When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward from his chair beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.
So I reflected on all this, attempting to clear it all up. I concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God; whether a person will be loved or hated– no one knows what lies ahead.Everyone shares the same fate– the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the ceremonially clean and unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner; what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.
So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home. The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers fell in battle.The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed.
Where then is your king, that he may save you in all your cities? Where are your rulers for whom you asked, saying,“ Give me a king and princes”?I granted you a king in my anger, and I will take him away in my wrath!