The Philistines and the Ark

1 When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they brought it from ^qEbenezer to ^rAshdod. 2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside ^sDagon. 3 And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, ^tDagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. 4 But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, ^uand the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 5 This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon ^vdo not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

6 ^wThe hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with ^xtumors, both Ashdod and its territory. 7 And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon our god.” 8 So they sent and gathered together all ^ythe 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 brought around to Gath.” So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there. 9 But after they had brought it around, ^zthe hand of the Lord was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that ^xtumors broke out on them. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But as soon as the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people.” 11 ^yThey sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. ^wThe hand of God was very heavy there. 12 The men who did not die were struck with ^xtumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

The Ark Returned to Israel

1 The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and ^athe diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” 3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him ^ba guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why ^chis hand does not turn away from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden ^dtumors and five golden mice, ^eaccording to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5 So you must make images of your ^dtumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, ^fand give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps ^ghe will lighten his hand from off you ^hand your gods and your land. 6 Why should you harden your hearts as ⁱthe Egyptians and ^jPharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, ^kdid they not send the people away, and they departed? 7 Now then, take and prepare ^la new cart and two milk cows ^mon which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. 8 And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side ⁿthe figures of gold, which you are returning to him as ^ba guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way 9 and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to ^oBeth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not ^phis hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”

10 The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. 12 And the cows went straight in the direction of ^qBeth-shemesh along ^rone highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of ^qBeth-shemesh. 13 Now the people of ^qBeth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. 14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. ^sA great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon ^sthe great stone. And the men of ^qBeth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord. 16 And when ^tthe five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.

17 These are the golden tumors that the Philistines returned as a ^uguilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron, 18 and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, ^vboth fortified cities and unwalled villages. ^wThe great stone beside which they set down the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.

19 ^xAnd he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck seventy men of them,¹ and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow. 20 Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, ^y“Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?” 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of ^zKiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you.”

Peace with God Through Faith

1 ^aTherefore, since we have been justified by faith, ^bwe¹ have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also ^cobtained access by faith² into this grace ^din which we stand, and ^ewe³ rejoice⁴ in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we ^frejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering ^gproduces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and ^hhope does not put us to shame, because God’s love ⁱhas been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6 For ^jwhile we were still weak, at the right time ^kChrist died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but ^lGod shows his love for us in that ^mwhile we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, ⁿwe have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from ^othe wrath of God. 10 For if ^pwhile we were enemies ^qwe were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by ^rhis life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received ^sreconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

12 Therefore, just as ^tsin came into the world through one man, and ^udeath through sin, and ^vso death spread to all men⁵ because ^wall sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but ^xsin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not ^ylike the transgression of Adam, ^zwho was a type of ^athe one who was to come.

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for ^bmany. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For ^cthe judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought ^djustification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness ^ereign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as one trespass⁶ led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness⁷ leads to justification and life for ^fall men. 19 For as by the one man’s ^gdisobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s ^hobedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now ⁱthe law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, ^jgrace abounded all the more, 21 so that, ^kas sin reigned in death, ^lgrace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

1 When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, 2 Azariah the son of ^lHoshaiah and ^mJohanan the son of Kareah and ⁿall the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ^o‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ 3 but ^pBaruch the son of Neriah ^qhas set you against us, ^rto deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” 4 So ^mJohanan the son of Kareah and all ^sthe commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took ^tall the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— 6 ^uthe men, the women, the children, ^vthe princesses, and every person whom ^wNebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with ^xGedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7 And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they arrived at ^yTahpanhes.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in ^yTahpanhes: 9 “Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in ^yTahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, 10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^zmy servant, ^aand I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. 11 He shall come ^band strike the land of Egypt, ^cgiving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. 12 ^dI shall kindle a fire ^ein the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them ^fand carry them away captive. ^gAnd he shall clean the land of Egypt ^gas a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. 13 He shall break the ^hobelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, ^eand the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’”

The Law of the Lord Is Perfect

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.