1 Samuel 4
4
1And the word of Samuel is to all Israel, and Israel goeth out to meet the Philistines for battle, and they encamp by Eben-Ezer, and the Philistines have encamped in Aphek,
2and the Philistines set themselves in array to meet Israel, and the battle spreadeth itself, and Israel is smitten before the Philistines, and they smite among the ranks in the field about four thousand men.
3And the people cometh in unto the camp, and the elders of Israel say, ‘Why hath Jehovah smitten us to-day before the Philistines? we take unto us from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and it cometh into our midst, and He doth save us out of the hand of our enemies.’
4And the people sendeth to Shiloh, and they take up thence the ark of the covenant of Jehovah of Hosts, inhabiting the cherubs, and there [are] two sons of Eli, with the ark of the covenant of God, Hophni and Phinehas.
5And it cometh to pass, at the coming in of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah unto the camp, that all Israel shout — a great shout — and the earth is moved.
6And the Philistines hear the noise of the shouting, and say, ‘What [is] the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?’ and they perceive that the ark of Jehovah hath come in unto the camp.
7And the Philistines are afraid, for they said, ‘God hath come in unto the camp;’ and they say, ‘Woe to us, for there hath not been like this heretofore.
8Woe to us, who doth deliver us out of the hand of these honourable gods? these [are] the gods who are smiting the Egyptians with every plague in the wilderness.
9Strengthen yourselves, and become men, O Philistines, lest ye do service to
10And the Philistines fight, and Israel is smitten, and they flee each to his tents, and the blow is very great, and there fall of Israel thirty thousand footmen;
11and the ark of God hath been taken, and the two sons of Eli have died, Hophni and Phinehas.
12And a man of Benjamin runneth out of the ranks, and cometh into Shiloh, on that day, and his long robes [are] rent, and earth on his head;
13and he cometh in, and lo, Eli is sitting on the throne by the side of the way, watching, for his heart hath been trembling for the ark of God, and the man hath come in to declare [it] in the city, and all the city crieth out.
14And Eli heareth the noise of the cry, and saith, ‘What — the noise of this tumult!’ And the man hasted, and cometh in, and declareth to Eli.
15And Eli is a son of ninety and eight years, and his eyes have stood, and he hath not been able to see.
16And the man saith unto Eli, ‘I [am] he who hath come out of the ranks, and I out of the ranks have fled to-day;’ and he saith, ‘What hath been the matter, my son?’
17And he who is bearing tidings answereth and saith, ‘Israel hath fled before the Philistines, and also a great slaughter hath been among the people, and also thy two sons have died — Hophni and Phinehas — and the ark of God hath been captured.’
18And it cometh to pass, at his mentioning the ark of God, that he falleth from off the throne backward, by the side of the gate, and his neck is broken, and he dieth, for the man [is] old and heavy, and he hath judged Israel forty years.
19And his daughter-in-law, wife of Phinehas, [is] pregnant, about to bear, and she heareth the report of the taking of the ark of God, that her father-in-law and her husband have died, and she boweth, and beareth, for her pains have turned upon her.
20And at the time of her death, when the women who are standing by her say, ‘Fear not, for a son thou hast borne,’ she hath not answered, nor set her heart [to it];
21and she calleth the youth I-Chabod, saying, ‘Honour hath removed from Israel,’ because of the taking of the ark of God, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.
22And she saith, ‘Honour hath removed from Israel, for the ark of God hath been taken.’
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1 Samuel 4: YLT98
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1 Samuel 4
4
1Then Samuel would speak to the whole nation of Israel.
The sacred chest is captured and returned
The Philistines capture the sacred chest
One day the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. They set up camp near Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2The Philistines made a fierce attack. They defeated the Israelites and killed about four thousand of them.
3The Israelite army returned to their camp, and the leaders said, “Why did the LORD let us lose to the Philistines today? Let's get the sacred chest where the LORD's agreement with Israel is kept. Then the LORD#4.3 Lord: Or “chest”. will help us and rescue us from our enemies.”
4The army sent some soldiers to bring back the sacred chest from Shiloh, because the LORD All-Powerful has his throne on the winged creatures on top of the chest.#Ex 25.22.
As Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, 5brought the chest into camp, the army cheered so loudly that the ground shook. 6The Philistines heard the noise and said, “What are those Hebrews shouting about?”
When the Philistines learnt that the sacred chest had been brought into the camp, 7they were scared to death and said:
The gods have come into their camp. Now we're in real trouble! Nothing like this has ever happened to us before. 8We're in big trouble! Who can save us from these powerful gods? They're the same gods who made all those horrible things happen to the Egyptians in the desert.
9Philistines, be brave and fight hard! If you don't, those Hebrews will rule us, just as we've been ruling them. Fight and don't be afraid.
10The Philistines did fight. They killed thirty thousand Israelite soldiers, and all the rest ran off to their homes. 11Hophni and Phinehas were killed, and the sacred chest was captured.
Eli dies
12That same day a soldier from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefront to Shiloh. He had torn his clothes and put earth on his head to show his sorrow. 13He went into town and told the news about the battle, and everyone started crying.
Eli was afraid that something might happen to the sacred chest. So he was sitting on his chair beside the road, just waiting. 14-15He was ninety-eight years old and blind, but he could hear everyone crying, and he asked, “What's all that noise?”
The soldier hurried over and told Eli, 16“I escaped from the fighting today and ran here.”
“Young man, what happened?” Eli asked.
17“Israel ran away from the Philistines,” the soldier answered. “Many of our people were killed, including your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. But worst of all, the sacred chest was captured.”
18Eli was still sitting on a chair beside the wall of the town gate. And when the man said that the Philistines had taken the sacred chest, Eli fell backwards. He was a very heavy old man, and the fall broke his neck and killed him. He had been a leader#4.18 leader: The Hebrew word means that Eli may have been an army commander, a judge, and a priest. of Israel for forty years.
19The wife of Phinehas was about to give birth. And soon after she heard that the sacred chest had been captured and that her husband and his father had died, her baby came. The birth was very hard, 20and she was dying. But the women taking care of her said, “Don't be afraid—it's a boy!”
She didn't pay any attention to them. 21-22Instead she kept thinking about losing her husband and her father-in-law. So she said, “My son will be named Ichabod,#4.21,22 Ichabod: Ichabod means “where is the glory?” or “there is no glory.” because the glory of Israel left our country when the sacred chest was captured.”
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