The Philistines Capture the Ark 1 UST Samuel told all the people of Israel the messages that God gave him. At that time the Israelite army went to fight against the army of the Philistine people. The Israelite army set up their tents at the place that people would later call Ebenezer. The Philistine army set up their tents near the city of Aphek. BSB BSB: Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek.
2 UST The Philistine army formed a battle line, and the Israelites came and fought with them. In a great battle, the Philistines defeated the Israelites. In combat, they killed about 4, 000 of the soldiers in their battle line. BSB BSB: The Philistines arrayed themselves against Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men on the battlefield.
3 UST When the remaining Israelite soldiers returned to their camp, the Israelite elders asked,“Why did Yahweh allow the Philistine army to defeat us today?{ It must have been because we did not bring the sacred chest into battle with us.} We should bring the sacred chest here from Shiloh. That way we can bring it with us when we go into battle again, and it will keep our enemies from defeating us!” BSB BSB: When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the LORD brought defeat on us before the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, so that it may go with us to save us from the hand of our enemies.”
4 UST So the soldiers sent some men to Shiloh, and those men brought back the sacred chest of Yahweh, the commander of the heavenly armies. There were statues of winged creatures on top of the chest, and those statues were like a throne for Yahweh. Eli’ s two sons Hophni and Phinehas traveled with the sacred chest to the Israelite military camp. BSB BSB: So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD of Hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
5 UST When they saw the men bringing the sacred chest into their camp, the Israelite soldiers{ were so happy that they} shouted loudly. The sound of their shout echoed throughout the land. BSB BSB: When the ark of the covenant of the LORD entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a great shout that the ground shook.
6 UST The Philistines heard this sound and asked,“What are the soldiers in the Hebrew camp shouting about?” Someone told them that{ they were shouting because} men had brought the sacred chest of Yahweh into their camp. BSB BSB: On hearing the noise of the shout, the Philistines asked, “What is this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” And when they realized that the ark of the LORD had entered the camp,
7 UST They said,“A god has come into their camp{ to help them fight against us}!” This made them very afraid. They said,“We are in big trouble now! Nothing like this has ever happened before! BSB BSB: the Philistines were afraid. “The gods have entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before.
8 UST We certainly are in big trouble! The gods of the Israelites are very strong, and it will be difficult to overcome their power. It was the gods of the Israelites who made the Egyptians suffer from many plagues in the barren land outside their country. BSB BSB: Woe to us! Who will deliver 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 UST You Philistine soldiers must be very brave! If you do not fight bravely,{ the Hebrews will defeat you and} you will become their slaves, just as they have been your slaves! So fight bravely!” BSB BSB: Take courage and be men, O Philistines! Otherwise, you will serve the Hebrews just as they served you. Now be men and fight!”
10 UST So the Philistine soldiers fought{ very hard}, and they defeated the Israelite soldiers so badly that they all fled from the battle and ran back to their military camp. The Philistines won a big victory and killed 30, 000 of the Israelite soldiers. BSB BSB: So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great—thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.
11 UST The Philistines captured the sacred chest, and they killed Eli’ s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. BSB BSB: The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
The Death of Eli 12 UST On that same day, a man from the tribe of Benjamin arrived at Shiloh. He had run{ with news} from the place where the armies were fighting. He had torn his clothes and thrown dirt on his head{ to show that he was very sad}. BSB BSB: That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.
13 UST Eli was very anxious to know whether anything bad had happened to God’ s sacred chest. So he was sitting on a seat next to the road waiting for any messengers who might come with news of the battle. When the man arrived and told what had happened, the people of the city started to cry loudly. BSB BSB: When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.
14 UST Eli heard the noise and asked,“Why are people making all this noise?” So the messenger ran over to Eli and told him what had happened. BSB BSB: Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” So the man hurried over and reported to Eli.
15 UST At that time, Eli was 98 years old, and he had become completely blind. BSB BSB: Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see.
16 UST The messenger said to Eli,“I am the messenger who has come from where the armies were fighting. I ran from the battle lines earlier today.” Eli asked,“What happened, young man?” BSB BSB: “I have just come from the battle,” the man said to Eli. “I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked.
17 UST The messenger responded,“The Philistines defeated our army. They killed a great many of our soldiers, and the others ran away. The Philistines killed your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. They also captured God’ s sacred chest.” BSB BSB: The messenger answered, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are both dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”
18 UST As soon as Eli heard what had happened to the sacred chest, he fell backward off his seat beside the city gate. Because he was very old and very fat, he broke his neck when he fell, and that killed him. He had led the Israelite people for 40 years. BSB BSB: As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged Israel forty years.
19 UST The wife of Eli’ s son Phinehas was pregnant, and it was almost time for her to give birth to her baby. When she heard the news that the Philistines had captured God’ s sacred chest and that her husband and her father- in- law had died, her labor pains suddenly began. She crouched down and gave birth. BSB BSB: Now Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news of the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth, for her labor pains overtook her.
20 UST { But the birth was so difficult that it caused her to die.} As she was dying, the women who were helping her tried to encourage her. They said to her,“Be brave! You have given birth to a son!” But this did not matter to her, so she said nothing in reply. BSB BSB: As she was dying, the women attending to her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son!” But she did not respond or pay any heed.
21 UST She named the boy Ichabod. She said,“There is no glory anymore in Israel.” She was talking about how the Philistines had captured God’ s sacred chest and how her husband and her father- in- law had died. BSB BSB: And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband had been killed.
22 UST She said that there was no glory anymore in Israel because the Philistines had captured God’ s sacred chest.{ And then she died.} BSB BSB: “The glory has departed from Israel,” she said, “for the ark of God has been captured.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.