Study Desk

Now the people went to Bethel and sat in the presence of God until evening, weeping loudly and bitterly.

"O Lord , God of Israel," they cried out, "why has this happened in Israel? Now one of our tribes is missing from Israel!"

But Ruth replied, "Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.

May the Lord , the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done."

"In that case," Eli said, "go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him."

No one is holy like the Lord ! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

"Stop acting so proud and haughty! Don't speak with such arrogance! For the Lord is a God who knows what you have done; he will judge your actions.

If someone sins against another person, God can mediate for the guilty party. But if someone sins against the Lord , who can intercede?" But Eli's sons wouldn't listen to their father, for the Lord was already planning to put them to death.

One day a man of God came to Eli and gave him this message from the Lord : "I revealed myself to your ancestors when they were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt.

"Therefore, the Lord , the God of Israel, says: I promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me.

The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God.

I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God and he hasn't disciplined them.

"What did the Lord say to you? Tell me everything. And may God strike you and even kill you if you hide anything from me!"

So they sent men to Shiloh to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of Heaven's Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim. Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were also there with the Ark of the Covenant of God.

The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed.

Eli was waiting beside the road to hear the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the Ark of God. When the messenger arrived and told what had happened, an outcry resounded throughout the town.

"Israel has been defeated by the Philistines," the messenger replied. "The people have been slaughtered, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were also killed. And the Ark of God has been captured."

When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and overweight. He had been Israel's judge for forty years.

Eli's daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near her time of delivery. When she heard that the Ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth.

She named the child Ichabod (which means "Where is the glory?"), for she said, "Israel's glory is gone." She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead.