1 Samuel 4:16-18

The Voice

Benjaminite Messenger: ¹⁶I have just come from the battle. I fled the front lines to escape with my life.

Eli: How did the battle go, my son?

Benjaminite Messenger: ¹⁷Many of the people were slaughtered, and Israel has fled from the Philistines. Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the covenant chest of the True God is captured.

¹⁸When he heard this news about the covenant chest of the True God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate, broke his neck, and died, for he was very old and heavyset.

He was a leader over Israel for 40 years.

Read full chapter