³⁰ “Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that members of your family would minister before me forever.^(A)’ But now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor,^(B) but those who despise^(C) me will be disdained.^(D)

¹³ For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God,^[a] and he failed to restrain^(A) them. ¹⁴ Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned^(B) for by sacrifice or offering.’”

¹⁷ The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead,^(A) and the ark of God has been captured.”^(B)

¹⁸ When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led^[a](C) Israel forty years.^(D)