1 Samuel 4; 1 Samuel 5; 1 Samuel 6; 1 Samuel 7; 1 Samuel 8

1 Samuel 4

1 And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight: and Israel went out to war against the Philistines, and camped by the Stone of help. And the Philistines came to Aphec,

2 And put their army in array against Israel. And when they had joined battle, Israel turned their backs to the Philistines: and there were slain in that fight, here and there in the fields, about four thousand men.

3 And the people returned to the camp: and the ancients of Israel said: Why hath the Lord defeated us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch unto us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Silo, and let it come in the midst of us, that it may save us from the hand of our enemies.

4 So the people sent to Silo, and they brought from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, sitting upon the cherubims: and the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were with the ark of the covenant of God.

5 And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord was come into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, and the earth rang again.

6 And the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, and they said: What is this noise of a great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp.

7 And the Philistines were afraid, saying: God is come into the camp. And sighing, they said:

8 Woe to us: for there was no such great joy yesterday, and the day before: Woe to us. Who shall deliver us from the hand of these high Gods? these are the Gods that struck Egypt with all the plagues in the desert.

9 Take courage, and behave like men, ye Philistines: lest you come to be servants to the Hebrews, as they have served you: take courage and fight.

10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was overthrown, and every man fled to his own dwelling: and there was an exceeding great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.

11 And the ark of God was taken: and the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were slain.

12 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Silo the same day, with his clothes rent, and his head strewed with dust.

13 And when he was come, Heli sat upon a stool over against the way, watching. For his heart was fearful for the ark of God. And when the man was come into the city, he told it: and all the city cried out.

14 And Heli heard the noise of the cry, and he said: What meaneth the noise of this uproar? But he made haste, and came, and told Heli.

15 Now Heli was ninety and eight years old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see.

16 And he said to Heli: I am he that came from the battle, and have fled out of the field this day. And he said to him: What is there done, my son?

17 And he that brought the news answered, and said: Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter of the people: moreover thy two sons, Ophni and Phinees, are dead: and the ark of God is taken.

18 And when he had named the ark of God, he fell from his stool backwards by the door, and broke his neck and died. For he was an old man, and far advanced in years: And he judged Israel forty years.

19 And his daughter in law, the wife of Phinees, was big with child, and near her time: and hearing the news that the ark of God was taken, and her father in law, and her husband, were dead, she bowed herself and fell in labour: for her pains came upon her on a sudden.

20 And when she was upon the point of death, they that stood about her said to her: Fear not, for thou hast borne a son. She answered them not, nor gave heed to them.

21 And she called the child Ichabod, saying: The glory is gone from Israel, because the ark of God was taken, and for her father in law, and for her husband:

22 And she said: The glory is departed from Israel, because the ark of God was taken.

1 Samuel 5

1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried it from the Stone of help into Azotus.

2 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the temple of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

3 And when the Azotians arose early the next day, behold Dagon lay upon his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord: and they took Dagon, and set him again in his place.

4 And the next day again, when they rose in the morning, they found Dagon lying upon his face on the earth before the ark of the Lord: and the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands, were cut off upon the threshold:

5 And only the stump of Dagon remained in its place. For this cause neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that go into the temple, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Azotus unto this day.

6 And the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Azotians, and he destroyed them, and afflicted Azotus and the coasts thereof with emerods. And in the villages and fields in the midst of that country, there came forth a multitude of mice, and there was the confusion of a great mortality in the city.

7 And the men of Azotus seeing this kind of plague, said: The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us: for his hand is heavy upon us, and upon Dagon, our god.

8 And sending, they gathered together all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said: What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And the Gethites answered: Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about.

9 And while they were carrying it about, the hand of the Lord came upon every city with an exceeding great slaughter: and he smote the men of every city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. And the Gethites consulted together, and made themselves seats of skins.

10 Therefore they sent the ark of God into Accaron. And when the ark of God was come into Accaron, the Accaronites cried out, saying: They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill 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 return into its own place, and not kill us and our people.

12 For there was the fear of death in every city, and the hand of God was exceeding heavy. The men also that did not die, were afflicted with the emerods: and the cry of every city went up to heaven.

1 Samuel 6

1 Now the ark of God was in the land 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 the Lord? tell us how we are to send it back to its place. And they said:

3 If you send back the ark of the God of Israel, send it not away empty, but render unto him what you owe for sin, and then you shall be healed: and you shall know why his hand departeth not from you.

4 They answered: What is it we ought to render unto him for sin? and they answered:

5 According to the number of the provinces of the Philistines you shall make five golden emerods, and five golden mice: for the same plague hath been upon you all, and upon your lords. And you shall make the likeness of your emerods, and the likeness of the mice, that have destroyed the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel: to see if he will take off his hand from you, and from your gods, and from your land.

6 Why do you harden your hearts, as Egypt and Pharao hardened their hearts? did not he, after he was struck, then let them go, and they departed?

7 Now, therefore, take and make a new cart: and two kine that have calved, on which there hath come no yoke, tie to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.

8 And you shall take the ark of the Lord, and lay it on the cart, and the vessels of gold, which you have paid him for sin, you shall put into a little box at the side thereof: and send it away, that it may go.

