Good News Translation (GNT)

David’s Song of Victory

1 When the Lord saved David from Saul and his other enemies, David sang this song to the Lord:

2 The Lord is my protector;

he is my strong fortress.

3 My God is my protection,

and with him I am safe.

He protects me like a shield;

he defends me and keeps me safe.

He is my savior;

he protects me and saves me from violence.

4 I call to the Lord,

and he saves me from my enemies.

Praise the Lord!

5 The waves of death were all around me;

the waves of destruction rolled over me.

6 The danger of death was around me,

and the grave set its trap for me.

7 In my trouble I called to the Lord;

I called to my God for help.

In his temple he heard my voice;

he listened to my cry for help.

8 Then the earth trembled and shook;

the foundations of the sky rocked and quivered

because God was angry!

9 Smoke poured out of his nostrils,

a consuming flame and burning coals from his mouth.

10 He tore the sky open and came down,

with a dark cloud under his feet.

11 He flew swiftly on his winged creature;

he traveled on the wings of the wind.

12 He covered himself with darkness;

thick clouds, full ofwater, surrounded him;

13 burning coals flamed up from the lightning before him.

14 Then the Lord thundered from the sky,

and the voice of Almighty God was heard.

15 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;

with flashes of lightning he sent them running.

16 The floor of the ocean was laid bare,

and the foundations of the earth were uncovered

when the Lord rebuked his enemies

and roared at them in anger.

17 The Lord reached down from above and took hold of me;

he pulled me out of the deep waters.

18 He rescued me from my powerful enemies

and from all those who hate me—

they were too strong for me.

19 When I was in trouble, they attacked me,

but the Lord protected me.

20 He helped me out of danger;

he saved me because he was pleased with me.

21 The Lord rewards me because I do what is right;

he blesses me because I am innocent.

22 I have obeyed the law of the Lord;

I have not turned away from my God.

23 I have observed all his laws;

I have not disobeyed his commands.

24 He knows that I am faultless,

that I have kept myself from doing wrong.

25 And so he rewards me because I do what is right,

because he knows that I am innocent.

26 O Lord, you are faithful to those who are faithful to you,

and completely good to thosewho are perfect.

27 You are pure to those who are pure,

but hostile to those who are wicked.

28 You save those who are humble,

but you humble those who are proud.

29 You, Lord, are my light;

you dispel my darkness.

30 You give me strength to attack my enemies

and power to overcome their defenses.

31 This God—how perfect are his deeds,

how dependable his words!

He is like a shield

for all who seek his protection.

32 The Lord alone is God;

God alone is our defense.

33 This God is my strong refuge;

he makesmy pathway safe.

34 He makes me sure-footed as a deer;

he keeps me safe on the mountains.

35 He trains me for battle,

so that I can use the strongest bow.

36 O Lord, you protect me and save me;

your help has made me great.

37 You have kept me from being captured,

and I have never fallen.

38 I pursue my enemies and defeat them;

I do not stop until I destroy them.

39 I strike them down, and they cannot rise;

they lie defeated before me.

40 You give me strength for the battle

and victory over my enemies.

41 You make my enemies run from me;

I destroy those who hate me.

42 They look for help, but no one saves them;

they call to the Lord, but he does not answer.

43 I crush them, and they become like dust;

I trample on them like mud in the streets.

44 You saved me from my rebellious people

and maintained my rule over the nations;

people I did not know have now become my subjects.

45 Foreigners bow before me;

when they hear me, they obey.

46 They lose their courage

and come tremblingfrom their fortresses.

47 The Lord lives! Praise my defender!

Proclaim the greatness of the strong God who saves me!

48 He gives me victory over my enemies;

he subdues the nations under me

49 and saves me from my foes.

O Lord, you give me victory over my enemies

and protect me from violent men.

50 And so I praise you among the nations;

I sing praises to you.

