1 The word of Samuel was pleasing to all Israel⁠a and Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside Ebenezer and the Philistines camped in Aphek 2 The Philistines lined up in battle against Israel and the warriors fought and Israel was defeated before the Philistines and they killed about four thousand men on the battlefield 3 The people came to the camp and the elders of Israel said Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines Let us bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh so that it may come among us and save us from the hand of our enemies 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of Hosts who sits above the cherubim and there the two sons of Eli Hophni and Phinehas were with the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord 5 And when the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord came to the camp all Israel shouted with a great shout and the earth resounded 6 When the Philistines heard the sound of the shout they said What is this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews and they understood that the Ark of the Lord had come to the camp 7 The Philistines were afraid for they said The Ark of the Lord has come to the camp and they said Woe to us for such a thing has never happened before 8 Woe to us Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues⁠b and did wonders in the wilderness 9 Take courage and be men Philistines or you will become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been slaves to you Be men and fight 10 So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated and each man fled to his tent and there was a very great slaughter for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell 11 The Ark of God was captured and the two sons of Eli Hophni and Phinehas died 12 A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and dirt on his head 13 When he arrived Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching for his heart was trembling for the Ark of God When the man entered the city and told the news all the city cried out 14 When Eli heard the sound of the outcry he said What is this noise And the man hurried and came and told Eli 15 Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were fixed so that he could not see 16 The man said to Eli I am he who has come from the battle line indeed I fled from the battle today And he said How did it go my son 17 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 18 When he mentioned the Ark of God Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate and his neck was broken and he died for he 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 that the Ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead she knelt down and gave birth for her pains came upon her 20 About the time of her death the women attending her said to her Do not be afraid for you have borne a son But she did not answer or pay attention 21 She named the child Ichabod saying The glory has departed from Israel because the Ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband 22 She said The glory has departed from Israel for the Ark of God has been captured