14. Eli heard the crying and asked, “What’s all this noise?”The Benjaminite ran to Eli and told him what had happened.
15. Eli was now 98 years old, and he was blind.
16. The Benjaminite told him, “I have come from the battle. I ran all the way here today.”Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”
17. The Benjaminite answered, “Israel ran away from the Philistines. The Israelite army has lost many soldiers. Your two sons are both dead. And the Philistines have taken the Ark of the Covenant of God.”
18. When he mentioned the Ark of the Covenant of God, Eli fell backward off his chair. He fell beside the gate and broke his neck, because he was old and fat. And Eli died. He had led Israel for 40 years.
19. Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant. It was nearly time for her baby to be born. She heard the news that the Ark of the Covenant of God had been taken. She heard also that Eli, her father-in-law, and Phinehas, her husband, were both dead. So she began to give birth to her child. The child was born, but the mother had much trouble in giving birth.
20. As she was dying, the women who helped her give birth said, “Don’t worry! You’ve given birth to a son!” But she did not answer or pay attention. She named the baby Ichabod.
21. She named him Ichabod and said, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She said this because the Ark of the Covenant of God had been taken. It was also because her father-in-law and husband were dead.