And He told them a parable to the end that they ought always to pray and not lose heart,

Saying, There was a certain judge in a certain city who did not fear God and did not regard man.

And there was a  ¹widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying,  ²Avenge me of my  ³opponent.

And for a time he would not; but afterward he said within himself, Even though I do not fear God nor regard man,

Yet because this widow causes me trouble, I will avenge her, lest by continually coming she wear me out.

And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge says.

And will not God by all means carry out the avenging of His chosen ones, who cry to Him day and night, though He is long-suffering over them?

I tell you that He will carry out their avenging quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man  ¹comes, will He find  ²faith on the earth?

And  ¹He told this parable also to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised the rest:

Two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee stood and prayed these things to himself: God, I thank You that I am  ¹not like the rest of men — extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

I  ¹fast twice a  ²week; I give a tenth of all that I get.

But the tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be  ¹propitiated to me, the sinner!

I tell you, This man went down to his house justified rather than that one; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.

And they were bringing to Him also their babies that He might touch them. But when the disciples saw this they rebuked them.

But Jesus called them to Him, saying, Allow the little children to come to Me, and do not  ¹forbid them, for of such is the  ²kingdom of God.

Truly I say to you, Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a  ¹little child shall by no means enter into it.

And a  ¹certain ruler questioned Him, saying, Good Teacher,  ²what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

But Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One — God.

You know the commandments: “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.”

And he said, All these things I have kept from my youth.

And hearing this, Jesus said to him, Still you lack one thing: all that you have, sell and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens; and come, follow Me.

But when he heard these things, he became very sorrowful, for he was exceedingly rich.

And Jesus, seeing that he became very sorrowful, said, How difficult it is for those who have riches to go into the kingdom of God.

For it is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a  ¹needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

And those who heard said,  ¹Then who can be saved?

But He said, The things that are impossible with men are possible with God.

And Peter said, Behold, we have left our own things and have followed You.

And He said to them, Truly I say to you that there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children  ¹for the sake of the kingdom of God,

Who shall not by all means receive back many times as much in  ¹this time, and in the coming age, eternal life.

And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. And Israel went forth against the Philistines in battle; and they encamped near Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.

And the Philistines arrayed themselves against Israel; and when the battle spread, Israel was struck down before the Philistines. And they slew about four thousand men of the array in the field.

And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why has Jehovah struck us down today before the Philistines? Let us take for ourselves the  ¹Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah from Shiloh that it may come into our midst, and thus save us from the hand of our enemies.

So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they took up from there the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah of hosts who is enthroned between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God.

And when the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, and the earth resounded.

And the Philistines heard the sound of the shout and said, What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean? Then they found out that the Ark of Jehovah had come into their camp.

And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God has come into their camp. And they said, Woe to us! For there has never been such a thing as this before.

Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with every kind of plague in the wilderness.

Be strong and be men, O Philistines, lest you become servants to the Hebrews as they have been servants to you. Be men then and fight.

And the Philistines fought, and they struck Israel; and every man fled to his tent. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.

And the Ark of God was  ¹taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

And a man of Benjamin ran from the array and came to Shiloh on the same day, with his clothes torn and earth upon his head.

And when he came, there was Eli, sitting on his seat by the roadside watching; for his heart trembled for the Ark of God. And when the man came to tell the news to the city, the whole city cried out.

And when Eli heard the sound of the cry, he said, What does this sound of commotion mean? And the man hurried and came and told Eli.

Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set, and he could not see.

And the man said to Eli, I am he who has come from the array, and I fled from the array today. And he said, How did the matter go, my son?

And he who brought the news answered and said, Israel fled before the Philistines, and there was a great slaughter among the people; and even your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the Ark of God has been taken.

And when he mentioned the Ark of God,  ¹Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate. And he broke his neck and  ²died, for he was an old man and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to deliver; and when she heard the report that the Ark of God had been taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she bowed down and gave birth, for her pains came upon her.

And around the time that she died, the women who stood around her said, Do not fear, for you have borne a son. But she did not answer or pay attention.

And she named the child  ¹Ichabod,  ²meaning, The glory has departed from Israel, because the Ark of God had been taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

And she said, The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been taken.

When the Philistines took the Ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

And the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon, and they set it next to Dagon.

And when the Ashdodites arose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face to the ground, before the Ark of Jehovah. And they took Dagon and put him back in his place.

