistines made a fierce attack. They defeated the Israelites and killed about 4,000 of them.

³ The Israelite army returned to their camp, and the leaders said, “Why did the Lord let us lose to the Philistines today? Let's get the sacred chest where the Lord's agreement with Israel is kept. Then the Lord^[a] will help us and rescue us from our enemies.”

^4 (A) The army sent some soldiers to bring back the sacred chest from Shiloh, because the Lord All-Powerful has his throne on the winged creatures on top of the chest.

As Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, ⁵ brought the chest into camp, the army cheered so loudly that the ground shook. ⁶ The Philistines heard the noise and said, “What are those Hebrews shouting about?”

When the Philistines learned that the sacred chest had been brought into the camp, ⁷ they were scared to death and said:

The gods have come into their camp. Now we're in real trouble! Nothing like this has ever happened to us before. ⁸ We're in big trouble! Who can save us from these powerful gods? They're the same gods who made all those horrible things happen to the Egyptians in the desert.

⁹ Philistines, be brave and fight hard! If you don't, those Hebrews will rule us, just as we've been ruling them. Fight and don't be afraid.

¹⁰ The Philistines did fight. They killed 30,000 Israelite soldiers, and all the rest ran off to their homes. ¹¹ Hophni and Phinehas were killed, and the sacred chest was captured.

Eli Dies

¹² That same day a soldier from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefront to Shiloh. He had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head to show his sorrow. ¹³ He went into town and told the news about the battle, and everyone started crying.

Eli was afraid that something might happen to the sacred chest. So he was sitting on his chair beside the road, just waiting. ^14-15 He was 98 years old and blind, but he could hear everyone crying, and he asked, “What's all that noise?”

The soldier hurried over and told Eli, ¹⁶ “I escaped from the fighting today and ran here.”

“Young man, what happened?” Eli asked.

¹⁷ “Israel ran away from the Philistines,” the soldier answered. “Many of our people were killed, including your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. But worst of all, the sacred chest was captured.”

¹⁸ Eli was still sitting on a chair beside the wall of the town gate. And when the man said that the Philistines had taken the sacred chest, Eli fell backwards. He was a very heavy old man, and the fall broke his neck and killed him. He had been a leader^[b] of Israel for 40 years.

¹⁹ The wife of Phinehas was about to give birth. And soon after she heard that the sacred chest had been captured and that her husband and his father had died, her baby came. The birth was very hard, ²⁰ and she was dying. But the women taking care of her said, “Don't be afraid—it's a boy!”

She didn't pay any attention to them. ^21-22 Instead she kept thinking about losing her husband and her father-in-law. So she said, “My son will be named Ichabod,^[c] because the glory of Israel left our country when the sacred chest was captured.”

⁷ Everything will soon come to an end. So be serious and be sensible enough to pray.

^8 (A) Most important of all, you must sincerely love each other, because love wipes away many sins.

⁹ Welcome people into your home and don't grumble about it.

¹⁰ Each of you has been blessed with one of God's many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well. ¹¹ If you have the gift of speaking, preach God's message. If you have the gift of helping others, do it with the strength that God supplies. Everything should be done in a way that will bring honor to God because of Jesus Christ, who is glorious and powerful forever. Amen.

Suffering for Being a Christian

¹² Dear friends, don't be surprised or shocked that you are going through testing that is like walking through fire. ¹³ Be glad for the chance to suffer as Christ suffered. It will prepare you for even greater happiness when he makes his glorious return.

¹⁴ Count it a blessing when you suffer for being a Christian. This shows that God's glorious Spirit is with you. ¹⁵ But you deserve to suffer if you are a murderer, a thief, a crook, or a busybody. ¹⁶ Don't be ashamed to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God that you belong to him. ¹⁷ God has already begun judging his own people. And if his judgment begins with us, imagine how terrible it will be for those who refuse to obey his message. The Scriptures say,

¹⁹ If you suffer for obeying God, you must have complete faith in your faithful Creator and keep on doing right.