1 Samuel 7–8

Chapter 7

Deliverance from the Philistines

¹And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord and ^abrought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord.

²From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

³Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “^aIf you return to the Lord with all your heart, ^bremove the foreign gods and the ^cAshtaroth from among you and ^ddirect your hearts to the Lord and ^eserve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”

⁴So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the Lord alone.

⁵Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to ^aMizpah and ^bI will pray to the Lord for you.”

⁶They gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and ^apoured it out before the Lord, and ^bfasted on that day and said there, “^cWe have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard it, ^athey were afraid of the Philistines.

⁸Then the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “^aDo not cease to cry to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”

⁹Samuel took ^aa suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel and ^bthe Lord answered him.

¹⁰Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But ^athe Lord thundered with a great ¹thunder on that day against the Philistines and ^bconfused them, so that they were ²routed before Israel.

¹¹The men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car.

¹²Then Samuel ^atook a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it ¹Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

^13aSo the Philistines were subdued and ^bthey did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

¹⁴The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and ^athe Amorites.

Samuel’s Ministry

¹⁵Now Samuel ^ajudged Israel all the days of his life.

¹⁶He used to go annually on circuit to ^aBethel and ^bGilgal and ^cMizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places.

¹⁷Then his return was to ^aRamah, for his house was there, and there he judged Israel; and he ^bbuilt there an altar to the Lord.

Chapter 8

Israel Demands a King

¹And it came about when Samuel was old that ^ahe appointed his sons judges over Israel.

²Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in ^aBeersheba.

³His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and ^atook bribes and perverted justice.

⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at ^aRamah;

⁵and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now ^aappoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”

⁶But the thing was ^1adispleasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And ^bSamuel prayed to the Lord.

⁷The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for ^athey have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.

⁸“Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also.

⁹“Now then, listen to their voice; ^ahowever, you shall solemnly ¹warn them and tell them of ^bthe ²procedure of the king who will reign over them.”

Warning concerning a King

¹⁰So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to ^athe people who had asked of him a king.

¹¹He said, “^aThis will be the ¹procedure of the king who will reign over you: ^bhe will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and ^cthey will run before his chariots.

¹²“^aHe will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to ¹do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

¹³“He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers.

¹⁴“^aHe will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants.

¹⁵“He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants.

¹⁶“He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and ¹use them for his work.

¹⁷“He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants.

¹⁸“Then ^ayou will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but ^bthe Lord will not answer you in that day.”

¹⁹Nevertheless, the people ^arefused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us,

^20athat we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, ^ahe repeated them in the Lord’s hearing.

²²The Lord said to Samuel, “^aListen to their voice and ¹appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”