51 God gives great victories to his king;

he shows constant love to the one he has chosen,

to David and his descendants forever.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/2SA/22-71d3aa50725af7f4a10967f6e36f3b27.mp3?version_id=68—

David’s Last Words

1 David son of Jesse was the man whom God made great, whom the God of Jacob chose to be king, and who was the composer of beautiful songs for Israel. These are David’s last words:

2 The spirit of the Lord speaks through me;

his message is on my lips.

3 The God of Israel has spoken;

the protector of Israel said to me:

“The king who rules with justice,

who rules in obedience to God,

4 is like the sun shining on a cloudless dawn,

the sun that makes the grass sparkle after rain.”

5 And that is how God will bless my descendants,

because he has made an eternal covenant with me,

an agreement that will not be broken,

a promise that will not be changed.

That is all I desire;

that will be my victory,

and God will surely bring it about.

6 But godless people are like thorns that are thrown away;

no one can touch them barehanded.

7 You must use an iron tool or a spear;

they will be burned completely.

David’s Famous Soldiers

8 These are the names of David’s famous soldiers: the first was Josheb Basshebeth from Tachemon, who was the leader of “The Three”;he fought with his spearagainst eight hundred men and killed them all in one battle.

9 The second of the famous three was Eleazar son of Dodo, of the clan of Ahoh. One day he and David challenged the Philistines who had gathered for battle. The Israelites fell back,

10 but he stood his ground and fought the Philistines until his hand was so cramped that he could not let go of his sword. The Lord won a great victory that day. After it was over, the Israelites returned to where Eleazar was and stripped the armor from the dead.

11 The third of the famous three was Shammah son of Agee from Harar. The Philistines had gathered at Lehi, where there was a field of peas. The Israelites fled from the Philistines,

12 but Shammah stood his ground in the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. The Lord won a great victory that day.

13 Near the beginning of harvest timethree of “The Thirty” went down to Adullam Cave, where David was, while a band of Philistines was camping in Rephaim Valley.

14 At that time David was on a fortified hill, and a group of Philistines had occupied Bethlehem.

15 David grew homesick and said, “How I wish someone would bring me a drink of water from the well by the gate at Bethlehem!”

16 The three famous soldiers forced their way through the Philistine camp, drew some water from the well, and brought it back to David. But he would not drink it; instead he poured it out as an offering to the Lord

17 and said, “Lord, I could never drink this! It would be like drinking the blood of these men who risked their lives!” So he refused to drink it.

Those were the brave deeds of the three famous soldiers.

18 Joab’s brother Abishai (their mother was Zeruiah) was the leader of “The Famous Thirty.” He fought with his spear against three hundred men and killed them, and became famous among “The Thirty.”

19 He was the most famous of “The Thirty”and became their leader, but he was not as famous as “The Three.”

20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada from Kabzeel was another famous soldier; he did many brave deeds, including killing two great Moabite warriors. He once went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

21 He also killed an Egyptian, a huge man who was armed with a spear. Benaiah attacked him with his club, snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with it.

22 Those were the brave deeds of Benaiah, who was one of “The Thirty.”

23 He was outstanding among them, but was not as famous as “The Three.” David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

24-39 Other members of “The Thirty” included:

Asahel, Joab’s brother

Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem

Shammah and Elika from Harod

Helez from Pelet

Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa

Abiezer from Anathoth

Mebunnai from Hushah

Zalmon from Ahoh

Maharai from Netophah

Heleb son of Baanah from Netophah

Ittai son of Ribai from Gibeah in Benjamin

Benaiah from Pirathon

Hiddai from the valleys near Gaash

Abialbon from Arabah

Azmaveth from Bahurim

Eliahba from Shaalbon

The sons of Jashen

Jonathan

Shammah from Harar

Ahiam son of Sharar from Harar

Eliphelet son of Ahasbai from Maacah

Eliam son of Ahithophel from Gilo

Hezro from Carmel

Paarai from Arab

Igal son of Nathan from Zobah

Bani from Gad

Zelek from Ammon

Naharai from Beeroth, Joab’s armorbearer

Ira and Gareb from Jattir

Uriah the Hittite.

