Day 167 of 365

¹The child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

²It happened at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see),

³and the lamp of God hadn't yet gone out, and Samuel had lain down in the Lord's temple, where the ark of God was;

⁴that the Lord called Samuel; and he said, "Here I am."

⁵He ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am; for you called me." He said, "I did not call; lie down again." He went and lay down.

⁶The Lord called yet again, "Samuel!" Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am; for you called me." He answered, "I did not call, my son; lie down again."

⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.

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.

⁹Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down: and 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.

¹⁰The Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak; for your servant hears."

¹¹The Lord said to Samuel, "Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone who hears it shall tingle.

¹²In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end.

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 did not restrain them.

¹⁴Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be removed with sacrifice nor offering forever."

¹⁵Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel feared to show Eli the vision.

¹⁶Then Eli called Samuel, and said, "Samuel, my son!" He said, "Here I am."

¹⁷He said, "What is the thing that he has spoken to you? Please do not 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."

¹⁸Samuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. He said, "It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him."

¹⁹Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground.

²⁰All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.

²¹The Lord appeared again in Shiloh; for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

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.

²The Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was struck before the Philistines; and they killed of the army in the field about four thousand men.

³When the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the Lord struck us today before the Philistines? Let us get the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh to us, that it may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies."

⁴So the people sent to Shiloh; and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who sits above the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵When the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.

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 ark of the Lord had come into the camp.

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.

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.

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!"

¹⁰The Philistines fought, and Israel was struck, and they fled every man to his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.

¹¹The ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

¹²There ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn, and with earth on his head.

¹³When he came, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out.

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.

¹⁵Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see.

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?"

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 the ark of God has been captured."

¹⁸It happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that 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.

¹⁹His daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered. When she heard the news that the ark of God 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.

²⁰About the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, "Do not be afraid; for you have given birth to a son." But she did not answer, neither did she regard it.

²¹She named the child Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel"; because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

²²She said, "The glory has departed from Israel; for the ark of God is taken."

¹Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

²The Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

³When they of Ashdod arose early on the next day, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. They took Dagon, and set him in his place again.

⁴When they arose early on the next day morning, behold, Dagon was fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold. Only Dagon's torso was intact.

⁵Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any who come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day.

⁶But the hand of the Lord was heavy on them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its borders.

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."

⁸They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, 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.

⁹It was so, that after they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great confusion: and he struck the men of the city, both small and great; and tumors broke out on them.

¹⁰So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. It happened, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, "They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people."

¹¹They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it not kill us and our people." For there was a deadly confusion throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

¹²The men who did not die were struck with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

¹Hear, Lord, my righteous plea; Give ear to my prayer, that doesn't go out of deceitful lips.

²Let my sentence come forth from your presence. Let your eyes look on equity.

³You have proved my heart. You have visited me in the night. You have tried me, and found nothing. I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.

⁴As for the works of men, by the word of your lips, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.

⁵My steps have held fast to your paths. My feet have not slipped.

⁶I have called on you, for you will answer me, God. Turn your ear to me. Hear my speech.

⁷Show your marvelous loving kindness, you who save those who take refuge by your right hand from their enemies.

⁸Keep me as the apple of your eye. Hide me under the shadow of your wings,

⁹from the wicked who oppress me, my deadly enemies, who surround me.

¹⁰They close up their callous hearts. With their mouth they speak proudly.

¹¹They have now surrounded us in our steps. They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth.

¹²He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

¹³Arise, Lord, confront him. Cast him down. Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword;

¹⁴from men by your hand, Lord, from men of the world, whose portion is in this life. You fill the belly of your cherished ones. Your sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children.

¹⁵As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with seeing your form.

¹Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

²A good man shall obtain favor from the Lord, but he will condemn a man of wicked devices.

³A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

⁴A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked are about lying in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown, and are no more, but the house of the righteous shall stand.

⁸A man shall be commended according to his wisdom, but he who has a warped mind shall be despised.

⁹Better is he who is lightly esteemed, and has a servant, than he who honors himself, and lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹He who tills his land shall have plenty of bread, but he who chases fantasies is void of understanding.

¹²The wicked desires the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.

¹⁴A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. The work of a man's hands shall be rewarded to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel.

¹⁶A fool shows his annoyance the same day, but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.

¹⁷He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.

¹⁹Truth's lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.

²¹No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who do the truth are his delight.

²³A prudent man keeps his knowledge, but the hearts of fools proclaim foolishness.

²⁴The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad.

²⁶A righteous person is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷The slothful man doesn't roast his game, but the possessions of diligent men are prized.

²⁸In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.