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June 4 - When God Speaks · Bible Chat Devotional

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  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
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  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today, June 4th, when God
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  speaks. Imagine being in the middle of
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  the night, deep in sleep, and you hear your name called
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  clearly, unmistakably. What would you do?
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  That's exactly what happened to a young boy named Samuel in
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  First Samuel chapter 3. He heard his name called 3
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  times. Three times he ran to the priest
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  Eli thinking it was him, and three times Eli told him he
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  hadn't called. Finally Eli realized what was
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  happening and gave Samuel the most important instruction of
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  his young life. If you hear it again, say speak
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  Lord, for your servant hears. And that's exactly what
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  happened. First Samuel chapter 3 verse 10
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  says. And the Lord came and stood
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  calling as at other times, Samuel.
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  Samuel and Samuel said, Speak for your servant hears 4 words
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  that changed everything your servant hears.
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  Not leave me alone, not let me think about it, not I'm busy,
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  just a heart open, ready, available, ready to receive
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  whatever God had to say. Now here's the thing, one of the
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  reasons Samuel almost missed the voice of God was because it was
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  unfamiliar to him. The Bible says Samuel didn't yet
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  know the Lord. He hadn't developed that
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  intimacy yet. And honestly, that's a lot of
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  us. We want to hear from God, but we
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  haven't spent enough time with him to recognize his voice when
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  he speaks. God speaks through his word.
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  He speaks through prayer. He speaks through wise people he
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  places in our lives. He speaks in the quiet moments
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  when we're not distracted by the noise.
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  But if our lives are constantly full of screen time, drama,
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  music blaring, and notifications pinging, we're going to miss it.
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  Samuel had to be in a quiet place for God to reach him.
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  Proverbs chapter 17 verses 6:00 and 7:00 remind us that words
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  matter. Deeply true and wise speech is
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  precious, while foolish or deceitful words bring trouble.
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  This connects to Samuel's story. When God finally spoke, it was
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  truth. It was real, and that truth
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  required someone willing to listen, not just talk.
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  And Psalm 64 verses 7:00 and 8:00 remind us that God is not
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  passive when injustice happens. He sees when words are used to
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  harm, when lies are spread, when people are hurt by what others
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  say, He responds. That should bring us comfort
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  when people speak against us and conviction when we consider the
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  impact of our own words. Here's the take away.
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  Are you making space for God to speak into your life, or is the
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  noise winning? God is always speaking through
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  Scripture, through prayer, through the Holy Spirit.
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  The question isn't whether he's saying something.
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  The question is whether we're positioned to hear it.
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  Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for
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  speaking to us through your Word and through your Spirit.
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  Like Samuel, help us to quiet the noise around us and say
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  speak. Lord, your servant hears.
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  Give us a heart that listens before it speaks and ears that
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  recognize your voice above everything else, competing for
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  our attention in Jesus name, Amen.
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  When the battle feels personal, relentless, and too heavy to
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  name, your prayers do not have to fall silent.
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  Under Siege is a prayer script series for believers walking
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  through fear, betrayal, spiritual pressure and unseen
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  conflict. With a warm, faith centered
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  focus. These books give voice to the
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  cry for help, the fight for a steady mind, the weariness that
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  longs to run, the chaos of hostile environments, the pain
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  of broken trust, and the confidence to leave judgement in
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  God's hands. This series helps you pray with
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  discernment, endurance, and covenant trust.
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  When the pressure is real and the path feels narrow, stand
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  firm. Pray clearly.
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  Remember that God hears his people in the middle of the
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  battle. Order now on Amazon or visit
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  prayerscripts.org. Now I invite you to spend time
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  with God in today's three-year Bible reading plan.
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  Proverbs chapter 17 verses six to seven World English Bible
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  Children's children are the crown of old men.
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  The glory of children are their parents.
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  Arrogant speech isn't fitting for a fool, much less do lying
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  lips fit a Prince. Psalm Chapter 64 World English
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  Bible Hear my voice God in my complaint preserve my life from
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  fear of the enemy, hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
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  from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil, who sharpen their
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  tongue like a sword and aim their arrows.
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  Deadly words to shoot innocent men from ambushes.
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  They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly.
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  They encourage themselves in evil plans.
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  They talk about laying snares secretly.
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  They say who will see them? They plot injustice, saying We
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  have made a perfect plan. Surely man's mind and heart are
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  cunning, but God will shoot at them.
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  They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.
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  Their own tongues shall ruin them.
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  All who see them will shake their heads.
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  All mankind shall be afraid. They shall declare the work of
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  God, and shall wisely ponder what He has done.
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  The righteous shall be glad in Yahweh, and shall take refuge in
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  Him. All the upright and heart shall
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  praise Him. First Samuel, chapters 3 to 4.
