1Sa 6:2-3, 2Sa 21:1-6, 24:11-13, Mic 6:6-7 | ESV | STEP | And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said , What shall we do with the ark of the Lord ? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place .

1 Samuel 6:2-3

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.”

2 Samuel 21:1-6

David Avenges the Gibeonites

1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David ^dsought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but ^eof the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. 3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless ^fthe heritage of the Lord?” 4 The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?” 5 They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel, 6 let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at ^gGibeah of Saul, ^hthe chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

2 Samuel 24:11-13

11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to ⁱthe prophet Gad, David’s ^jseer, saying, 12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer ^{▼▼Or hold over} you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall ^lthree ^{▼▼Compare 1 Chronicles 21:12, Septuagint; Hebrew seven} years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”

Micah 6:6-7

What Does the Lord Require?

6 ⁿ“With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before ^oGod on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 ^pWill the Lord be pleased with ^{▼▼Or Will the Lord accept} thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
^rShall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”