4:1And it came about in those days, the Philistines came together for battle: and Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle, and pitched camp beside the Stone of Help. 4:1Now the Philistines came into Aphek, and drew up the battle-line against Israel. 4:2And the contest having been joined, Israel turned their backs to the Philistines: and there were slain in that contest, here and there through the fields, about four thousand men. 4:3And the people returned to the camp: and the elders by birth of Israel said: "Why has the Lord struck us today before the Philistines? 4:3Let us bring to us from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and let it come into the midst of us, to save us from the hand of our enemies."
4:4So the people sent to Shiloh, and they took from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts sitting upon the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli were with the ark of the covenant of God, Hophni and Phinehas. 4:5And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great clamour, and the earth resounded. 4:6And the Philistines heard the voice of the clamour, and said: "What is this voice of great clamour in the camp of the Hebrews?" 4:6And they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. 4:7And the Philistines were afraid, saying: "God has come into the camp."
4:7And they groaned, saying: "Woe to us: for there was not such exultation yesterday and the day before: woe to us. 4:8Who will save us from the hand of these lofty gods? 4:8These are the gods who struck Egypt with every plague in the desert. 4:9Be strengthened, and be men, Philistines, so that you may not serve the Hebrews, just as they too have served you: be strengthened, and make war." 4:10So the Philistines fought, and Israel was slain, and each one fled into his tent: and there was made a slaughter great beyond measure, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot-soldiers. 4:11And the ark of God was captured: the two sons of Eli also died, Hophni and Phinehas.
4:12And a man of Benjamin, running from the battle-line, came to Shiloh on that day, his garment torn, and sprinkled with dust on his head. 4:13And when he had come, Eli was sitting upon a seat facing the road, watching. 4:13For his heart was trembling for the ark of God. 4:13And that man, after he had gone in, announced it to the city: and the whole city wailed. 4:14And Eli heard the sound of the clamour, and said: "What is this sound of this uproar?" 4:14But he hurried, and came, and announced it to Eli. 4:15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes had grown dim, and he could not see.
4:16And he said to Eli: "I am he who have come from the battle, and I who fled from the battle-line today." 4:16To whom he said: "What has been done, my son?" 4:17And the one who was announcing it, answering: "Israel has fled," he says, "before the Philistines, and a great ruin has been made among the people: moreover also your two sons are dead, Hophni and Phinehas, and the ark of God has been captured." 4:18And when he had named the ark of God, he fell from the seat backwards beside the gate, and, his neck being broken, he died. 4:18For he was an old man and of great age: and he himself judged Israel forty years.
4:19And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, and near to giving birth: and the news having been heard that the ark of God had been captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she bowed herself and gave birth: for sudden pains had rushed upon her. 4:20And in the very moment of her death, the women who were standing around her said to her: "Do not fear, because you have borne a son." 4:20She did not answer them, nor take notice. 4:21And she called the boy Ichabod, saying: "Glory has been carried away from Israel, because the ark of God has been captured," and for her father-in-law and for her husband; 4:22and she said: "Glory has been carried away from Israel, because the ark of God had been captured."