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Rh hide it not from me, God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that He spoke unto thee.' And Samuel told him all the words, and hid nothing from him. And he said: 'It is the ; let Him do what seemeth Him good.'

And Samuel grew, and the was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the. And the appeared again in Shiloh; for the  revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Eben-ezer; and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel; and when the battle was spread, Israel was smitten before the Philistines; and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said: 'Wherefore hath the smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the out of Shiloh unto us, that He may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies.' So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from thence the ark of the covenant of the  of hosts, who sitteth upon the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. And when the ark of the covenant of the came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang. And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said: 'What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?' And they knew that the ark of the was come into the camp. And the Philistines were afraid, for they said: 'God is come into the camp.' And they said: 'Woe unto us! for there was not such a thing yesterday and the day before. Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? these are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all manner of plagues and in the wilderness. Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you; quit yourselves like men, and fight.' And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man to his tent; and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon his seat by the wayside watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said: 'What meaneth the noise of this tumult?' And the man made haste, and came and told Eli. Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were set, that he could not see. And the man said unto Eli: 'I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the army.' And he said: 'How went the matter, my son?' And he that brought