³ This man would go up from his town every year^(A) to worship and to sacrifice^(B) to the Lord of Armies at Shiloh,^(C) where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the Lord’s priests.

³⁴ This will be the sign that will come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas:^(A) both of them will die on the same day.^(B)

⁴ So the people sent men to Shiloh to bring back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim.^(A) Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. ⁵ When the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a loud shout that the ground shook.^(B)

⁶ The Philistines heard the sound of the war cry and asked, “What’s this loud shout in the Hebrews’ camp?” When the Philistines discovered that the ark of the Lord had entered the camp, ⁷ they panicked. “A god has entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us! Nothing like this has happened before. ⁸ Woe to us! Who will rescue us from these magnificent gods? These are the gods that slaughtered the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. ⁹ Show some courage and be men, Philistines!^(C) Otherwise, you’ll serve the Hebrews just as they served you.^(D) Now be men and fight!”

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated,^(E) and each man fled to his tent.^(F) The slaughter was severe—thirty thousand of the Israelite foot soldiers fell. ¹¹ The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.^(G)

Eli’s Death and Ichabod’s Birth

¹² That same day, a Benjaminite man ran^(H) from the battle and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn,^(I) and there was dirt on his head. ¹³ When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair beside the road waiting,^(J) because he was anxious about the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the entire city cried out.

¹⁴ Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” The man quickly came and reported to Eli. ¹⁵ At that time Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes didn’t move^[a] because he couldn’t see.^(K)

¹⁶ The man said to Eli, “I’m the one who came from the battle.^[b] I fled from there today.”

“What happened, my son?” ^(L) Eli asked.

¹⁷ The messenger answered, “Israel has fled from the Philistines, and also there was a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.” ¹⁸ When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off the chair by the city gate,^(M) and since he was old and heavy, his neck broke and he died. Eli had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹ Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came on her.

³ Ahijah,^(A) who was wearing an ephod,^(B) was also there. He was the son of Ahitub, the brother of Ichabod^(C) son of Phinehas, son of Eli the Lord’s priest at Shiloh.^(D) But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.