1 Samuel 7-8

International Children’s Bible

7 The men of Kiriath Jearim came and took the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. They took it to Abinadab’s house on a hill. There they made Abinadab’s son Eleazar holy for the Lord so he could guard the Ark of the Covenant.

The Lord Saves the Israelites

² The Ark of the Covenant stayed at Kiriath Jearim a long time—20 years in all. And the people of Israel began to follow the Lord again. ³ Samuel spoke to the whole group of Israel. He said, “If you’re turning back to the Lord with all your hearts, you must remove your foreign gods. You must remove your idols of Ashtoreth. You must give yourselves fully to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will save you from the Philistines.”

⁴ So the Israelites put away their idols of Baal and Ashtoreth. And they served only the Lord.

⁵ Samuel said, “All Israel must meet at Mizpah. I will pray to the Lord for you.” ⁶ So the Israelites met together at Mizpah. They drew water from the ground and poured it out before the Lord. They did not eat that day. They confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel served as judge of Israel at Mizpah.

⁷ The Philistines heard the Israelites were meeting at Mizpah. So the Philistine kings came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard they were coming, they were afraid. ⁸ They said to Samuel, “Don’t stop praying to the Lord our God for us! Ask the Lord to save us from the Philistines!” ⁹ Then Samuel took a baby lamb. He offered the lamb to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He called to the Lord for Israel’s sake. And the Lord answered him.

¹⁰ While Samuel was burning the offering, the Philistines came near. They were going to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered against the Philistines with loud thunder. They were so frightened they became confused. So the Israelites defeated the Philistines in battle. ¹¹ The men of Israel ran out of Mizpah and chased the Philistines. They went almost to Beth Car, killing the Philistines along the way.

Peace Comes to Israel

¹² After this happened Samuel took a stone. He set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named the stone Ebenezer.^[a] Samuel said, “The Lord has helped us to this point.” ¹³ So the Philistines were defeated. They did not enter the Israelites’ land again.

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, from Ekron to Gath. They also took back from the Philistines the neighboring lands of these towns. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵ Samuel continued as judge of Israel all his life. ¹⁶ Every year he went from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah. He judged the Israelites in all these towns. ¹⁷ But Samuel always went back to Ramah, where his home was. He also judged Israel there. And there he built an altar to the Lord.

Israel Asks for a King

8 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges for Israel. ² His first son was named Joel, and his second son was named Abijah. Joel and Abijah were judges in Beersheba. ³ But Samuel’s sons did not live as he did. They tried to get money dishonestly. They took money secretly to be dishonest in their judging.

⁴ So all the elders came together and met Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, “You’re old, and your sons don’t live as you do. Give us a king to rule over us like all the other nations.”

⁶ When the elders said that, Samuel was not pleased. He prayed to the Lord. ⁷ The Lord told Samuel, “Listen to whatever the people say to you. They have not rejected you. They have rejected me from being their king. ⁸ They are doing as they have always done. When I took them out of Egypt, they left me. They served other gods. They are doing the same to you. ⁹ Now listen to the people. But give them a warning. Tell them what the king who rules over them will do.”

¹⁰ Samuel answered those who had asked him for a king. He told them all the words of the Lord. ¹¹ Samuel said, “If you have a king ruling over you, this is what he will do: He will take your sons. He will make them serve with his chariots and his horses. They will run in front of the king’s chariot. ¹² The king will make some of your sons commanders over 1,000 men or over 50 men. He will make some of your other sons plow his ground and reap his harvest. He will take others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ This king will take your daughters. Some of your daughters will make perfume. Others will cook and bake for him. ¹⁴ He will take your best fields, vineyards and olive groves. He will give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take one-tenth of your grain and grapes and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶ He will take your men servants and girl servants. He will take your best cattle and your donkeys. He will use them all for his own work. ¹⁷ He will take one-tenth of your flocks. And you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that time comes, you will cry out because of the king you chose. The Lord will not answer you then.”

¹⁹ But the people would not listen to Samuel. They said, “No! We want a king to rule over us. ²⁰ Then we will be the same as all the other nations. Our king will judge us. He will go with us and fight our battles.”

²¹ Samuel heard all that the people said. Then he repeated all their words to the Lord. ²² The Lord answered, “You must listen to them. Give them a king.”

Then Samuel told the people of Israel, “Everyone go back to his town.”