9 And you shall look: and if it go up by the way of his own coasts, towards Bethsames, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, we shall know that it is not his hand hath touched us, but it hath happened by chance.

10 They did therefore in this manner: and taking two kine, that had sucking calves, they yoked them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.

11 And they laid the ark of God upon the cart, and the little box that had in it the golden mice, and the likeness of the emerods.

12 And the kine took the straight way, that leadeth to Bethsames, and they went along the way, lowing as they went: and turned not aside neither to the right hand nor to the left: and the lords of the Philistines followed them as far as the borders of Bethsames.

13 Now the Bethsamites were reaping wheat in the valley: and lifting up their eyes, they saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

14 And the cart came into the field of Josue, a Bethsamite, and stood there. And there was a great stone, and they cut in pieces the wood of the cart, and laid the kine upon it a holocaust to the Lord.

15 And the Levites took down the ark of God, and the little box that was at the side of it, wherein were the vessels of gold, and they put them upon the great stone. The men also of Bethsames offered holocausts, and sacrificed victims that day to the Lord.

16 And the five princes of the Philistines saw, and they returned to Accaron the same day.

17 And these are the golden emerods, which the Philistines returned for sin to the Lord: For Azotus one, for Gaza one, for Ascalon one, for Geth one, for Accaron one:

18 And the golden mice, according to the number of the cities of the Philistines, of the five provinces, from the fenced city to the village that was without wall, and to the great Abel (the stone) whereon they set down the ark of the Lord, which was till that day in the field of Josue the Bethsamite.

19 But he slew of the men of Bethsames, because they had seen the ark of the Lord, and he slew of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand of the common people. And the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten the people with a great slaughter.

20 And the men of Bethsames said: Who shall be able to stand before the Lord this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us?

21 And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Cariathiarim, saying: The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord, come ye down and fetch it up to you.

1 Samuel 7

1 And the men of Cariathiarim came, and fetched up the ark of the Lord, and carried it into the house of Abinadab, in Gabaa: and they sanctified Eleazar, his son, to keep the ark of the Lord.

2 And it came to pass, that from the day the ark of the Lord abode in Cariathiarim, days were multiplied (for it was now the twentieth year) and all the house of Israel rested, following the Lord.

3 And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying: If you turn to the Lord with all your heart, put away the strange gods from among you, Baalim and Astaroth: and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

4 Then the children of Israel put away Baalim and Astaroth, and served the Lord only.

5 And Samuel said: Gather all Israel to Masphath, that I may pray to the Lord for you.

6 And they gathered together to Masphath, and they drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and they fasted on that day, and they said there: We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Masphath.

7 And the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Masphath, and the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard this, they were afraid of the Philistines.

8 And they said to Samuel: Cease not to cry to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us out of the hand of the Philistines.

9 And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it whole for a holocaust to the Lord: and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him.

10 And it came to pass, when Samuel was offering the holocaust, the Philistines began the battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and terrified them, and they were overthrown before the face of Israel.

11 And the men of Israel going out of Masphath, pursued after the Philistines, and made slaughter of them till they came under Bethchar.

12 And Samuel took a stone, and laid it between Masphath and Sen: and he called the place The stone of help. And he said: Thus far the Lord hath helped us.

13 And the Philistines were humbled, and they did not come any more into the borders of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines, all the days of Samuel.

14 And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel, were restored to Israel, from Accaron to Geth, and their borders: and he delivered Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and there was peace between Israel and the Amorrhites.

15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life:

16 And he went every year about to Bethel and to Galgal and to Masphath, and he judged Israel in the foresaid places.

17 And he returned to Ramatha: for there was his house, and there he judged Israel: he built also there an altar to the Lord.

1 Samuel 8

1 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel.

2 Now the name of his firstborn son was Joel: and the name of the second was Abia, judges in Bersabee.

3 And his sons walked not in his ways: but they turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

4 Then all the ancients of Israel being assembled came to Samuel to Ramatha.

5 And they said to him: Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: make us a king, to judge us, as all nations have.

6 And the word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel, that they should say: Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord.

7 And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee. For they have not rejected thee, but me, that I should not reign over them.

8 According to all their works, they have done from the day that I brought them out of Egypt until this day: as they have forsaken me, and served strange gods, so do they also unto thee.

9 Now, therefore, hearken to their voice: but yet testify to them, and foretell them the right of the king, that shall reign over them.

10 Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people that had desired a king of him,

11 And said: This will be the right of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and put them in his chariots, and will make them his horsemen, and his running footmen, to run before his chariots,

12 And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and his centurions, and to plough his fields, and to reap his corn, and to make him arms and chariots.

13 Your daughters also he will take to make him ointments, and to be his cooks, and bakers.

14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best oliveyards, and give them to his servants.

15 Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn, and of the revenues of your vineyards, to give to his eunuchs and servants.

16 Your servants also, and handmaids, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, he will take away, and put them to his work.

17 Your flocks also he will tithe, and you shall be his servants.

18 And you shall cry out in that day from the face of the king, whom you have chosen to yourselves: and the Lord will not hear you in that day, because you desired unto yourselves a king.

19 But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay: but there shall be a king over us,

20 And we also will be like all nations: and our king shall judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles for us.

21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.

22 And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel: Let every man go to his city.