Chronological

4 So the word of Sh’mu’el came to all Isra’el.

Isra’el went out to fight against the P’lishtim, setting up camp at Even-‘Ezer, while the P’lishtim camped at Afek. ² The P’lishtim drew up in battle formation against Isra’el. The battle was fierce, and Isra’el was beaten by the P’lishtim — they killed about four thousand soldiers on the battlefield. ³ When the army had returned to camp, the leaders of Isra’el asked, “Why has Adonai defeated us today before the P’lishtim? Let’s bring the ark for the covenant of Adonai from Shiloh to us, so that he will come among us and save us from our enemies.” ⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark for the covenant of Adonai-Tzva’ot, who is present above the k’ruvim. The two sons of ‘Eli, Hofni and Pinchas, were there with the ark for the covenant of God.

⁵ When the ark for the covenant of Adonai entered the camp, all Isra’el gave a mighty shout that resounded through the land. ⁶ On hearing the shout, the P’lishtim asked, “What does this great shout in the Hebrews’ camp mean?” Then they realized that the ark of Adonai had arrived in the camp, ⁷ and the P’lishtim became afraid. They said, “God has entered the camp! We’re lost! There was no such thing yesterday or the day before. ⁸ We’re lost! Who will rescue us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods that completely overthrew the Egyptians in the desert. ⁹ Be strong; and behave like men, you P’lishtim; so that you won’t become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Behave like men, and fight!”

¹⁰ The P’lishtim fought, Isra’el was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. It was a terrible slaughter — 30,000 of Isra’el’s foot soldiers fell. ¹¹ Moreover, the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of ‘Eli, Hofni and Pinchas, died. ¹² One of the soldiers, a man from Binyamin, ran and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and earth on his head [as a sign of mourning]. ¹³ As he arrived, ‘Eli was sitting on his seat by the road, watching; because he was trembling with anxiety over the ark of God. When the man entered the city and told the news, the whole city began crying out. ¹⁴ On hearing the cries, ‘Eli asked, “What does this uproar mean?” So the man hurried, came to ‘Eli and told him. ¹⁵ ‘Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed, because he was blind. ¹⁶ The man said to ‘Eli, “I’m the soldier that came; I escaped today from the battlefield.” He asked, “How did things go, my son?” ¹⁷ The one who had come with the news answered, “Isra’el fled before the P’lishtim, and there was a terrible slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hofni and Pinchas, also are dead; and the ark of God was captured. ¹⁸ As soon as he mentioned what had happened to the ark of God, ‘Eli fell backward off his seat next to the gate, broke his neck and died; for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Isra’el forty years.

¹⁹ His daughter-in-law, Pinchas’s wife, was pregnant and near delivery-time. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into abnormal labor, bent over and gave birth. ²⁰ As she was dying, the women standing by her said to her, “Don’t be afraid, because you have given birth to a son.” But she didn’t answer or show any sign of recognition. ²¹ She named the child I-Khavod [without glory], saying, “The glory has departed from Isra’el”; because the ark of God had been captured, and because of her father-in-law and husband. ²² She said, “The glory of Isra’el has gone into exile, because the ark of God has been captured.”

5 The P’lishtim had captured the ark of God and brought it from Even-‘Ezer to Ashdod. ² Then the P’lishtim took the ark of God, brought it to the temple of Dagon and set it next to Dagon. ³ But early the next morning, when the people of Ashdod got up, there was Dagon, fallen down with his face to the ground before the ark of Adonai. They took Dagon and set him in his place again; ⁴ but early the following morning, when they got up, Dagon was again fallen down with his face to the ground before the ark of Adonai; this time, the head of Dagon and both hands lay there, severed, on the threshold; all that was left of Dagon was his torso. ⁵ This is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and those entering his temple never walk on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod.

⁶ Adonai began oppressing the people of Ashdod; he ravaged them, striking Ashdod and its surrounding area with tumors. ⁷ When the people of Ashdod came to understand what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Isra’el can’t remain with us, because he is oppressing us and our god Dagon.” ⁸ They summoned all the leaders of the P’lishtim and asked, “What are we to do with the ark of the God of Isra’el?” They answered, “Have the ark of the God of Isra’el carried to Gat.”

So they carried the ark of the God of Isra’el to Gat. ⁹ But after it arrived there, Adonai oppressed that city, causing terrible panic. He struck the people of the city, great and small alike; tumors broke out on them.

