1 Samuel 7

7Then the men of ^aKirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of ^bAbinadab on the hill, and ^cconsecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord.

Samuel Judges Israel

²So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

³Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you ^dreturn to the Lord with all your hearts, then ^eput away the foreign gods and the ^fAshtoreths ¹from among you, and ^gprepare your hearts for the Lord, and ^hserve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴So the children of Israel put away the ⁱBaals and the ²Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.

⁵And Samuel said, ^j“Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and ^kI will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶So they gathered together at Mizpah, ^ldrew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they ^mfasted that day, and said there, ⁿ“We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸So the children of Israel said to Samuel, ^o“Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”

⁹And Samuel took a ^psuckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then ^qSamuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. ¹⁰Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. ^rBut the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. ¹¹And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and ³drove them back as far as below Beth Car. ¹²Then Samuel ^stook a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name ⁴Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

^13tSo the Philistines were subdued, and they ^udid not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. ¹⁴Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵And Samuel ^vjudged Israel all the days of his life. ¹⁶He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. ¹⁷But ^whe always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he ^xbuilt an altar to the Lord.