1 Samuel 4:3–12

³And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here ^yfrom Shiloh, that it¹ may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” ⁴So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, ^zwho is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel ^agave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. ⁶And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, ⁷the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. ⁸Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. ^9bTake courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews ^cas they have been to you; be men and fight.”

¹⁰So the Philistines fought, ^dand Israel was defeated, ^eand they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. ^11fAnd the ark of God was captured, ^gand the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

The Death of Eli

¹²A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, ^hwith his clothes torn and with dirt on his head.