1 Samuel 6–8

The Return of the Ark

6When the ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months, ²the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners ^land pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”

³They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, you must not send it without an offering. ^mYou must send back a restitution offering to Him, ⁿand you will be healed. Then the reason His hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.” ^o

⁴They asked, “What restitution offering should we send back to Him?”

And they answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice ^pcorresponding to the number of Philistine rulers, ^qsince there was one plague for both you ^rand your rulers. ⁵Make images of your tumors and of your mice that are destroying the land. Give glory to Israel’s God, ^sand perhaps He will stop oppressing you, ^tuyour gods, and your land. ^v6Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? ^wWhen He afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left? ^x

⁷“Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked. ^yHitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. ⁸Take the ark of the Lord, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending Him as a restitution offering in a box ^zbeside the ark. ^aSend it off and let it go its way. ⁹Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh, ^bit is the Lord who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not His hand that punished ^cus—it was just something that happened to us by chance.”

¹⁰The men did this: They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and confined their calves in the pen. ¹¹Then they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors. ¹²The cows went straight up the road to Beth-shemesh. ^dThey stayed on that one highway, ^elowing as they went; they never strayed to the right or to the left. The Philistine rulers were walking behind them to the territory of Beth-shemesh.

¹³The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it. ¹⁴The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ^f15The Levites ^gremoved the ark of the Lord, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. ¹⁶When the five Philistine rulers ^hobserved this, they returned to Ekron that same day.

¹⁷As a restitution offering to the Lord, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: ⁱAshdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. ¹⁸The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages. ^jThe large rock ^klon which the ark of the Lord was placed is in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh to this day.

¹⁹God struck down the men of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord. ^mnHe struck down 70 men out of 50,000 men. ^oThe people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter. ²⁰The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of this holy Lord God? ^pWho should the ark go to from here?”

²¹They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, ^qsaying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and get it.” ^r

7So the men of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the Lord and took it to Abinadab’s house on the hill. ^sThey consecrated his son Eleazar to take care of it.

Victory at Mizpah

²Time went by until 20 years had passed since the ark had been taken to Kiriath-jearim. Then the whole house of Israel began to seek the Lord. ³Samuel told them, “If you ^tare returning to the Lord ^uwith all your heart, ^vget rid of the foreign gods ^wand the Ashtoreths that are among you, dedicate yourselves to ^xthe Lord, and worship only Him. ^yThen He will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴So the Israelites removed the Baals and the Ashtoreths ^zand only worshiped the Lord.

⁵Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, ^aand I will pray to the Lord on your behalf.” ^b6When they gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out in the Lord’s presence. ^cThey fasted that day, ^dand there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” ^eAnd Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.

⁷When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, their rulers marched up toward Israel. When the Israelites heard about it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. ⁸The Israelites said to Samuel, “Don’t stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, so that He will save us from the hand of the Philistines.”

⁹Then Samuel took a young lamb ^fand offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on behalf of Israel, and the Lord answered him. ^g10Samuel was offering the burnt offering as the Philistines drew near to fight against Israel. The Lord thundered loudly ^hagainst the Philistines that day and threw them into such confusion that they fled before Israel. ⁱ¹¹Then the men of Israel charged out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines striking them down all the way to a place below Beth-car.

¹²Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright ^jbetween Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, ^kexplaining, “The Lord has helped us to this point.” ¹³So the Philistines were subdued ^land ^mdid not invade Israel’s territory again. ⁿThe Lord’s hand was against the Philistines all of Samuel’s life. ¹⁴The cities from Ekron to Gath, which they had taken from Israel, were restored; Israel even rescued their surrounding territories from Philistine control. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵Samuel judged Israel throughout his life. ^o16Every year he would go on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah and would judge Israel at all these locations. ¹⁷Then he would return to Ramah ^pbecause his home was there, he judged Israel there, and he built an altar to the Lord there.

Israel’s Demand for a King

8When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. ^q2His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. ^r3However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. ^s

⁴So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah. ^t5They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not follow your example. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.” ^u

⁶When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand sinful, so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected Me as their king. ^v8They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to Me, ^wsince the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning Me and worshiping other gods. ⁹Listen to them, but you must solemnly warn them ^xand tell them about the rights of the king who will rule over them.”

¹⁰Samuel told all the Lord’s words to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹He said, “These are the rights of the king who will rule over you: He will take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots. ¹²He can appoint them for his use as commanders of thousands or commanders of fifties, ^yto plow his ground or reap his harvest, or to make his weapons of war or the equipment for his chariots. ¹³He can take your daughters to become perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴He can take your best fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his servants. ^z15He can take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants. ¹⁶He can take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, ^aand your donkeys and use them for his work. ¹⁷He can take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves can become his servants. ¹⁸When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, ^bbut the Lord won’t answer you on that day.” ^c

¹⁹The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. ²⁰Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, ^dand fight our battles.”

²¹Samuel listened to all the people’s words and then repeated them to the Lord. ^e22“Listen to them,” the Lord told Samuel. “Appoint a king for them.” ^f

Then Samuel told the men of Israel, “Each of you, go back to your city.”