¹⁰ Next they sent the ark of God to ‘Ekron; but when the ark of God arrived in ‘Ekron the ‘Ekronim shouted, “Now they’ve brought the ark of the God of Isra’el to us, to kill us and our people!” ¹¹ So they summoned all the leaders of the P’lishtim and said, “Send the ark of the God of Isra’el away! Let it go back to its own place, so that it won’t kill us and our people!” — because death and panic pervaded the whole city; God’s oppression was very heavy there. ¹² The people who didn’t die were struck with the tumors; and the city’s cries for help reached the skies.

6 The ark of Adonai was in the country of the P’lishtim for seven months. ² The P’lishtim summoned the priests and soothsayers and asked them, “What are we to do with the ark of Adonai? Tell us how to send it back where it belongs.” ³ They said, “If you do send off the ark of the God of Isra’el, don’t send it back empty, but return it with some sort of guilt offering for him. Then you will be cured, and you will learn why he has not stopped oppressing you.” ⁴ They asked, “What kind of guilt offering should we send him?” and they replied, “Five gold models of tumors and five gold rats, because that’s how many leaders the P’lishtim have, and you and your leaders all had the same illness. ⁵ So make models of your tumors and models of your rats that are infesting your land, and show respect to the God of Isra’el. Maybe he will stop oppressing you, your gods and your land. ⁶ Why be obstinate like the Egyptians and Pharaoh were? When he had done his work among them, didn’t they let the people go? — and they left. ⁷ Now take and prepare yourselves a new cart and two milk-cows that have never been under a yoke. Harness the cows to the cart, but put their calves back in the shed. ⁸ Then take the ark of Adonai and lay it on the cart. In a box next to it, put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Then send it away to go off by itself, ⁹ but watch to see if it goes up the road to Beit-Shemesh in its own territory. If it does, he is responsible for this great tragedy; if not, we will know that it is not his oppression which has been over us, but that what has been happening to us has been only by chance.”

¹⁰ The men did it. They took two milk-cows, harnessed them to the cart and confined their calves to the shed. ¹¹ Then they put the ark on the cart, along with the box containing the gold rats and the models of their tumors. ¹² The cows made straight for the road to Beit-Shemesh and took that route, mooing as they went and turning off neither to the right nor to the left. The leaders of the P’lishtim followed them as far as the border of Beit-Shemesh.

¹³ The people of Beit-Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley when they looked up and saw the ark. They were so happy to see it! ¹⁴ The cart entered the field of Y’hoshua the Beit-Shimshi and stood there by a big rock. They cut up the wood of the cart and offered up the cows as a burnt offering to Adonai. ¹⁵ Then the L’vi’im removed the ark of Adonai and the box that was with it, which contained the gold objects, and put them on the big rock. That same day the men of Beit-Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrifices to Adonai. ¹⁶ Upon seeing this, the five leaders of the P’lishtim returned that day to ‘Ekron.

¹⁷ The gold tumors which the P’lishtim sent back as a guilt offering for Adonai were one each for Ashdod, ‘Azah, Ashkelon, Gat and ‘Ekron; ¹⁸ and the gold rats also corresponded to the number of all the cities of the P’lishtim that belonged to the five leaders — fortified cities and country villages. [The rock] is a witness to this day of the great mourning [which resulted from] putting the ark of Adonai on it in the field of Y’hoshua the Beit-Shimshi; ¹⁹ for [Adonai] struck the people of Beit-Shemesh for looking at the ark of Adonai. He killed 50,070 of the people; the people mourned because Adonai had struck them with such a terrible slaughter. ²⁰ The people of Beit-Shemesh asked, “Who can stand before Adonai, this holy God? To whom can we send it, to get it away from us?”

²¹ They sent messengers to the people living in Kiryat-Ye‘arim with this message: “The P’lishtim have returned the ark of Adonai. Come down and bring it back up with you.”

7 So the men of Kiryat-Ye‘arim came and brought back the ark of Adonai. They took it to the home of Avinadav on the hill and appointed his son El‘azar to guard the ark of Adonai. ² From the day that the ark arrived in Kiryat-Ye‘arim a long time elapsed, twenty years; and all the people of Isra’el yearned for Adonai.

³ Sh’mu’el addressed all the people of Isra’el; he said: “If you are returning to Adonai with all your heart, then be done with the foreign gods and ‘ashtarot that you have with you, and direct your hearts to Adonai. If you will serve only him, he will rescue you from the power of the P’lishtim.” ⁴ So the people of Isra’el banished the ba‘alim and the ‘ashtarot and served only Adonai.

