if He shall call thee any more, thou shalt say: 'Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth."" So Samuel went and slept in his place. And the Lord came and stood: and He called, as He had called the other times, "Samuel, Samuel." And Samuel said: "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." And the Lord said to Samuel: "Behold I do a thing in Israel: and whosoever shall hear it, both his ears shall tingle. In that day I will raise up against Heli all the things I have spoken concerning his house: I will begin and make an end. For I have foretold unto him, that I will judge his house for ever, for iniquity, because he knew that his sons did wickedly, and did not chastise them. Therefore have I sworn to the house of Heli, that the iniquity of his house shall not be expiated with victims nor offerings for ever." And Samuel slept till morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to tell the vision to Heli. Then Heli called Samuel and said: "Samuel, my son:" And he answered: "Here am I.” And he asked him: "What is the word that the Lord hath spoken to thee? I beseech thee hide it not from me. May God do so and so to thee, and more also, if thou hide from me one word of all that were said to thee." So Samuel told him all the words, and did not hide them from him. And he answered: "It is the Lord: let Him do what is good in His sight."

60. The Ark of the Covenant is taken by the Philistines. The Philistines now gathered their armies, and went to war with Israel. And when the armies joined battle,

THE ARK IS TAKEN.

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Israel turned their backs, and about four thousand were slain. The people returned to the camp, and the elders said: "Why hath the Lord defeated us to-day before

the Philistines? Let us fetch the Ark of the Lord from Silo, that it may save us from the hand of our enemies." When the Ark was come, all Israel shouted with a great

S

shout, and the earth rang again. The Philistines when they learned what Israel was shouting for, said: "Wo unto 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. Take courage and behave like men, ye Philistines, lest ye come to be servants to the Hebrews as they have served you.'

The battle began, and Israel was overthrown. The Ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phineas, were slain. And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Silo the same day with his clothes rent. Heli was seated upon a stool over against the way watching, for his heart was fearful for the ark of God, and when he came to Heli, he said: "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 ?" And he that brought the news answered and said: "Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter of the people moreover thy two sons, Ophni and Phineas, are dead and the Ark of God is taken." 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.

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§ 61. The Ark of God in the Temple of Dagon.

The Philistines took the Ark of God, and carried it from the field of battle into Azotus. And the Philistines took the Ark of God, and brought it into the temple of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. And when the Azotians arose early the next day, behold Dagon lay upon

THE ARK IN THE TEMPLE OF DAGON.

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his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord and they took Dagon, and set him again in his place. 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, and only the stump of Dagon remained in

its place.

The Lord now smote the Philistines of Azotus with plagues on account of the Ark, and they decided that it should be carried about from city to city. But everywhere that it went plagues were sent upon the inhabitants.

§ 62. The Ark of God is sent back to Israel.

The Ark of the Lord was seven months in the land of the Philistines; and the princes of the Philistines, finding that the people were everywhere in fear of their lives, called for the priests and the diviners, saying: "What shall we do with the Ark of the Lord?" They answered: "Why do you harden your heart, as Egypt and Pharao hardened their hearts? did not he, after he was struck, then let them go and they departed? Now therefore take two kine that have calved on which there hath come no yoke: tie them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. Then you shall take the Ark of the Lord and lay it on the cart, and the vessels of gold, and your offerings for sin. And you shall look; if the kine go up by the way of Bethsames, then He hath done us this great evil: but if not, we shall know that it is not His hand, but it hath happened by chance." They did so; 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.

The men of Bethsames were reaping in their fields