Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from 1 Samuel chapters
4 through 6. Chapter 4 And the word of Samuel
came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle
against the Philistines and encamped beside Ebenezer.
And the Philistines encamped in Aphek. Then the
Philistines put themselves in battle array against
Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was
defeated by the Philistines who killed about
4 ,000 men of the army in the field. And when
the people had come into the camp, the elders
of Israel said, Why has the Lord defeated us
today before the Philistines? Let us bring the
ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to
us, that when it comes among us it may save us
from the hand of our enemies. So the people sent
to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the
ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who
dwells between the cherubim. And the two sons
of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with
the ark of the covenant of God. And when the
ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the
camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth
shook. Now when the Philistines heard the noise
of the shout, they said, What does the sound
of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews
mean? Then they understood that the ark of the
Lord had come into the camp. So the Philistines
were afraid, for they said, God has come into
the camp. And they said, Woe to us, for such
a thing has never happened before. Woe to us,
who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty
gods. These are the gods who struck the Egyptians
with all the plagues in the wilderness. Be strong
and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines,
that you do not become servants of the Hebrews,
as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves
like men and fight. So the Philistines fought,
and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to
his tent. There was a very great slaughter. and
there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.
Also the ark of God was captured, and the two
sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. Then
a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the
same day, and came to Shiloh with his clothes
torn and dirt on his head. Now when he came,
there was Eli sitting on a seat by the wayside
watching. for his heart trembled for the ark
of God. And when the man came into the city and
told it, all the city cried out. When Eli heard
the noise of the outcry, he said, What does the
sound of this tumult mean? And the man came quickly
and told Eli, Eli was ninety -eight years old,
and his eyes were so dim that he could not see.
Then the man said to Eli, I am he who came from
the battle, and I fled today from the battle
line. And he said, What happened, my son? So
the messenger answered and said, Israel has fled
before the Philistines, and there has been a
great slaughter among the people. Also your two
sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the
ark of God has been captured. Then it happened,
when he made mention of the ark of God, that
Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of
the gate, and his neck was broken, and he died.
For the man was old and heavy, and he had judged
Israel forty years. Now his daughter -in -law,
Phinehas' wife, was with child due to be delivered.
And when she heard the news that the ark of God
was captured, and that her father -in -law and
her husband were dead, she bowed herself and
gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her.
And about the time of her death, the women who
stood by her said to her, Do not fear, for you
have born a son. But she did not answer, nor
did she regard it. Then she named the child Ichabod,
saying, The glory has departed from Israel. because
the ark of God had been captured, and because
her father -in -law and her husband. And she
said, The glory has departed from Israel, for
the ark of God has been captured. Chapter 5 Then
the Philistines took the ark of God and brought
it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. When the Philistines
took the ark of God, they brought it into the
house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. And when
the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning,
there was Dagon fallen on its face to the earth
before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon
and set it in its place again. And when it arose
early the next morning, there was Dagon fallen
on its face to the ground before the ark of the
Lord. The head of Dagon and both the palms of
its hands were broken off on the threshold. Only
Dagon's torso was left of it. Therefore neither
the priests of Dagon nor any who came into Dagon's
house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod.
this day. But the hand of the Lord was heavy
on the people of Ashdod, and he ravaged them
and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and
its territory. And when the men of Ashdod saw
how it was, they said, The ark of the God of
Israel must not remain with us, for his hand
is harsh toward us and dag on our God. Therefore
they sent and gathered to themselves all the
lords of the Philistines and said, What shall
we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And
they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel
be carried away to Gath. So they carried the
ark of the God of Israel away. So it was, after
they had carried it away, that the hand of the
Lord was against the city with a very great destruction.
And he struck the men of the city, both small
and great, and tumors broke out on them. Therefore
they sent the ark of God to Akron. So it was,
as the ark of God came to Akron, that the Akronites
cried out, saying, They have brought the ark
of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our
people. So they sent and gathered together all
the lords of the Philistines and said, Send away
the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back
to its own place, so that it does not kill us
and our people. For there was a deadly destruction
throughout all the city. The hand of God was
very heavy there. And the men who did not die
were stricken with the tumors, and the cry of
the city went up to heaven. Chapter 6 Now the
ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines
seven months. And the Philistines called for
the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall
we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we
should send it to its place. So they said, If
you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do
not send it empty, but by all means return it
to him with a trespass offering. Then you will
be healed, and it will be known to you why his
hand is not removed from you. Then they said,
What is the trespass offering which we shall
return to him? They answered, Five golden tumors
and five golden rats, according to the number
of the lords of the Philistines. For the same
plague was on all of you and on all your lords.
Therefore you shall make images of your tumors
and images of your rats that ravage the land,
and you shall give glory to the God of Israel.
Perhaps he will lighten his hand from you, from
your gods, and from your land. Why then do you
harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh
hardened their hearts? When he did mighty things
among them, did they not let the people go, that
they might depart? Now therefore make a new cart,
take two milk cows, which have never been yoked,
and hitch the cows to the cart, and take their
calves home away from them. Then take the ark
of the Lord, and set it on the cart, and put
the articles of gold, which you are returning
to him as a trespass offering, in a chest by
its side. Then send it away, and let it go. And
watch, if it goes up the road to its own territory
to bait Shemesh, then he has done us this great
evil. But if not, then we shall know that it
is not his hand that struck us, it happened to
us by chance. Then the men did so. They took
two milk cows and hitched them to the cart and
shut up their calves at home. And they set the
ark of the Lord on the cart and the chest with
the gold rats and the images of their tumors.
Then the cows headed straight for the road to
Beit Shemesh and went along the highway, lowing
as they went, and did not turn aside to the right
hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines
went after them to the border of Beit Shemesh.
Now the people of Beit Shemesh were reaping their
wheat harvest in the valley, and they lifted
their eyes and saw the ark and rejoiced to see
it. Then the cart came into the field of Joshua
of Beit Shemesh and stood there. A large stone
was there. So they split the wood of the cart
and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the
Lord. The Levites took down the ark of the Lord
and the chest that was with it, in which were
the articles of gold, and put them on a large
stone. Then the men of Beit Shemesh offered burnt
offerings and made sacrifices the same day to
the Lord. So when the five lords of the Philistines
had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same
day. These are the golden tumors which the Philistines
returned as a trespass offering to the Lord.
One for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon,
one for Gath, one for Ekron. And the golden rats,
according to the number of all the cities of
the Philistines, belonging to the five lords,
both fortified cities and country villages, even
as far as the large stone of Abel, on which they
set the ark of the Lord, which stone remains
to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
Then he struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because
they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He
struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the
people, and the people lamented, because the
Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.
And the men of Beth Shemesh said, Who is able
to stand before this holy Lord God, and to whom
shall it go up from us? So they sent messengers
to the inhabitants of Kirjas -Jerim, saying,
The Philistines had brought back the ark of the
Lord. Come down and take it up with you. I hope
you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did,
and I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow
to continue on our journey. God bless you and
have a great day.