1 Samuel 2

⁴⁶Then Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

⁵But I have trusted in Your loving devotion; my heart will rejoice in Your salvation.

²Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”

³With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation,

⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

¹⁰But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; with fine oil I have been anointed.

¹⁷For You are the glory of their strength, and by Your favor our horn is exalted.

³²For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?

⁶Thus says the Lord, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the Lord of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.

⁸O Lord, there is none like You among the gods, nor any works like Yours.

¹¹Who among the gods is like You, O Lord? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?

⁸O Lord God of Hosts, who is like You? O mighty Lord, Your faithfulness surrounds You.

¹⁶for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

³⁹be heard by You from heaven, Your dwelling place. And may You forgive and act, and repay each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart—for You alone know the hearts of all men—

¹³To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.

¹²If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?

¹⁵to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.”

¹⁶These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.

¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

⁴They pour out arrogant words; all workers of iniquity boast.

³There He shattered the flaming arrows, the shield and sword and weapons of war. Selah

¹⁵But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.

¹³I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

⁹He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.

³⁴quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.

⁹But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.

⁹He settles the barren woman in her home as a joyful mother to her children. Hallelujah!

⁹The mother of seven will grow faint; she will breathe her last breath. Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced and humiliated. And the rest I will put to the sword in the presence of their enemies,” declares the Lord.

⁵³He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.

¹⁰Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

¹“Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord.

²⁵But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

³⁹See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

¹⁹Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.

²saying: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice.

³For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.

⁷When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!”

¹⁸For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.

¹⁸the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.

⁷but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.

¹¹He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.

¹⁷You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”

¹⁸But remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.

²¹saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

⁹The brother in humble circumstances should exult in his high position.

¹⁰But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.

⁷He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump

⁸to seat them with nobles, with the princes of His people.

⁵Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?

⁴⁸Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.

³Soon, by his extraordinary spirit, Daniel distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps. So the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

¹⁷And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel

¹⁴For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.

¹¹For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

¹²They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

³He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.

¹⁶No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.

¹⁷A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save.

⁵who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

²⁴You will know that your tent is secure, and find nothing amiss when inspecting your home.

¹⁸If I say, “My foot is slipping,” Your loving devotion, O Lord, supports me.

⁹You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.”

²⁴My faithfulness and loving devotion will be with him, and through My name his horn will be exalted.

¹³The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded—hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them.

¹³before the Lord, for He is coming—He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.

⁶Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O Lord, has shattered the enemy.

⁹For surely Your enemies, O Lord, surely Your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered.

¹⁰But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; with fine oil I have been anointed.

¹⁸Now Samuel was ministering before the Lord—a boy wearing a linen ephod.

¹And the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. Now in those days the word of the Lord was rare, and visions were scarce.

²⁸I now dedicate the boy to the Lord. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the Lord.” So they worshiped the Lord there.

¹⁹The next morning they got up early to bow in worship before the Lord, and then they returned home to Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.

¹⁵Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,

²⁸Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

²⁹They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,

⁸The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.

²¹For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

¹⁰After that whole generation had also been gathered to their fathers, another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works that He had done for Israel.

¹⁵What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

³Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

²⁹“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘Anyone who presents a peace offering to the Lord must bring it as his sacrifice to the Lord.

³⁰With his own hands he is to bring the food offerings to the Lord; he shall bring the fat, together with the breast, and wave the breast as a wave offering before the Lord.

²⁷Consecrate for Aaron and his sons the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the heave offering that is lifted up from the ram of ordination.

²⁸This will belong to Aaron and his sons as a regular portion from the Israelites, for it is the heave offering the Israelites will make to the Lord from their peace offerings.

²⁹Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’

¹¹Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:

¹³The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you.

¹⁴Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.

¹⁰“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the Lord of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

³⁴I have taken from the sons of Israel the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons as a permanent portion from the sons of Israel.’”

¹⁶Then the priest is to burn the food on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the Lord’s.

¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

³From the peace offering he is to bring a food offering to the Lord: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,

⁴both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys.

¹⁹Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.

¹²These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.

²³“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘You are not to eat any of the fat of an ox, a sheep, or a goat.

²⁴The fat of an animal found dead or mauled by wild beasts may be used for any other purpose, but you must not eat it.

¹⁶Then the priest is to burn the food on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the Lord’s.

²Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;

³not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

²⁵The Danites said to him, “Do not raise your voice against us, or angry men will attack you, and you and your family will lose your lives.”

¹⁵The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people. But I did not do this, because of my fear of God.

⁵This is what the Lord says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths:

⁷For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts.

⁸But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of Hosts.

¹³But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the Lord.

¹³And this is another thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and groaning, because He no longer regards your offerings or receives them gladly from your hands.

¹¹Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence.

⁶He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.

⁴Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.

⁴These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make these holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that they may serve Me as priests.

¹And the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. Now in those days the word of the Lord was rare, and visions were scarce.

¹¹Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy began ministering to the Lord before Eli the priest.

¹⁴And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before the Lord,

¹⁸So the king ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests himself. On that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.

²⁷Now David was dressed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, as well as the singers and Chenaniah, the director of music for the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.

³Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the Lord.

²¹Then Elkanah and all his house went up to make the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow,

¹⁴Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.

²⁷I prayed for this boy, and since the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him,

²⁸I now dedicate the boy to the Lord. For as long as he lives, he is dedicated to the Lord.” So they worshiped the Lord there.

³⁴Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary: “Behold, this Child is appointed to cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,

¹¹“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the Lord make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.

²⁷So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.

²⁸May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth—an abundance of grain and new wine.

