3 Young Samuel was in the service of the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; prophecy was not widespread. 2One day, Eli was asleep in his usual place; his eyes had begun to fail and he could barely see. 3The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD where the Ark of God was. 4The LORD called out to Samuel, and he answered, “I’m coming.” 5He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But he replied, “I didn’t call you; go back to sleep.” So he went back and lay down. 6Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” Samuel rose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But he replied, “I didn’t call, my son; go back to sleep.”— 7Now Samuel had not yet experienced the LORD; the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.—8The LORD called Samuel again, a third time, and he rose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the boy. 9And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down. If you are called again, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.”’ And Samuel went to his place and lay down.
10The LORD came, and stood there, and He called as before: “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” 11The LORD said to Samuel: “I am going to do in Israel such a thing that both ears of anyone who hears about it will tingle. 12In that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I spoke concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13And I declare to him that I sentence his house to endless punish ment for the iniquity he knew about—how his sons committed sacrilege a-at will-a—and he did not rebuke them. 14Assuredly, I swear concerning the house of Eli that the iniquity of the house of Eli will never be expiated by sacrifice or offering.”
15Samuel lay there until morning; and then he opened the doors of the House of the LORD. Samuel was afraid to report the vision to Eli, 16but Eli summoned Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son”; and he answered, “Here,” 17And [Eli] asked, “What did He say to you? Keep nothing from me. b-Thus and more may God do to you-b if you keep from me a single word of all that He said to you!” 18Samuel then told him everything, withholding nothing from him. And [Eli] said, “He is the LORD; He will do what He deems right.”
19Samuel grew up and the LORD was with him: He did not leave any of Samuel’sc predictions unfulfilled. 20All Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was trustworthy as a prophet of the LORD. 21And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh: the LORD revealed Himself to
4 Samuel at Shiloh with the word of the LORD; 1and Samuel’s word went forth to all Israel.
aIsrael marched out to engage the Philistines in battle; they encamped near Eben-ezer, while the Philistines encamped at Aphek. 2The Philistines arrayed themselves against Israel; and when the battle was fought,b Israel was routed by the Philistines, who slew about four thousand men on the field of battle. 3When the [Israelite] troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the LORD put us to rout today before the Philistines? Let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from Shiloh; thus He will be present among us and will deliver us from the hands of our enemies.” 4So the troops sent men to Shiloh; there Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were in charge of the Ark of the Covenant of God, and they brought down from there the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD of Hosts Enthroned on the Cherubim.
5When the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD entered the camp, all Israel burst into a great shout, so that the earth resounded. 6The Philistines heard the noise of the shouting and they wondered, “Why is there such a loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” And when they learned that the Ark of the LORD had come to the camp, 7the Philistines were frightened; for they said, “God has come to the camp.” And they cried, “Woe to us! Nothing like this has ever happened before. 8Woe to us! Who will save us from the power of this mighty God? He is the same God who struck the Egyptians with every kind of plague in the wilderness! 9Brace yourselves and be men, O Philistines! Or you will become slaves to the Hebrews as they were slaves to you. Be men and fight!” 10The Philistines fought; Israel was routed, and they all fled to their homes. The defeat was very great, thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell there. 11The Ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
12A Benjaminite ran from the battlefield and reached Shiloh the same day; his clothes were rent and there was earth on his head.c 13When he arrived, he found Eli sitting on a seat, waiting beside the road—his heart trembling for the Ark of God. The man entered the city to spread the news, and the whole city broke out in a cry. 14And when Eli heard the sound of the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?” the man rushed over to tell Eli. 15Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; his eyes were fixed in a blind stare. 16The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battlefield; I have just fled from the battlefield.” [Eli] asked, “What happened, my son?” 17The bearer of the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines and the troops also suffered a great slaughter. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the Ark of God has been captured.” 18When he mentioned the Ark of God, [Eli] fell backward off the seat besideb the gate, broke his neck and died; for he was an old man and heavy. He had been a chieftain of Israel for forty years.
19His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child, about to give birth. When she heard the report that the Ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she was seized with labor pains, and she crouched down and gave birth. 20As she lay dying, the women attending her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” But she did not respond or pay heed. 21She named the boy Ichabod, meaning, “The glory has departed from Israel”—referring to the capture of the Ark of God and to [the death of] her father-in-law and her husband. 22“The glory is gone from Israel,” she said, “for the Ark of God has been captured.”
5 When the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they brought it from Eben-ezer to Ashdod. 2The Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon and they set it up beside Dagon. 3Early the next day, the Ashdodites found Dagon lying face down on the ground in front of the Ark of the LORD. They picked Dagon up and put him back in his place; 4but early the next morning, Dagon was again lying prone on the ground in front of the Ark of the LORD. The head and both hands of Dagon were cut off, lying on the threshold; only a-Dagon’s trunk was left intact.-a 5That is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and all who enter the temple of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod.
6The hand of the LORD lay heavy upon the Ashdodites, and He wrought havoc among them: He struck b-Ashdod and its territory-b with hemorrhoids. 7When the men of Ashdod saw how matters stood, they said, “The Ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand has dealt harshly with us and with our god Dagon.” 8They sent messengers and assembled all the lords of the Philistines and asked, “What
