1 Samuel 4

1The word of Samuel came to all Israel. Israel went out to fight the Philistines. They camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek.

2The Philistines drew up their lines to face Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.

3When the troops came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has Yahweh struck us down today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh here from Shiloh, so that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”

4So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5When the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.

6When the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they asked, “What is this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” When they learned that the ark of Yahweh had come into the camp,

7the Philistines were afraid. “A god has come into the camp,” they said. “We are in trouble! Nothing like this has ever happened before.

8We are in trouble! Who can rescue us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every kind of plague in the wilderness.

9Be strong and act like men, Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been slaves to you. Act like men and fight!”

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

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

12A man from Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh that same day, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

13When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the side of the road, watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the town and told the news, the whole town cried out.

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

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

16The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle line. I fled from the battle line today.” Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”

17The man who brought the news answered, “Israel fled from the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead too, and the ark of God has been captured.”

18When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his seat by the side of the gate. His neck was broken, and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.

19His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she crouched down and gave birth, for her labor pains came on her.

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

21She 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.

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