1 Samuel 7
Expanded Bible
7 The men of Kiriath Jearim [6:21] came and took the Ark of the Lord [4:3] to Abinadab’s house on a hill. There they made Abinadab’s son Eleazar ·holy [consecrated; C set him apart] for the Lord so he could ·guard [have charge of] the Ark of the Lord.
The Lord Saves the Israelites
2 The Ark stayed at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all. And the people of Israel ·began to follow [lamented; longed for] the Lord again. 3 Samuel spoke to ·the whole group [L all the people/house] of Israel, saying, “If you’re turning back to the Lord with all your hearts, you must ·remove [get rid of; banish] your foreign gods and your idols of Ashtoreth. You must ·give yourselves [commit; direct your hearts] fully to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will ·save [rescue; deliver] you from the Philistines.”
4 So the Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] ·put away [got rid of; banished] their idols of Baal and Ashtoreth, and they served only the Lord.
5 Samuel said, “·All Israel must meet [Gather/Assemble all of Israel] at Mizpah [C just north of Jerusalem within the tribe of Benjamin], and I will ·pray to [plead to; intercede with] the Lord for you.” 6 So the Israelites ·met together [gathered; assembled] at Mizpah. They drew water from the ground and poured it out before the Lord [C a ritual not commonly found in the OT] and fasted that day. They confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel ·served as judge of [judged] Israel at Mizpah.
7 The Philistines heard the Israelites were ·meeting [gathered; assembled] at Mizpah, so the Philistine ·kings [rulers; lords] came up to attack them. When ·the Israelites [sons/T children of Israel] heard they were coming, they were afraid. 8 They said to Samuel, “Don’t stop ·praying [pleading; interceding; crying out] to the Lord our God for us! Ask him to ·save [rescue; deliver] us from the [L hand of the] Philistines!” 9 Then Samuel took a ·baby [suckling] lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering [C an atonement sacrifice; Lev. 1]. He ·called to [pleaded/interceded with; cried out to] the Lord for Israel’s sake, and the Lord ·answered [heard] him.
10 While Samuel was ·burning [sacrificing] the [L burnt] offering, the Philistines came near to attack Israel. But [L on that day] the Lord thundered against them with ·loud thunder [a loud voice]. They were ·so frightened they became confused. So [… thrown into such a panic that] the Israelites ·defeated [routed] the Philistines in battle. 11 The men of Israel ·ran [rushed; L went] out of Mizpah and ·chased [pursued] the Philistines almost to Beth Car [C exact location is unknown], ·killing the Philistines [slaughtering them] along the way.
Peace Comes to Israel
12 After this happened Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen.[a] He named the stone Ebenezer [C “Stone of help”], saying, “The Lord has helped us ·to this point [this far].” 13 So the Philistines were ·defeated [subdued; humbled] and did not enter the Israelites’ ·land [borders] again.
The [L hand of the] Lord was against the Philistines all Samuel’s life. 14 Earlier the Philistines had taken towns from the Israelites, but ·the Israelites won them back [they were restored to Israel], from Ekron [5:10] to Gath [5:8]. They also took back from the [L hand of the] Philistines the ·lands [territory] near these towns. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.
15 Samuel ·continued as judge of [judged] Israel all [L the days of] his life. 16 Every year he went [L on circuit] from Bethel [C north of Jerusalem, near Ai in the central hill country] to Gilgal [C near Jericho] to Mizpah and judged the Israelites in all these towns. 17 But he always went back to Ramah [1:1], where his home was. There he judged Israel and built an altar to the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 7:12 Shen Hebrew copies read “Shen.” Some Greek copies have “Jeshenah.”
1 Samuel 7
Legacy Standard Bible
7 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and brought the ark of Yahweh up and (A)brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill and set apart Eleazar his son as holy in order to keep the ark of Yahweh. 2 Now it happened from the day when the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, that the time was long; it was twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after Yahweh.
Samuel Judges Israel
3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “(B)If you are to return to Yahweh with all your heart, then (C)remove the foreign gods and the (D)Ashtaroth from among you and (E)set your hearts toward Yahweh and (F)serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served Yahweh alone.
5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to (G)Mizpah, and (H)I will pray to Yahweh for you.” 6 And they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and (I)poured it out before Yahweh and (J)fasted on that day and said there, “(K)We have sinned against Yahweh.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah.
7 Then the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered to Mizpah. And the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. Then the sons of Israel heard it and (L)were afraid of the Philistines. 8 So the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “(M)Do not cease to cry out to Yahweh our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 And Samuel took (N)a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to Yahweh; and Samuel cried out to Yahweh for Israel, and (O)Yahweh answered him. 10 Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But (P)Yahweh thundered with a great [a]thunder on that day against the Philistines and (Q)confused them, so that they were [b]defeated before Israel. 11 So the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them down as far as below Beth-car.
12 Then Samuel (R)took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it [c]Ebenezer. And he said, “Thus far Yahweh has helped us.” 13 (S)So the Philistines were subdued, and (T)they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of Yahweh was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and (U)the Amorites.
15 Thus Samuel (V)judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he used to go annually on circuit to (W)Bethel and (X)Gilgal and (Y)Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. 17 But his return would be to (Z)Ramah, for his house was there, and there he judged Israel; and he (AA)built there an altar to Yahweh.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 7:10 Lit voice
- 1 Samuel 7:10 Lit smitten
- 1 Samuel 7:12 Lit the stone of help
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