1Sa 6, 1Sa 8 | ESV | STEP | The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months .

1 The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and ^athe diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” 3 They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him ^ba guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why ^chis hand does not turn away from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden ^dtumors and five golden mice, ^eaccording to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 5 So you must make images of your ^ftumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, ^gand give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps ^hhe will lighten his hand from off you ⁱand your gods and your land. 6 Why should you harden your hearts as ^jthe Egyptians and ^kPharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, ^ldid they not send the people away, and they departed? 7 Now then, take and prepare ^ma new cart and two milk cows ⁿon which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. 8 And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side ^othe figures of gold, which you are returning to him as ^pa guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way 9 and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to ^qBeth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not ^rhis hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”

10 The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. 12 And the cows went straight in the direction of ^sBeth-shemesh along ^tone highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of ^uBeth-shemesh. 13 Now the people of ^vBeth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. 14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. ^wA great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon ^xthe great stone. And the men of ^yBeth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord. 16 And when ^zthe five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.

17 These are the golden tumors that the Philistines returned as a ^aaguilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron, 18 and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, ^abboth fortified cities and unwalled villages. ^acThe great stone beside which they set down the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.

19 ^adAnd he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck seventy men of them, ^{▼▼Most Hebrew manuscripts struck of the people seventy men, fifty thousand men} and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow. 20 Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, ^af“Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?” 21 So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of ^agKiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you.”

1 Samuel 8

Israel Demands a King

1 When Samuel became old, ^ahhe made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways ^aibut turned aside after gain. ^ajThey took bribes and perverted justice.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^akRamah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. ^alNow appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, ^amfor they have not rejected you, ^anbut they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them ^aoand show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Samuel’s Warning Against Kings

10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, ^ap“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: ^aqhe will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some ^arto plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 ^asHe will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men ^{▼▼Septuagint cattle} and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, ^aubut the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

The Lord Grants Israel’s Request

19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 ^avthat we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, ^aw“Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”