1 Samuel 4

4 ¹ Samuel's words reached all Israel. Israel marched out to meet the Philistines in battle; they camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek.

² The Philistines lined up for battle against Israel, and as the fighting spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield.

³ When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why has our Father let us be defeated by the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of our Father from Shiloh, so that he may come among us and save us from the hand of our enemies."

⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Father of heaven's armies, who is enthroned above the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of our Father.

⁵ When the ark of the covenant of our Father came into the camp, all Israel gave so great a shout that the ground shook.

⁶ The Philistines heard the shouting and asked, "What does this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?" Then they realized that the ark of our Father had come into the camp.

⁷ The Philistines were afraid, for they said, "A god has come into the camp!" Then they said, "We're doomed! Nothing like this has happened before." ⁸ "We're doomed! Who can save us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every kind of plague in the wilderness." ⁹ "Take courage and be men, you Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been slaves to you. Be men, and fight!"

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, each man to his own tent. The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. ¹¹ The ark of our Father was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Eli Falls and the Glory Departs

¹² A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh that same day, his clothes torn and dust on his head. ¹ 1 v12 Tearing one's clothes and putting dust on the head were ancient signs of deep grief and mourning. ¹³ When he arrived, Eli was sitting in his chair beside the road, watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of our Father. When the man came into the city and told the news, the whole city cried out.

¹⁴ When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he asked, "What is this uproar?" Then the man hurried over and told Eli.

¹⁵ Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes had grown so dim that he could not see.

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

¹⁷ The messenger replied, "Israel has fled from the Philistines, and there has also been a great slaughter among the troops. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead as well, and the ark of our Father has been captured."

¹⁸ When he mentioned the ark of our Father, Eli fell backward off his chair beside the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹ His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news that the ark of our Father had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, for her labor pains overwhelmed her.

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

²¹ She named the boy Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel" — because the ark of our Father had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. ² 2 v21 The name Ichabod means "no glory" — the mother's cry that the glory of our Father had departed from Israel with the ark.

²² And she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of our Father has been captured."