1st Shamu'AL (1 Samuel) — 4

The Philistines Capture the Ark

1 And Shamu'AL’s word came to all Yashar'AL. Now the Yasharalym went out to fight against the Philistines. The Yasharalym camped at Abanazar, and the Philistines at Aphak. 

2 The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Yashar'AL, and as the battle spread, Yashar'AL was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. 

3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Yashar'AL asked, “Why did  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s covenant from Shiluh, so that 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

4 So the people sent men to Shiluh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH Tsaba'ut, who is enthroned between the charubim. And Ali’s two sons, Huphni and Phinahas, were there with the ark of the covenant of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH.

5 When the ark of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH’s covenant came into the camp, all Yashar'AL raised such a great shout that the ground shook. 

6 Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Abarym (Hebrew) camp?” When they learned that the ark of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH had come into the camp, 

7 the Philistines were afraid. “A Super power has come into the camp,” they said. “Oh no! Nothing like this has happened before. 

8 We are doomed! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty deities? They are the Deities who struck the Mitzraym with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 

9 Be strong, Philistines! Be men, or you will be subject to the Abarym (Hebrews), as they have been to you. Be men, and fight!”

10 So the Philistines fought, and the Yasharalym were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Yashar'AL lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 

11 The ark of 𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH was captured, and Ali’s two sons, Huphni and Phinahas, died.

Death of Ali the Kuhan 

12 That same day a Banyamyn ran from the battle line and went to Shiluh with his clothes torn and dust on his head. 

13 When he arrived, there was Ali sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of  𐤀𐤋𐤅𐤄_ALUAH. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, there was a loud cry in the whole town.

14 Ali heard the outcry and asked, “What is the meaning of this uproar?” The man hurried over to Ali, 

15 who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes had failed so that he could not see. 

16 He told Ali, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.” Ali asked, “What happened, my son?”

17 The man who brought the news replied, Yashar'AL fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Huphni and Phinahas, are dead, and the ark of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has been captured.”

18 When he mentioned the ark of  𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH, Ali fell backward 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 led Yashar'AL forty years.

19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinahas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. 

20 As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Do not despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.

21 She named the boy Ichabud, saying, “The Kabad has departed from Yashar'AL because of the capture of the ark of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH  and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 

22 She said, “The Kabad has departed from Yashar'AL, for the ark of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄_YAHUAH has been captured.”