3The boy Samuel served the Lord under the direction of Eli. In those days the Lord didn’t give many messages to his people. He didn’t give them many visions.

²One night Eli was lying down in his usual place. His eyes were becoming so weak he couldn’t see very well. ³Samuel was lying down in the Lord’s house. That’s where the ark of God was kept. The lamp of God was still burning. ⁴The Lord called out to Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” ⁵He ran over to Eli. He said, “Here I am. You called out to me.”

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

⁶Again the Lord called out, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli. He said, “Here I am. You called out to me.”

“My son,” Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back and lie down.”

⁷Samuel didn’t know the Lord yet. That’s because the Lord still hadn’t given him a message.

⁸The Lord called out to Samuel for the third time. Samuel got up and went to Eli. He said, “Here I am. You called out to me.”

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If someone calls out to you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord. I’m listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰The Lord came and stood there. He called out, just as he had done the other times. He said, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel replied, “Speak. I’m listening.”

¹¹The Lord said to Samuel, “Pay attention! I am about to do something terrible in Israel. It will make the ears of everyone who hears about it ring.

¹²“At that time I will do everything to Eli and his family that I said I would. I will finish what I have started. ¹³I told Eli I would punish his family forever. He knew his sons were sinning. He knew they were making fun of me. In spite of that, he failed to stop them.

¹⁴“So I took an oath and made a promise to the family of Eli. I said, ‘The sins of Eli’s family will never be paid for by bringing sacrifices or offerings.’ ”

¹⁵Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli about the vision he had received. ¹⁶But Eli called out to him. He said, “Samuel, my son.”

Samuel answered, “Here I am.”

¹⁷“What did the Lord say to you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide from me anything he told you. If you do, may God punish you greatly.”

¹⁸So Samuel told him everything. He didn’t hide anything from him.

Then Eli said, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is best.”

¹⁹As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him. He made everything Samuel said come true. ²⁰So all of the people of Israel recognized that Samuel really was a prophet of the Lord. Everyone from Dan all the way to Beersheba knew it.

²¹The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh. There he made himself known to Samuel through the messages he gave him.

4And Samuel gave those messages to all of the people of Israel.

The Philistines Capture the Ark

The people of Israel went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer. The Philistines camped at Aphek. ²The Philistines brought their forces together to fight against Israel. As the fighting spread, the men of Israel lost the battle to the Philistines. The Philistines killed about 4,000 of them on the field of battle.

³The rest of the Israelite soldiers returned to camp. Then the elders asked them, “Why did the Lord let the Philistines win the battle over us today? Let’s bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh. Let’s take it with us. It will save us from the power of our enemies.”

⁴So the people sent men to Shiloh. They brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He sits there on his throne between the cherubim. He is the One who rules over all. Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phinehas were with the ark of the covenant of God in Shiloh.

⁵The ark of the Lord’s covenant was brought into the camp. Then all of the people of Israel shouted so loudly that the ground shook.

⁶The Philistines heard the noise. They asked, “What’s all that shouting about in the Hebrew camp?”

Then the Philistines found out that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. ⁷So they were afraid. “A god has come into their camp,” they said. “We’re in trouble! Nothing like this has ever happened before. ⁸How terrible it will be for us! Who will save us from the power of those mighty gods? They struck down the people of Egypt in the desert. They sent all kinds of plagues on them.

⁹“Philistines, be strong! Fight like men! If you don’t, you will come under the control of the Hebrews. You will become their slaves, just as they have been your slaves. Fight like men!”

¹⁰So the Philistines fought. The people of Israel lost the battle. Every man ran back to his tent. A large number of them were killed. Israel lost 30,000 soldiers who were on foot.

¹¹The ark of God was captured. And Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phinehas died.

Eli Dies

¹²That same day a man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the front lines of the battle. He went to Shiloh. His clothes were torn. He had dust on his head. ¹³When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair. He was by the side of the road. He was watching because his heart was really concerned about the ark of God. The man entered the town and told everyone what had happened. Then the whole town cried out.

¹⁴Eli heard the people crying out. He asked, “What’s the meaning of all of this noise?”

The man hurried over to Eli. ¹⁵Eli was 98 years old. His eyes were so bad he couldn’t see. ¹⁶The man told Eli, “I’ve just come from the front lines of the battle. I ran away from there this very day.”

Eli asked, “What happened, son?”

¹⁷The man who brought the news replied, “Israel ran away from the Philistines. Large numbers of men in the army were wounded or killed. Your two sons Hophni and Phinehas are also dead. And the ark of God has been captured.”

¹⁸When the man spoke about the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair. He had been sitting by the side of the gate. When he fell, he broke his neck and died. He was old and fat. He had led Israel for 40 years.

¹⁹The wife of Phinehas was pregnant. She was Eli’s daughter-in-law. It was near the time for her baby to be born. She heard the news that the ark of God had been captured. She heard that her father-in-law and her husband were dead. So she went into labor and had her baby. Her pain was so great that her life was slipping away.

²⁰As she was dying, the women who were helping her spoke up. They said, “Don’t be afraid. You have had a son.” But she didn’t reply. She didn’t pay any attention.

²¹She named the boy Ichabod. She said, “The God of glory has left Israel.” She said it because the ark of God had been captured. She also said it because her father-in-law and her husband had died. ²²She said, “The God of glory has left Israel.” She said it because the ark of God had been captured.

Read in Logos