All the people of Israel living in the valley saw that their own army had run away. They saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistine people came into the towns the people of Israel had left. And the Philistine people lived in those towns.
When the Benjamite man mentioned God’s Holy Box, [49] Eli fell backward off his chair near the gate and broke his neck. Eli was old and fat, so he died. Eli had led Israel for 20 years. [50]