1 Samuel 4:12-22

New King James Version

Death of Eli

¹² Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and ^(A)came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and ^(B)dirt on his head. ¹³ Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on ^(C)a seat ^[a]by the wayside watching, for his heart ^[b]trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. ¹⁴ When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the sound of this tumult mean?” And the man came quickly and told Eli. ¹⁵ Eli was ninety-eight years old, and ^(D)his eyes were so ^[c]dim that he could not see.

¹⁶ Then the man said to Eli, “I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line.”

And he said, ^(E)“What happened, my son?”

¹⁷ So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.”

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

Ichabod

¹⁹ Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. ²⁰ And about the time of her death ^(F)the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she ^[d]regard it. ²¹ Then she named the child ^(G)Ichabod,^[e] saying, ^(H)“The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured 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 has been captured.”