¹And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. And Israel went out to meet the Philistines for battle, and they encamped beside Eben-ha-ezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek.

²And the Philistines drew up in order to meet Israel, and the battle spread out, and Israel was defeated before the face of the Philistines, and they struck down in the battle line in the field about four thousand men.

³And the people came into the camp, and the elders of Israel said, “Why has Yahweh struck us today before the face of the Philistines? Let us take to ourselves the ark of the covenant of Yahweh from Shiloh, so that it may come into our midst and save us from the palm of our enemies.”

⁴And the people sent to Shiloh, and they carried from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of hosts, who dwells on the cherubim; and there, with the ark of the covenant of God, were the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas.

⁵And it happened, as the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came into the camp, that all Israel blew an alarm, a great shout, and the land was stirred.

⁶And the Philistines heard the sound of the shout and said, “What is the sound of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” And they knew that the ark of Yahweh had come into the camp.

⁷And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For it has not been like this yesterday or the day before.

⁸“Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods themselves who struck Egypt with every blow in the wilderness.

⁹Be strong, and be men, Philistines, lest you serve the Hebrews as they served you; be men, and fight.

¹⁰The Philistines fought, and Israel was struck down; and each man fled to his tent, and there was a very great blow; and there fell from Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.

¹¹And the ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli died, Hophni and Phinehas.

¹²And a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh on that day, with his garments torn and earth on his head.

¹³And he came, and look, Eli was sitting on the seat beside the road, watching, for his heart was trembling over the ark of God; and the man came to tell it in the city, and all the city cried out.

¹⁴And Eli heard the sound of the outcry, and said, "What is the sound of this tumult?" And the man hurried and came and told Eli.

¹⁵And Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes stood fixed, and he could not see.

¹⁶And the man said to Eli, "I am the one who comes from the battle line, and I fled from the battle line this day." And he said, "What was the word, my son?"

¹⁷And the bearer of tidings answered and said, "Israel has fled before the face of the Philistines, and there has also been a great plague among the people, and also your two sons have died, Hophni and Phinehas, and the ark of God has been taken."

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

¹⁹And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to bear; and she heard the report concerning the taking of the ark of God, and that her father-in-law and her husband had died; and she crouched and bore, for her pangs turned upon her.

²⁰And at the time of her dying, the women who stood by her spoke, "Do not fear, for you have borne a son." But she did not answer, and did not set her heart to it.

²¹And she called the boy Ichabod, saying, "The weightiness has gone into exile from Israel," because of the taking of the ark of God, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

²²And she said, "The weightiness has gone into exile from Israel, for the ark of God has been taken."