May 13th

And it happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to fade, and he could not see well),

and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of Yahweh where the ark of God was,

that Yahweh called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.”

Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; go back, lie down.” So he went and lay down.

Then Yahweh called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he answered, “I did not call, my son; go back, lie down.”

Now Samuel did not yet know Yahweh, nor had the word of Yahweh yet been revealed to him.

So Yahweh called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that Yahweh was calling the young boy.

And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Yahweh, for Your slave is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

Then Yahweh came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your slave is listening.”

And Yahweh said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.

In that day I will establish against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.

And I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew because his sons have been bringing a curse on themselves, but he did not rebuke them.

Now therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.

Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.”

And he said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you.”

So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is Yahweh; let Him do what seems good in His eyes.”

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

So all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of Yahweh.

And Yahweh appeared again at Shiloh, because Yahweh revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of Yahweh.

Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped in Aphek.

And the Philistines arranged themselves to meet Israel. Then the battle spread, and Israel was defeated before the Philistines who struck down about 4,000 men on the battlefield.

Then the people came into the camp, and the elders of Israel said, “Why has Yahweh defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”

So the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh 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.

And it happened that as the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth was thrown into confusion.

Then the Philistines heard the noise of the shout and said, “What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they knew that the ark of Yahweh had come into the camp.

And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.

Woe to us! Who shall deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.

Be strong and become men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been slaves to you; therefore, become men and fight.”

So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent; and the slaughter was very great, for there fell of Israel 30,000 foot soldiers.

And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with his robes torn and dust on his head.

And he came, and behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road eagerly watching because his heart was trembling for the ark of God. Now the man came to tell it in the city, and all the city cried out.

Then Eli heard the noise of the outcry, and he said, “What does the noise of this commotion mean?” So the man came hurriedly and told Eli.

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

And the man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I fled from the battle line today.” And he said, “How did things go, my son?”

Then the one who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken.”

And it happened that when he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken, and he died, for the man was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel forty years.

Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, was with child and about to give birth. And she heard the report that the ark of God was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, so she kneeled down and gave birth, for her pains came upon her.

And about 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 or pay attention.

And she called the boy 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.

And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken.”

Now the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.

Then the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, and behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again.

But they arose early the next morning, and behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

Now the hand of Yahweh was glorious against the Ashdodites, and He made them desolate and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories.

Thus the men of Ashdod saw that it was so and said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god.”

So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they said, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath.” And they brought the ark of the God of Israel around.

Now it happened after they had brought it around, that the hand of Yahweh was against the city with very great confusion; and He struck the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them.

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to us, to put us and our people to death.”

They sent therefore and gathered 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, so that it will not put us and our people to death.” For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; the hand of God was very glorious there.

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

And on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;

and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.

And when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.”

And Jesus *said to her, “Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come.”

His mother *said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

Now there were six stone water jars set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing two or three measures each.

Jesus *said to them, “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.

And He *said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him.

Now when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter *called the bridegroom,

and *said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then the inferior wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”

Jesus did this in Cana of Galilee as the beginning of His signs, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

And the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.

And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;

and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.”

His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume me.”

The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?”

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.”

The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this sanctuary, and will You raise it up in three days?”

But He was speaking about the sanctuary of His body.

So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, when they saw His signs which He was doing.

But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men,

and because He had no need that anyone bear witness concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.