There were thirty-seven famous soldiers in all.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/2SA/23-f93ce02b357237c6337c9e2a35e69542.mp3?version_id=68—

David Takes a Census

1 On another occasion the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made David bring trouble on them. The Lord said to him, “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah.”

2 So David gave orders to Joab, the commander of his army: “Go with your officers through all the tribes of Israel from one end of the country to the other, and count the people. I want to know how many there are.”

3 But Joab answered the king, “Your Majesty, may the Lord your God make the people of Israel a hundred times more numerous than they are now, and may you live to see him do it. But why does Your Majesty want to do this?”

4 But the king made Joab and his officers obey his order; they left his presence and went out to count the people of Israel.

5 They crossed the Jordan and camped south of Aroer, the city in the middle of the valley, in the territory of Gad.From there they went north to Jazer,

6 and on to Gilead and to Kadesh, in Hittite territory.Then they went to Dan, and from Dan they wentwest to Sidon.

7 Then they went south to the fortified city of Tyre, on to all the cities of the Hivites and the Canaanites, and finally to Beersheba, in the southern part of Judah.

8 So after nine months and twenty days they returned to Jerusalem, having traveled through the whole country.

9 They reported to the king the total number of men capable of military service: 800,000 in Israel and 500,000 in Judah.

10 But after David had taken the census, his conscience began to hurt, and he said to the Lord, “I have committed a terrible sin in doing this! Please forgive me. I have acted foolishly.”

11-12 The Lord said to Gad, David’s prophet, “Go and tell David that I am giving him three choices. I will do whichever he chooses.” The next morning, after David had gotten up,

13 Gad went to him, told him what the Lord had said, and asked, “Which is it to be? Threeyears of famine in your land or three months of running away from your enemies or three days of an epidemic in your land? Now think it over, and tell me what answer to take back to the Lord.”

14 David answered, “I am in a desperate situation! But I don’t want to be punished by people. Let the Lord himself be the one to punish us, for he is merciful.”

15 So the Lord sent an epidemic on Israel, which lasted from that morning until the time that he had chosen. From one end of the country to the other seventy thousand Israelites died.

16 When the Lord’s angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord changed his mind about punishing the people and said to the angel who was killing them, “Stop! That’s enough!” The angel was by the threshing place of Araunah, a Jebusite.

17 David saw the angel who was killing the people, and said to the Lord, “I am the guilty one. I am the one who did wrong. What have these poor people done? You should punish me and my family.”

18 That same day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up to Araunah’s threshing place and build an altar to the Lord.”

19 David obeyed the Lord’s command and went as Gad had told him to.

20 Araunah looked down and saw the king and his officials coming up to him. He threw himself on the ground in front of David

21 and asked, “Your Majesty, why are you here?”

David answered, “To buy your threshing place and build an altar for the Lord, in order to stop the epidemic.”

22 “Take it, Your Majesty,” Araunah said, “and offer to the Lord whatever you wish. Here are these oxen to burn as an offering on the altar; here are their yokes and the threshing boards to use as fuel.”

23 Araunah gave it all to the kingand said to him, “May the Lord your God accept your offering.”

24 But the king answered, “No, I will pay you for it. I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing.” And he bought the threshing place and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver.

25 Then he built an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. The Lord answered his prayer, and the epidemic in Israel was stopped.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/2SA/24-31a1b24ea6cf75295a7ecd33f7e98cea.mp3?version_id=68—

Elkanah and His Family at Shiloh

1 There was a man named Elkanah, from the tribe of Ephraim, who lived in the town of Ramah in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham and grandson of Elihu, and belonged to the family of Tohu, a part of the clan of Zuph.

2 Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah did not.

3 Every year Elkanah went from Ramah to worship and offer sacrifices to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord.

4 Each time Elkanah offered his sacrifice, he would give one share of the meat to Peninnah and one share to each of her children.

5 And even though he loved Hannah very much he would give her only one share, becausethe Lord had kept her from having children.

