1 Samuel 7:3-14
Legacy Standard Bible
Samuel Judges Israel
3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “(A)If you are to return to Yahweh with all your heart, then (B)remove the foreign gods and the (C)Ashtaroth from among you and (D)set your hearts toward Yahweh and (E)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 (F)Mizpah, and (G)I will pray to Yahweh for you.” 6 And they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and (H)poured it out before Yahweh and (I)fasted on that day and said there, “(J)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 (K)were afraid of the Philistines. 8 So the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “(L)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 (M)a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to Yahweh; and Samuel cried out to Yahweh for Israel, and (N)Yahweh answered him. 10 Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But (O)Yahweh thundered with a great [a]thunder on that day against the Philistines and (P)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 (Q)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 (R)So the Philistines were subdued, and (S)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 (T)the Amorites.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 7:10 Lit voice
- 1 Samuel 7:10 Lit smitten
- 1 Samuel 7:12 Lit the stone of help
1 Samuel 7:3-14
Evangelical Heritage Version
Samuel Leads Israel to Victory
3 Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, put away the foreign gods and the Ashtartes[a] from among you. Direct your hearts to the Lord and serve him only. Then he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
4 So the people of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtartes and served the Lord only. 5 Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.”
6 So Israel gathered together at Mizpah. They drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted that day, and they said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.”
Samuel acted as judge for the people of Israel at Mizpah.
7 When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered together at Mizpah, the serens of the Philistines went up against Israel. When the people of Israel heard this, they were afraid of the Philistines, 8 and the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out for us to the Lord our God, so that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.” 9 So Samuel took a nursing 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.
10 As Samuel was offering the burnt offering, the Philistines approached to engage in battle with Israel, but on that day the Lord thundered against the Philistines with a loud roar and threw them into a panic, so they were struck down before Israel. 11 The men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them down until they arrived at a point below Beth Kar.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named that place Ebenezer,[b] saying, “The Lord has helped us this far.”[c] 13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they no longer came into the territory of Israel. The Lord’s hand was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
14 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel. From Ekron all the way to Gath, Israel recovered the territory of those cities from the control of the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 7:3 Although they may have originally been different goddesses, Asherah and Ashtarte seem to have been blended together with the passage of time. Ashtarte is sometimes substituted for Asherah.
- 1 Samuel 7:12 Ebenezer means stone of help.
- 1 Samuel 7:12 Or till now
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.