Study Desk

Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside ^(a)Ebenezer while the Philistines camped in ^(b)Aphek.

The Philistines drew up in battle array to meet Israel. When the battle spread, Israel was ^[a]defeated before the Philistines who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.

When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, "^(c)Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? ^(d)Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the Lord , that ^[b]it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies."

So the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts ^(e)who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, ^(f)all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded.

When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, "What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?" Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp.

The Philistines were afraid, for they said, "God has come into the camp." And they said, "^(g)Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.

Woe to us! Who shall deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.

^(h)Take courage and be men, O Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, ⁽ⁱ⁾as they have been slaves to you; therefore, be men and fight."

So the Philistines fought and ^(j)Israel was ^[c]defeated, and ^(k)every man fled to his tent; and the slaughter was very great, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.

And the ark of God was taken; and ^(l)the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with ^(m)his clothes torn and ^[d]dust on his head.

When he came, behold, ⁽ⁿ⁾Eli was sitting on his seat ^[e]by the road eagerly watching, because his heart was trembling for the ark of God. So the man came to tell it in the city, and all the city cried out.

When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, "What does the noise of this commotion mean?" Then the man came hurriedly and told Eli.

Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and ^(o)his eyes were set so that he could not see.

The man said to Eli, "I am the one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped from the battle line today." And he said, "^(p)How did things go, my son?"

Then the one who brought the news replied, "Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken."

When he mentioned the ark of God, ^[f](q)Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for ^[g]he was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel forty years.

Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas's wife, was pregnant and about to give birth; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, for her pains came upon her.

And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, "^(r)Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son." But she did not answer or pay attention.

And she called the boy ^[h]Ichabod, saying, "^(s)The glory has departed from Israel," because ^(t)the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

She said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken."

Now the Philistines took the ark of God and ^(a)brought it from Ebenezer to ^(b)Ashdod.

Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to ^(c)the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.

When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, ^(d)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord . So they took Dagon and ^(e)set him in his place again.

But when they arose early the next morning, behold, ^(f)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord . And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; ^[a]only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon's house ^(g)tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

Now ^(h)the hand of the Lord was heavy on the Ashdodites, and ⁽ⁱ⁾He ravaged them and smote them with ^(j)tumors, both Ashdod and its territories.

When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god."

So they sent and ^(k)gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them and 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 around.

After they had brought it around, ^(l)the hand of the Lord was against the city with very great confusion; and He smote the men of the city, both young and old, so that ^(m)tumors broke out on them.

So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the Ekronites cried out, saying, "They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to ^[b]us, to kill ^[c]us and ^[d]our people."

They ⁽ⁿ⁾sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill ^[e]us and ^[f]our people." For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; ^(o)the hand of God was very heavy there.

And the men who did not die were smitten with tumors and ^(p)the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Now the ark of the Lord had been in the ^[a]country of the Philistines seven months.

And ^(a)the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord ? Tell us ^[b]how we shall send it to its place."

They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, ^(b)do not send it empty; but you shall surely ^(c)return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you."

Then they said, "What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?" And they said, "Five golden ^(d)tumors and five golden mice ^(e)according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for one plague was on all of ^[c]you and on your lords.

So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and ^(f)you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps ^(g)He will ease His hand from you, ^(h)your gods, and your land.

Why then do you harden your hearts ⁽ⁱ⁾as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, ^(j)did they not allow ^[d]the people to go, and they departed?

Now therefore, take and ^(k)prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which there ^(l)has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them.

Take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart; and put ^(m)the articles of gold which you return to Him as ⁽ⁿ⁾a guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it away that it may go.

Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to ^(o)Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then ^(p)we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance."

Then the men did so, and took two milch cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.

They put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the box with the golden mice and the likenesses of their tumors.

And the cows took the straight way in the ^[e]direction of ^(q)Beth-shemesh; they went along ^(r)the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark and were glad to see it.

The cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stood there where there was a large stone; and they split the wood of the cart and ^(s)offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord .

^(t)The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the Lord .

When the ^(u)five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.

^(v)These are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a guilt offering to the Lord : one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron;

and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, ^(w)both of fortified cities and of country villages. ^(x)The large ^[f]stone on which they set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.

^(y)He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord . He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.

The men of Beth-shemesh said, "^(z)Who is able to stand before the Lord , this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?"

So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of ^(aa)Kiriath-jearim, saying, "The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord ; come down and take it up to you."