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After the LORD's Covenant Box had been in Philistia for seven months,
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the people called the priests and the magicians and asked, "What shall we do with the Covenant Box of the LORD? If we send it back where it belongs, what shall we send with it?"
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They answered, "If you return the Covenant Box of the God of Israel, you must, of course, send with it a gift to him to pay for your sin. The Covenant Box must not go back without a gift. In this way you will be healed, and you will find out why he has kept on punishing you."
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"What gift shall we send him?" the people asked. They answered, "Five gold models of tumors and five gold mice, one of each for each Philistine king. The same plague was sent on all of you and on the five kings.
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You must make these models of the tumors and of the mice that are ravaging your country, and you must give honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will stop punishing you, your gods, and your land.
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Why should you be stubborn, as the king of Egypt and the Egyptians were? Don't forget how God made fools of them until they let the Israelites leave Egypt.
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So prepare a new wagon and two cows that have never been yoked; hitch them to the wagon and drive their calves back to the barn.
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Take the LORD's Covenant Box, put it on the wagon, and place in a box beside it the gold models that you are sending to him as a gift to pay for your sins. Start the wagon on its way and let it go by itself.
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Then watch it go; if it goes toward the town of Beth Shemesh, this means that it is the God of the Israelites who has sent this terrible disaster on us. But if it doesn't, then we will know that he did not send the plague; it was only a matter of chance."
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They did what they were told: they took two cows and hitched them to the wagon, and shut the calves in the barn.
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They put the Covenant Box in the wagon, together with the box containing the gold models of the mice and of the tumors.
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The cows started off on the road to Beth Shemesh and headed straight toward it, without turning off the road. They were mooing as they went. The five Philistine kings followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
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The people of Beth Shemesh were reaping wheat in the valley, when suddenly they looked up and saw the Covenant Box. They were overjoyed at the sight.
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The wagon came to a field belonging to a man named Joshua, who lived in Beth Shemesh, and it stopped there near a large rock. The people chopped up the wooden wagon and killed the cows and burned them as a burnt sacrifice to the LORD.
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The Levites lifted off the Covenant Box of the LORD and the box with the gold models in it, and placed them on the large rock. Then the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt sacrifices and other sacrifices to the LORD.
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The five Philistine kings watched them do this and then went back to Ekron that same day.
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The Philistines sent the five gold tumors to the LORD as a gift to pay for their sins, one each for the cities of Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.
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They also sent gold mice, one for each of the cities ruled by the five Philistine kings, both the fortified towns and the villages without walls. The large rock in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, on which they placed the LORD's Covenant Box, is still there as a witness to what happened.
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The LORD killed seventy of the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked inside the Covenant Box. And the people mourned because the LORD had caused such a great slaughter among them.
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So the men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who can stand before the LORD, this holy God? Where can we send him to get him away from us?"
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They sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim to say, "The Philistines have returned the LORD's Covenant Box. Come down and get it."
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So the people of Kiriath Jearim got the LORD's Covenant Box and took it to the house of a man named Abinadab, who lived on a hill. They consecrated his son Eleazar to be in charge of it.
2
The Covenant Box of the LORD stayed in Kiriath Jearim a long time, some twenty years. During this time all the Israelites cried to the LORD for help.
3
Samuel said to the people of Israel, "If you are going to turn to the LORD with all your hearts, you must get rid of all the foreign gods and the images of the goddess Astarte. Dedicate yourselves completely to the LORD and worship only him, and he will rescue you from the power of the Philistines."
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So the Israelites got rid of their idols of Baal and Astarte, and worshiped only the LORD.
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Then Samuel called for all the Israelites to meet at Mizpah, telling them, "I will pray to the LORD for you there."
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So they all gathered at Mizpah. They drew some water and poured it out as an offering to the LORD and fasted that whole day. They said, "We have sinned against the LORD." (It was at Mizpah where Samuel settled disputes among the Israelites.)
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When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the five Philistine kings started out with their men to attack them. The Israelites heard about it and were afraid,
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and said to Samuel, "Keep praying to the LORD our God to save us from the Philistines."
