1 Samuel 4

3:18 So Samuel told him everything. He did not hold back anything from him. Eli¹ said, “The Lord will do what he pleases.”² 3:19 Samuel continued to grow, and the Lord was with him. None of his prophecies fell to the ground unfulfilled.³ 3:20 All Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba realized that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 3:21 Then the Lord again appeared in Shiloh, for it was in Shiloh that the Lord had revealed himself to Samuel⁴ through the word of the Lord.⁵ 4:1 Samuel revealed the word of the Lord⁶ to all Israel.

The Ark of the Covenant is Lost to the Philistines

Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines.⁷ They camped at Ebenezer,⁸ and the Philistines camped at Aphek. 4:2 The Philistines arranged their forces to fight⁹ Israel. As the battle spread out,¹⁰ Israel was defeated by¹¹ the Philistines, who¹² killed about four thousand men in the battle line in the field.

4:3 When the army¹³ came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by¹⁴ the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us¹⁵ from the hand of our enemies.

4:4 So the army¹⁶ sent to Shiloh, and they took from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts who sits between the cherubim. Now the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 4:5 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord arrived at the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly¹⁷ that the ground shook.

4:6 When the Philistines heard the sound of the shout, they said, “What is this loud shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” Then they realized that the ark of the Lord had arrived at the camp. 4:7 The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp.¹⁸ They said, “Too bad for¹⁹ us! We’ve never seen anything like this! 4:8 Too bad for us! Who can deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues in the desert! 4:9 Be strong and act like men, you Philistines, or else you will wind up serving the Hebrews the way they have served you! Act like men and fight!”

4:10 So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home.²⁰ The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers fell in battle. 4:11 The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed.

Eli Dies

4:12 On that day²¹ a Benjaminite ran from the battle lines and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn and dirt was on his head. 4:13 When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair watching by the side of²² the road, for he was very worried²³ about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report,²⁴ the whole city cried out.

4:14 When Eli heard the outcry,²⁵ he said, “What is this commotion?”²⁶ The man quickly came and told Eli. 4:15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes looked straight ahead;²⁷ he was unable to see.

4:16 The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle lines! Just today I fled from the battle lines!” Eli²⁸ asked, “How did things go, my son?” 4:17 The messenger replied, “Israel has fled from²⁹ the Philistines! The army has suffered a great defeat! Your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead! The ark of God has been captured!”

4:18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli³⁰ fell backward from his chair beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he³¹ was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.

4:19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she doubled over and gave birth. But her labor pains were too much for her. 4:20 As she was dying, the women who were there with her said, “Don’t be afraid! You have given birth to a son!” But she did not reply or pay any attention.³²

4:21 She named the boy Ichabod,³³ saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 4:22 She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been captured.”

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