ake his
neck and there died. He was an old man and had judged Israel forty
years. Then the Philistines took the ark of God and set it in their
temple of Dagon, by their god Dagon, in Ashdod. On the morn, the next
day early, when they of Ashdod came into their temple, they saw their
god Dagon lie on the ground tofore the ark of God upon his face, and the
head and the two hands of Dagon were cut off. And there abode no more
but the trunk only in the place. And God showed many vengeances to them
of the country as long as the ark was with them, for God smote them with
sickness, and wells boiled in towns and fields of that region, and there
grew among them so many mice, that they suffered great persecution and
confusion in that city.

The people seeing this vengeance and plague said: Let not the ark of the
God of Israel abide longer with us, for his hand is hard on us and on
Dagon our god, and sent for the great masters and governors of the
Philistines, and when they were gathered they said: What shall we do
with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered: Let it be led all
about the cities, and so it was, and a great vengeance and death was had
upon all the cities, and smote every man with plague from the most to
the least. And then they sent the ark of God into Acheron and when they
of Acheron saw the ark, they cried saying: They have brought the ark of
the God of Israel to us, for to slay us and our people. They cried that
the ark should be sent home again, for much people were dead by the
vengeance that was taken on them, and a great howling and wailing was
among them. The ark was in the region of the Philistines seven months.
After this they counselled with their priests what they should do with
the ark, and it was concluded it should be sent home again, but the
priests said: If ye send it home, send it not void, but what ye owe pay
for your trespass and sin, and then ye shall be healed and cured of your
sicknesses. And so they ordained after the number of the five provinces
of the Philistines, five pieces of gold and five mice of gold, and led
to a wain and put in it two wild kine, which never bear yoke, and said,
Leave their calves at home and take the ark and set it on the wain, and
also the vessels and pieces of gold that ye have paid for your trespass,
set them at the side of the ark and let them go where they will, and
thus they sent the ark of God unto the children of Israel.

Samuel then governed Israel lo