So they assembled all the leaders of the Philistines and said,“Get the ark of the God of Israel out of here! Let it go back to its own place so that it won’t kill us and our people!” The terror of death was throughout the entire city; God was attacking them very severely there.
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1 God Sends Trouble for the Philistines with the Ark Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
2 The Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon, where they positioned it beside Dagon.
3 When the residents of Ashdod got up early the next day, Dagon was lying on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set him back in his place.
4 But when they got up early the following day, Dagon was again lying on the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and his two hands were sheared off and were lying at the threshold. Only Dagon’s body was left intact.
5 (For this reason, to this very day, neither Dagon’s priests nor anyone else who enters Dagon’s temple step on Dagon’s threshold in Ashdod.)
6 The LORD attacked the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores.
7 When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said,“The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked both us and our god Dagon!”
8 So they assembled all the leaders of the Philistines and asked,“What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They replied,“The ark of the God of Israel should be moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.
9 But after it had been moved the LORD attacked that city as well, causing a great deal of panic. He struck all the people of that city with sores.
10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But when the ark of God arrived at Ekron, the residents of Ekron cried out saying,“They have brought the ark of the God of Israel here to kill our people!”
12 The people who did not die were struck with sores; the city’s cry for help went all the way up to heaven.
1 The Philistines Return the Ark When the ark of the LORD had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months,
2 the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying,“What should we do with the ark of the LORD? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place.”
3 They replied,“If you are going to send the ark of the God of Israel back, don’t send it away empty. Be sure to return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why his hand is not removed from you.”
4 They inquired,“What is the guilt offering that we should send to him?” They replied,“The Philistine leaders number five. So send five gold sores and five gold mice, for it is the same plague that has afflicted both you and your leaders.
5 You should make images of the sores and images of the mice that are destroying the land. You should honor the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his grip on you, your gods, and your land.
3 When the army came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said,“Why did the LORD let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us from the hand of our enemies.”
4 So the army sent to Shiloh, and they took from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, who sits between the cherubim. Now the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
5 When the ark of the covenant of the LORD arrived at the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the ground shook.
6 When the Philistines heard the sound of the shout, they said,“What is this loud shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” Then they realized that the ark of the LORD had arrived at the camp.
7 The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp. They said,“Woe to us! We’ve never seen anything like this!
8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues in the desert!
15 The Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the chest that was with it, which contained the gold objects. They placed them near the big stone. At that time the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD.
16 The five leaders of the Philistines watched what was happening and then returned to Ekron on the same day.
17 These are the gold sores that the Philistines brought as a guilt offering to the LORD– one for each of the following cities: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.
18 The gold mice corresponded in number to all the Philistine cities of the five leaders, from the fortified cities to hamlet villages, to greater Abel, where they positioned the ark of the LORD until this very day in the field of Joshua who was from Beth Shemesh.
19 But the LORD struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD; he struck down 50,070 of the men. The people grieved because the LORD had struck the people with a hard blow.
20 The residents of Beth Shemesh asked,“Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”
21 So they sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath Jearim, saying,“The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down here and take it back home with you.”
8 Then take the ark of the LORD and place it on the cart, and put in a chest beside it the gold objects you are sending to him as a guilt offering. You should then send it on its way.
9 But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident.”
10 So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home. The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers from Israel fell in battle.
11 The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed.
17 The messenger replied,“Israel has fled from the Philistines! The army has suffered a great defeat! Your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead! The ark of God has been captured!”
11 They put the ark of the LORD on the cart, along with the chest, the gold mice, and the images of the sores.
12 Then the cows went directly on the road to Beth Shemesh. They went along that route, bellowing more and more; they turned neither to the right nor to the left. The leaders of the Philistines were walking along behind them all the way to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the residents of Beth Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they were pleased at the sight.
12 David was afraid of God that day and said,“How will I ever be able to bring the ark of God up here?”
9 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to take hold of the ark, because the oxen stumbled.
10 The LORD was so furious with Uzzah, he killed him, because he reached out his hand and touched the ark. He died right there before God.
23 Samson’s Death and Burial The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said,“Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.”
24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying,“Our god has handed our enemy over to us, the one who ruined our land and killed so many of us!”
13 The Philistines again raided the valley.
9 David was afraid of the LORD that day and said,“How will the ark of the LORD ever come to me?”
10 So David was no longer willing to bring the ark of the LORD to be with him in the City of David. David left it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.
6 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and grabbed hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled.
18 So Saul said to Ahijah,“Bring near the ephod,” for he was at that time wearing the ephod in front of the Israelites.
7 When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the leaders of the Philistines went up against Israel. When the Israelites heard about this, they were afraid of the Philistines.
13 When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair on the lookout by the side of the road, for he was very worried about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report, the whole city cried out.
8 I will remove the ruler from Ashdod, the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. I will strike Ekron with my hand; the rest of the Philistines will also die.” The Sovereign LORD has spoken!