1 Samuel 7

7So the men of Kiriath-jearim came for the ark of the Lord and took it to Abinadab’s house on the hill. ^sThey consecrated his son Eleazar to take care of it.

Victory at Mizpah

²Time went by until 20 years had passed since the ark had been taken to Kiriath-jearim. Then the whole house of Israel began to seek the Lord. ³Samuel told them, “If you ^tare returning to the Lord ^uwith all your heart, ^vget rid of the foreign gods ^wand the Ashtoreths that are among you, dedicate yourselves to ^xthe Lord, and worship only Him. ^yThen He will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴So the Israelites removed the Baals and the Ashtoreths ^zand only worshiped the Lord.

⁵Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, ^aand I will pray to the Lord on your behalf.” ^b6When they gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out in the Lord’s presence. ^cThey fasted that day, ^dand there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” ^eAnd Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.

⁷When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, their rulers marched up toward Israel. When the Israelites heard about it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. ⁸The Israelites said to Samuel, “Don’t stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, so that He will save us from the hand of the Philistines.”

⁹Then Samuel took a young lamb ^fand offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on behalf of Israel, and the Lord answered him. ^g10Samuel was offering the burnt offering as the Philistines drew near to fight against Israel. The Lord thundered loudly ^hagainst the Philistines that day and threw them into such confusion that they fled before Israel. ⁱ¹¹Then the men of Israel charged out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines striking them down all the way to a place below Beth-car.

¹²Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright ^jbetween Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, ^kexplaining, “The Lord has helped us to this point.” ¹³So the Philistines were subdued ^land ^mdid not invade Israel’s territory again. ⁿThe Lord’s hand was against the Philistines all of Samuel’s life. ¹⁴The cities from Ekron to Gath, which they had taken from Israel, were restored; Israel even rescued their surrounding territories from Philistine control. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵Samuel judged Israel throughout his life. ^o16Every year he would go on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah and would judge Israel at all these locations. ¹⁷Then he would return to Ramah ^pbecause his home was there, he judged Israel there, and he built an altar to the Lord there.