1 Samuel 4

Philistines Take the Ark in Victory

1Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside 1Ebenezer while the Philistines camped in 2Aphek. 2The Philistines drew up in battle array to meet Israel. When the battle spread, Israel was 3defeated before the Philistines who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. 3When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “4Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? 5Let us take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that 6it may come among us and deliver us from the power of our enemies.” 4So the people sent to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts 7who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

5As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, 8all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded. 6When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. 7The Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” And they said, “9Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. 8Woe to us! Who shall deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 910Take courage and be men, O Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, 11as they have been slaves to you; therefore, be men and fight.”

10So the Philistines fought and 12Israel was 13defeated, and 14every man fled to his tent; and the slaughter was very great, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11And the ark of God was taken; and 15the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

12Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with 16his clothes torn and 17dust on his head. 13When he came, behold, 18Eli was sitting on his seat 19by the road eagerly watching, because his heart was trembling for the ark of God. So the man came to tell it in the city, and all the city cried out. 14When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the noise of this commotion mean?” Then the man came hurriedly and told Eli. 15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and 20his eyes were set so that he could not see. 16The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped from the battle line today.” And he said, “21How did things go, my son?” 17Then the one who brought the news replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken.” 18When he mentioned the ark of God, 2223Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for 24he was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel forty years.

19Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, was pregnant and about to give birth; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. 20And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “25Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21And she called the boy 26Ichabod, saying, “27The glory has departed from Israel,” because 28the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken.”