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The Blue Letter Bible

1 Samuel 4 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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The Philistines Capture the Ark

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:1

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:1 - And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:2

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:2 - The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men on the field of battle.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:3

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:3 - And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that it[fn] may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:4

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:4 - So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:5

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:5 - As soon as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:6

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:6 - And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the LORD had come to the camp,

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:7

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:7 - the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:8

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:8 - Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:9

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:9 - Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:10

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:10 - So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:11

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:11 - And the ark of God was captured, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

The Death of Eli

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:12

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:12 - A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:13

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:13 - When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told the news, all the city cried out.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:14

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:14 - When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, “What is this uproar?” Then the man hurried and came and told Eli.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:15

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:15 - Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set so that he could not see.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:16

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:16 - And the man said to Eli, “I am he who has come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.” And he said, “How did it go, my son?”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:17

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:17 - He who brought the news answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great defeat among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:18

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:18 - As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:19

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:19 - Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, about to give birth. And when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed and gave birth, for her pains came upon her.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:20

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:20 - And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer or pay attention.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:21

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:21 - And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed[fn] from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 4:22

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 4:22 - And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
ESV Footnotes
Or he
Or gone into exile; also verse 22
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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1 Samuel Chapter 4 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras