The Philistines Capture the Ark

4¹ And the word of Samuel is to all Israel, and Israel goeth out to meet the Philistines for battle, and they encamp by Eben-Ezer, and the Philistines have encamped in Aphek, ² and the Philistines set themselves in array to meet Israel, and the battle spreadeth itself, and Israel is smitten before the Philistines, and they smite among the ranks in the field about four thousand men. ³ And the people cometh in unto the camp, and the elders of Israel say, 'Why hath Jehovah smitten us to-day before the Philistines? we take unto us from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and it cometh into our midst, and He doth save us out of the hand of our enemies.' ⁴ And the people sendeth to Shiloh, and they take up thence the ark of the covenant of Jehovah of Hosts, inhabiting the cherubs, and there 'are' two sons of Eli, with the ark of the covenant of God, Hophni and Phinehas. ⁵ And it cometh to pass, at the coming in of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah unto the camp, that all Israel shout—a great shout—and the earth is moved. ⁶ And the Philistines hear the noise of the shouting, and say, 'What 'is' the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?' and they perceive that the ark of Jehovah hath come in unto the camp. ⁷ And the Philistines are afraid, for they said, 'God hath come in unto the camp;' and they say, 'Wo to us, for there hath not been like this heretofore. ⁸ Wo to us, who doth deliver us out of the hand of these honourable gods? these 'are' the gods who are smiting the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness. ⁹ Strengthen yourselves, and become men, O Philistines, lest ye do service to Hebrews, as they have done to you—then ye have become men, and have fought.'

¹⁰ And the Philistines fight, and Israel is smitten, and they flee each to his tents, and the blow is very great, and there fall of Israel thirty thousand footmen; ¹¹ and the ark of God hath been taken, and the two sons of Eli have died, Hophni and Phinehas.

¹² And a man of Benjamin runneth out of the ranks, and cometh into Shiloh, on that day, and his long robes 'are' rent, and earth on his head; ¹³ and he cometh in, and lo, Eli is sitting on the throne by the side of the way, watching, for his heart hath been trembling for the ark of God, and the man hath come in to declare 'it' in the city, and all the city crieth out. ¹⁴ And Eli heareth the noise of the cry, and saith, 'What—the noise of this tumult!' And the man hasted, and cometh in, and declareth to Eli. ¹⁵ And Eli is a son of ninety and eight years, and his eyes have stood, and he hath not been able to see. ¹⁶ 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?' ¹⁷ 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.' ¹⁸ 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.

¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ 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'; ²¹ 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. ²² And she saith, 'Honour hath removed from Israel, for the ark of God hath been taken.'

The Ark in the Land of the Philistines

5¹ And the Philistines have taken the ark of God, and bring it in from Eben-Ezer to Ashdod, ² and the Philistines take the ark of God and bring it into the house of Dagon, and set it near Dagon. ³ 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. ⁴ 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; ⁵ 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.

⁶ And the hand of Jehovah is heavy on the Ashdodites, and He maketh them desolate, and smiteth them with emerods, Ashdod and its borders. ⁷ 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.' ⁸ 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; ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ 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.' ¹¹ 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, ¹² and the men who have not died have been smitten with emerods, and the cry of the city goeth up into the heavens.

The Philistines Return the Ark

6¹ And the ark of Jehovah is in the field of the Philistines seven months, ² 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?' ³ 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.' ⁴ 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, ⁵ 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; ⁶ 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? ⁷ 'And now, take and make one new cart, and two suckling kine, on which a yoke hath not gone up, and ye have bound the kine in the cart, and caused their young ones to turn back from after them to the house, ⁸ and ye have taken the ark of Jehovah, and put it on the cart, and the vessels of gold which ye have returned to Him—a guilt-offering—ye put in a coffer on its side, and have sent it away, and it hath gone; ⁹ and ye have seen, if the way of its own border it goeth up to Beth-Shemesh—He hath done to us this great evil; and if not, then we have known that His hand hath not come against us; an accident it hath been to us.'

