Therefore I swore an oath to the house of Eli, ‘The sin of the house of Eli can never be forgiven by sacrifice or by grain offering.’”p>

Then the men of Israel left Mizpah and chased the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth Car.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">A man of God came to Eli and said to him, &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8216;Did I not plainly<n id="1" /> reveal myself to your ancestor&#8217;s<n id="2" /> house when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharaoh?

I chose your ancestor<n id="1" /> from all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifice on my altar, to burn incense, and to bear the ephod before me. I gave to your ancestor&#8217;s house all the fire offerings made by the Israelites.