1 Samuel 4:17-19

New English Translation

¹⁷ The messenger replied, “Israel has fled from^[a] the Philistines! The army has suffered a great defeat! Your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead! The ark of God has been captured!”

¹⁸ When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli^[b] fell backward from his chair beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he^[c] was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.

¹⁹ His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she doubled over and gave birth. But her labor pains were too much for her.