1 Samuel 4:16-18

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition

¹⁶ The man said to Eli, ‘I have just come from the battle; I fled from the battle today.’ He said, ‘How did it go, my son?’ ¹⁷ The messenger replied, ‘Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great slaughter among the troops; your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.’ ¹⁸ When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli^[a] fell over backwards from his seat by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.