1Samuel's message reached all of Israel. Then Israel went out to fight the Philistines and set up camp near Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped in Aphek.
2The Philistines lined up for battle against Israel. When the fighting began, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand soldiers on the battlefield.
3When the people returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, "Why did Yahweh allow the Philistines to defeat us today? Let's bring the ark of Yahweh's covenant from Shiloh so it can come among us and save us from our enemies."
4So the people sent word to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of Armies, who is enthroned above the cherubim. Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of God's covenant.
5When the ark of Yahweh's covenant arrived in the camp, all of Israel shouted so loudly that the ground vibrated.
6When the Philistines heard the loud shout, they asked, "What is this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?" They realized that Yahweh's ark had come into the camp.
7The Philistines were afraid, for they said, "God has come into the camp!" They cried, "How terrible for us! Nothing like this has ever happened before.
8How terrible for us! Who can rescue us from these powerful gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues in the wilderness.
9Be strong and act like men, O Philistines! Don't become slaves to the Hebrews, as they were to you. Strengthen yourselves like men, and fight!"
10The Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, with each man fleeing to his tent. There was a huge massacre; thirty thousand Israelite foot soldiers died.
11God's ark was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed.
12A man from Benjamin ran from the army and arrived in Shiloh that same day, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.
13When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road, watching, because his heart was trembling for God's ark. When the man came into the city and told the news, the entire city cried out.
14When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he asked, "What does this noisy commotion mean?" The man hurried and came to tell Eli.
15Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were fixed, so he couldn't see.
16The man said to Eli, "I am the one who came from the army; I fled from the army today." Eli asked, "How did things go, my son?"
17The messenger answered, "Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and God's ark has been captured."
18When the man mentioned God's ark, Eli fell backward off his seat by the side of the gate. His neck broke, and he died, because he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.
19His daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard the news that God's ark was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came upon her.
20At the time of her death, the women standing by her said, "Don't be afraid; you've given birth to a son." But she didn't answer and paid no attention.
21She named the child Ichabod, saying, "The glory has left Israel" because God's ark was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.
22She said, "The glory has left Israel, because God's ark has been taken."