land of Canaan, which the tribe of Dan had conquered from the Canaanites. They had gone forth from their own lot, which was in the south part, because there was not room for all their tribe in it; and they gave the name of their tribe to the town of Laish, which they took at that time from the Canaanites of the north.(Judges xviii.) Beersheba was a town in the lot of the tribe of Judah, in the extreme south, the last town before the wilderness. Therefore, from Dan to Beersheba, meant from one end of the land of Canaan to the other.

Chapter XCVIE.

THE LOSS OF THE ARK OF THE LORD.

SOME years after the Lord had called Samuel to be His prophet, the Philistines again gathered together their armies, and came up against the children of Israel. Then the men of Israel went forth to battle against them; but they were smitten before the Philistines, and they fled back into their camp.

Then the elders of Israel said, "Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that when it cometh

among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies."

The elders of Israel spoke foolishly; for the ark of the Lord had no power to save them from their enemies. The Lord alone could save them. He could save them, and destroy their enemies, by means of the ark, as. at Jericho; or without the ark, as at other times, when Joshua, and Ehud, and Barak, and Gideon, and Samson, had prevailed against thousands by the strength of the Lord. But they could not make the Lord to be with them, by bringing the ark of the Lord amongst them.

So instead of humbling themselves before the Lord, and praying Him to forgive them their sins and save them from the hands of their enemies, the men of Israel sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, came with the ark of the covenant to the army of Israel.

When the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout. And when the Philistines heard the

noise of the shout, and understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp, they were afraid, for they said, "God is come into the camp. And they said, 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 the plagues in the wilderness." Then they said one to another, "Be strong and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants to the Hebrews, as they have been to you." 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 men. And the ark of God was taken by the Philistines; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

Thus the Lord punished His sinful people, and gave them into the hand of their enemies. And He made them know that the Lord God neither dwelleth in temples made with hands, nor in an ark of wood. For the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him.

1 Sam. iv.

Smitten. To smite, is to strike. An army is said to be smitten, when it is so struck as to be scattered, or forced to flee away.

Slaughter, is the slaying of a person or an animal.

Chapter XCIX.

THE DEATH OF ELI.

B.C

1128.

WHEN Hophni and Phinehas had taken the ark About of the Lord from the holy place within the tabernacle, and carried it forth to the camp of the Israelites, Eli's heart trembled for its safety. For the elders of Israel had not sought to know what the will of the Lord was, but had done that which was right in their own eyes. And Eli feared that though they had taken the ark of the Lord to the battle, the Lord himself would not be with them. And on the day when the battle was fought, he sat by the wayside, watching what the end would be.

Now when the children of Israel had fled before the Philistines, and the ark of God was taken,

there ran a man out of the army to bear the news to Eli. And the same day he came to Shiloh : he came with signs of sorrow and distress, with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. And when he had come to the city and told the evil tidings, all the city cried out.

Now Eli was very old, and his eyes were dim that he could not see; and when he heard the noise of the crying, he said, "What meaneth the noise of this tumult ?" And the man came in hastily, and said to Eli, "I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of the army." And Eli said, "What is there done, my son ?" And the messenger answered, "Israel hath fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people; and thy two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God is taken.”

And when the man made mention of the ark of God, Eli fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died. He died in sorrow and in fear; for the wrath of God was upon his house, and evil had come upon