| 1 | Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. |
| 2 | At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place; |
| 3 | the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down within the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. |
| 4 | Then the LORD called, "Samuel! Samuel!" and he said, "Here I am!" |
| 5 | and ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call; lie down again." So he went and lay down. |
| 6 | And the LORD called again, "Samuel!" And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call, my son; lie down again." |
| 7 | Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. |
| 8 | And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. |
| 9 | Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, `Speak, LORD, for thy servant hears.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. |
| 10 | And the LORD came and stood forth, calling as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for thy servant hears." |
| 11 | Then the LORD said to Samuel, "Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel, at which the two ears of every one that hears it will tingle. |
| 12 | On that day I will fulfil against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. |
| 13 | And I tell him that I am about to punish his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. |
| 14 | Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering for ever." |
| 15 | Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. |
| 16 | But Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son." And he said, "Here I am." |
| 17 | And Eli said, "What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you." |
| 18 | So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, "It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him." |
| 19 | And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. |
| 20 | And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the LORD. |
| 21 | And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD. |
| 1 | And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines; they encamped at Ebene'zer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. |
| 2 | The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who slew about four thousand men on the field of battle. |
| 3 | And when the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the LORD put us to rout today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies." |
| 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 Phin'ehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. |
| 5 | When the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. |
| 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, |
| 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. |
| 8 | Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. |
| 9 | Take courage, and acquit yourselves like men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; acquit yourselves like men and fight." |
| 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 there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers. |
| 11 | And the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phin'ehas, were slain. |
| 12 | A man of Benjamin ran from the battle line, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes rent and with earth upon his head. |
| 13 | When he arrived, Eli was sitting upon 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. |
| 14 | When Eli heard the sound of the outcry, he said, "What is this uproar?" Then the man hastened and came and told Eli. |
| 15 | Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes were set, so that he could not see. |
| 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?" |
| 17 | He who brought the tidings answered and said, "Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great slaughter among the people; your two sons also, Hophni and Phin'ehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured." |
| 18 | When 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 he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. |
| 19 | Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phin'ehas, was with child, about to give birth. And when she heard the tidings 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. |
| 20 | And about the time of her death the women attending her said to her, "Fear not, for you have borne a son." But she did not answer or give heed. |
| 21 | And she named the child Ich'abod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel!" because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. |
| 22 | And she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured." |
| 1 | When the Philistines captured the ark of God, they carried it from Ebene'zer to Ashdod; |
| 2 | then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. |
| 3 | And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place. |
| 4 | But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off upon the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. |
| 5 | This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. |
| 6 | The hand of the LORD was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. |
| 7 | And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us; for his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god." |
| 8 | So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" They answered, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath." So they brought the ark of the God of Israel there. |
| 9 | But after they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city, causing a very great panic, and he afflicted the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out upon them. |
| 10 | So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. But when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, "They have brought around to us the ark of the God of Israel to slay us and our people." |
| 11 | They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not slay us and our people." For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there; |
| 12 | the men who did not die were stricken with tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven. |
