The Ark Is Captured in Battle
1And Samuel’s word came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle. They camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2The Philistines drew up their lines against Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield. 3When the troops returned to camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why did Yahweh let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.” 4So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of Hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5When the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. 6The Philistines heard the shouting and said, “What is this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” When they learned that the ark of Yahweh had come into the camp, 7the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! Nothing like this has happened before. 8Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every kind of plague in the wilderness. 9Take courage, Philistines, and be men, or you will end up serving the Hebrews the way they have served you. Be men, and fight!” 10So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great — thirty thousand of Israel’s foot soldiers fell. 11The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
The Death of Eli
12A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh that same day, his clothes torn and dirt on his head. 13When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat beside the road, watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the city and told what had happened, the whole city cried out. 14Eli heard the outcry and said, “What is this uproar?” The man hurried over and told Eli. 15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were set in a blind stare — he could no longer see. 16The man said to Eli, “I have come from the battle line — I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked. 17The messenger answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great slaughter among the troops. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his seat by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. 19His daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, overcome by her pains. 20As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Do not be afraid — you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel” — because of the capture of the ark of God, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
