4:1 And Dvar Shemuel (שׁמוּאל) came to all Yisrael. Now Yisrael went out against the Pelishtim to battle, and pitched beside Eben Haezer: and the Pelishtim pitched in Aphek.
4:2 And the Pelishtim put themselves in array against Yisrael: and when they joined battle, Yisrael was smitten before the Pelishtim : and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.
4:3 And when the people were come into the camp, the Zekenim Yisrael said, Wherefore has YEHOVAH (יהוה) smitten us to day before the Pelishtim ? Let us fetch the Ark of the covenant of YEHOVAH (יהוה) out of Shiloh to us, that, when it comes among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
4:4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the Ark of the covenant of YEHOVAH (יהוה) Tzva'ot, which dwells [between] the keruvim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Pinchas, [were] there with the Ark of the covenant of Elohim (אלהים).
4:5 And when the Ark of the covenant of YEHOVAH (יהוה) came into the camp, all Yisrael shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
4:6 And when the Pelishtim heard the noise of the shout, they said, What [meaneth] the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the Ark of YEHOVAH (יהוה) was come into the camp.
4:7 And the Pelishtim were afraid, for they said, Elohim (אלהים) is come into the camp. And they said, Woe to us! for there has not been such a thing heretofore.
4:8 Woe to us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Elohim (אלהים)s? these [are] the Elohim (אלהים)s that smote the Mitzrites with all the plagues in the wilderness.
4:9 Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Pelishtim , that ye be not avadim to the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.
4:10 And the Pelishtim fought, and Yisrael was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Yisrael thirty thousand footmen.
4:11 And the Ark of Elohim (אלהים) was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Pinchas, were slain.
4:12 And there ran a man of Benyamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head.
4:13 And when he came, Behold, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the Ark of Elohim (אלהים). And when the man came into the city, and told [it], all the city cried out.
4:14 And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What [meaneth] the noise of this tumult? And the man came in haveily, and told Eli.
4:15 Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.
4:16 And the man said to Eli, I [am] he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son?
4:17 And the messenger answered and said, Yisrael is fled before the Pelishtim , and there has been also a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Pinchas, are dead, and the Ark of Elohim (אלהים) is taken.
4:18 And it came to pass, when he made mention of the Ark of Elohim (אלהים), that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Yisrael forty years.
4:19 And his daughter in law, Pinchas' wife, was with child, [near] to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the Ark of Elohim (אלהים) was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her.
4:20 And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said to her, Fear not; for you have born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard [it].
4:21 And she named the child I-khavod, saying, The glory is departed from Yisrael: because the Ark of Elohim (אלהים) was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.
4:22 And she said, The glory is departed from Yisrael: for the Ark of Elohim (אלהים) is taken.