CHAPTER 7
Then the men
of Kiriath-jearim
came
for the ark
of the LORD
and took
it
into
Abinadab's
house
on the hill.
And
they consecrated
his son
Eleazar
to guard
the ark
of the LORD.
And from that day
a long
time
passed,
twenty
years
in all,
as the ark
remained
at Kiriath-jearim.
And all
the house
of Israel
mourned
and sought after
the LORD.
Then Samuel
said
to all
the house
of Israel,
“If
you
are returning
to
the LORD
with all
your hearts,
then rid yourselves of
the foreign
gods
and Ashtoreths
among you,
prepare
your hearts
for
the LORD,
and serve Him
only.
And He will deliver
you
from the hand
of the Philistines."
When they had gathered
at Mizpah,
they drew
water
and poured it out
before
the LORD.
On that
day
they fasted,
and there
they confessed,
“We have sinned
against the LORD.”
And Samuel
judged
the Israelites
at Mizpah.
When the Philistines
heard
that
the Israelites
had gathered
at Mizpah,
their
rulers
marched up
toward
Israel.
And when the Israelites
learned of this,
they feared
the Philistines
and
said
to
Samuel,
“Do not
stop
crying out
to
the LORD
our God
for us,
so that He will deliver us
from the hand
of the Philistines.”
Then Samuel
took
a
suckling
lamb
and 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.
As the Philistines
drew near
to fight
against Israel,
Samuel
was
sacrificing
the burnt offering.
But that
day
the LORD
thundered
loudly
against
the Philistines
and threw them into such confusion
that they fled
before
Israel.
Then the men
of Israel
charged out
of
Mizpah
and pursued
the Philistines,
striking them down
all the way to
an area below
Beth-car.
Afterward, Samuel
took
a
stone
and set it up
between
Mizpah
and Shen.
He named
it Ebenezer,
saying,
“Thus
far
the LORD
has helped us.”
So the Philistines
were subdued
and did not
invade
the territory
of Israel
again.
And the hand
of the LORD
was
against the Philistines
all
the days
of Samuel.
The cities
from Ekron
to
Gath,
which
the Philistines
had taken,
were restored
to Israel,
who
also delivered
the surrounding territory
from the hand
of the Philistines.
And there was
peace
between
the Israelites
and the Amorites.
Every year
he would go
on a circuit
from
Bethel
to Gilgal
to Mizpah,
judging
Israel
in
all
these
places.
Then he would return
to Ramah
because
his home
was there,
and there
he judged
Israel
and built
an altar
to the LORD.