1 Samuel
Chapter 4
1 Samuel’s message reached all of Israel. Israel went to fight the Philistines, setting up near Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek.
2 The Philistines lined up to fight Israel: and when the battle started, Israel was defeated by the Philistines: and they killed about four thousand soldiers on the battlefield.
3 When the people returned to the camp, the leaders of Israel asked, “Why did God beat us today before the Philistines? Let’s bring the ark of God’s covenant from Shiloh to us, so that when it’s with us, it can save us from our enemies.”
4 So the people sent to Shiloh to bring back the ark of God’s covenant, which is kept between the cherubim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of God’s covenant.
5 When God’s covenant chest came into the camp, all Israel yelled loudly, and the ground echoed.
6 When the Philistines heard the shouting, they asked, “What does this loud cheering in the Hebrews’ camp mean?” Then they realized the Ark of God had arrived in the camp.
7 The Philistines were scared because they said, “God has come into the camp.” They said, “This is terrible for us! Because nothing like this has ever happened before.”
8 We are in trouble! Who will rescue us from these powerful gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with many plagues in the desert.
9 Be brave and act like men, you Philistines, so you won’t become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you. Act like men and fight.
10 The Philistines battled, Israel was defeated, and everyone ran away to their tents: many were killed, with thirty thousand Israeli soldiers dying.
11 God’s ark was captured; Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed.
12 A man from Benjamin ran from the battle and reached Shiloh that day with torn clothes and dirt on his head.
13 When he arrived, Eli was sitting on a chair by the road looking out, because he was worried about God’s ark. When the man entered the city and shared the news, everyone in the city shouted.
14 When Eli heard the loud crying, he asked, “What does this loud noise mean?” The man rushed in and told Eli.
15 Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were weak so he couldn’t see.
16 The man told Eli, “I am the one who escaped from the army today.” Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”
17 The messenger replied, “Israel has run away from the Philistines, there’s been a huge killing of our people, your two sons Hophni and Phinehas are dead, and the Ark of God has been captured.”
18 When he spoke about the ark of God, he fell backwards from his chair by the gate, broke his neck, and died because he was old and heavy. He had led Israel for forty years.
19 Phinehas’ wife, who was expecting a baby soon, found out that the Ark of God had been captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead. She knelt down and began to give birth because her labor pains started.
20 As she was dying, the women around her told her, “Don’t be afraid; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention.
21 She called the baby Ichabod, saying, “Glory has left Israel, because God’s ark was captured, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.”
22 She said, “The glory has left Israel because the Ark of God has been captured.”