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Samuel’s words came to all Israel.
Now Israel went out to fight against the Philistines in battle. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer while the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines arrayed themselves in battle formation against Israel, and as the battle intensified, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. 3 When the soldiers returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the Lord brought defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant here from Shiloh, so that when it comes among us, it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”
4 So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back from there the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the Ark of the Covenant of God.
5 When the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel raised such a loud shout that the ground shook. 6 When the Philistines heard the uproar, they asked, “What is all this shouting in the camp of the Hebrews about?”
When they learnt that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, 7 the Philistines were afraid. They said, “the gods have come into their camp! Woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before! 8 Woe to us! Who can 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. 9 Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, O Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”
10 So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated, and they all fled, each man to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. 11 The Ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, died.
12 That same day, a Benjaminite ran from the battlefield all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dust on his head. 13 When he arrived, Eli was sitting on a seat on the roadside 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.
14 When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What is the meaning of this commotion?”
The man hurried over and told Eli. 15 Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set, and he could not see. 16 The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle; I fled from there today.”
Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”
17 The man who brought back the report answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead, and the Ark of God has been captured.”
18 When he mentioned the Ark of God, Eli fell backwards off the seat beside the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and heavy. Eli had judged Israel for forty years.
19 Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child and about to give birth. When she heard the news that the Ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labour pains came upon her. 20 As she was dying, the women who attended her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.
21 She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because of the capture of the Ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”