1 Samuel 4–5

4And the word of Samuel came to all ¹Israel.

The Ark of God Captured

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines, and encamped beside ^aEbenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. ²Then the ^bPhilistines put themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was ²defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field. ³And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? ^cLet us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.” ⁴So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, ^dwho dwells between ^ethe cherubim. And the ^ftwo sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. ⁶Now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. ⁷So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, ^g“Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before. ⁸Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. ^9hBe strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, ⁱas they have been to you. ³Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!”

¹⁰So the Philistines fought, and ^jIsrael was ⁴defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. ¹¹Also ^kthe ark of God was captured; and ^lthe two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

Death of Eli

¹²Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and ^mcame to Shiloh with his clothes torn and ⁿdirt on his head. ¹³Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on ^oa seat ⁵by the wayside watching, for his heart ⁶trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. ¹⁴When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the sound of this tumult mean?” And the man came quickly and told Eli. ¹⁵Eli was ninety-eight years old, and ^phis eyes were so ⁷dim that he could not see.

¹⁶Then the man said to Eli, “I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.”

And he said, ^q“What happened, my son?”

¹⁷So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.”

¹⁸Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

Ichabod

¹⁹Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. ²⁰And about the time of her death ^rthe women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she ⁸regard it. ²¹Then she named the child ^sIchabod, ⁹saying, ^t“The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. ²²And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

The Philistines and the Ark

5Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it ^afrom Ebenezer to Ashdod. ²When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of ^bDagon ¹and set it by Dagon. ³And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, ^cfallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and ^dset it in its place again. ⁴And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. ^eThe head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only ²Dagon’s torso was left of it. ⁵Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house ^ftread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

⁶But the ^ghand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ^hravaged them and struck them with ⁱtumors, ³both Ashdod and its ^jterritory. ⁷And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the ^kGod of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.” ⁸Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the ^llords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?”

And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to ^mGath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away. ⁹So it was, after they had carried it away, that ⁿthe hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, ⁴and tumors broke out on them.

¹⁰Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!” ¹¹So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. ¹²And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the ^ocry of the city went up to heaven.