⁵ Sh’mu’el said, “Gather all Isra’el to Mitzpah, and I will pray for you to Adonai.” ⁶ So they gathered together at Mitzpah, drew water and poured it out before Adonai, fasted that day, and said there, “We have sinned against Adonai.” Sh’mu’el began serving as judge over the people of Isra’el at Mitzpah.

⁷ When the P’lishtim heard that the people of Isra’el had gathered together at Mitzpah, the leaders of the P’lishtim marched up against Isra’el; and when the people of Isra’el heard about this, they were afraid of the P’lishtim. ⁸ The people of Isra’el said to Sh’mu’el, “Don’t stop crying out to Adonai our God for us, to save us from the power of the P’lishtim.” ⁹ Sh’mu’el took a baby lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to Adonai. Then Sh’mu’el cried to Adonai for Isra’el, and Adonai answered him. ¹⁰ As Sh’mu’el was presenting the burnt offering, the P’lishtim advanced to attack Isra’el. But this time, Adonai thundered violently over the P’lishtim, throwing them into such confusion that they were struck down before Isra’el. ¹¹ The men of Isra’el went out from Mitzpah, pursuing the P’lishtim and attacking them all the way to Beit-Kar.

¹² Sh’mu’el took a stone, placed it between Mitzpah and Shen, and gave it the name Even-‘Ezer [stone of help], explaining, “Adonai has helped us until now.” ¹³ Thus the P’lishtim were humbled, so that they no longer entered Isra’el’s territory; and the hand of Adonai was against the P’lishtim as long as Sh’mu’el lived. ¹⁴ The cities between ‘Ekron and Gat which the P’lishtim had captured from Isra’el were restored to Isra’el, and Isra’el rescued all this territory from the power of the P’lishtim. There was also peace between Isra’el and the Emori.

¹⁵ Sh’mu’el continued in office as judge of Isra’el as long as he lived. ¹⁶ Year by year he would travel in a circuit that included Beit-El, Gilgal and Mitzpah; and in all these places he served as judge over Isra’el. ¹⁷ Then he would return to Ramah, because that’s where his home was, and he would judge Isra’el there too. He also built an altar there to Adonai.

8 When Sh’mu’el grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Isra’el. ² His firstborn was named Yo’el, while his second son was named Aviyah; they were judges in Be’er-Sheva. ³ However, his sons did not follow his way of life; they turned off it to pursue riches, so that they would take bribes to distort justice. ⁴ All the leaders of Isra’el gathered themselves together, approached Sh’mu’el in Ramah ⁵ and said to him, “Look, you have grown old, and your sons are not following your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” ⁶ Sh’mu’el was not pleased to hear them say, “Give us a king to judge us”; so he prayed to Adonai. ⁷ Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “Listen to the people, to everything they say to you; for it is not you they are rejecting; they are rejecting me; they don’t want me to be king over them. ⁸ They are doing to you exactly what they have been doing to me, from the day I brought them out of Egypt until today, by abandoning me and serving other gods. ⁹ So do what they say, but give them a sober warning, telling them what kinds of rulings their king will make.”

¹⁰ Sh’mu’el reported everything Adonai had said to the people asking him for a king. ¹¹ He said, “Here is the kind of rulings your king will make: he will draft your sons and assign them to take care of his chariots, be his horsemen and be bodyguards running ahead of his chariots. ¹² He will appoint them to serve him as officers in charge of a thousand or of fifty, plowing his fields, gathering his harvest, and making his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters and have them be perfume-makers, cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will expropriate your fields, vineyards and olive groves — the very best of them! — and hand them over to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take the ten-percent tax of your crops and vineyards and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶ He will take your male and female servants, your best young men and your donkeys, and make them work for him. ¹⁷ He will take the ten-percent tax of your flocks, and you will become his servants. ¹⁸ When that happens, you will cry out on account of your king, whom you yourselves chose. But when that happens, Adonai will not answer you!”

¹⁹ However, the people refused to listen to what Sh’mu’el told them, and they said, “No! We want a king over us, ²⁰ so that we can be like all the nations, with our king to judge us, lead us and fight our battles.” ²¹ Sh’mu’el heard everything the people said and repeated them for Adonai to hear. ²² Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “Do what they ask, and set up a king for them.” So Sh’mu’el told the men of Isra’el, “Each of you, return to his city.”