6 Peninnah, her rival, would torment and humiliate her, because the Lord had kept her childless.

7 This went on year after year; whenever they went to the house of the Lord, Peninnah would upset Hannah so much that she would cry and refuse to eat anything.

8 Her husband Elkanah would ask her, “Hannah, why are you crying? Why won’t you eat? Why are you always so sad? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”

Hannah and Eli

9-10 One time, after they had finished their meal in the house of the Lord at Shiloh, Hannah got up. She was deeply distressed, and she cried bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. Meanwhile, Eli the priest was sitting in his place by the door.

11 Hannah made a solemn promise: “Lord Almighty, look at me, your servant! See my trouble and remember me! Don’t forget me! If you give me a son, I promise that I will dedicate him to you for his whole life and that he will never have his hair cut.”

12 Hannah continued to pray to the Lord for a long time, and Eli watched her lips.

13 She was praying silently; her lips were moving, but she made no sound. So Eli thought that she was drunk,

14 and he said to her, “Stop making a drunken show of yourself Stop your drinking and sober up!”

15 “No, I’m not drunk, sir,” she answered. “I haven’t been drinking! I am desperate, and I have been praying, pouring out my troubles to the Lord.

16 Don’t think I am a worthless woman. I have been praying like this because I’m so miserable.”

17 “Go in peace,” Eli said, “and may the God of Israel give you what you have asked him for.”

18 “May you always think kindly of me,” she replied. Then she went away, ate some food, and was no longer sad.

Samuel’s Birth and Dedication

19 The next morning Elkanah and his family got up early, and after worshiping the Lord, they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intercourse with his wife Hannah, and the Lord answered her prayer.

20 So it was that she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel,and explained, “I asked the Lord for him.”

21 The time came again for Elkanah and his family to go to Shiloh and offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and the special sacrifice he had promised.

22 But this time Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will take him to the house of the Lord, where he will stay all his life.”

23 Elkanah answered, “All right, do whatever you think best; stay at home until you have weaned him. And may the Lord make yourpromise come true.” So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her child.

24 After she had weaned him, she took him to Shiloh, taking along a three-year-old bull,a bushel of flour, and a leather bag full of wine. She took Samuel, young as he was, to the house of the Lord at Shiloh.

25 After they had killed the bull, they took the child to Eli.

26 Hannah said to him, “Excuse me, sir. Do you remember me? I am the woman you saw standing here, praying to the Lord.

27 I asked him for this child, and he gave me what I asked for.

28 So I am dedicating him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he will belong to the Lord.”

Then theyworshiped the Lord there.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/1SA/1-3831767d8bf36111347d3f0f60a3944e.mp3?version_id=68—

Hannah’s Prayer

1 Hannah prayed:

“The Lord has filled my heart with joy;

how happy I am because of what he has done!

I laugh at my enemies;

how joyful I am because God has helped me!

2 “No one is holy like the Lord;

there is none like him,

no protector like our God.

3 Stop your loud boasting;

silence your proud words.

For the Lord is a God who knows,

and he judges all that people do.

4 The bows of strong soldiers are broken,

but the weak grow strong.

5 The people who once were well fed

now hire themselves out to get food,

but the hungry are hungry no more.

The childless wife has borne seven children,

but the mother of many is left with none.

6 The Lord kills and restores to life;

he sends people to the world of the dead

and brings them back again.

7 He makes some people poor and others rich;

he humbles some and makes others great.

8 He lifts the poor from the dust

and raises the needy from their misery.

He makes them companions of princes

and puts them in places of honor.

The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord;

on them he has built the world.

9 “He protects the lives of his faithful people,

but the wicked disappear in darkness;

a man does not triumph by his own strength.

10 The Lord’s enemies will be destroyed;

he will thunder against them from heaven.

The Lord will judge the whole world;

he will give power to his king,

he will make his chosen king victorious.”

11 Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah, but the boy Samuel stayed in Shiloh and served the Lord under the priest Eli.

