Dual Panel1And Samuel’s words went out to all the people of Israel. At that time Israel was at war with the Philistines. The Israelite army was camped near Ebenezer, and the Philistines were at Aphek.
2The Philistines attacked and defeated the army of Israel, killing four thousand men.
3After the battle was over, the army of Israel retreated to their camp, and their leaders asked, "Why did the LORD allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?" Then they said, "Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it will save us from our enemies."
4So they sent men to Shiloh to bring back the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, helped carry the Ark of God to where the battle was being fought.
5When the Israelites saw the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD coming into the camp, their shout of joy was so loud that it made the ground shake!
6"What’s going on?" the Philistines asked. "What’s all the shouting about in the Hebrew camp?" When they were told it was because the Ark of the LORD had arrived,
7they panicked. "The gods have come into their camp!" they cried. "This is a disaster! We have never had to face anything like this before!
8Who can save us from these mighty gods of Israel? They are the same gods who destroyed the Egyptians with plagues when Israel was in the wilderness.
9Fight as you never have before, Philistines! If you don’t, we will become the Hebrews’ slaves just as they have been ours!"
10So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; thirty thousand Israelite men died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents.
11The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed.
12A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefront and arrived at Shiloh later that same day. He had torn his clothes and put dust on his head to show his grief.
13Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town.
14"What is all the noise about?" Eli asked. The messenger rushed over to Eli,
15who was ninety–eight years old and blind.
16He said to Eli, "I have just come from the battlefront––I was there this very day." "What happened?" Eli demanded.
17"Israel has been defeated," the messenger replied. "Thousands of Israelite troops are dead on the battlefield. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed, too. And the Ark of God has been captured."
18When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and very fat. He had led Israel for forty years.
19Eli’s daughter–in–law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her husband and father–in–law were dead, her labor pains suddenly began.
20She died in childbirth, but before she passed away the midwives tried to encourage her. "Don’t be afraid," they said. "You have a baby boy!" But she did not answer or respond in any way.
21She named the child Ichabod––"Where is the glory?"––murmuring, "Israel’s glory is gone." She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her husband and her father–in–law were dead.
22Then she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured."