1የሳሙኤልም ቃል ወደ እስራኤል ሁሉ ደረሰ።
ታቦቱ በፍልስጥኤማውያን ተማረከ
በዚያ ዘመን እስራኤላውያን ፍልስጥኤማውያንን ሊወጉ ወጡ፤ እስራኤላውያን በአቤንኤዘር፣ ፍልስጥኤማውያን ደግሞ በአፌቅ ሰፈሩ። 2ፍልስጥኤማውያን እስራኤልን ለመግጠም ሰራዊታቸውን አሰለፉ፤ ጦርነቱ እንደ ተፋፋመም፣ እስራኤላውያን በፍልስጥኤማውያን ተሸነፉ፤ በጦርነቱም ላይ አራት ሺሕ ያህል እስራኤላውያን ተገደሉ። 3ሰራዊቱ ወደ ሰፈር በተመለሰ ጊዜ የእስራኤል አለቆች፣ “ዛሬ እግዚአብሔር በፍልስጥኤማውያን እንድንሸነፍ ያደረገን ለምንድን ነው? አብሮን እንዲወጣ፣ ከጠላቶቻችንም እጅ እንዲያድነን የእግዚአብሔርን የኪዳኑን ታቦት ከሴሎ እናምጣ” አሉ።
4ስለዚህ ሕዝቡ ሰዎችን ወደ ሴሎ ልከው፣ በኪሩቤል መካከል በዙፋኑ ላይ የተቀመጠውን የሰራዊት ጌታ የእግዚአብሔርን የኪዳን ታቦት አስመጡ፤ ሁለቱ የዔሊ ልጆች አፍኒንና ፊንሐስ ከኪዳኑ ታቦት ጋር በዚያ ነበሩ።
5የእግዚአብሔር የኪዳኑ ታቦት ወደ ሰፈር በገባ ጊዜ፣ ምድሪቱ እስክትናወጥ ድረስ እስራኤላውያን ሁሉ ታላቅ የደስታ ጩኸት አሰሙ። 6ፍልስጥኤማውያንም ይህን ታላቅ ጩኸት ሲሰሙ፣ “በዕብራውያን ሰፈር የምንሰማው ይህ ሁሉ ጩኸት ምንድን ነው?” ሲሉ ጠየቁ።
የእግዚአብሔር ታቦት ወደ ሰፈር መምጣቱን በተረዱ ጊዜ፤ 7ፍልስጥኤማውያንም ፈርተው እንዲህ አሉ፤ “አምላክ ወደ ሰፈሩ መጥቷል፤ ወዮልን! እንዲህ ዐይነት ነገር ገጥሞን አያውቅም። 8ወዮልን! ከእነዚህ ኀያላን አማልክት እጅ ማን ያድነናል? ግብፃውያንን በምድረ በዳ በልዩ ልዩ መቅሠፍት የመቱ እነዚሁ አማልክት ናቸው፤ 9ፍልስጥኤማውያን ሆይ፤ በርቱ ወንድነታችሁም ይታይ፤ አለዚያ ባሪያ እንዳደረጋችኋቸው ሁሉ፣ ዕብራውያን እናንተን መልሰው ባሪያ ያደርጓችኋል። ወንድነታችሁ ይታይ፤ ተዋጉ!”
10ስለዚህ ፍልስጥኤማውያን ተዋጉ፤ እስራኤላውያንም ስለ ተሸነፉ እያንዳንዱ ወደየድንኳኑ ሸሸ። ታላቅ ዕልቂት ሆነ፤ ከእስራኤልም ሠላሳ ሺሕ እግረኛ ወታደሮች ወደቁ። 11የእግዚአብሔር ታቦት ተማረከ፤ ሁለቱም የዔሊ ልጆች አፍኒንና ፊንሐስ ተገደሉ።
የዔሊ መሞት
12በዚያች ዕለት አንድ ብንያማዊ ልብሱን ቀዶ፣ በራሱም ላይ ትቢያ ነስንሶ፣ ከጦሩ ሜዳ እየበረረ ወደ ሴሎ መጣ። 13እዚያ እንደ ደረሰም፣ ዔሊ ስለ እግዚአብሔር ታቦት ልቡ ስለ ተጨነቀ፣ በመንገድ ዳር ወንበሩ ላይ ተቀምጦ ይጠባበቅ ነበር። ሰውየውም ወደ ከተማው ገብቶ የሆነውን ሁሉ ባወራ ጊዜ፣ ከተማው ሁሉ በጩኸት ተናወጠ።
14ዔሊም ጩኸቱን በሰማ ጊዜ፣ “የምን ጩኸት ነው?” ሲል ጠየቀ።
ሰውየውም ፈጥኖ መጣና ለዔሊ ነገረው፤ 15ዔሊ የዘጠና ስምንት ዓመት ሽማግሌ ስለ ነበር ዐይኖቹ ደክመው ማየት ተስኗቸው ነበር። 16ሰውየውም ዔሊን፣ “ከጦሩ ሜዳ ገና አሁን መምጣቴ ነው፤ ከጦርነቱ አምልጬ የወጣሁትም ዛሬውኑ ነው” ብሎ ነገረው።
ዔሊም፣ “ልጄ ሆይ፤ ታዲያ እንዴት ሆነ?” ሲል ጠየቀ።
17ወሬውን ያመጣውም ሰው፣ “እስራኤል ከፍልስጥኤማውያን ፊት ሸሹ፤ ሰራዊቱም ከፍተኛ ዕልቂት ደርሶበታል፤ እንዲሁም ሁለቱ ልጆችህ አፍኒንና ፊንሐስ ሞተዋል፤ የእግዚአብሔርም የኪዳኑ ታቦት ተማርኳል” ብሎ መለሰለት።
18ሰውየው ስለ እግዚአብሔር ታቦት በተናገረ ጊዜ፣ ዔሊ በቅጥሩ በር አጠገብ ከተቀመጠበት ወንበር ላይ በጀርባው ወደቀ፤ እርሱም ያረጀና ሰውነቱም የሚከብድ ስለ ነበር፣ ዐንገቱ ተሰብሮ ሞተ። እርሱም ለአርባ ዓመት በእስራኤል ላይ ፈራጅ4፥18 ወይም እስራኤል መርቶ ነበር ነበር።
19በዚያን ጊዜ ምራቱ የፊንሐስ ሚስት፣ ነፍሰ ጡር ነበረች፤ የምትወልድበትም ጊዜ ተቃርቦ ነበር፣ የእግዚአብሔርን ታቦት መማረክ፣ የዐማቷንና የባሏንም መሞት በሰማች ጊዜ ምጡ ስለ ጠናባት ተንበርክካ ወለደች። 20ለመሞትም በምታጣጥርበት ጊዜ፣ በአጠገቧ የነበሩት ሴቶች፣ “አይዞሽ፤ ወንድ ልጅ ወልደሻልና በርቺ” አሏት። እርሷ ግን መልስ አልሰጠችም፤ ልብ ብላም አላዳመጠችም።
21የእግዚአብሔር ታቦት ስለ ተማረከ፣ ዐማቷና ባሏም ስለ ሞቱ፣ “ክብር ከእስራኤል ተለይቷል” ስትል የሕፃኑን ስም ኢካቦድ4፥21 ኢካቦድ ማለት ክብር የለም ማለት ነው። አለችው። 22ከዚያም፣ “የእግዚአብሔር ታቦት ተማርኳልና ክብር ከእስራኤል ተለይቷል” አለች።
1And Samuel gave those messages to all the Israelites.
The Philistines Capture the Ark
The Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer. The Philistines camped at Aphek. 2The Philistines brought their forces together to fight against Israel. As the fighting spread, the Israelites lost the battle to the Philistines. The Philistines killed about 4,000 of them on the field of battle. 3The rest of the Israelite soldiers returned to camp. Then the elders asked them, “Why did the Lord let the Philistines win the battle over us today? Let’s bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh. Let’s take it with us. Then the Lord will save us from the power of our enemies.”
4So the people sent men to Shiloh. They brought back the ark of the Lord’s covenant law. He sits there on his throne between the cherubim. The Lord is the one who rules over all. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of God’s covenant law. The ark was in Shiloh.
