1 Samuel 4

1 And Samuel told to all the people of Israel the messages that God gave him. At that time the Israeli army went to fight against the army of the Philistine people. The Israeli army set up their tents at Ebenezer, and the Philistine army set up their tents at Aphek.

and Samuel's words were communicated to all the Israelites. The Israelites marched out to confront the Philistines in battle. They set up camp at Ebenezer, while the Philistines set up camp at Aphek.

2 The Philistine army attacked the Israeli army, and as the battle continued, the Philistines defeated the Israelis and killed about 4,000 of their soldiers.

The Philistines attacked the Israelites in formation, and when the battle spread, the Philistines defeated the Israelites, killing 4,000 of them on the battlefield.

3 When the remaining Israeli soldiers returned to their camp, the Israeli elders/leaders said, “Why did Yahweh allow the Philistine army to defeat us today? We should bring the chest that contains the Ten Commandments here from Shiloh, in order that Yahweh will go with us [when we go to the battle again, and] in order that our enemies will not defeat us again!”

When the Israelite army returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord defeat us before Philistines today? Let's go and get the Ark of the Lord's Agreement from Shiloh, so that he can accompany us and save us from our enemies.”

4 So the soldiers did that. They sent some men to Shiloh, and those men brought back the chest that contained the Ten Commandments. [They thought that if they did that, Yahweh would help them. They believed that] Yahweh sat on a throne between the statues of winged creatures [that were on top of] the chest that Yahweh Almighty [had given them]. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, went with them.

So the army sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the Ark of the Lord Almighty's Agreement, he who sits on his throne between the cherubim. Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were there with the Ark of the God's Agreement.

5 When the Israeli people saw [the men bringing] the box into their camp, they were so happy that they shouted loudly. They shouted so loudly that they made the ground shake!

When the Ark of the Lord's Agreement arrived in the camp, all the Israelites gave such a loud shout it made the ground shake.

6 The Philistines asked, “What are the people in the Hebrew camp shouting about?” Someone told them that they were shouting because the chest that contained the Ten Commandments of Yahweh had been brought to them.

When the Philistines heard all the shouting, they asked, “What's the meaning of this shouting in the Israelite camp?” When they found out that the Ark of the Lord had arrived in the camp,

7 Then the Philistines became very afraid. They said, “One of the Israelis’ gods has come into their camp [to help them] We are in big trouble now! Nothing like this has happened to us before!

the Philistines were afraid. “A god has arrived in the camp,” they said. “We're in trouble, for nothing like this has happened before.

8 (Who can/Can anyone) save us from their powerful gods [RHQ]? They are the gods who struck the people of Egypt with many plagues [before the Israelis left Egypt and traveled] through the desert.

This is disaster for us! Who will save us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who attacked the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.

9 You Philistine men, be courageous! Fight very hard! If you do not do that, [they will defeat us, and then] you will become their slaves, just like they have been our slaves previously!”

Be brave, and fight like real men, Philistines! Otherwise you'll end up as slaves to the Israelites, just as they were your slaves. Now be real men and fight!”

10 So the Philistine men fought very hard, and they defeated the Israelis. They killed 30,000 Israeli soldiers, and the other Israeli soldiers fled and ran away to their tents.

So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated—every man ran away home. The death toll was very large: thirty thousand of the Israelite infantry were killed.

11 The Philistines captured the sacred chest, and they killed Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas.

The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, Eli's two sons, died.

12 On that same day, one man of the tribe [descended from] Benjamin tore his clothes and threw dirt on his head [to show that he was very sad]. He ran from the place where the armies were fighting, and he arrived at Shiloh late [that afternoon].

A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battle that day all the way to Shiloh. His clothes were torn and he had dirt on his head.

13 Eli was waiting beside the road. [He wanted to hear news about the battle, and] he was also very anxious to know if anything bad had happened to God’s sacred chest. When the messenger arrived and told people what had happened, everyone in the town started to cry loudly.

When he arrived, Eli was sitting there on his chair by the road, watching out for news because he was worried about the Ark of God. When the man came into town and gave his report, the whole town cried out loud.

14 Eli asked, “Why are they making all that noise?” The messenger ran over to Eli and told him the news.

Eli heard the crying and asked, “What's all this noise?” The man rushed over to Eli and told him what had happened.

15 At that time, Eli was 98 years old, and he was blind.

Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were fixed because he couldn't see.

16 The messenger said to Eli, “I have just come from where the armies were fighting. I left there earlier today.” Eli asked, “What happened?”

“I've just come from the battle,” the man said. “I ran away from it today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked.

17 The man replied, “The Philistines defeated our Israeli army. They killed thousands of our soldiers, and the others ran away. The Philistines killed your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. They also captured God’s sacred chest.”

“Israel ran away from the Philistines—we were badly defeated,” the messenger replied. “Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed, and the Ark of God has been captured.”

18 Eli was very old, and he was very fat; and when he heard what had happened to the sacred chest, he fell backward from his chair beside the town gate. His neck was broken and he died. He had led the Israeli people for 40 years before he died.

As soon as the Ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the town gate. Since he was old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. Eli had been Israel's leader for forty years.

19 The wife/widow of Eli’s son Phinehas was pregnant, and it was almost time for her to give birth to her baby. When she heard that God’s sacred chest had been captured and that her husband and her father-in-law were dead, her labor pains suddenly began. She quickly gave birth to a boy.

His daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was pregnant and about to give birth. 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 her labor pains were too strong.

20 The women who were helping her tried to encourage her by saying to her, “You have given birth to a son!” But she did not pay any attention [DOU] to what they said.

Just before she died, the women caring for her said, “Don't give up—you have given birth to a son!” But she didn't answer or give any response.

21 She named the boy Ichabod, which means ‘no glory’, because she said, “[God’s] glory has departed from Israel.” She said that because God’s sacred chest had been captured and because her husband and her father-in-law had died.

She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has left Israel,” because Ark of God had been captured, and her father-in-law and her husband had died.

22 She said, “[God’s] glory has left Israel, because God’s sacred chest has been captured!” And then she died.

She said, “The glory has left Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”