1 Samuel 7

₁The men from the town of Kiriath-Jearim came and they took the covenant box of the Lord to the house of Abinadab. The house was on a hill and they consecrated Abinadab's son Eleazar to look after the covenant box of the Lord. ₂The covenant box of the Lord stayed in Kiriath-Jearim for a long time, for 20 years.

All the Israelites cried and mourned and asked the Lord to help them against the Philistines. ₃Samuel said to all the Israelites: ‘If you come back to the Lord with all your heart and you throw away the idols of the other nations and the Ashtaroth idols, then the Lord will save you from the Philistines. But then you must love the Lord only and serve only Him.’

₄The Israelites threw away the Baal and the Ashtaroth idols and they served only the Lord. ₅Samuel said: ‘You must call all the Israelites to come together at Mizpah, then I will pray to God for you.’

₆They all came together at Mizpah and they got water and poured it out as a drink-offering before the Lord. They fasted on that day and said: ‘We have sinned_against the Lord.’ Samuel was the leader of the Israelites at Mizpah. ₇When they told the Philistines that the Israelites had come together at Mizpah, the leaders of the Philistines came over to the Israelites. When they told the Israelites about this, they became afraid of the Philistines ₈and they said to Samuel: ‘Keep on praying to the Lord. Ask our God to help and to save us from the Philistines.’

₉Samuel took a young lamb that was still drinking milk from its mother, and he sacrificed the lamb. It was a burnt-offering for the Lord. Samuel cried before the Lord. He asked God to help the Israelites, and God answered him.

₁₀Samuel was busy sacrificing the burnt-offering for the Lord when the Philistines came to go to war_against the Israelites. That day the Lord sent very loud thunder against the Philistines and they were all afraid. They ran away and the Israelites won the war_against the Philistines. ₁₁The men of Israel went from Mizpah to follow_and_chase the Philistines past the town of Beth-Car. ₁₂Samuel took a stone and he put it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named the stone Ebenezer and said: ‘The Lord has helped us all.’

₁₃The Philistines lost the war and they did not come into Israel again. The Lord made the Philistines suffer for all the years that Samuel lived. ₁₄The Israelites took back the towns between Ekron and Gath that the Philistines had taken from them. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

₁₅Samuel was the leader of the Israelites for all the years that he lived. ₁₆Every year he went to the towns of Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah and he was the judge for the Israelites at all these places. ₁₇Then he went back to his home in Ramah, where he was also the judge. In Ramah he built an altar for the Lord.