1 Samuel 4

• 1. And Samuel's word came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek.
• 2. The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield.
• 3. When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why did the LORD bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies."
• 4. So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
• 5. When the ark of the LORD's covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.
• 6. Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, "What's all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?" When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp,
• 7. the Philistines were afraid. "A god has come into the camp," they said. "We're in trouble! Nothing like this has happened before.
• 8. Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert.
• 9. Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!"
• 10. So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.
• 11. The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
• 12. That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head.
• 13. When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.
• 14. Eli heard the outcry and asked, "What is the meaning of this uproar?" The man hurried over to Eli,
• 15. who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes were set so that he could not see.
• 16. He told Eli, "I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day." Eli asked, "What happened, my son?"
• 17. The man who brought the news replied, "Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured."
• 18. When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years.
• 19. His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains.
• 20. As she was dying, the women attending her said, "Don't despair; you have given birth to a son." But she did not respond or pay any attention.
• 21. She named the boy Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel"-because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.
• 22. She said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured."

Romans 4

• 1. What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?
• 2. If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about--but not before God.
• 3. What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
• 4. Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
• 5. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
• 6. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
• 7. "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
• 8. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
• 9. Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness.
• 10. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!
• 11. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
• 12. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
• 13. It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
• 14. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless,
• 15. because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
• 16. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
• 17. As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
• 18. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
• 19. Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead.
• 20. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
• 21. being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
• 22. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."
• 23. The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone,
• 24. but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
• 25. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Jeremiah 42

• 1. Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest approached
• 2. Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, "Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left.
• 3. Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do."
• 4. "I have heard you," replied Jeremiah the prophet. "I will certainly pray to the LORD your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the LORD says and will keep nothing back from you."
• 5. Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell us.
• 6. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the LORD our God."
• 7. Ten days later the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.
• 8. So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people from the least to the greatest.
• 9. He said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says:
• 10. 'If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you.
• 11. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the LORD, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands.
• 12. I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.'
• 13. "However, if you say, 'We will not stay in this land,' and so disobey the LORD your God,
• 14. and if you say, 'No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,'
• 15. then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there,
• 16. then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die.
• 17. Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.'
• 18. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'As my anger and wrath have been poured out on those who lived in Jerusalem, so will my wrath be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will be an object of cursing and horror, of condemnation and reproach; you will never see this place again.'
• 19. "O remnant of Judah, the LORD has told you, 'Do not go to Egypt.' Be sure of this: I warn you today
• 20. that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the LORD your God and said, 'Pray to the LORD our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.'
• 21. I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the LORD your God in all he sent me to tell you.
• 22. So now, be sure of this: You will die by the sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go to settle."

New International Version

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