The Sons of Eli

12 The sons of Eli were scoundrels. They paid no attention to the Lord

13 or to the regulations concerning what the priests could demand from the people. Instead, when someone was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork. While the meat was still cooking,

14 he would stick the fork into the cooking pot, and whatever the fork brought out belonged to the priest. All the Israelites who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices were treated like this.

15 In addition, even before the fat was taken off and burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one offering the sacrifice, “Give me some meat for the priest to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, only raw meat.”

16 If the person answered, “Let us do what is right and burn the fat first; then take what you want,” the priest’s servant would say, “No! Give it to me now! If you don’t, I will have to take it by force!”

17 This sin of the sons of Eli was extremely serious in the Lord’s sight, because they treated the offerings to the Lord with such disrespect.

Samuel at Shiloh

18 In the meantime the boy Samuel continued to serve the Lord, wearing a sacred linen apron.

19 Each year his mother would make a little robe and take it to him when she accompanied her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say to Elkanah, “May the Lord give you other children by this woman to take the place of the one you dedicated to him.”

After that they would go back home.

21 The Lord did bless Hannah, and she had three more sons and two daughters. The boy Samuel grew up in the service of the Lord.

Eli and His Sons

22 Eli was now very old. He kept hearing about everything his sons were doing to the Israelites and that they were even sleeping with the women who worked at the entrance to the Tent of the Lord’s presence.

23 So he said to them, “Why are you doing these things? Everybody tells me about the evil you are doing.

24 Stop it, my sons! This is an awful thing the people of the Lord are talking about!

25 If anyone sins against someone else, God can defend the one who is wrong; but who can defend someone who sins against the Lord?”

But they would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided to kill them.

26 The boy Samuel continued to grow and to gain favor both with the Lord and with people.

The Prophecy against Eli’s Family

27 A prophet came to Eli with this message from the Lord: “When your ancestor Aaron and his family were slaves of the king of Egypt, I revealed myself to Aaron.

28 From all the tribes of Israel I chose his family to be my priests, to serve at the altar, to burn the incense, and to wear the ephodto consult me. And I gave them the right to keep a share of the sacrifices burned on the altar.

29 Why, then, do you look with greedat the sacrifices and offerings which I require from my people? Why, Eli, do you honor your sons more than me by letting them fatten themselves on the best parts of all the sacrifices my people offer to me?

30 I, the Lord God of Israel, promised in the past that your family and your clan would serve me as priests for all time. But now I say that I won’t have it any longer! Instead, I will honor those who honor me, and I will treat with contempt those who despise me.

31 Listen, the time is coming when I will kill all the young men in your family and your clan, so that no man in your family will live to be old.

32 You will be troubled and look with envyon all the blessings I will give to the other people of Israel, but no one in your family will ever again live to old age.

33 Yet I will keep one of your descendants alive, and he will serve me as priest. But hewill become blind and lose all hope, and all your other descendants will die a violent death.

34 When your two sons Hophni and Phinehas both die on the same day, this will show you that everything I have said will come true.

35 I will choose a priest who will be faithful to me and do everything I want him to. I will give him descendants, who will always serve in the presence of my chosen king.

36 Any of your descendants who survive will have to go to that priest and ask him for money and food, and beg to be allowed to help the priests, in order to have something to eat.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/1SA/2-3be19e97edc8726cf2ece0a18a5ffd06.mp3?version_id=68—

The Lord Appears to Samuel

1 In those days, when the boy Samuel was serving the Lord under the direction of Eli, there were very few messages from the Lord, and visions from him were quite rare.

2 One night Eli, who was now almost blind, was sleeping in his own room;

3 Samuel was sleeping in the sanctuary, where the sacred Covenant Box was. Before dawn, while the lamp was still burning,

4 the Lord called Samuel. He answered, “Yes, sir!”

5 and ran to Eli and said, “You called me, and here I am.”

But Eli answered, “I didn’t call you; go back to bed.” So Samuel went back to bed.

