1 Samuel 7
7
1So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and got the ark of the Lord. They brought it up to Abinadab’s house on the hill. They set his son Eleazar apart to guard the ark. 2The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim for a long time. It was there for a full 20 years.
Samuel Brings the Philistines Under Israel’s Control
Then all the Israelites turned back to the Lord. 3So Samuel spoke to all the Israelites. He said, “Do you really want to return to the Lord with all your hearts? If you do, get rid of your false gods. Get rid of your statues of female gods that are named Ashtoreth. Commit yourselves to the Lord. Serve him only. Then he will save you from the power of the Philistines.” 4So the Israelites put away their statues of gods that were named Baal. They put away their statues of female gods that were named Ashtoreth. They served the Lord only.
5Then Samuel said, “Gather all the Israelites together at Mizpah. I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6When the people had come together at Mizpah, they went to the well and got water. They poured it out in front of the Lord. On that day they didn’t eat any food. They admitted they had sinned. They said, “We’ve sinned against the Lord.” Samuel was serving as the leader of Israel at Mizpah.
7The Philistines heard that Israel had gathered together at Mizpah. So the Philistine rulers came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard about it, they were afraid. 8They said to Samuel, “Don’t stop crying out to the Lord our God to help us. Keep praying that he’ll save us from the power of the Philistines.” 9Then Samuel got a very young lamb. He sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord to help Israel. And the Lord answered his prayer.
10The Philistines came near to attack Israel. At that time Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering. But that day the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines. He threw them into such a panic that the Israelites were able to chase them away. 11The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah. They chased the Philistines all the way to a point below Beth Kar. They killed them all along the way.
12Then Samuel got a big stone. He set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer. He said, “The Lord has helped us every step of the way.”
13So the Philistines were brought under Israel’s control. The Philistines didn’t attack their territory again. The Lord used his power against the Philistines as long as Samuel lived. 14The Philistines had captured many towns between Ekron and Gath. But they had to give all of them back. Israel took back the territories near those towns from the control of the Philistines. During that time Israel and the Amorites were friendly toward each other.
15Samuel continued to lead Israel all the days of his life. 16From year to year he traveled from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah. He served Israel as judge in all those places. 17But he always went back to Ramah. That’s where his home was. He served Israel as judge there too. And he built an altar there to honor the Lord.
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1 Samuel 7: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
1 Samuel 7
7
1So the people of Kiriath-jearim came and took the Ark of the Lord. They put it in Abinadab's house on the hill. They dedicated his son Eleazar to take care of the Ark of the Lord. 2The Ark remained there in Kiriath-jearim from that day for a long time, in fact for twenty years. Everyone in Israel mourned and in repentance came back to the Lord.
3Then Samuel said to all of Israel, “If you sincerely wish to come back to the Lord, then get rid of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreth images you have, and commit yourselves to the Lord and only worship him, and he will save you from the Philistines.” 4The people of Israel got rid of their Baals and Ashtoreth images and worshiped only the Lord.
5Then Samuel said, “Have all the people of Israel gather at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.”
6Once they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted that day, and admitted, “We have sinned against the Lord.” Samuel became the leader#7:6. Literally “judge,” which was equivalent to “leader.” Also verse 15. of the Israelites at Mizpah.
7When the Philistines found out that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, their rulers led an attack on Israel. When the Israelites heard about this, they were terrified at what the Philistines might do. 8They told Samuel, “Don't stop pleading with the Lord our God for us so he can save us from the Philistines.” 9Samuel took a young lamb and presented it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out for help to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord responded.
10While Samuel was presenting the burnt offering, the Philistines approached to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered extremely loudly against the Philistines that day, which totally confused them, and they were defeated as Israel watched. 11Then the men of Israel ran out from Mizpah and chased them, killing them all the way to a place near Beth-car.
12After this Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen. He called it Ebenezer, saying, “The Lord helped us right up to here!”
13In this way the Philistines were kept under control and did not invade Israel again. During Samuel's lifetime the Lord used his power against the Philistines. 14The towns the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, all the way from Ekron to Gath, and Israel also liberated the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.
15Samuel was Israel's leader for the rest of his life. 16Every year he went around, going to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. At all these places he ruled Israel. 17Then he would return to Ramah because that was where he lived. He ruled Israel from there, and also built an altar to the Lord.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com