¹²May the Lord repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”

¹⁹and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

⁴⁰And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.

¹Now the Lord attended to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised.

¹⁹And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

²⁶And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with man.

²⁴So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the Lord blessed him.

⁸⁰And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.

⁸Next he made the bronze basin and its stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

⁹Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,

¹⁰and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue with all these abominations’?

¹³or for the custom of the priests with the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling

¹⁴and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.

⁹And it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

¹⁰They will eat but not be satisfied; they will be promiscuous but not multiply. For they have abandoned the Lord to give themselves

²⁶Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

¹When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.

⁹The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.

³Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to be ashamed.

⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”

¹²Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the Lord.

¹⁵“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.

⁶(His father had never once reprimanded him by saying, “Why do you act this way?” Adonijah was also very handsome, born next after Absalom.)

³⁰because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he had provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger.

⁸through glory and dishonor, slander and praise; viewed as imposters, yet genuine;

³Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men confirmed to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will assign this responsibility to them

⁷Furthermore, he must have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the snare of the devil.

⁷Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!

¹⁷Thus the sin of these young men was severe in the sight of the Lord, for they were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.

²⁰For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³⁰But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the Lord. That person shall be cut off from among his people.

²⁶If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,

¹⁴Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”

⁵For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

¹⁰Discipline is harsh for him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.

⁵²And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

⁴⁰And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.

⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

⁸⁰And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.

²¹So the Lord attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.

¹⁸For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

⁶So the woman went and told her husband, “A man of God came to me. His appearance was like the angel of God, exceedingly awesome. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name.

¹Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord.

¹This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.

¹⁴Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well, and he is now on his way to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

¹⁵You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I will teach you what to do.

²⁷Meanwhile, the Lord had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.

¹¹But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

¹“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.

⁷He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him. He tied the woven band of the ephod around him and fastened it to him.

⁸Then he put the breastpiece on him and placed the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece.

¹⁹All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and to your sons and daughters as a permanent statute. It is a permanent covenant of salt before the Lord for you and your offspring.”

³The remainder of the grain offering shall belong to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings to the Lord.

³⁴I have taken from the sons of Israel the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons as a permanent portion from the sons of Israel.’”

³⁵This is the portion of the food offerings to the Lord for Aaron and his sons since the day they were presented to serve the Lord as priests.

⁵Then he said to Korah and all his followers, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will reveal who belongs to Him and who is holy, and He will bring that person near to Himself. The one He chooses He will bring near to Himself.

³⁷Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;

¹⁵But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

¹³or for the custom of the priests with the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling

¹⁴and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.

¹²“But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’

¹³You also say: ‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ And you turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord of Hosts. “You bring offerings that are stolen, lame, or sick! Should I accept these from your hands?” asks the Lord.

²⁶“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

²“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord God says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock?

²⁶If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

⁹And if at another time I announce that I will build up and establish a nation or kingdom,

¹⁰and if it does evil in My sight and does not listen to My voice, then I will relent of the good I had intended for it.

⁹Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops;

¹⁰then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

⁶“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the Lord of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’

¹⁴“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.

²So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

¹⁷Then the king ordered the guards at his side, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because they too sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they did not tell me.” But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to strike the priests of the Lord.

¹⁸So the king ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests himself. On that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.

²⁶Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”

²⁷So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the Lord and thus fulfilled the word that the Lord had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli.

¹¹The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

¹²That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

³including Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the Lord in Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.

²The Philistines arrayed themselves against Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield.

³⁵And the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in Joab’s place over the army, and he appointed Zadok the priest in Abiathar’s place.

⁴This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Old men and old women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of great age.

¹¹The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

⁵⁹On hearing it, God was furious and rejected Israel completely.

⁶⁰He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.

²⁶Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”

²⁷So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the Lord and thus fulfilled the word that the Lord had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli.

²²“The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “for the ark of God has been captured.”

⁴So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

²⁶Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”

²⁷So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the Lord and thus fulfilled the word that the Lord had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli.

²¹And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.

²²Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that Doeg the Edomite was there that day, and that he was sure to tell Saul. I myself am responsible for the lives of everyone in your father’s house.

¹⁹And he has sacrificed an abundance of oxen, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the other sons of the king, as well as Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army. But he has not invited your servant Solomon.

⁷So Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, who supported him.

¹⁶When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.

¹⁷Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹¹The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

³That day the man of God gave a sign, saying, “The Lord has spoken this sign: ‘Surely the altar will be split apart, and the ashes upon it will be poured out.’”

¹⁷The messenger answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

¹²On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have spoken about his house, from beginning to end.

¹²As for you, get up and go home. When your feet enter the city, the child will die.

²⁷For You, O Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant when You said, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Therefore Your servant has found the courage to offer this prayer to You.

¹¹and have done since the day I appointed judges over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord declares to you that He Himself will establish a house for you.

³⁸If you listen to all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight in order to keep My statutes and commandments as My servant David did, then I will be with you. I will build you a lasting dynasty just as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.

²⁸Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the Lord will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the Lord’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live.

⁵⁰Great salvation He brings to His king. He shows loving devotion to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.

²⁶Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

²⁷Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.

²⁷So Solomon banished Abiathar from the priesthood of the Lord and thus fulfilled the word that the Lord had spoken at Shiloh against the house of Eli.

¹⁰Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.

¹¹Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and ministering there. They shall slaughter the burnt offerings and other sacrifices for the people and stand before them to minister to them.

¹³You also say: ‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ And you turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord of Hosts. “You bring offerings that are stolen, lame, or sick! Should I accept these from your hands?” asks the Lord.

²⁹Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’

³⁰Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the Lord declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.