6-7 The Lord called Samuel again. The boy did not know that it was the Lord, because the Lord had never spoken to him before. So he got up, went to Eli, and said, “You called me, and here I am.”

But Eli answered, “My son, I didn’t call you; go back to bed.”

8 The Lord called Samuel a third time; he got up, went to Eli, and said, “You called me, and here I am.”

Then Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy,

9 so he said to him, “Go back to bed; and if he calls you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.

10 The Lord came and stood there, and called as he had before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Samuel answered, “Speak; your servant is listening.”

11 The Lord said to him, “Some day I am going to do something to the people of Israel that is so terrible that everyone who hears about it will be stunned.

12 On that day I will carry out all my threats against Eli’s family, from beginning to end.

13 I have already told himthat I am going to punish his family forever because his sons have spoken evil things against me. Eli knew they were doing this, but he did not stop them.

14 So I solemnly declare to the family of Eli that no sacrifice or offering will ever be able to remove the consequences of this terrible sin.”

15 Samuel stayed in bed until morning; then he got up and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli about the vision.

16 Eli called him, “Samuel, my boy!”

“Yes, sir,” answered Samuel.

17 “What did the Lord tell you?” Eli asked. “Don’t keep anything from me. God will punish you severely if you don’t tell me everything he said.”

18 So Samuel told him everything; he did not keep anything back. Eli said, “He is the Lord; he will do whatever seems best to him.”

19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and made come true everything that Samuel said.

20 So all the people of Israel, from one end of the country to the other, knew that Samuel was indeed a prophet of the Lord.

21 The Lord continued to reveal himself at Shiloh, where he had appeared to Samuel and had spoken to him. And when Samuel spoke, all Israel listened.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/1SA/3-9ddd221e5cd0ed92f8de151b9814462c.mp3?version_id=68—

The Capture of the Covenant Box

1 At that time the Philistines gathered to go to war against Israel, sothe Israelites set out to fight them. The Israelites set up their camp at Ebenezer and the Philistines at Aphek.

2 The Philistines attacked, and after fierce fighting they defeated the Israelites and killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.

3 When the survivors came back to camp, the leaders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let the Philistines defeat us today? Let’s go and bring the Lord’s Covenant Box from Shiloh, so that hewill go with us and save us from our enemies.”

4 So they sent messengers to Shiloh and got the Covenant Box of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned above the winged creatures.And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, came along with the Covenant Box.

5 When the Covenant Box arrived, the Israelites gave such a loud shout of joy that the earth shook.

6 The Philistines heard the shouting and said, “Listen to all that shouting in the Hebrew camp! What does it mean?” When they found out that the Lord’s Covenant Box had arrived in the Hebrew camp,

7 they were afraid, and said, “A god has come into their camp! We’re lost! Nothing like this has ever happened to us before!

8 Who can save us from those powerful gods? They are the gods who slaughtered the Egyptians in the desert!

9 Be brave, Philistines! Fight like men, or we will become slaves to the Hebrews, just as they were our slaves. So fight like men!”

10 The Philistines fought hard and defeated the Israelites, who went running to their homes. There was a great slaughter: thirty thousand Israelite soldiers were killed.

11 God’s Covenant Box was captured, and Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were both killed.

The Death of Eli

12 A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran all the way from the battlefield to Shiloh and arrived there the same day. To show his grief, he had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head.

13 Eli, who was very worried about the Covenant Box, was sitting in his seat beside the road, staring. The man spread the news throughout the town, and everyone cried out in fear.

14 Eli heard the noise and asked, “What is all this noise about?” The man hurried to Eli to tell him the news. (

15 Eli was now ninety-eight years old and almost completely blind.)

16 The man said, “I have escaped from the battle and have run all the way here today.”

Eli asked him, “What happened, my son?”

17 The messenger answered, “Israel ran away from the Philistines; it was a terrible defeat for us! Besides that, your sons Hophni and Phinehas were killed, and God’s Covenant Box was captured!”

