1 Samuel 2:22–7:1
22 Now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel and that they were having sexual relations with the women who were serving at the entrance of the tent of assembly.t 23 And he asked them, “Why are you doing all these things that I am hearing, namely, your evil dealings with all these people? 24 No, my sons, the report is not good that I am hearing the people of Yahweh spreading. 25 If a man sins against a man, then God can intercede for him. But if a man sins against Yahweh, who can intercede for him?” But they did not ⌊obey⌋u their father, because Yahweh wanted to kill them. 26 But the boy Samuel ⌊continued to grow in stature and in favor⌋v with Yahweh and with the people.
27 Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him: “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your ancestorw when they were in Egypt under the house of Pharaoh? 28 And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be a priest to me, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to bear an ephod before me. I gave to the house of your ancestorx all the offerings made by fire by the ⌊Israelites⌋.y 29 Why do you despise my sacrifice and my offering which I commanded for my dwelling place, while you honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat from the best of all the offerings of my people Israel? 30 Therefore,’ ⌊declares⌋z Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘though I solemnly said that your house and the house of your ancestora would walk before me forever, but now,’ ⌊declares⌋b Yahweh, ‘far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me, I will treat with contempt! 31 Look, days are coming when I will cut off your ⌊strength⌋c and the ⌊strength⌋d of the house of your ancestore ⌊so that no one in your house will live to old age⌋.f 32 You will look at the distress of my dwelling place, despite all the good caused for Israel, but there will never be an old man in your household ⌊forever⌋!g 33 The only one I will not cut off from my altar is you.h Rather, to cause your eyes to fail and to cause your soul to grieve, ⌊all the members of your household⌋i will die as men.j 34 This is the sign for you that will come regarding your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: they will both die on the same day! 35 But I will raise up for myself a reliablek priest; he will do just according to what is in my heart and in my soul. I will build for him a lastingl house and he will walk continually before my anointed one ⌊forever⌋.m 36 All the remainder of your household will come to bow down ⌊before⌋n him for a bit of silver or a loaf of bread and will say, “Please assign me to one of the ⌊priestly offices⌋o so that I can eat a morsel of bread.” ’ ”
Samuel’s First Encounter with Yahweh
3 Now the boy Samuel was serving Yahweh ⌊in the presence⌋a of Eli. The word of Yahweh was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 2 ⌊And then⌋b one day when Eli was lying in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow weak so that he was not able to see) 3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, Samuel was lying in the templec of Yahweh where the ark of God was. 4 Then Yahweh called out to Samuel and he said, “Here I am!” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” But he said, “I did not call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6 And Yahweh called Samuel again, so Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” And he said, “I did not call you, my son. Go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know Yahweh, and the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him. 8 Again Yahweh called Samuel a third time, so he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” Then Eli realized that Yahweh was calling the boy. 9 So Eli said to Samuel “Go lie down. ⌊If he calls⌋d to you, then you must say, ‘Speak Yahweh, because your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Then Yahweh came and stood there and called out ⌊as before⌋,e “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, because your servant is listening.” 11 So Yahweh said to Samuel, “Look, I am doing something in Israel ⌊which will cause⌋f the two ears of everyone who hears it to tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken against his household, ⌊from beginning to end⌋.g 13 I will make him know that I am about to judge his household forever because of the iniquity that he knew, for his sons were bringing curses on themselves,h but he did not rebuke them. 14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli that the iniquity of the house of Eli would not be atoned fori by sacrifice or by offering forever.”
15 So Samuel lay down until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, but Samuel was afraid of telling the vision to Eli. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!” And he said, “Here I am.” 17 And he said, “What is the messagej that he spoke to you? Please do not conceal it from me. May God ⌊punish you severely⌋k if you conceal anything from me of all the words that he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him all the words and did not conceal anything from him. And hel said, “He is Yahweh, he will do ⌊what is⌋m good in his ⌊sight⌋.”n
19 And Samuel grew up, and Yahweh was with him. ⌊He did not allow any of his prophecies to go unfulfilled⌋.o 20 All Israel from Dan to Beersheba realized that Samuel was faithfulp as a prophet to Yahweh. 21 And Yahweh appeared again in Shiloh, for Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh through the word of Yahweh.
4 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines for battle, and they encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines lined up for the battle to meet Israel, and the battle was prolongeda until Israel was defeated before the Philistines, ⌊who⌋b killed about four thousand men ⌊on the battlefield⌋.c 3 When the armyd came back to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has Yahweh defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to us from Shiloh so that it may come into our midst and delivere us from the hand of our enemies.” 4 So the army sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of hosts who sits between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 Now when the ark of the covenant of Yahweh arrived at the camp, all Israel ⌊let out a loud shout⌋f so that the earth shook.
6 When the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What is the noise of this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” Then they learned that the ark of Yahweh had come into the camp. 7 So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has comeg to the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us, ⌊for this has never happened before!⌋h 8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the same gods who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues in the desert. 9 Take courage and be men, you Philistines, lest you end up serving the Hebrews just like they have served you. Be men and fight!” 10 So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated and each man fled to his tent, for the slaughter was very great. Thirty thousand foot soldiers from Israel fell. 11 Furthermore, the ark of God was captured,i and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
12 A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh that same day, and his clothes were torn and earth was on his head. 13 When he came, ⌊there was⌋j Eli sitting on his chair ⌊by the side of the road⌋k watching, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. Now the man had come ⌊to give his report⌋l in the city, and all the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What is the noise of this commotion?” Then the man ⌊came quickly⌋m and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ⌊ninety-eight years old⌋n and his eyes ⌊stayed fixed ahead⌋o and he was not able to see. 16 And the man said to Eli, “I am the one who has come from the battle line! I have fled today from the battle line!” And he said, “⌊What exactly happened⌋,p my son?” 17 Then the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines. There has been a great defeat among the troops. Also, your two sons have died, Hophni and Phinehas, and the ark of God has been captured.” 18 Just as he mentioned the ark of God, heq fell from his chair backwards against the side of the gate. He broke his neck and died, because the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.
19 Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news concerning the capture of the ark of God and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she ⌊went into labor⌋r and gave birth, because her labor pains came upon her. 20 Just before the time of her death, those ⌊attending her⌋s said, “Do not fear, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer, or ⌊pay any attention⌋.t 21 She called the boy Ichabod,u saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and concerning her father-in-law and husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God was captured.”v
The Ark of the Covenant among the Philistines
5 Now the Philistines had captureda the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the temple of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon. 3 When the Ashdodites got up early the next morning, ⌊there was⌋b Dagon fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! So they took Dagon and returned him to his place. 4 When they got up early in the morning the next day, ⌊there was⌋c Dagon fallen again with his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh! The head of Dagon and the …