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Samuel killed a young lamb and burned it whole as a sacrifice to the LORD. Then he prayed to the LORD to help Israel, and the LORD answered his prayer.
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While Samuel was offering the sacrifice, the Philistines moved forward to attack; but just then the LORD thundered from heaven against them. They became completely confused and fled in panic.
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The Israelites marched out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines almost as far as Bethcar, killing them along the way.
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Then Samuel took a stone, set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and said, "The LORD has helped us all the way"---and he named it "Stone of Help."
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So the Philistines were defeated, and the LORD prevented them from invading Israel's territory as long as Samuel lived.
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All the cities which the Philistines had captured between Ekron and Gath were returned to Israel, and so Israel got back all its territory. And there was peace also between the Israelites and the Canaanites.
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Samuel ruled Israel as long as he lived.
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Every year he would go around to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and in these places he would settle disputes.
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Then he would go back to his home in Ramah, where also he would serve as judge. In Ramah he built an altar to the LORD.
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Teach the king to judge with your righteousness, O God; share with him your own justice,
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so that he will rule over your people with justice and govern the oppressed with righteousness.
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May the land enjoy prosperity; may it experience righteousness.
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May the king judge the poor fairly; may he help the needy and defeat their oppressors.
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May your people worship you as long as the sun shines, as long as the moon gives light, for ages to come.
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May the king be like rain on the fields, like showers falling on the land.
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May righteousness flourish in his lifetime, and may prosperity last as long as the moon gives light.
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His kingdom will reach from sea to sea, from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
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The peoples of the desert will bow down before him; his enemies will throw themselves to the ground.
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The kings of Spain and of the islands will offer him gifts; the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him offerings.
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All kings will bow down before him; all nations will serve him.
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He rescues the poor who call to him, and those who are needy and neglected.
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He has pity on the weak and poor; he saves the lives of those in need.
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He rescues them from oppression and violence; their lives are precious to him.
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Long live the king! May he be given gold from Sheba; may prayers be said for him at all times; may God's blessings be on him always!
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May there be plenty of grain in the land; may the hills be covered with crops, as fruitful as those of Lebanon. May the cities be filled with people, like fields full of grass.
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May the king's name never be forgotten; may his fame last as long as the sun. May all nations ask God to bless them as he has blessed the king.
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Praise the LORD, the God of Israel! He alone does these wonderful things.
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Praise his glorious name forever! May his glory fill the whole world. Amen! Amen!
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This is the end of the prayers of David son of Jesse.
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There is really no need for me to write you about the help being sent to God's people in Judea.
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I know that you are willing to help, and I have boasted of you to the people in Macedonia. "The believers in Achaia," I said, "have been ready to help since last year." Your eagerness has stirred up most of them.
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Now I am sending these believers, so that our boasting about you in this matter may not turn out to be empty words. But, just as I said, you will be ready with your help.
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However, if the people from Macedonia should come with me and find out that you are not ready, how ashamed we would be---not to speak of your shame---for feeling so sure of you!
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So I thought it was necessary to urge these believers to go to you ahead of me and get ready in advance the gift you promised to make. Then it will be ready when I arrive, and it will show that you give because you want to, not because you have to.
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Remember that the person who plants few seeds will have a small crop; the one who plants many seeds will have a large crop.
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You should each give, then, as you have decided, not with regret or out of a sense of duty; for God loves the one who gives gladly.
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And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause.
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As the scripture says, "He gives generously to the needy; his kindness lasts forever."
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And God, who supplies seed for the sower and bread to eat, will also supply you with all the seed you need and will make it grow and produce a rich harvest from your generosity.
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He will always make you rich enough to be generous at all times, so that many will thank God for your gifts which they receive from us.
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For this service you perform not only meets the needs of God's people, but also produces an outpouring of gratitude to God.
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And because of the proof which this service of yours brings, many will give glory to God for your loyalty to the gospel of Christ, which you profess, and for your generosity in sharing with them and everyone else.
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And so with deep affection they will pray for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown you.
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Let us thank God for his priceless gift!
