things that He spoke unto thee.' 18And Samuel told him all the words, and hid nothing from him. And he said: 'It is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him good.'
19And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. 21And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh; for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. 41And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.
Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Eben-ezer; and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. 2And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel; and when the battle was spread, Israel was smitten before the Philistines; and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. 3And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said: 'Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that He may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies.' 4So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who sitteth upon the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang. 6And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said: 'What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?' And they knew that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp. 7And the Philistines were afraid, for they said: 'God is come into the camp.' And they said: 'Woe unto us! for there was not such a thing yesterday and the day before. 8Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? these are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all manner of plagues and in the wilderness. 9Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you; quit yourselves like men, and fight.' 10And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man to his tent; and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. 11And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
12And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. 13And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon his seat by the wayside watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. 14And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said: 'What meaneth the noise of this tumult?' And the man made haste, and came and told Eli. 15Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were set, that he could not see. 16And the man said unto Eli: 'I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the army.' And he said: 'How went the matter, my son?' 17And he that brought the tidings answered and said: 'Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.' 18And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck broke, and he died; for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
19And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered; and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and brought forth; for her pains came suddenly upon her. 20And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her: 'Fear not; for thou hast brought forth a son.' But she answered not, neither did she regard it. 21And she named the child 1Ichabod, saying: 'The glory is departed from Israel'; because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22And she said: 'The glory is departed from Israel; for the ark of God is taken.'
5Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod. 2And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 3And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. 4And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands lay cut off upon the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
6But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and He destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the borders thereof. 7And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said: 'The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for His hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.' 8They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said: 'What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?' And they answered: 'Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath.' And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. 9And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great discomfiture; and He smote the men of the city, both small and great, and emerods broke out upon them. 10So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying: 'They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.' 11They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said: 'Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, that it slay us not, and our people'; for there was a deadly discomfiture throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
6And the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying: 'What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? declare unto us wherewith we shall send it to its place.' 3And they said: 'If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return Him a guilt-offering; then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.' 4Then said they: 'What shall be the guilt-offering which we shall return to Him?' And they said: 'Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. 5Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel; peradventure He will lighten His hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. 6Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when He had wrought among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed? 7Now therefore take and prepare you a new cart, and two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them. 8And take the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return Him for a guilt-offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go. 9And see, if it goeth up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, then He hath done us this great evil; but if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us.'
10And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 11And they put the ark of the Lord upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods. 12And the kine took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh. 13And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. 14And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone; and they cleaved the wood