¹⁰ And the men do so, and take two suckling kine, and bind them in the cart, and their young ones they have shut up in the house; ¹¹ and they place the ark of Jehovah upon the cart, and the coffer, and the golden mice, and the images of their emerods. ¹² And the kine go straight in the way, on the way to Beth-Shemesh, in one highway they have gone, going and lowing, and have not turned aside right or left; and the princes of the Philistines are going after them unto the border of Beth-Shemesh. ¹³ And the Beth-Shemeshites are reaping their wheat-harvest in the valley, and they lift up their eyes, and see the ark, and rejoice to see 'it'. ¹⁴ And the cart hath come in unto the field of Joshua the Beth-Shemeshite, and standeth there, and there 'is' a great stone, and they cleave the wood of the cart, and the kine they have caused to ascend—a burnt-offering to Jehovah. ¹⁵ And the Levites have taken down the ark of Jehovah, and the coffer which 'is' with it, in which 'are' the vessels of gold, and place 'them' on the great stone; and the men of Beth-Shemesh have caused to ascend burnt-offerings and sacrifice sacrifices in that day to Jehovah; ¹⁶ and the five princes of the Philistines have seen 'it', and turn back 'to' Ekron, on that day. ¹⁷ And these 'are' the golden emerods which the Philistines have sent back—a guilt-offering to Jehovah: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; ¹⁸ and the golden mice—the number of all the cities of the Philistines—for the five princes, from the fenced city even unto the hamlet of the villages, even unto the great meadow on which they placed the ark of Jehovah—'are' unto this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-Shemeshite.

¹⁹ And He smiteth among the men of Beth-Shemesh, for they looked into the ark of Jehovah, yea, He smiteth among the people seventy men—fifty chief men; and the people mourn, because Jehovah smote among the people—a great smiting. ²⁰ And the men of Beth-Shemesh say, 'Who is able to stand before Jehovah, this holy God? and unto whom doth He go up from us?' ²¹ And they send messengers unto the inhabitants of Kirjath-Jearim, saying, 'The Philistines have sent back the ark of Jehovah; come down, take it up unto you.'

The Mission of the Twelve

9¹ And having called together his twelve disciples, he gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to cure sicknesses, ² and he sent them to proclaim the reign of God, and to heal the ailing. ³ And he said unto them, 'Take nothing for the way, neither staff, nor scrip, nor bread, nor money; neither have two coats each; ⁴ and into whatever house ye may enter, there remain, and thence depart; ⁵ and as many as may not receive you, going forth from that city, even the dust from your feet shake off, for a testimony against them.' ⁶ And going forth they were going through the several villages, proclaiming good news, and healing everywhere.

The Death of John the Baptist

⁷ And Herod the tetrarch heard of all the things being done by him, and was perplexed, because it was said by certain, that John hath been raised out of the dead; ⁸ and by certain, that Elijah did appear, and by others, that a prophet, one of the ancients, was risen; ⁹ and Herod said, 'John I did behead, but who is this concerning whom I hear such things?' and he was seeking to see him.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

¹⁰ And the apostles having turned back, declared to him how great things they did, and having taken them, he withdrew by himself to a desert place of a city called Bethsaida, ¹¹ and the multitudes having known did follow him, and having received them, he was speaking to them concerning the reign of God, and those having need of service he cured. ¹² And the day began to decline, and the twelve having come near, said to him, 'Let away the multitude, that having gone to the villages and the fields round about, they may lodge and may find provision, because here we are in a desert place.' ¹³ And he said unto them, 'Give ye them to eat;' and they said, 'We have no more than five loaves, and two fishes: except, having gone, we may buy for all this people victuals;' ¹⁴ for they were about five thousand men. And he said unto his disciples, 'Cause them to recline in companies, in each fifty;' ¹⁵ and they did so, and made all to recline; ¹⁶ and having taken the five loaves, and the two fishes, having looked up to the heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and was giving to the disciples to set before the multitude; ¹⁷ and they did eat, and were all filled, and there was taken up what was over to them of broken pieces, twelve baskets.