1 Samuel 4:1-11

New American Standard Bible

Philistines Take the Ark in Victory

4 So the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle, and they camped beside ^(A)Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped in ^(B)Aphek. ²Then the Philistines drew up in battle formation to meet Israel. When the battle ^[a]spread, Israel was ^[b]defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield. ³When the people came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “^(C)Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? ^(D)Let’s take the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh, so that He may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” ⁴So the people sent men to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord of armies ^(E)who is enthroned above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵And as the ark of the covenant of the Lord was coming into the camp, ^(F)all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded. ⁶And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. ⁷So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, “^(G)Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. ⁸Woe to us! Who will save us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. ⁹^(H)Take courage and be men, Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, ^(I)as they have been slaves to you; so be men and fight!”

¹⁰So the Philistines fought and ^(J)Israel was defeated, and ^(K)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 ^(L)the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

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Footnotes

1 Samuel 4:2 Or was over
1 Samuel 4:2 Lit struck before

1 Samuel 4:1-11

English Standard Version

The Philistines Capture the Ark

4 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at ^(A)Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at ^(B)Aphek. ²The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle. ³And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here ^(C)from Shiloh, that it^[a] may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” ⁴So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, ^(D)who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel ^(E)gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. ⁶And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, ⁷the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. ⁸Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. ⁹^(F)Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews ^(G)as they have been to you; be men and fight.”

¹⁰So the Philistines fought, ^(H)and Israel was defeated, ^(I)and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. ¹¹^(J)And the ark of God was captured, ^(K)and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.