1 Samuel 3-5

Revised Geneva Translation

3 Now the child, Samuel, ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the Word of the LORD was precious in those days; for there was no manifest vision.

² And at that time, as Eli lay in his place, his eyes began to grow dim, so that he could not see.

³ And before the Light of God went out, Samuel slept in the Temple of the LORD, where the Ark of God was.

⁴ Then, the LORD called Samuel. And he said, “Here I am.”

⁵ And he ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am! For you called me!” But he said, “I did not call you. Go back. Sleep.” And he went and slept.

⁶ And the LORD called Samuel once again. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “I am here! For you called me!” And he answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back. Sleep.”

⁷ Thus did Samuel, before he knew the LORD and before the Word of the LORD was revealed to him.

⁸ And the LORD called Samuel again, a third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, “I am here! For you have called me.” Then Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.

⁹ Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go. Sleep. And if He calls you, then say, “Speak LORD, for Your servant hears.” So, Samuel went and slept in his place.

¹⁰ And the LORD came and stood and called, as at other times, “Samuel, Samuel.” Then Samuel answered, “Speak. For Your servant hears.”

¹¹ Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, of which whoever shall hear, his two ears shall tingle.

¹² “On that day, I will raise up against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his House. What I begin, I will also finish.

¹³ “And I have told him that I will judge his House forever, for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons despised themselves, and he did not rebuke them.

¹⁴ “Now, therefore, I have sworn to the House of Eli that the wickedness of Eli’s House shall not ever be purged with Sacrifice or Offering.”

¹⁵ Afterward, Samuel slept until the morning, and opened the doors of the House of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to show Eli the vision.

¹⁶ Then Eli called Samuel, and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he answered, “Here I am.”

¹⁷ Then he said, “What is it that the LORD said to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that He said to you.”

¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”

¹⁹ And Samuel grew. And the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

²⁰ And all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that faithful Samuel was the LORD’s Prophet.

²¹ And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh; for the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by His Word.

4 And Samuel spoke to all Israel. And Israel went out against the Philistines to battle and camped beside Ebenezer. And the Philistines camped in Aphek.

² And the Philistines put themselves in formation against Israel. And when they joined the battle, Israel was struck down before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field.

³ So, when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD struck us down this day before the Philistines? Let us bring the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh to us, so that when it comes among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.”

⁴ Then the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD of Hosts, Who dwells between the Cherubims. And there were the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, with the Ark of the Covenant of God.

⁵ And when the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted a mighty shout, so that the Earth echoed.

⁶ And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What is the meaning of the sound of this mighty shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” And they understood that the Ark of the LORD had come into the camp.

⁷ And the Philistines were afraid, and said, “God has come into the camp!” Therefore, they said, “Woe to us! For it has not been so until now.

⁸ “Woe to us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? These are the Gods Who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness!

⁹ “Be strong and play the men, O Philistines, so that you will not be servants to the Hebrews as they have served you! Be valiant, therefore, and fight!”

¹⁰ And the Philistines fought. And Israel was struck down; and every man fled into his tent. And there was an exceedingly great slaughter. For thirty thousand footmen of Israel fell.

¹¹ And the Ark of God was taken. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

¹² And the same day, a man of Benjamin ran out of the army and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn and earth upon his head.

¹³ And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the roadside, waiting. For his heart feared for the Ark of God. And when the man came into the city to tell it, all the city cried out.

¹⁴ And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, “What does this noise of tumult mean?” And the man came in, hastily, and told Eli.

¹⁵ Now, Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see.

¹⁶ And the man said to Eli, “I came from the army, and I fled this day out of the camp.” And he said, “What has happened, my son?”

¹⁷ Then the messenger answered, and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines; and there has also been a great slaughter among the people. And moreover, your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead. And the Ark of God has been taken.”

¹⁸ And when he mentioned of the Ark of God, Eli fell from his seat, backward, by the side of the gate. And his neck was broken, and he died. For he was an old man and heavy. And he had judged Israel for forty years.

¹⁹ And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near labor. And when she heard the report that the Ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself, and went into labor. For her pains came upon her.

²⁰ And about the time of her death, the women that stood around her said to her, “Do not fear. For you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention.

²¹ And she named the child, 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 She said again, “The glory has departed from Israel! For the Ark of God has been taken!”

5 Then the Philistines took the Ark of God and carried it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

² The Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.

³ And when they of Ashdod rose the next day, in the morning, behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face on the ground, before the Ark of the LORD. And they took up Dagon and set him in his place again.

⁴ They also rose up early in the morning the next day. And behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face on the ground, before the Ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and the two palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold. Only the stump of Dagon was left of him.

⁵ Therefore, the priests of Dagon, and all who come into Dagon’s house, do not walk on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day.

⁶ But the Hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and destroyed them, and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories.

⁷ And when the men of Ashdod saw this, they said, “Do not let the Ark of the God of Israel remain with us! For His Hand is severe upon us, and upon Dagon, our god!”

⁸ They sent, therefore, and gathered all the princes of the Philistines to them, and said, “What shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the Ark of the God of Israel be carried around to Gath.” And they carried the Ark of the God of Israel around.

⁹ And when they had carried it around, the Hand of the LORD was against the city with very great destruction. And He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and they had tumors break out.

¹⁰ Therefore, they sent the Ark of God to Ekron. And as soon as the Ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought theArk of the God of Israel to us to kill us and our people!”

¹¹ Therefore they sent and gathered together all the princes 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 does not kill us and our people!” For there was a destruction and death throughout all the city; and the Hand of God was very severe there.

¹² And the men who did not die were struck with the tumors. And the cry of the city went up to Heaven.