1 Samuel 3-4

21st Century King James Version

3 And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

² And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was lying down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim so that he could not see,

³ and ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, and Samuel was lying down to sleep,

⁴ that the Lord called Samuel; and he answered, “Here am I.”

⁵ And he ran unto Eli and said, “Here am I, for thou called me.” And he said, “I called not; lie down again.” And he went and lay down.

⁶ And the Lord called yet again, “Samuel.” And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here am I, for thou didst call me.” And he answered, “I called not, my son; lie down again.”

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.

⁸ And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here am I, for thou didst call me.” And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.

⁹ Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He call thee, that thou shalt say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ And the Lord came and stood, and called as at other times, “Samuel, Samuel.” Then Samuel answered, “Speak, for Thy servant heareth.”

¹¹ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of every one who heareth it shall tingle.

¹² In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house. When I begin, I will also make an end;

¹³ for I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth, because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.

¹⁴ And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering, for ever.”

¹⁵ And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision.

¹⁶ Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he answered, “Here am I.”

¹⁷ And he said, “What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me. God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any word from me of all the things that He said unto thee.”

¹⁸ And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let Him do what seemeth to Him good.”

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 even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.

²¹ And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

4 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched camp beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.

² And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel; and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines, and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.

³ And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.”

⁴ So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵ And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.

⁶ And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” And they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp.

⁷ And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, “Woe unto us! For there hath not been such a thing heretofore.

⁸ Woe unto us! Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.

⁹ Be strong, and acquit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Acquit yourselves like men, and fight!”

¹⁰ And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent; and there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.

¹¹ And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

¹² And there ran a man of Benjamin from the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent and with earth upon his head.

¹³ And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out.

¹⁴ And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, “What meaneth the noise of this tumult?” And the man came in hastily and told Eli.

¹⁵ Now Eli was ninety and eight years old, and his eyes were dim so that he could not see.

¹⁶ And the man said unto Eli, “I am he that came from the army, and I fled today from the army.” And he said, “What is done there, my son?”

¹⁷ And the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people; and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.”

¹⁸ And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck broke and he died; for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹ And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, soon to be delivered. And when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed, for her pains came upon her.

²⁰ And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said unto her, “Fear not, for thou hast borne a son.” But she answered not, neither did she regard it.

²¹ And she named the child Ichabod [that is, Where is the glory?], saying, “The glory has departed from Israel”—because the ark of God was taken 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 is taken.”