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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>1 Samuel 4 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_samuel/4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/1_samuel/4-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NIV</a> > 1 Samuel 4</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_samuel/3.htm" title="1 Samuel 3">◄</a> 1 Samuel 4 <a href="../1_samuel/5.htm" title="1 Samuel 5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/1_samuel/4.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>And Samuel’s word came to all Israel.</p><p class="sectionhead">The Philistines Capture the Ark</p><p class="reg">Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the <span class="name">Lord</span> bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the <span class="name">Lord</span>’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the <span class="name">Lord</span> Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>When the ark of the <span class="name">Lord</span>’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?”</p><p class="reg">When they learned that the ark of the <span class="name">Lord</span> had come into the camp, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>the Philistines were afraid. “A god has <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Or ''Gods have (see Septuagint)">a</a></sup></span> come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.</p> <p class="sectionhead">Death of Eli</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Eli heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?”</p><p class="reg">The man hurried over to Eli, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.”</p><p class="reg">Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Traditionally judged">b</a></sup></span> Israel forty years.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>She named the boy Ichabod, <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Ichabod means no glory.">c</a></sup></span> saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/4-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>She said, “The Glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">7</span> <span class="footnotebot">Or <i>“Gods have</i> (see Septuagint)</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">18</span> <span class="footnotebot">Traditionally <i>judged</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">21</span> <span class="footnotebot"><i>Ichabod</i> means <i>no glory.</i></span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. 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