1 Samuel 3–4

Samuel’s Call

3The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence. ^xIn those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread. ^y

²One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing, ^zwas lying in his room. ³Before the lamp of God had gone out, ^aSamuel was lying down in the tabernacle of the Lord, where the ark of God was located.

⁴Then the Lord called Samuel, ^band he answered, “Here I am.” ⁵He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

“I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

⁶Once again the Lord called, “Samuel!”

Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

“I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.”

⁷Now Samuel had not yet experienced the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If He calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”

Samuel responded, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”

¹¹The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that everyone who hears about it will shudder. ^c12On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end. ^d13I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are defiling the sanctuary, ^eand he has not stopped them. ^f14Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.” ^g

¹⁵Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, ¹⁶but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”

“Here I am,” answered Samuel.

¹⁷“What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you and do so severely if you hide anything from me that He told you.” ^h18So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the Lord. He will do what He thinks is good.” ^ij

¹⁹Samuel grew, ^kand the Lord was with him, ^land He fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied. ^mn20All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord. ^o21The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word. ^p4¹And Samuel’s words came to all Israel.

The Ark Captured by the Philistines

Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and ^qcamped at Ebenezer ^rwhile the Philistines camped at Aphek. ^s2The Philistines lined up in battle formation against Israel, and as the battle intensified, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about 4,000 men on the battlefield.

³When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by the Philistines? ^tLet’s bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh. Then it ^uwill go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.” ^v4So the people sent men to Shiloh to bring back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. ^wEli’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. ^x

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. “The gods have entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us, nothing like this has happened before. ^y8Woe to us, who will rescue us from the hand of 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! ^zOtherwise, you’ll serve the Hebrews just as they served you. ^aNow be men and fight!”

¹⁰So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, ^band each man fled to his tent. ^cThe slaughter was severe—30,000 of the Israelite foot soldiers fell. ¹¹The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died. ^d

Eli’s Death and Ichabod’s Birth

¹²That same day, a Benjaminite man ran ^efrom the battle and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn, ^fand there was dirt on his head. ¹³When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair beside the road watching, ^gbecause he was anxious about the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the entire city cried out.

¹⁴Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” The man quickly came and reported to Eli. ¹⁵At that time Eli was 98 years old, and his gaze was fixed ^hbecause he couldn’t see. ⁱ

¹⁶The man said to Eli, “I’m the one who came from the battle. ^jI fled from there today.”

“What happened, my son?” ^kEli asked.

¹⁷The messenger answered, “Israel has fled from the Philistines, and also there was a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” ¹⁸When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off the chair by the city gate, ^land since he was old and heavy, his neck broke and he died. Eli had judged Israel 40 years.

¹⁹Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came on her. ²⁰As she was dying, ^mthe women taking care of her said, “Don’t be afraid. You’ve given birth to a son!” ⁿBut she did not respond or pay attention. ²¹She named the boy Ichabod, ^osaying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” ^preferring to the capture of the ark of God ^qand to the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. ²²“The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “because the ark of God has been captured.”