1 SamuelChapter 7
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1So the men of Kiriath-jearim came and got the ark of the LORD. They took it to Abinadab's house on the hill. They set apart his son Eleazar as holy to guard the ark of the LORD. 2The ark stayed at Kiriath-jearim a long time, twenty years in all. And all the people of Israel mourned and longed for the LORD. 3Then Samuel spoke to all the people of Israel. He said, "If you are coming back to the LORD with all your heart, then get rid of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths among you. Set your hearts on the LORD and serve only him. Then he will save you from the power of the Philistines."a 4So the Israelites got rid of their Baals and Ashtoreths. They served only the LORD. 5Then Samuel said, "Bring all Israel together at Mizpah. I will pray to the LORD for you." 6So they gathered at Mizpah. They drew water and poured it out in front of the LORD. That day they went without food. There they confessed, "We have sinned against the LORD." And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah. 7The Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah. So their rulers marched up to attack Israel. When the Israelites heard about it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8They said to Samuel, "Don't stop crying out to the LORD our God for us! Ask him to save us from the power of the Philistines." 9Then Samuel took a young lamb that was still nursing. He offered it whole to the LORD as a burnt offering. He cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him. 10While Samuel was offering the burnt offering, the Philistines came near to attack Israel. But that day the LORD thundered loudly against the Philistines. He threw them into such a panic that they ran away from Israel. 11Then the men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah. They chased the Philistines and struck them down along the way. They went all the way to a place below Beth-car. 12Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer. He said, "The LORD has helped us all the way to here."b 13So the Philistines were beaten. They stopped coming into Israel's land. The LORD's hand was against the Philistines as long as Samuel lived. 14The Philistines had taken the towns from Ekron to Gath. Now those towns were given back to Israel. Israel also freed the land around them from the Philistines. And there was peace between the Israelites and the Amorites. 15Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16Every year he traveled in a circle from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah. He judged Israel in all these places. 17Then he would go back to Ramah, because his home was there. He judged Israel there too. And he built an altar to the LORD there.