The Daily Audio Bible
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5 Then the Philistines took the Ark of God and carried it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2 The Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3 And when they of Ashdod rose the next day, in the morning, behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face on the ground, before the Ark of the LORD. And they took up Dagon and set him in his place again.
4 They also rose up early in the morning the next day. And behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face on the ground, before the Ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and the two palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold. Only the stump of Dagon was left of him.
5 Therefore, the priests of Dagon, and all who come into Dagon’s house, do not walk on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day.
6 But the Hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and destroyed them, and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories.
7 And when the men of Ashdod saw this, they said, “Do not let the Ark of the God of Israel remain with us! For His Hand is severe upon us, and upon Dagon, our god!”
8 They sent, therefore, and gathered all the princes of the Philistines to them, and said, “What shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the Ark of the God of Israel be carried around to Gath.” And they carried the Ark of the God of Israel around.
9 And when they had carried it around, the Hand of the LORD was against the city with very great destruction. And He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and they had tumors break out.
10 Therefore, they sent the Ark of God to Ekron. And as soon as the Ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought theArk of the God of Israel to us to kill us and our people!”
11 Therefore they sent and gathered together all the princes 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 does not kill us and our people!” For there was a destruction and death throughout all the city; and the Hand of God was very severe there.
12 And the men who did not die were struck with the tumors. And the cry of the city went up to Heaven.
6 So the Ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines for seven months.
2 And the Philistines called the priests and the soothsayers, saying, “What shall we do with the Ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it home again?”
3 And they said, “If you send away the Ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but give it a Sin Offering. Then you shall be healed, and it shall be revealed to you why His Hand has not departed from you.”
4 Then they said, “What shall be the Sin Offering which we shall give to it?” And they answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the number of the princes of the Philistines. For one plague was on you all, and on your princes.
5 “Therefore, you shall make the likenesses of your tumors and the likenesses of your rats who destroy the land. So you shall give glory to the God of Israel, so that He may take His Hand from you and from your gods and from your land.
6 “Why, then, should you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts when He wrought mightily among them? Did they not let them go, and they departed?
7 “Now, therefore, make a new cart, and take two milk cows, upon which there has never come a yoke. And tie the cows to the cart and bring the calves home from them.
8 “Then take the Ark of the LORD and set it upon the cart. And put the jewels of gold, which you give it for a Sin Offering, in a coffer by its side. And send it away, so that it may go.
9 “And watch. If it goes up by way of its own territory, to Beth Shemesh, it is He who brought us this great calamity. But if not, we shall know then that it is not His Hand that struck us. It happened to us by chance.”
10 And the men did so. For they took two cows that gave milk and tied them to the cart and shut up the calves at home.
11 So, they set the Ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the coffer with the rats of gold, and with the likenesses of their tumors.
12 And the cows went the straight way to Beth Shemesh, and kept one path, and lowed as they went, and turned neither to the right nor to the left. Also, the princes of the Philistines went after them to the borders of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now, they of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And they lifted up their eyes and spied the Ark and rejoiced when they saw it.
14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Beth Shemite, and stood still there. There was also a great stone. And they split the wood of the cart and offered the cow for a Burnt Offering to the LORD.
15 And the Levites took down the Ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it (in which the jewels of gold were) and put them on the great stone. And the men of Beth Shemesh offered Burnt Offering and sacrificed Sacrifices that same day to the LORD.
16 And when the five princes of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
17 So these are the golden tumors which the Philistines gave for a Sin Offering to the LORD: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Askelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron;
18 and golden rats (according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines) to the five princes (both of walled towns and of towns unwalled) as far as the great Stone of Abel, upon which they set the Ark of the LORD (which remains to this day in the field of Joshua, the Beth Shemite).
19 And He struck some of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked in the Ark of the LORD. He killed fifty thousand seventy men among the people. And the people lamented because the LORD had killed the people with so great a slaughter.
20 Therefore, the men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before this Holy LORD God? And to whom shall He go from us?”
21 And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the Ark of the LORD. Come down! Take it up to you!”
7 Then, the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took up the Ark of the LORD and brought it into the house of Abinadab, on the hill. And they sanctified Eleazar, his son, to keep the Ark of the LORD.
