1Sa 7 | NASB2020 | STEP | And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill , and they consecrated his son Eleazar to watch over the ark of the Lord .

1 Samuel 7

Israel Saved from the Philistines

1 And 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 they ^{▼▼Lit made holy; i.e., ordained}consecrated his son Eleazar to watch over the ark of the Lord. 2 From the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the ^{▼▼Lit days increased}time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel ^{▼▼Or followed after}mourned after the Lord.

3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “ ^eIf you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then ^fremove the foreign gods and the ^gAshtaroth from among you, and ^hdirect your hearts to the Lord and ⁱserve Him alone; and He will save you from the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served the Lord alone.

5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to ^jMizpah and ^kI will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and ^lpoured it out before the Lord, and ^mfasted on that day and said there, “ ⁿWe have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah.

7 Now when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the governors of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard about it, ^othey were afraid of the Philistines. 8 So the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “ ^pDo not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that He will save us from the hand of the Philistines!” 9 Samuel took ^qa nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and ^rthe Lord answered him. 10 Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines advanced to battle Israel. But ^sthe Lord thundered with a great ^{▼▼Lit voice}thunder on that day against the Philistines and ^uconfused them, so that they were struck down before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel came out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and killed them as far as below Beth-car.

12 Then Samuel ^vtook a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it ^{▼▼I.e., the stone of help}Ebenezer, saying, “ ^{▼▼Lit As far as here}So far the Lord has helped us.” 13 ^ySo the Philistines were subdued, and ^zthey did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel ^{▼▼Lit saved}recovered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and ^abthe Amorites.

Samuel’s Ministry

15 Now Samuel ^acjudged Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he used to go annually on a circuit to ^adBethel, ^aeGilgal, and ^afMizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. 17 Then he would make his return to ^agRamah, because his house was there, and there he also judged Israel; and there he ^ahbuilt an altar to the Lord.