Day 86 of 364

^3:1The child Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. The LORD’s word was rare in those days. There were not many visions, then. ^3:2At that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see), ^3:3and God’s lamp hadn’t yet gone out, and Samuel had laid down in the LORD’s temple where God’s ark was, ^3:4The LORD called Samuel. He said, “Here I am.” ^3:5He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” He said, “I didn’t call. Lie down again.” He went and lay down. ^3:6The LORD called yet again, “Samuel!” Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” He answered, “I didn’t call, my son. Lie down again.” ^3:7Now Samuel didn’t yet know the LORD, neither was the LORD’s word yet revealed to him. ^3:8The LORD called Samuel again the third time. He arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. ^3:9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down. It shall be, if he calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD; for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ^3:10The LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak; for your servant hears.” ^3:11The LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ^3:12In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end. ^3:13For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves, and he didn’t restrain them. ^3:14Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be removed with sacrifice or offering forever.” ^3:15Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the LORD’s house. Samuel was afraid to show Eli the vision. ^3:16Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!” He said, “Here I am.” ^3:17He said, “What is the thing that he has spoken to you? Please don’t hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that he spoke to you.” ^3:18Samuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. He said, “It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him.” ^3:19Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. ^3:20All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD. ^3:21The LORD appeared again in Shiloh; for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the LORD’s word. ^4:1The word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. ^4:2The Philistines put themselves in array against Israel. When they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field. ^4:3When the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let’s get the ark of the LORD’s covenant out of Shiloh and bring it to us, that it may come among us and save us out of the hand of our enemies.” ^4:4So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Armies, who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. ^4:5When the ark of the LORD’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded. ^4:6When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” They understood that the LORD’s ark had come into the camp. ^4:7The Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” They said, “Woe to us! For there has not been such a thing before. ^4:8Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. ^4:9Be strong and behave like men, O you Philistines, that you not be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Strengthen yourselves like men, and fight!” ^4:10The Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter; for thirty thousand footmen of Israel fell. ^4:11God’s ark was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. ^4:12A man of Benjamin ran out of the army and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. ^4:13When he came, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for God’s ark. When the man came into the city and told about it, all the city cried out. ^4:14When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, “What does the noise of this tumult mean?” The man hurried, and came and told Eli. ^4:15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old. His eyes were set, so that he could not see. ^4:16The man said to Eli, “I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army.” He said, “How did the matter go, my son?” ^4:17He who brought the news answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and God’s ark has been captured.” ^4:18When he made mention of God’s ark, Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. ^4:19His daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to giving birth. When she heard the news that God’s ark was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth; for her pains came on her. ^4:20About the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she didn’t answer, neither did she regard it. ^4:21She named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because God’s ark was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. ^4:22She said, “The glory has departed from Israel; for God’s ark has been taken.” ^5:1Now the Philistines had taken God’s ark, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. ^5:2The Philistines took God’s ark, and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. ^5:3When the people of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the LORD’s ark. They took Dagon and set him in his place again. ^5:4When they arose early on the following morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the LORD’s ark; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso was intact. ^5:5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. ^5:6But the LORD’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its borders. ^5:7When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us, for his hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god.” ^5:8They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried over to Gath.” They carried the ark of the God of Israel there. ^5:9It was so, that after they had carried it there, the LORD’s hand was against the city with a very great confusion; and he struck the men of the city, both small and great, so that tumors broke out on them. ^5:10So they sent God’s ark to Ekron. As God’s ark came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel here to us, to kill us and our people.” ^5:11They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, “Send the ark of the God of Israel away, and let it go again to its own place, that it not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly panic throughout all the city. The hand of God was very heavy there. ^5:12The men who didn’t die were struck with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.