Study Desk

Early the next morning the people of Ashdod saw that the statue of Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground in front of the Lord 's Covenant Box. So they lifted it up and put it back in its place.

So they sent messengers and called together all five of the Philistine kings and asked them, "What shall we do with the Covenant Box of the God of Israel?" "Take it over to Gath," they answered; so they took it to Gath, another Philistine city.

So they sent the Covenant Box to Ekron, another Philistine city; but when it arrived there, the people cried out, "They have brought the Covenant Box of the God of Israel here, in order to kill us all!"

So again they sent for all the Philistine kings and said, "Send the Covenant Box of Israel back to its own place, so that it won't kill us and our families." There was panic throughout the city because God was punishing them so severely.

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.

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?"

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.

So the Israelites got rid of their idols of Baal and Astarte, and worshiped only the Lord .

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.)

So the Philistines were defeated, and the Lord prevented them from invading Israel's territory as long as Samuel lived.

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.

But they did not follow their father's example; they were interested only in making money, so they accepted bribes and did not decide cases honestly.

and said to him, "Look, you are getting old and your sons don't follow your example. So then, appoint a king to rule over us, so that we will have a king, as other countries have."

Samuel was displeased with their request for a king; so he prayed to the Lord ,

So then, listen to them, but give them strict warnings and explain how their kings will treat them."

so that we will be like other nations, with our own king to rule us and to lead us out to war and to fight our battles."

Some donkeys belonging to Kish had wandered off, so he said to Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys."

They went through the hill country of Ephraim and the region of Shalishah, but did not find them; so they went on through the region of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then they went through the territory of Benjamin, but still did not find them.

Saul replied, "A good idea! Let's go." So they went to the town where the holy man lived. As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some young women who were coming out to draw water. They asked these women, "Is the seer in town?" (At that time a prophet was called a seer, and so whenever someone wanted to ask God a question, he would say, "Let's go to the seer.")

So Saul and his servant went on to the town, and as they were going in, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way to the place of worship.