1 Samuel 3–4

And ^athe child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And ^bthe word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. ²And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, ^cand his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; ³and ere ^dthe lamp of God went out ^ein the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; ⁴that the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. ⁵And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. ⁶And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. ⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. ⁸And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. ⁹Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. ¹¹And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, ^fat which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. ¹²In that day I will perform against Eli ^gall things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. ^13gFor I have told him that I will ^hjudge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because ⁱhis sons made themselves vile, and he ^krestrained them not. ¹⁴And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that ^lthe iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever. ¹⁵And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision. ¹⁶Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. ¹⁷And he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee. ¹⁸And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, ^mIt is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.

¹⁹And Samuel ⁿgrew, and ^othe Lord was with him, and ^pdid let none of his words fall to the ground. ²⁰And all Israel ^qfrom Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord. ²¹And the Lord appeared again in ^rShiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh ^sby the word of the Lord.

IV.And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside ^aEben-ezer: and the Philistines pitched in ^bAphek. ²And 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. ³And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? ^cLet us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of ^dShiloh unto us, that when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. ⁴So the people sent to ^dShiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, ^ewhich dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. ⁵And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel ^fshouted with a great shout, so that the earth ^grang again. ⁶And 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. ⁷And 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. ⁸Woe 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. ^9hBe strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, ⁱas they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. ¹⁰And the Philistines fought, and ^jIsrael was smitten, and ^kthey fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. ¹¹And ^lthe ark of God was taken; and ^mthe two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

¹²And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to ^dShiloh the same day ⁿwith his clothes rent, and ^owith earth upon his head. ¹³And when he came, lo, Eli sat ^pupon 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. ¹⁴And 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. ¹⁵Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and ^qhis eyes were dim, that he could not see. ¹⁶And 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? ¹⁷And 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. ¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹And 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. ²⁰And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, ^rFear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. ²¹And she named the child ^sIchabod, saying, The ^tglory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. ²²And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

V.