18 When the man mentioned the Covenant Box, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He was so old and fat that the fall broke his neck, and he died. He had been a leader in Israel for forty years.

The Death of the Widow of Phinehas

19 Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, and it was almost time for her baby to be born. When she heard that God’s Covenant Box had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she suddenly went into labor and gave birth.

20 As she was dying, the women helping her said to her, “Be brave! You have a son!” But she paid no attention and did not answer.

21 She named the boy Ichabod,explaining, “God’s glory has left Israel”—referring to the capture of the Covenant Box and the death of her father-in-law and her husband.

22 “God’s glory has left Israel,” she said, “because God’s Covenant Box has been captured.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/1SA/4-81c0e7f3555731c8a1dbe67efb1e6126.mp3?version_id=68—

The Covenant Box among the Philistines

1 After the Philistines captured the Covenant Box, they carried it from Ebenezer to their city of Ashdod,

2 took it into the temple of their god Dagon, and set it up beside his statue.

3 Early the next morning the people of Ashdod saw that the statue of Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground in front of the Lord’s Covenant Box. So they lifted it up and put it back in its place.

4 Early the following morning they saw that the statue had again fallen down in front of the Covenant Box. This time its head and both its arms were broken off and were lying in the doorway; only the body was left. (

5 That is why even today the priests of Dagon and all his worshipers in Ashdod step over that place and do not walk on it.)

6 The Lord punished the people of Ashdod severely and terrified them. He punished them and the people in the surrounding territory by causing them to have tumors.

7 When they saw what was happening, they said, “The God of Israel is punishing us and our god Dagon. We can’t let the Covenant Box stay here any longer.”

8 So they sent messengers and called together all five of the Philistine kings and asked them, “What shall we do with the Covenant Box of the God of Israel?”

“Take it over to Gath,” they answered; so they took it to Gath, another Philistine city.

9 But after it arrived there, the Lord punished that city too and caused a great panic. He punished them with tumors which developed in all the people of the city, young and old alike.

10 So they sent the Covenant Box to Ekron, another Philistine city; but when it arrived there, the people cried out, “They have brought the Covenant Box of the God of Israel here, in order to kill us all!”

11 So again they sent for all the Philistine kings and said, “Send the Covenant Box of Israel back to its own place, so that it won’t kill us and our families.” There was panic throughout the city because God was punishing them so severely.

12 Even those who did not die developed tumors and the people cried out to their gods for help.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/1SA/5-b17ac576a9559e4c23dd9e91f6f05b11.mp3?version_id=68—

The Return of the Covenant Box

1 After the Lord’s Covenant Box had been in Philistia for seven months,

2 the people called the priests and the magicians and asked, “What shall we do with the Covenant Box of the Lord? If we send it back where it belongs, what shall we send with it?”

3 They answered, “If you return the Covenant Box of the God of Israel, you must, of course, send with it a gift to him to pay for your sin. The Covenant Box must not go back without a gift. In this way you will be healed, and you will find out why he has kept on punishing you.”

4 “What gift shall we send him?” the people asked.

They answered, “Five gold models of tumors and five gold mice, one of each for each Philistine king. The same plague was sent on all of you and on the five kings.

5 You must make these models of the tumors and of the mice that are ravaging your country, and you must give honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will stop punishing you, your gods, and your land.

6 Why should you be stubborn, as the king of Egypt and the Egyptians were? Don’t forget how God made fools of them until they let the Israelites leave Egypt.

7 So prepare a new wagon and two cows that have never been yoked; hitch them to the wagon and drive their calves back to the barn.

8 Take the Lord’s Covenant Box, put it on the wagon, and place in a box beside it the gold models that you are sending to him as a gift to pay for your sins. Start the wagon on its way and let it go by itself.

9 Then watch it go; if it goes toward the town of Beth Shemesh, this means that it is the God of the Israelites who has sent this terrible disaster on us. But if it doesn’t, then we will know that he did not send the plague; it was only a matter of chance.”

