1 Samuel 4–5

4And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.

The Philistines Capture the Ark

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer,^q and the Philistines at Aphek.^{r 2}The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. ³When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why^s did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark^t of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh,^u so that he may go with us^v and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

⁴So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim.^w And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout^x that the ground shook. ⁶Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew^y camp?”

When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, ⁷the Philistines were afraid.^z “A god has^a come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. ⁸We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck^a the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues^b in the wilderness. ⁹Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they^c have been to you. Be men, and fight!”

¹⁰So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated^d and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. ¹¹The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.^e

Death of Eli

¹²That same day a Benjamite^f ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust^g on his head. ¹³When he arrived, there was Eli^h sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.

¹⁴Eli heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?”

The man hurried over to Eli, ¹⁵who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyesⁱ had failed so that he could not see. ¹⁶He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.”

Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”

¹⁷The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead,^j and the ark of God has been captured.”^k

¹⁸When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led^bl Israel forty years.^m

¹⁹His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. ²⁰As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.

²¹She named the boy Ichabod,^cn saying, “The Glory^o has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. ²²She said, “The Glory^p has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”^q

The Ark in Ashdod and Ekron

5After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer^r to Ashdod.^{s 2}Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon.^{t 3}When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen^u on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. ⁴But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken^v off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. ⁵That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.^w

⁶The Lord’s hand^x was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation^y on them and afflicted them with tumors.^{az 7}When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” ⁸So they called together all the rulers^a of the Philistines and asked them, “What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?”

They answered, “Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.^b” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.

⁹But after they had moved it, the Lord’s hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic.^c He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.^{b 10}So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.^d

As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.” ¹¹So they called together all the rulers^e of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it^c will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy on it. ¹²Those who did not die^f were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.