12
One of the soldiers, a man from Binyamin, ran and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and earth on his head [as a sign of mourning].
13
As he arrived, 'Eli was sitting on his seat by the road, watching; because he was trembling with anxiety over the ark of God. When the man entered the city and told the news, the whole city began crying out.
14
On hearing the cries, 'Eli asked, "What does this uproar mean?" So the man hurried, came to 'Eli and told him.
15
'Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed, because he was blind.
16
The man said to 'Eli, "I'm the soldier that came; I escaped today from the battlefield." He asked, "How did things go, my son?"
17
The one who had come with the news answered, "Isra'el fled before the P'lishtim, and there was a terrible slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hofni and Pinchas, also are dead; and the ark of God was captured.
18
As soon as he mentioned what had happened to the ark of God, 'Eli fell backward off his seat next to the gate, broke his neck and died; for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Isra'el forty years.
19
His daughter-in-law, Pinchas's wife, was pregnant and near delivery-time. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into abnormal labor, bent over and gave birth.
20
As she was dying, the women standing by her said to her, "Don't be afraid, because you have given birth to a son." But she didn't answer or show any sign of recognition.
21
She named the child I-Khavod [without glory], saying, "The glory has departed from Isra'el"; because the ark of God had been captured, and because of her father-in-law and husband.
22
She said, "The glory of Isra'el has gone into exile, because the ark of God has been captured."