1 Samuel 4

¹ Samuel's message reached all Israel. Israel went out to fight the Philistines and camped near Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek.

² The Philistines drew up in battle formation against Israel. The battle spread, and Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.

³ When the people returned to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD's covenant from Shiloh, so that it may come among us and save us from the hands of our enemies.”

⁴ The people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of God's covenant.

⁵ When the ark of the LORD's covenant arrived at the camp, all Israel let out a great shout, and the earth shook.

⁶ The Philistines heard the sound of the shouting and said, “What is this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” Then they learned that the ark of the LORD had arrived at the camp.

⁷ The Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” They said, “We are doomed! Nothing like this has ever happened before.

⁸ We are doomed! Who will rescue us from the hands of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck Egypt with every kind of plague in the wilderness.

⁹ Be strong and be men, Philistines, so that you will not become slaves to the Hebrews, as they were slaves to you. Be men and fight!”

¹⁰ The Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated. Each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great: thirty thousand Israelite foot soldiers fell.

¹¹ The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

¹² A man from Benjamin ran from the battlefield and arrived at Shiloh that same day, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

¹³ When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his chair beside the road, watching, because his heart was trembling for the ark of God. The man entered the city to bring the news, and the whole city cried out.

¹⁴ Eli heard the sound of the shouting and asked, “What is this uproar?” The man hurried over and told Eli.

¹⁵ Eli was ninety-eight years old; his eyes were fixed, and he could not see.

¹⁶ The man said to Eli, “I have come from the battlefield; I fled the battle today.” Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”

¹⁷ The messenger answered, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and there was a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, also died, and the ark of God was captured.”

¹⁸ When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward from his chair beside the gate. His neck broke, and he died, for he was an old and heavy man. He had judged Israel for forty years.

¹⁹ His daughter-in-law, Phinehas's wife, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband had died, she bent over and gave birth, for her labor pains had come upon her.

²⁰ As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don't be afraid; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention.

²¹ She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

²² She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

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