¹And Samuel's word came to all of Israel, and Israel went out to war against the Philistines, and they encamped at Eben-Ezer, whereas the Philistines encamped in Aphek. ²And the Philistines lined themselves up against Israel, and the war spread, and Israel was defeated when confronting the Philistines, who struck down about four thousand men in battle-array in the field. ³And the people went to the camp, and the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the Lord defeated us today when confronting the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh, so that it comes right in among us and saves us from the hand of our enemies.” ⁴So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts – with him dwelling between the cherubim – and Eli's two sons were there with the ark of the covenant of God, Hophni and Phinehas. ⁵And it came to pass when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the camp that all Israel raised a loud shout, and the land was in commotion. ⁶And the Philistines heard the sound of the shouting, and they said, “What is this sound of loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” And they became aware that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. ⁷And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us, because it wasn't like this in the past. ⁸Woe to us. Who can deliver us from the hand of these great gods? They are the gods which struck Egypt with every kind of blow in the desert. ⁹Strengthen yourselves and become men, you Philistines, so as not to become servants to the Hebrews, in the way they have been servants to you, and become men, and fight.” ¹⁰And the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each fled to his tent, and the blow was very heavy, and thirty thousand of Israel's infantry fell. ¹¹And the ark of God was taken, and Eli's two sons died – Hophni and Phinehas. ¹²Then a Benjaminite ran from the battle-line and came to Shiloh on that day, with his clothing torn and earth on his head. ¹³And when he arrived, he saw Eli sitting on a seat at the side of the road keeping a look out, for his heart was trembling about the ark of God, and when the man came to give a report in the city, all the city shouted out. ¹⁴And Eli heard the sound of the shouting, and he said, “What is this sound of commotion?” And the man quickly came and told Eli. ¹⁵Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were unable to focus, and he could not see. ¹⁶And the man said to Eli, “I am the one who has come from the battle-line, and I fled from the battle-line today.” And he said, “What was the outcome, my son?” ¹⁷And the messenger replied and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there was also a great massacre among the people, and also your two sons died, Hophni and Phinehas, and the ark of God was captured.” ¹⁸And it came to pass, when he mentioned the ark of God, that he fell from his seat backwards through the side of the gate, and his neck was broken, and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel for forty years. ¹⁹And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas's wife, was pregnant and was on the point of giving birth when she heard the report of the ark of God being captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead. Then she sank down and gave birth, for her labour pains had come on over her. ²⁰And at the time of her death, the women standing around her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she did not answer, and she did not lay it to heart. ²¹And she called the boy I-Chabod, for she said, “The glory has been removed from Israel with the ark of God being captured”, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. ²²And she said, “The glory has been removed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”