Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

(By David.)

Praise the Lord with All Your Heart

God Causes Trouble for the Philistines

5 The Philistines took the sacred chest from near Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. ² They brought it into the temple of their god Dagon and put it next to the statue of Dagon, which they worshiped.

³ When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, they found the statue lying facedown on the floor in front of the sacred chest. They put the statue back where it belonged. ⁴ But early the next morning, it had fallen over again and was lying facedown on the floor in front of the chest. The body of the statue was still in one piece, but its head and both hands had broken off and were lying on the stone floor in the doorway. ⁵ This is why the priests and everyone else step over that part of the doorway when they enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod.

⁶ The Lord caused a lot of trouble for the people of Ashdod and their neighbors. He made sores break out all over their bodies,^[a] and everyone was in a panic.^{[b] 7} Finally, they said, “The God of Israel did this. He is the one who caused all this trouble for us and our god Dagon. We've got to get rid of this chest.”

⁸ The people of Ashdod invited all the Philistine rulers to come to Ashdod, and they asked them, “What can we do with the sacred chest that belongs to the God of Israel?”

“Send it to Gath,” the rulers answered. But after they took it there, ⁹ the Lord made sores break out on everyone in town. The people of Gath were frightened, ¹⁰ so they sent the sacred chest to Ekron. But before they could take it through the town gates, the people of Ekron started screaming, “They've brought the sacred chest that belongs to the God of Israel! It will kill us and our families too!”

The Philistines Send Back the Sacred Chest

¹¹ The people of Ekron called for another meeting of the Philistine rulers and told them, “Send this chest back where it belongs. Then it won't kill us.”

Everyone was in a panic, because God was causing a lot of people to die, ¹² and those who had survived were suffering from the sores. They all cried to their gods for help.

5 ^(A) Our bodies are like tents that we live in here on earth. But when these tents are destroyed, we know that God will give each of us a place to live. These homes will not be buildings someone has made, but they are in heaven and will last forever. ² While we are here on earth, we sigh because we want to live in that heavenly home. ³ We want to put it on like clothes and not be naked.

⁴ These tents we now live in are like a heavy burden, and we groan. But we don't do this just because we want to leave these bodies that will die. It is because we want to change them for bodies that will never die. ⁵ God is the one who makes all this possible. He has given us his Spirit to make us certain he will do it.