1 Samuel 4
1 And the
word of
Samuel came to all
Israel. Now
Israel went
out against the
Philistines to
battle, and
pitched beside
Ebenezer: and the
Philistines pitched in
Aphek. 2 And the
Philistines put themselves in
array against Israel: and when they
joined battle, Israel was
smitten before the
Philistines: and they
slew of the
army in the
field about
four thousand men. 3 And when the
people were
come into the
camp, the
elders of
Israel said, Wherefore hath the
LORD smitten us to
day before the
Philistines? Let us
fetch the
ark of the
covenant of the
LORD out of
Shiloh unto us, that, when it
cometh among us, it may
save us out of the
hand of our
enemies.
4 So the
people sent to
Shiloh, that they might
bring from thence the
ark of the
covenant of the
LORD of
hosts, which
dwelleth between the
cherubims: and the
two sons of
Eli, Hophni and
Phinehas, were there with the
ark of the
covenant of
God. 5 And when the
ark of the
covenant of the
LORD came into the
camp, all
Israel shouted with a
great shout, so that the
earth rang
again.
6 And when the
Philistines heard the
noise of the
shout, they
said, What meaneth the
noise of this
great shout in the
camp of the
Hebrews? And they
understood that the
ark of the
LORD was
come into the
camp. 7 And the
Philistines were
afraid, for they
said,
God is
come into the
camp. And they
said,
Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing
heretofore.
8 Woe unto us! who shall
deliver us out of the
hand of these
mighty Gods? these are the
Gods that
smote the
Egyptians with all the
plagues in the
wilderness. 9 Be
strong, and
quit yourselves like
men, O ye
Philistines, that ye be not
servants unto the
Hebrews, as they have
been to you:
quit yourselves like
men, and
fight.
10 And the
Philistines fought, and
Israel was
smitten, and they
fled every
man into his
tent: and there was a
very great slaughter; for there
fell of
Israel thirty thousand footmen. 11 And the
ark of
God was
taken; and the
two sons of
Eli, Hophni and
Phinehas, were
slain.
12 And there
ran a
man of
Benjamin out of the
army, and
came to
Shiloh the same
day with his
clothes rent, and with
earth upon his
head. 13 And when he
came, lo,
Eli sat upon a
seat by the
wayside watching: for his
heart trembled for the
ark of
God. And when the
man came into the
city, and
told it, all the
city cried
out.
14 And when
Eli heard the
noise of the
crying, he
said, What meaneth the
noise of this
tumult? And the
man came in
hastily, and
told Eli. 15 Now
Eli was
ninety and
eight years old; and his
eyes were
dim, that he
could not
see.
16 And the
man said unto
Eli, I am he that
came out of the
army, and I
fled to
day out of the
army. And he
said, What is there
done, my
son? 17 And the
messenger answered and
said,
Israel is
fled before the
Philistines, and there hath been also a
great slaughter among the
people, and thy
two sons also,
Hophni and
Phinehas, are
dead, and the
ark of
God is
taken.
18 And it came to pass, when he made
mention of the
ark of
God, that he
fell from off the
seat backward by the
side of the
gate, and his
neck brake, and he
died: for he was an
old man, and
heavy. And he had
judged Israel forty years. 19 And his daughter in
law, Phinehas' wife, was with
child, near to be
delivered: and when she
heard the
tidings that the
ark of
God was
taken, and that her father in
law and her
husband were
dead, she
bowed herself and
travailed; for her
pains came upon her.
20 And about the
time of her
death the women that
stood by her
said unto her,
Fear not; for thou hast
born a
son. But she
answered not, neither did she
regard it.
21 And she
named the
child Ichabod, saying, The
glory is
departed from
Israel: because the
ark of
God was
taken, and because of her father in
law and her
husband. 22 And she
said, The
glory is
departed from
Israel: for the
ark of
God is
taken.