1 Samuel 4:3–12

³When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord defeat us today before the Philistines?^j Let’s bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh. Then it^E will go with us and save us from our enemies.”^{k 4}So the people sent men to Shiloh to bring back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim.^l Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. ⁵When the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a loud shout that the ground shook.^m

⁶The Philistines heard the sound of the war cry and asked, “What’s this loud shout in the Hebrews’ camp?” When the Philistines discovered that the ark of the Lord had entered the camp, ⁷they panicked. “A god has entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us! Nothing like this has happened before. ⁸Woe to us! Who will rescue us from these magnificent gods? These are the gods that slaughtered the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. ⁹Show some courage and be men, Philistines!ⁿ Otherwise, you’ll serve the Hebrews just as they served you.^o Now be men and fight!”

¹⁰So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated,^p and each man fled to his tent.^q The slaughter was severe—thirty thousand of the Israelite foot soldiers fell. ¹¹The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.^r

ELI’S DEATH AND ICHABOD’S BIRTH

¹²That same day, a Benjaminite man ran^s from the battle and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn,^t and there was dirt on his head.