Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 6

The Ark Returned to Israel

¹ Now the ark of the LORD had been in the territory of the Philistines for seven months.² And ^(C1)the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What are we to do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us ^(F1)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, ^(C1)do not send it empty; but you shall certainly ^(C2)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 ^(C1)tumors and five gold mice ^(C2)corresponding to the number of the governors of the Philistines, since one plague was on all of ^(F1)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 ^(C1)you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps ^(C2)He will lighten His hand from you, ^(C3)your gods, and your land.⁶ "Why then do you harden your hearts ^(C1)as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, ^(C2)did they not let ^(F1)the people go, and they left?⁷ "Now then, take and ^(C1)prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there ^(C2)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 ^(C1)the articles of gold which you return to Him as ^(C2)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 ^(C1)Beth-shemesh, then He has done this great evil to us. But if not, then ^(C2)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 ^(F1)direction of ^(C1)Beth-shemesh; they went on ^(C2)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 ^(C1)offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.¹⁵ And ^(C1)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 ^(C1)five governors of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.

¹⁷ Now ^(C1)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, ^(C1)both of fortified cities and of country villages. ^(C2)The large ^(F1)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 (C1)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, "^(C1)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 ^(C1)Kiriath-jearim, saying, "The Philistines have brought back the ark of the LORD; come down and take it up to yourselves."

Chapter 7

Israel Saved from the Philistines

¹ And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the LORD and ^(C1)brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and they ^(F1)consecrated his son Eleazar to watch over the ark of the LORD.² From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the ^(F1)time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel ^(F2)mourned after the LORD.

³ Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "^(C1)If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then ^(C2)remove the foreign gods and the ^(C3)Ashtaroth from among you, and ^(C4)direct your hearts to the LORD and ^(C5)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 ^(C1)Mizpah and ^(C2)I will pray to the LORD for you."⁶ So they gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and ^(C1)poured it out before the LORD, and ^(C2)fasted on that day and said there, "^(C3)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, ^(C1)they were afraid of the Philistines.⁸ So the sons of Israel said to Samuel, "^(C1)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 ^(C1)a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD; and Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and ^(C2)the LORD answered him.¹⁰ Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines advanced to battle Israel. But ^(C1)the LORD thundered with a great ^(F1)thunder on that day against the Philistines and ^(C2)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 ^(C1)took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it ^(F1)Ebenezer, saying, "^(F2)So far the LORD has helped us."^13 (C1)So the Philistines were subdued, and ^(C2)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 ^(F1)recovered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and ^(C1)the Amorites.

Samuel's Ministry

¹⁵ Now Samuel ^(C1)judged Israel all the days of his life.¹⁶ And he used to go annually on a circuit to ^(C1)Bethel, ^(C2)Gilgal, and ^(C3)Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places.¹⁷ Then he would make his return to ^(C1)Ramah, because his house was there, and there he also judged Israel; and there he ^(C2)built an altar to the LORD.

Chapter 8

Israel Demands a King

¹ Now it came about, when Samuel was old, that ^(C1)he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.² The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in ^(C1)Beersheba.³ His sons, however, did not walk in his ways but turned aside after dishonest gain, and they ^(C1)took bribes and perverted justice.

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^(C1)Ramah;⁵ and they said to him, "Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^(C1)appoint us a king to judge us like all the nations."⁶ But the matter was ^(F1)(C1)displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And ^(C2)Samuel prayed to the LORD.⁷ And the LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people regarding all that they say to you, because ^(C1)they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being King over them.⁸ "Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have abandoned Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you as well.⁹ "Now then, listen to their voice; ^(C1)however, you shall warn them strongly and tell them of ^(C2)the ^(F1)practice of the king who will reign over them."

Warning concerning a King

¹⁰ So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to ^(C1)the people who had asked him for a king.¹¹ And he said, "^(C1)This will be the ^(F1)practice of the king who will reign over you: ^(C2)he will take your sons and put them in his chariots for himself and among his horsemen, and ^(C3)they will run before his chariots.¹² "^(C1)He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to ^(F1)do his plowing and to gather in his harvest, and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.¹³ "He will also take your daughters and use them as perfumers, cooks, and bakers.¹⁴ "^(C1)He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants.¹⁵ "And he will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give it to his high officials and his servants.¹⁶ "He will also take your male servants and your female servants, and your best young men, and your donkeys, and ^(F1)use them for his work.¹⁷ "He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants.¹⁸ "Then ^(C1)you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but ^(C2)the LORD will not answer you on that day."

¹⁹ Yet the people ^(C1)refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, "No, but there shall be a king over us,^20 (C1)so that we also may be like all the nations, and our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles."²¹ Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, ^(C1)he ^(F1)repeated them in the LORD'S hearing.²² And the LORD said to Samuel, "^(C1)Listen to their voice and appoint a king for them." So Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Go, every man to his city."

Chapter 9

Saul's Search

¹ Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was ^(C1)Kish the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite, a ^(F1)valiant mighty man.² He had a son whose name was Saul, a ^(C1)young and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome man than he among the sons of Israel; ^(C2)from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, had wandered off. So Kish said to his son Saul, "Now take with you one of the servants and arise, go search for the donkeys."⁴ So he passed through ^(C1)the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of ^(C2)Shalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of ^(C3)Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjaminites, but they did not find them.

⁵ When they came to the land of ^(C1)Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, "Come, and let's return, ^(C2)or else my father will stop being concerned about the donkeys and will become anxious about us."⁶ But he said to him, "Behold now, there is ^(C1)a man of God in this city, and the man is held in honor; ^(C2)everything that he says definitely comes true. Now let's go there, ^(C3)perhaps he can tell us about our journey on which we have set out."⁷ Then Saul said to his servant, "But look, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sacks and there is ^(C1)no gift to bring to the man of God. What do we have?"⁸ The servant answered Saul again and said, "Look, I have in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God and he will ^(C1)tell us our way."⁹ (Previously in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, "Come, and let's go to the seer"; for he who is called a prophet now was previously called ^(C1)a seer.)¹⁰ Then Saul said to his servant, "^(F1)Good idea; come, let's go." So they went to the city where the man of God was.<