And when they arose early in the morning of the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face to the ground, before the Ark of Jehovah. And Dagon's head and the palms of his hands were cut off, lying on the threshold;  ¹only Dagon's trunk was left to him.

Because of this, neither the priests of Dagon nor any who enter the house of Dagon tread upon Dagon's threshold in Ashdod to this day.

But the hand of  ¹Jehovah was heavy upon the Ashdodites, and He devastated them and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its borders.

And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The Ark of the God of Israel cannot stay with us, for His hand is hard on us and on Dagon our god.

Therefore they sent for and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to themselves, and they said, What shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel? And they said, Let the Ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath. And they brought the Ark of the God of Israel there.

Then after they brought it there, the hand of Jehovah was against the city, causing a very great panic. And He struck the men of the city, from small to great; and they broke out with tumors.

Then they sent the Ark of God to Ekron. But when the Ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought the Ark of the God of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.

And they sent for and gathered all the princes of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the Ark of the God of Israel; and let it return to its place, so that it does not kill us and our people. For the panic of death was throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there,

And the men who did not die were stricken with tumors. And the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Now the Ark of Jehovah was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, What shall we do with the Ark of Jehovah? Make known to us how we should send it forth to its place.

And they said, If you send away the Ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but be sure to return Him a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be made known to you why His hand has not turned away from you.

And they said, What is the trespass offering that we should return to Him? And they said, Five golden  ¹tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was upon you all and upon your lords.

Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your mice that devastate the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand on you and your gods and your land.

Why then should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had dealt severely with them, did they not let  ¹the people go, and they went?

So now take and prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which the yoke has never come, and tie the cows to the cart, and bring their calves home, away from them.

And take the Ark of Jehovah and put it on the cart; and in a box by the side of it, place the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering; and send it away that it may go.

Then watch: If it goes up toward its own border at Beth-shemesh, it is He who has done us this great harm. But if it does not, we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.

And the men did so and took two milch cows and tied them to the cart and shut up their calves at home.

And they put the Ark of Jehovah on the cart with the box and the gold mice and the images of their tumors.

And the cows went straight in the way toward Beth-shemesh; they went on one road, lowing as they went; and they did not turn to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.

Now the people of Beth-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.

And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite and stood still there. And there was a great stone there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered up the cows as a burnt offering to Jehovah.

Then the Levites took down the Ark of Jehovah and the box that was with it, in which were the articles of gold; and they placed them on the great stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered up burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to Jehovah.

And when the five lords of the Philistines saw this, they returned to Ekron that day.

And these are the gold tumors that the Philistines returned to Jehovah as a trespass offering: for Ashdod, one; for Gaza, one; for Ashkelon, one; for Gath, one; for Ekron, one;

And the gold mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines that belonged to the five lords, both of fortified cities and country villages, as far as the  ¹great stone on which they rested the Ark of Jehovah, which is there to this day, in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite.

And He struck the men of Beth-shemesh because they looked into the Ark of Jehovah; and He struck seventy men  ¹among the people. And the people mourned because Jehovah struck the people with a great slaughter.

And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who can stand before Jehovah, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?

And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have returned the Ark of Jehovah; come down and take it up to you.

And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the Ark of Jehovah and brought it to the  ¹house of Abinadab on the hill, and they consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the Ark of Jehovah.

And it was a long time from the day that the Ark began to abide in Kiriath-jearim, for it was twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after Jehovah.

Then Samuel  ¹spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you are returning with all your heart to Jehovah, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from your midst, and direct your heart to Jehovah and serve only Him; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.

Then the children of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served only Jehovah.

And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to Jehovah for you.

And they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before Jehovah, and they fasted that day. And they said there, We have sinned against Jehovah. And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.

Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel gathered themselves at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.

And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Do not stop crying to Jehovah our God for us, so that He will save us from the hand of the Philistines.

And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to Jehovah. And Samuel cried out to Jehovah for Israel, and Jehovah answered him.

And while Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines approached for battle against Israel. And Jehovah thundered with a great voice that day against the Philistines and threw them into a panic; and they were struck down before Israel.

And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and they struck them as far as below Beth-car.

Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen; and he called its name  ¹Ebenezer and said, Thus far Jehovah has helped us.

So the Philistines were subdued, and they no longer came into the territory of Israel. And the hand of Jehovah was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were returned to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel rescued their territory from the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

And he went year by year in circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all those places.

Then he would return to Ramah, for his house was there. And he judged Israel there and built an altar to Jehovah there.