Samuel & King Saul

And the man saith unto Eli, `I am he who hath come out of the ranks, and I out of the ranks have fled to-day;' and he saith, `What hath been the matter, my son?'

And he who is bearing tidings answereth and saith, `Israel hath fled before the Philistines, and also a great slaughter hath been among the people, and also thy two sons have died--Hophni and Phinehas--and the ark of God hath been captured.'

And it cometh to pass, at his mentioning the ark of God, that he falleth from off the throne backward, by the side of the gate, and his neck is broken, and he dieth, for the man is old and heavy, and he hath judged Israel forty years.

And his daughter-in-law, wife of Phinehas, is pregnant, about to bear, and she heareth the report of the taking of the ark of God, that her father-in-law and her husband have died, and she boweth, and beareth, for her pains have turned upon her.

And at the time of her death, when the women who are standing by her say, `Fear not, for a son thou hast borne,' she hath not answered, nor set her heart to it ;

and she calleth the youth I-Chabod, saying, `Honour hath removed from Israel,' because of the taking of the ark of God, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

And she saith, `Honour hath removed from Israel, for the ark of God hath been taken.'

And the Philistines have taken the ark of God, and bring it in from Eben-Ezer to Ashdod,

and the Philistines take the ark of God and bring it into the house of Dagon, and set it near Dagon.

And the Ashdodites rise early on the morrow, and lo, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the ark of Jehovah; and they take Dagon, and put it back to its place.

And they rise early in the morning on the morrow, and lo, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the ark of Jehovah, and the head of Dagon, and the two palms of its hands are cut off at the threshold, only the fishy part hath been left to him;

therefore the priests of Dagon, and all those coming into the house of Dagon, tread not on the threshold of Dagon, in Ashdod, till this day.

And the hand of Jehovah is heavy on the Ashdodites, and He maketh them desolate, and smiteth them with emerods, Ashdod and its borders.

And the men of Ashdod see that it is so, and have said, `The ark of the God of Israel doth not abide with us, for hard hath been His hand upon us, and upon Dagon our god.'

And they send and gather all the princes of the Philistines unto them, and say, `What do we do to the ark of the God of Israel?' and they say, `To Gath let the ark of the God of Israel be brought round;' and they bring round the ark of the God of Israel;

and it cometh to pass after they have brought it round, that the hand of Jehovah is against the city--a very great destruction; and He smiteth the men of the city, from small even unto great; and break forth on them do emerods.

And they send the ark of God to Ekron, and it cometh to pass, at the coming in of the ark of God to Ekron, that the Ekronites cry out, saying, `They have brought round unto us the ark of the God of Israel, to put us to death--and our people.'

And they send and gather all the princes of the Philistines, and say, `Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and it turneth back to its place, and it doth not put us to death--and our people;' for there hath been a deadly destruction throughout all the city, very heavy hath the hand of God been there,

and the men who have not died have been smitten with emerods, and the cry of the city goeth up into the heavens.

And the ark of Jehovah is in the field of the Philistines seven months,

and the Philistines call for priests and for diviners, saying, `What do we do to the ark of Jehovah? let us know wherewith we send it to its place?'

And they say, `If ye are sending away the ark of the God of Israel, ye do not send it away empty; for ye do certainly send back to Him a guilt-offering; then ye are healed, and it hath been known to you why His hand doth not turn aside from you.'

And they say, `What is the guilt-offering which we send back to Him?' and they say, `The number of the princes of the Philistines--five golden emerods, and five golden mice--for one plague is to you all, and to your princes,

and ye have made images of your emerods, and images of your mice that are corrupting the land, and have given honour to the God of Israel; it may be He doth lighten His hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land;

and why do ye harden your heart as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? do they not--when He hath rolled Himself upon them--send them away, and they go?