1 Samuel 7

When the men of Kiriath Jearim received the message, they came to Beth Shemesh and took the sacred chest of God. They took it to the house of a man whose name was Abinadab. He lived on a hill. They gave Abinadab’s son Eleazar the special duty of taking care of the chest.

The sacred chest remained in Kiriath Jearim for a long time, for 20 years. During that time, the Israelite people were very sorry that God was not helping them anymore. \*

Then Samuel said to all the Israelite people, “If you truly want God to be your God again, you must get rid of the idols you have that represent foreign gods. You must also get rid of the statues you have that represent the goddess Ashtoreth. You must resolve to worship only God. If you do that, he will enable you to stop the Philistines from oppressing you.”

So the Israelites got rid of all their statues of the gods Baal and Ashtoreth, and they began to worship only God. \*

Then Samuel told them, “I want you Israelites to assemble at Mizpah. I will pray to God for you there.”

So the Israelites assembled at Mizpah. They got water from a well and poured it out on the ground in God’s presence. They did not eat any food on that day. They confessed that they had sinned against God. There at Mizpah Samuel settled disputes among the Israelites and made sure that they were obeying God. \*

When the Philistines learned that the Israelite people had assembled at Mizpah, their rulers led their armies to attack the Israelites. When the Israelites learned that the Philistines were approaching them to attack them, they became very afraid.

They told Samuel, “Please keep on praying to God our God for us so that he will rescue us from the Philistine army!” \*

So Samuel took a young lamb that was still nursing, and he killed it and offered it to God as a sacrifice by burning it up entirely on the altar. Then he pleaded with God to help the Israelites, and God did what he asked. \*

While Samuel was still burning the lamb as an offering, the Philistine army came near to attack the Israelites. But God caused it to thunder very loudly. The soldiers in the Philistine army became so frightened that they could no longer fight effectively. So the Israelite soldiers were able to defeat them completely.

The Israelite men rushed out of Mizpah and killed many Philistine soldiers who were trying to run away. They chased them all the way to the bottom of the hill on which people had built the town of Beth Kar. \*

After the battle, Samuel got a large stone and set it up between the city of Mizpah and the rocky cliff of Shen. He named the stone Ebenezer. He said, “God has helped us to defeat our enemies this far.” \*

So the Israelites defeated the Philistines, and they stopped invading the land of Israel. During the time that Samuel was alive, God kept powerfully helping the Israelites defend themselves against the Philistines.

The Philistines had previously captured some towns that belonged to the Israelites. But the Israelite army was now able to recapture those towns. They were around the Philistine cities of Ekron and Gath. The Israelites recaptured the whole area right up to the limits of those cities. The Amorites also did not attack the Israelites during this time. \*

Samuel continued to be the leader of the Israelite people until he died.

Every year Samuel traveled around to the cities of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. In those cities, he listened to disputes between people and settled them.

After he settled disputes in each of those cities, he would return to Ramah, where he lived. He also listened to people’s disputes there and settled them. He built an altar at Ramah {so that he could offer sacrifices to God}. \*