5The ark of the Lord’s covenant law was brought into the camp. Then all the Israelites shouted so loudly that the ground shook. 6The Philistines heard the noise. They asked, “What’s all that shouting about in the Hebrew camp?”
Then the Philistines found out that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp. 7So they were afraid. “A god has come into their camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has ever happened before. 8How terrible it will be for us! Who will save us from the power of these mighty gods? They struck down the people of Egypt in the desert. They sent all kinds of plagues on them. 9Philistines, be strong! Fight like men! If you don’t, you will come under the control of the Hebrews. You will become their slaves, just as they have been your slaves. Fight like men!”
10So the Philistines fought. The Israelites lost the battle, and every man ran back to his tent. A large number of them were killed. Israel lost 30,000 soldiers who were on foot. 11The ark of God was captured. And Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phinehas died.
Eli Dies
12That same day a man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the front lines of the battle. He went to Shiloh. His clothes were torn. He had dust on his head. 13When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair. He was by the side of the road. He was watching because his heart was really concerned about the ark of God. The man entered the town and told everyone what had happened. Then the whole town cried out.
14Eli heard the people crying out. He asked, “What’s the meaning of all this noise?”
The man hurried over to Eli. 15Eli was 98 years old. His eyes were so bad he couldn’t see. 16The man told Eli, “I’ve just come from the front lines of the battle. I just ran away from there today.”
Eli asked, “What happened, son?”
17The man who brought the news replied, “Israel ran away from the Philistines. Large numbers of men in the army were wounded or killed. Your two sons Hophni and Phinehas are also dead. And the ark of God has been captured.”
18When the man spoke about the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair. He had been sitting by the side of the gate. When he fell, he broke his neck and died. He was old and fat. He had led Israel for 40 years.
19The wife of Phinehas was pregnant. She was Eli’s daughter-in-law. It was near the time for her baby to be born. She heard the news that the ark of God had been captured. She heard that her father-in-law and her husband were dead. So she went into labor and had her baby. Her pain was more than she could bear. 20As she was dying, the women helping her spoke up. They said, “Don’t be afraid. You have had a son.” But she didn’t reply. She didn’t pay any attention.
21She named the boy Ichabod. She said, “The God of glory has left Israel.” She said it because the ark of God had been captured. She also said it because her father-in-law and her husband had died. 22She said, “The God of glory has left Israel.” She said it because the ark of God had been captured.
