1 Samuel 4:10-6:1

New American Standard Bible

¹⁰So the Philistines fought and ^(A)Israel was defeated, and ^(B)every man fled to his tent; and the defeat was very great, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. ¹¹Moreover, the ark of God was taken; and ^(C)the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

¹²Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with ^(D)his clothes torn, and ^[a]dust on his head. ¹³When he came, behold, ^(E)Eli was sitting on his seat ^[b]by the road keeping watch, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. And the man came to give a report in the city, and all the city cried out. ¹⁴When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the noise of this commotion mean?” Then the man came hurriedly and told Eli. ¹⁵Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and ^(F)his eyes were ^[c]fixed and he could not see. ¹⁶The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped from the battle line today.” And he said, “^(G)How are things, my son?” ¹⁷Then the one who brought the news replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great defeat among the people, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas are also dead; and the ark of God has been taken.” ¹⁸When he mentioned the ark of God, ^[d]^(H)Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for ^[e]he was old and heavy. And so he judged Israel for forty years.

¹⁹Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was pregnant and about to give birth; and when she heard the news that the ark of God had been taken and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she kneeled down and gave birth, because her pains came upon her. ²⁰And about the time of her death the women who were standing by her said to her, “^(I)Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention. ²¹And she named the boy ^[f]Ichabod, saying, “^(J)The glory has departed from Israel,” because ^(K)the ark of God had been taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. ²²So she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been taken.”

Capture of the Ark Provokes God

5 Now the Philistines took the ark of God and ^(L)brought it from Ebenezer to ^(M)Ashdod. ²Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into ^(N)the house of Dagon, and placed it beside Dagon. ³When the Ashdodites got up early the next day, behold, ^(O)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and ^(P)set him back in his place. ⁴But when they got up early the next morning, behold, ^(Q)Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and both palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; ^[g]only the torso of Dagon was left. ⁵For that reason neither the priests of Dagon nor any who enter Dagon’s house ^(R)step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

⁶Now ^(S)the hand of the Lord was heavy on the Ashdodites, and ^(T)He made them feel devastated and struck them with ^(U)tumors, both Ashdod and its territories. ⁷When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, because His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god.” ⁸So they sent word and ^(V)gathered all the governors of the Philistines to them, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they said, “Have the ark of the God of Israel ^[h]brought to Gath.” So they took the ark of the God of Israel away. ⁹After they had taken it away, ^(W)the hand of the Lord was against the city, creating a very great panic; and He struck the people of the city, from the young to the old, so that ^(X)tumors broke out on them. ¹⁰So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to ^[i]us, to kill ^[j]us and ^[k]our people!” ¹¹Therefore they ^(Y)sent word and gathered all the governors of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill ^[l]us and ^[m]our people!” For there was a deadly panic throughout the city; ^(Z)the hand of God was very heavy there. ¹²And the people who did not die were struck with tumors, and ^(AA)the outcry of the city went up to heaven.