1 Samuel 4

The Philistines capture the ark

¹And the word of Samuel reached all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle. The Israelites set up camp at Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek.^{a 2}The Philistines lined up for battle against Israel, and as the fighting spread, Israel was beaten by the Philistines. They killed about 4,000 men in the ranks out on the open field. ³When the troops came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD struck us down before the Philistines today? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh. Then it will be among us and will save us from the power of our enemies.” ⁴So the people sent word to Shiloh, and from there they carried away the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Armies, who sits enthroned on the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, accompanied the ark of the covenant of God. ⁵As the ark of the covenant of the LORD reached 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 great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” Then they found out that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp. ⁷The Philistines were afraid, because they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! Nothing like this has ever happened before.^{b 8}Woe to us! Who will rescue us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck down the Egyptians with every kind of plague in the wilderness.^{c 9}Be strong, Philistines, and act like men, or you will become slaves of 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 home. The slaughter was very great: 30,000 of Israel’s foot soldiers fell. ¹¹The ark of God was captured, and both of Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died. ¹²A man of the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battle line and reached Shiloh that same day. His clothes were torn, and there was dirt on his head. ¹³When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his seat beside the road, watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. The man came to tell the news in the town, and the whole town cried out.^{d 14}When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he asked, “What is the sound of 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 has come from the battle. I fled from the battle line today.” Eli asked, “What happened, my son?” ¹⁷The messenger answered, “Israel fled from the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the troops. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead too, and the ark of God has been captured.”

Eli dies, and Ichabod is born

¹⁸As soon as the man mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. His neck broke and he died, since he was old and heavy. For forty years he had judged Israel.^{e 19}Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of giving birth. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she crouched down and gave birth, for her labor pains came on her suddenly. ²⁰As she was dying, the women who stood beside 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 gone into exile from Israel.” She said this because the ark of God had been captured, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.^{f 22}She said, “The glory has gone into exile from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”