10 They did what they were told: they took two cows and hitched them to the wagon, and shut the calves in the barn.

11 They put the Covenant Box in the wagon, together with the box containing the gold models of the mice and of the tumors.

12 The cows started off on the road to Beth Shemesh and headed straight toward it, without turning off the road. They were mooing as they went. The five Philistine kings followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

13 The people of Beth Shemesh were reaping wheat in the valley, when suddenly they looked up and saw the Covenant Box. They were overjoyed at the sight.

14 The wagon came to a field belonging to a man named Joshua, who lived in Beth Shemesh, and it stopped there near a large rock. The people chopped up the wooden wagon and killed the cows and burned them as a burnt sacrifice to the Lord.

15 The Levites lifted off the Covenant Box of the Lord and the box with the gold models in it, and placed them on the large rock. Then the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt sacrifices and other sacrifices to the Lord.

16 The five Philistine kings watched them do this and then went back to Ekron that same day.

17 The Philistines sent the five gold tumors to the Lord as a gift to pay for their sins, one each for the cities of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.

18 They also sent gold mice, one for each of the cities ruled by the five Philistine kings, both the fortified towns and the villages without walls. The large rock in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, on which they placed the Lord’s Covenant Box, is still there as a witness to what happened.

19 The Lord killed seventy of the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the Covenant Box. And the people mourned because the Lord had caused such a great slaughter among them.

The Covenant Box at Kiriath Jearim

20 So the men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who can stand before the Lord, this holy God? Where can we send him to get him away from us?”

21 They sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim to say, “The Philistines have returned the Lord’s Covenant Box. Come down and get it.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/1SA/6-894ae1b5dcc1ffc917e9c9a08eaa2b3f.mp3?version_id=68—

1 So the people of Kiriath Jearim got the Lord’s Covenant Box and took it to the house of a man named Abinadab, who lived on a hill. They consecrated his son Eleazar to be in charge of it.

Samuel Rules Israel

2 The Covenant Box of the Lord stayed in Kiriath Jearim a long time, some twenty years. During this time all the Israelites cried to the Lord for help.

3 Samuel said to the people of Israel, “If you are going to turn to the Lord with all your hearts, you must get rid of all the foreign gods and the images of the goddess Astarte. Dedicate yourselves completely to the Lord and worship only him, and he will rescue you from the power of the Philistines.”

4 So the Israelites got rid of their idols of Baal and Astarte, and worshiped only the Lord.

5 Then Samuel called for all the Israelites to meet at Mizpah, telling them, “I will pray to the Lord for you there.”

6 So they all gathered at Mizpah. They drew some water and poured it out as an offering to the Lord and fasted that whole day. They said, “We have sinned against the Lord.” (It was at Mizpah where Samuel settled disputes among the Israelites.)

7 When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the five Philistine kings started out with their men to attack them. The Israelites heard about it and were afraid,

8 and said to Samuel, “Keep praying to the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines.”

9 Samuel killed a young lamb and burned it whole as a sacrifice to the Lord. Then he prayed to the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered his prayer.

10 While Samuel was offering the sacrifice, the Philistines moved forward to attack; but just then the Lord thundered from heaven against them. They became completely confused and fled in panic.

11 The Israelites marched out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines almost as far as Bethcar, killing them along the way.

12 Then Samuel took a stone, set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and said, “The Lord has helped us all the way”—and he named it “Stone of Help.”

13 So the Philistines were defeated, and the Lord prevented them from invading Israel’s territory as long as Samuel lived.

14 All the cities which the Philistines had captured between Ekron and Gath were returned to Israel, and so Israel got back all its territory. And there was peace also between the Israelites and the Canaanites.

15 Samuel ruled Israel as long as he lived.

16 Every year he would go around to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and in these places he would settle disputes.

17 Then he would go back to his home in Ramah, where also he would serve as judge. In Ramah he built an altar to the Lord.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/1SA/7-99ed40984f68f62f2c6f12d81e31c9e6.mp3?version_id=68—