1 Samuel 4:12 - 4:22

The Death of Eli

12 Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with his robes torn and dust on his head. 13 And he came, and behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road eagerly watching because his heart was trembling for the ark of God. Now the man came to tell it in the city, and all the city cried out. 14 Then Eli heard the noise of the outcry, and he said, “What does the noise of this commotion mean?” So the man came hurriedly and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes had set so that he could not see. 16 And the man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I fled from the battle line today.” And he said, “How did things go, my son?” 17 Then the one who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken.” 18 And it happened that when he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken, and he died, for the man was old and heavy. Thus he judged Israel forty years. 19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’s wife, was with child and about to give birth. And she heard the report that the ark of God was taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, so she kneeled down and gave birth, for her pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. 21 And she called the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken.”

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