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  World English Bible. The child Samuel ministered to
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  Yahweh before Eli. Yahweh's word was rare in those
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  days. There were not many visions then
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  at that time when Eli was laid down in his place now, his eyes
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  had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, and God's lamp
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  hadn't yet gone out, and Samuel had laid down in Yahweh's temple
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  where God's ark was. Yahweh called Samuel.
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  He said Here I am. He ran to Eli and said here I am
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  for you called me. He said I didn't call, lie down
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  again. He went and lay down.
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  Yahweh called yet again Samuel. Samuel arose and went to Eli and
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  said, here I am, for you called me.
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  He answered I didn't call my son, lie down again.
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  Now Samuel didn't yet know Yahweh, neither was Yahweh's
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  word yet revealed to him. Yahweh called Samuel again.
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  The third time he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here I am, for
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  you called me. Eli perceived that Yahweh had
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  called the child. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go
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  lie down. It shall be if he calls you that
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  you shall say, speak Yahweh, for your servant hears.
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  So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
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  Yahweh came and stood and called as at other times, Samuel,
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  Samuel. Then Samuel said, Speak, for
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  your servant hears. Yahweh said to Samuel, Behold, I
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  will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of everyone
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  who hears it will tingle. In that day I will perform
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  against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house from
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  the beginning even to the end. For I have told him that I will
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  judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because
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  his sons brought a curse on themselves, and he didn't
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  restrain them. Therefore I have sworn to the
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  House of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be
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  removed with sacrifice or offering forever.
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  Samuel lay until the morning and open the doors of Yahweh's
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  house. Samuel was afraid to show Eli
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  the vision. Then Eli called Samuel and said,
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  Samuel, my son, he said, Here I am.
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  He said, What is the thing that he has spoken to you?
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  Please don't hide it from me, God do so to you and more also
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  if you hide anything from me. Of all the things that he spoke
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  to you, Samuel told him every bit and hid nothing from him.
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  He said it is Yahweh, let him do what seems good to him.
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  Samuel grew and Yahweh was with him and let none of his words
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  fall to the ground. All Israel from Dan even to
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  Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of
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  Yahweh. Yahweh appeared again in Shiloh,
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  for Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh.
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  By Yahweh's word, the word of Samuel came to all Israel.
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  Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle and
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  encamped beside Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped.
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  In effect, the Philistines put themselves in array against
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  Israel when they joined battle. Israel was defeated by the
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  Philistines who killed about 4000 men of the army in the
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  field when the people had come into the camp.
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  The elders of Israel said, why has Yahweh defeated us today
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  before the Philistines? Let's get the Ark of Yahweh's
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  covenant out of Shiloh and bring it to us, that it may come among
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  us and save us out of the hand of our enemies.
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  So the people sent to Shiloh and they brought from there the Ark
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  of the Covenant of Yahweh of armies, who sits above the
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  Cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hofni
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  and Feynhus were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God.
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  When the ark of Yahweh's covenant came into the camp, all
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  Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth
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  resounded. When the Philistines heard the
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  noise of the shout, they said, What does the noise of this
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  great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?
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  They understood that Yahweh's ark had come into the camp.
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  The Philistines were afraid, for they said, God has come into the
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  camp. They said, woe to us, for there
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  has not been such a thing before.
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  Woe to us who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty
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  gods. These are the gods that struck
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  the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.
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  Be strong and behave like men, O you Philistines, that you not be
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  servants to the Hebrews as they have been to you.
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  Strengthen yourselves like men and fight.
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  The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated, and each
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  man fled to his tent. There was a very great
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  slaughter, for 30,000 footmen of Israel fell.
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  God's ark was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hofni and Feinhaus
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  were slain. A man of Benjamin ran out of the
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  army and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and
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  with dirt on his head. When he came, behold, Eli was
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  sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled
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  for God's ark. When the man came into the city
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  and told about it all the city cried out.
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  When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What does the
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  noise of this tumult mean? The man hurried and came and
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  told Eli. Now Eli was 98 years old.
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  His eyes were set so that he could not see.
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  The man said to Eli, I am he who came out of the army, and I fled
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  today out of the army. He said, How did the matter go,
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  My son? He who brought the news
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  answered, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has
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  been also a great slaughter among the people.
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  Your two sons also Hofni and Finehus are dead, and God's ark
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  has been captured. When he made mention of God's
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  ark, Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the
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  gate, and his neck broke and he died, for he was an old man and
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  heavy. He had judged Israel 40 years.
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  His daughter-in-law fine. His wife was with child near to
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  giving birth when she heard the news that God's ark was taken
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  and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead.
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  She bowed herself and gave birth for her.
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  Pains came on her about the time of her death.
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  The women who stood by her said to her, Don't be afraid, for you
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  have given birth to a son. But she didn't answer, neither
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  did she regard it. She named the child Ichabod,
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  saying the glory has departed from Israel because God's ark
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  was taken. And because of her father-in-law
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  and her husband, she said, the glory has departed from Israel,
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  for God's ark has been taken. Thanks for joining us on Bible
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  Chat, where Scripture meets everyday life.
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