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’s word came to all Israel.
The Philistines capture the ark
Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. 2The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. 3When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, ‘Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.’
4So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
5When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook. 6Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, ‘What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?’
When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, 7the Philistines were afraid. ‘A god has4:7 Or ‘Gods have (see Septuagint) come into the camp,’ they said. ‘Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. 8We’re doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!’
10So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
Death of Eli
12That same day a Benjaminite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh with his clothes torn and dust on his head. 13When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry.
14Eli heard the outcry and asked, ‘What is the meaning of this uproar?’
The man hurried over to Eli, 15who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see. 16He told Eli, ‘I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.’
Eli asked, ‘What happened, my son?’
17The man who brought the news replied, ‘Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.’
18When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backwards off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led4:18 Traditionally judged Israel for forty years.
19His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labour and gave birth, but was overcome by her labour pains. 20As she was dying, the women attending her said, ‘Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.’ But she did not respond or pay any attention.
21She named the boy Ichabod,4:21 Ichabod means no glory. saying, ‘The Glory has departed from Israel’ – because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 22She said, ‘The Glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.’
