1 Samuel 4:12

8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.

9 Take courage and be men, O Philistines! Otherwise, you will serve the Hebrews just as they served you. Now be men and fight!”

10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great—thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.

11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

12 That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

13 When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.

14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, “Why this commotion?” So the man hurried over and reported to Eli.

15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see.

16 “I have just come from the battle,” the man said to Eli. “I fled from there today.” “What happened, my son?” Eli asked.

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