4 ¹ And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. ² And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when ^[a]they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines; and they slew of the ^[b]army in the field about four thousand men. ³ And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath Jehovah smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of Shiloh unto us, that it may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies. ⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh; and they brought from thence the ark of the covenant of Jehovah of hosts, who ^[c]sitteth above the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵ And when the ark of the covenant of Jehovah came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. ⁶ And 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 understood that the ark of Jehovah was come into the camp. ⁷ And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore. ⁸ Woe 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 ^[d]plagues in the wilderness. ⁹ Be 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. ¹⁰ And 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. ¹¹ And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

¹² And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the ^[e]army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. ¹³ And when he came, lo, Eli was sitting 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. ¹⁴ And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult? And the man hasted, and came and told Eli. ¹⁵ Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see. ¹⁶ And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the ^[f]army, and I fled to-day out of the ^[g]army. And he said, How went the matter, my son? ¹⁷ And 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. ¹⁸ And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹ And 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 upon her. ²⁰ And 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. ²¹ And she named the child ^[h]Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel; because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. ²² And she said, The glory is departed from Israel; for the ark of God is taken.

5 Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod. ² And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. ³ And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen ^[i]upon his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. ⁴ And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen ^[j]upon his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands lay cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. ⁵ Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, unto this day.

⁶ But the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with ^[k]tumors, even Ashdod and the borders thereof. ⁷ And 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. ⁸ They 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 thither. ⁹ And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of Jehovah was against the city with a very great discomfiture: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great; and tumors brake out upon them. ¹⁰ So 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. ¹¹ They 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 again 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. ¹² And the men that died not were smitten with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

6 And the ark of Jehovah was in the ^[l]country of the Philistines seven months. ² And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do with the ark of Jehovah? show us wherewith we shall send it to its place. ³ And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but by all means return him a trespass-offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you. ⁴ Then said they, What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? And they said, Five golden tumors, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on ^[m]you all, and on your lords. ⁵ Wherefore ye shall make images of your tumors, 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. ⁶ Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had ^[n]wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let ^[o]the people go, and they departed? ⁷ Now 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; ⁸ and take the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass-offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go. ⁹ And 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.

¹⁰ And the men did so, and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home; ¹¹ and they put the ark of Jehovah upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors. ¹² And the kine took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh; they went along ^[p]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. ¹³ And 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. ¹⁴ And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great ^[q]stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine for a burnt-offering unto Jehovah. ¹⁵ And the Levites took down the ark of Jehovah, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto Jehovah. ¹⁶ And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.

¹⁷ And these are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass-offering unto Jehovah: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; ¹⁸ and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even unto the great stone, whereon they set down the ark of Jehovah, which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.

¹⁹ And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Jehovah, he smote of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand men; and the people mourned, because Jehovah had smitten the people with a great slaughter. ²⁰ And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us? ²¹ And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought back the ark of Jehovah; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.