The Ark Returned to Israel

6 Now the ark of the Lord had been in the territory of the Philistines for seven months. ² And ^(A)the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us ^[a]how we may send it to its place.” ³ And they said, “If you are going to send the ark of the God of Israel away, ^(B)do not send it empty; but you shall certainly ^(C)return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be revealed to you why His hand does not leave you.” ⁴ Then they said, “What is to be the guilt offering that we shall return to Him?” And they said, “Five gold ^(D)tumors and five gold mice ^(E)corresponding to the number of the governors of the Philistines, since one plague was on all of ^[b]you and on your governors. ⁵ So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that are ruining the land, and ^(F)you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps ^(G)He will lighten His hand from you, ^(H)your gods, and your land. ⁶ Why then do you harden your hearts ^(I)as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, ^(J)did they not let ^[c]the people go, and they left? ⁷ Now then, take and ^(K)prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there ^(L)has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves back home, away from them. ⁸ Then take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart; and put ^(M)the articles of gold which you return to Him as ^(N)a guilt offering in a saddlebag by its side. Then send it away that it may go. ⁹ But watch: if it goes up by the way of its own territory to ^(O)Beth-shemesh, then He has done this great evil to us. But if not, then ^(P)we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.”

¹⁰ Then the men did so: they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut in their calves at home. ¹¹ And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the saddlebag with the gold mice and the likenesses of their tumors. ¹² Now the cows went straight in the ^[d]direction of ^(Q)Beth-shemesh; they went on ^(R)the same road, bellowing as they went, and did not turn off to the right or to the left. And the governors of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

¹³ Now the people of Beth-shemesh were gathering in their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced at seeing it. ¹⁴ And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stopped there where there was a large stone; and they split the wood of the cart and ^(S)offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ And ^(T)the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the saddlebag that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the Lord. ¹⁶ When the ^(U)five governors of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.

¹⁷ Now ^(V)these are the gold tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron; ¹⁸ and the gold mice, corresponding to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five governors, ^(W)both of fortified cities and of country villages. ^(X)The large ^[e]stone on which they placed the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.

^19 (Y)Now He fatally struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck 50,070 men among the people, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. ²⁰ And the men of Beth-shemesh said, “^(Z)Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom will He go up from us?” ²¹ So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of ^(AA)Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord; come down and take it up to yourselves.”

Israel Saved from the Philistines

7 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord and ^(AB)brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and they ^[f]consecrated his son Eleazar to watch over the ark of the Lord. ² From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the ^[g]time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel ^[h]mourned after the Lord.

³ Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “^(AC)If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then ^(AD)remove the foreign gods and the ^(AE)Ashtaroth from among you, and ^(AF)direct your hearts to the Lord and ^(AG)serve Him alone; and He will save you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served the Lord alone.

⁵ Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to ^(AH)Mizpah and ^(AI)I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ So they gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and ^(AJ)poured it out before the Lord, and ^(AK)fasted on that day and said there, “^(AL)We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷ Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the governors of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard about it, ^(AM)they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ So the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “^(AN)Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that He will save us from the hand of the Philistines!” ⁹ Samuel took ^(AO)a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and ^(AP)the Lord answered him. ¹⁰ Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines advanced to battle Israel. But ^(AQ)the Lord thundered with a great ^[i]thunder on that day against the Philistines and ^(AR)confused them, so that they were struck down before Israel. ¹¹ And the men of Israel came out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and killed them as far as below Beth-car.

¹² Then Samuel ^(AS)took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it ^[j]Ebenezer, saying, “^[k]So far the Lord has helped us.” ^13 (AT)So the Philistines were subdued, and ^(AU)they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁴ The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel ^[l]recovered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and ^(AV)the Amorites.

Samuel’s Ministry

¹⁵ Now Samuel ^(AW)judged Israel all the days of his life. ¹⁶ And he used to go annually on a circuit to ^(AX)Bethel, ^(AY)Gilgal, and ^(AZ)Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. ¹⁷ Then he would make his return to ^(BA)Ramah, because his house was there, and there he also judged Israel; and there he ^(BB)built an altar to the Lord.

The Reign of the Righteous King.

A Psalm of Solomon.

God Gives Most

9 For ^(A)it is superfluous for me to write to you about this ^(B)ministry to the ^[a]saints; ² for I know your willingness, of which I ^(C)boast about you to the ^(D)Macedonians, namely, that ^(E)Achaia has been prepared since ^(F)last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. ³ But I have sent the brothers, in order that our ^(G)boasting about you may not prove empty in this case, so that, ^(H)as I was saying, you will be prepared; ⁴ otherwise, if any ^(I)Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to mention you—would be put to shame by this confidence. ⁵ So I considered it necessary to urge the ^(J)brothers that they go on ahead to you and arrange in advance your previously promised ^[b](K)generous gift, that the same would be ready as a ^[c](L)generous gift, and not as one grudgingly given due to greediness.

⁶ Now I say this: ^(M)the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows ^[d]generously will also reap ^[e]generously. ⁷ Each one must do just as he has decided in his heart, not ^(N)reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^(O)God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And ^(P)God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that, always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; ⁹ as it is written:

¹⁰ Now He who supplies ^(R)seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and ^(S)increase the harvest of your righteousness; ¹¹ you will be ^(T)enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing ^(U)thanksgiving to God. ¹² For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying ^(V)the needs of the ^[g]saints, but is also overflowing ^(W)through many thanksgivings to God. ¹³ Because of the proof given by this ^(X)ministry, they will ^(Y)glorify God for your obedience to your ^(Z)confession of the ^(AA)gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your ^[h]contribution to them and to all, ¹⁴ while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. ^15 (AB)Thanks be to God for His indescribable ^(AC)gift!