2 (For the Ark had stayed in Kirjath Jearim a long time, for twenty years.) And all the House of Israel lamented after the LORD.
3 Then Samuel spoke to all the House of Israel, saying, “If you have come back to the LORD with all your heart, put away the strange gods from among you, and Ashtoreth, and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him only; and He shall deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
4 Then, the children of Israel did put away Baal and Ashtoreth and served the LORD only.
5 And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray for you to the LORD.”
6 And they gathered together to Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted the same day, and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD!” And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah.
7 When the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together in Mizpah, the princes of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard that, they were afraid of the Philistines.
8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease crying to the LORD our God for us, so that He may save us out of the hand of the Philistines!”
9 Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it all together for a Burnt Offering to the LORD. And Samuel cried to the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him.
10 And as Samuel offered the Burnt Offering, the Philistines came to fight against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a great thunder upon the Philistines that day and scattered them. So they were killed before Israel.
11 And the men of Israel went from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them until they came under Beth Car.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name, Ebenezer. And he said, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
13 So the Philistines were subdued. And they no longer came back into the territory of Israel. And the Hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all of Samuel’s life.
14 Also, the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron all the way to Gath. And Israel delivered the territories of the same out of the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life,
16 and went about year after year to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah and judged Israel in all those places.
17 Afterward, he returned to Ramah, for his house was there. And there he judged Israel. Also, he built an Altar there to the LORD.
6 After these things, Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is Tiberias.
2 And a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His miracles which He did on those who were diseased.
3 Then Jesus went up onto a mountain. And there He sat with His disciples.
4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.
5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes. And seeing that a great multitude came to Him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, so that these might eat?”
6 (He said this to test him. For He knew what he would do.)
7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denari worth of bread is not sufficient for them, if every one of them takes a little.”
8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, one of His disciples, said to Him,
9 “There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves, and two fishes. But what are they among so many?”
10 And Jesus said, “Make the men sit down. (Now there was much grass in that place.) Then the men sat down, about five thousand in number.
11 And Jesus took the bread, and gave thanks, and gave it to the disciples. And the disciples gave to those who were sitting down; and likewise of the fishes, as much as they wanted.
12 And when they were satisfied, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces which remain, so that nothing is lost.”
13 Then they gathered it up and filled twelve baskets with the broken pieces of the five barley loaves, which remained from those who had eaten.
14 Then the men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet Who is to come into the world.”
15 Therefore, when Jesus perceived that they would come and take Him to make him a king, He departed again into a mountain by Himself.
16 When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea,
17 and entered into a ship and went over the sea towards Capernaum. And now it was dark, and Jesus had not come to them.
18 And the sea arose with a great wind that blew.
19 And when they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty furlongs, they saw Jesus, walking on the sea and drawing near to the ship. So, they were afraid.
20 But He said to them, “It is Me! Do not be afraid!”
21 Then, willingly, they received Him into the ship. And immediately the ship arrived at the land where they were going.
13 But they soon forgot His works. They did not wait for His counsel,
14 but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert.
15 Then He gave them their desire. But He sent leanness into their soul.
16 They also envied Moses in the tents, and Aaron, the saint of the LORD.
17 The Earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and covered the company of Abiram.
18 And the fire was kindled in their assembly; the flame burnt up the wicked.
19 They made a calf in Horeb and worshipped the molten image.
20 Thus, they turned their glory into the likeness of a bullock that eats grass.
21 They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham, and fearful things by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore, He intended to destroy them had not Moses, His chosen, stood in the breach before Him, to turn away His wrath lest He should destroy them.
24 Also, they despised that pleasant land and did not believe His word,
25 but murmured in their tents and did not listen to the voice of the LORD.
26 Therefore, He lifted up His hand against them to destroy them in the wilderness,
27 and to destroy their seed among the nations, and to scatter them throughout the countries.
28 They also joined themselves to Baal of Peor and ate the offerings of the dead.
29 Thus, they provoked Him to anger with their own inventions; and the plague broke in upon them.
30 But, Phinehas stood up and executed judgment, and the plague was stopped.
31 And it was counted to him for righteousness, from generation to generation, forever.
32 The wicked shall be cast away for his malice. But the righteous has hope in his death.
33 Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, and is known in the midst of fools.
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