1 Samuel 6:20

6:20 The residents of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark ¹  go up from here?”

1 Samuel 6:2

6:2 the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place.”

1 Samuel 6:9

6:9 But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident.”

1 Samuel 6:1

The Philistines Return the Ark

6:1 When the ark of the Lord had been in the land ²  of the Philistines for seven months, ³ 

1 Samuel 13:11-13

13:11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the army had started to abandon me ⁴  and that you didn’t come at the appointed time and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash, 13:12 I thought, ⁵  ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt obligated ⁶  to offer the burnt offering.”

13:13 Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed ⁷  the commandment that the Lord your God gave ⁸  you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever!

1 Samuel 15:13

15:13 When Samuel came to him, ⁹  Saul said to him, “May the Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord said.”

¹ tn Heb “he” or “it”; the referent here (the ark) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. also NIV, CEV, NLT). Others, however, take the referent to be the Lord himself.

² tn Heb “field.”

³ tc The LXX adds “and their land swarmed with mice.”

⁴ tn Heb “dispersed from upon me.”

⁵ tn Heb “said.”

⁶ tn Or “I forced myself” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, CEV); NAB “So in my anxiety I offered”; NIV “I felt compelled.”

⁷ tn Or “kept.”

⁸ tn Heb “commanded.”

⁹ tn Heb “to Saul.”