1 Samuel 4:12-22

GOD’S WORD Translation

¹² A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the front line of the battle. He went to Shiloh that day with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.^{[a] 13} When he arrived, Eli was sitting on a chair beside the road, watching. He was worried about the ark of God. The man went into the city to tell the news. The whole city cried out. ¹⁴ Hearing the cry, Eli asked, “What is this commotion?” So the man went quickly to tell Eli the news. ¹⁵ (Eli was 98 years old, and his eyesight had failed so that he couldn’t see.)

¹⁶ The man told Eli, “I’m the one who came from the battle. I fled from the front line today.”

“What happened, son?” Eli asked.

¹⁷ “Israel fled from the Philistines,” the messenger answered. “Our troops suffered heavy casualties. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, also are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

¹⁸ When the messenger mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell from his chair backwards toward the gate. He broke his neck, and he died. (The man was old and heavy.) He had judged ^[b] Israel for 40 years.

¹⁹ His daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was pregnant. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor prematurely and gave birth to a son. ²⁰ As she was dying, the women helping her said, “Don’t be afraid. You’ve given birth to a son.” But she didn’t answer or pay attention.

²¹ She called the boy Ichabod [No Glory], saying, “Israel’s glory is gone,” because the ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and her husband ⌞died⌟. ²² “Israel’s glory is gone because the ark of God has been captured,” she said.