1 Samuel 7:3-14
Lexham English Bible
3 And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If with all your heart you are turning to Yahweh, remove the foreign gods and Ashtoreths[a] from your midst. Commit your hearts to Yahweh and serve him alone. Then he will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the Israelites[b] removed the Baals[c] and the Ashtoreths, and they served Yahweh alone.
5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to Yahweh for you.” 6 So they gathered to Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before Yahweh. They fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against Yahweh!” So Samuel judged the Israelites[d] at Mizpah. 7 Now when the Philistines heard that the Israelites[e] had gathered at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the Israelites[f] heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.[g] 8 Then the Israelites[h] said to Samuel, “You must not cease[i] from crying out to Yahweh our God, so that he will deliver us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 So Samuel took a single nursing lamb[j] and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to Yahweh. Then Samuel cried out to Yahweh on behalf of Israel, and Yahweh answered him. 10 While[k] Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near for the battle against Israel. But Yahweh thundered against the Philistines with a great noise on that day and threw them into confusion so that they were defeated before Israel. 11 Then the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and they struck them down as far as below Beth Car.
12 So Samuel took a single stone and put it between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it Ebenezer and said, “Up to here Yahweh has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come into the territory of Israel again, and the hand of Yahweh was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 The towns[l] which the Philistines had taken from Israel were returned to Israel from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territories from the hand of the Philistines. Then there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
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- 1 Samuel 7:3 Hebrew plural “Ashtaroth” (Ashtoreth was the female consort of Ba’al)
- 1 Samuel 7:4 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- 1 Samuel 7:4 Hebrew plural “Be’alim” (Ba’al was a major Canaanite deity)
- 1 Samuel 7:6 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- 1 Samuel 7:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- 1 Samuel 7:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- 1 Samuel 7:7 Literally “and they were afraid from (= because of) the presence of the Philistines”
- 1 Samuel 7:8 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- 1 Samuel 7:8 Literally “You must not be silent from us”
- 1 Samuel 7:9 Literally “lamb of milk”
- 1 Samuel 7:10 Literally “And it happened”
- 1 Samuel 7:14 Or “cities”
1 Samuel 7:3-14
New Living Translation
Samuel Leads Israel to Victory
3 Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” 4 So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord.
5 Then Samuel told them, “Gather all of Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered at Mizpah and, in a great ceremony, drew water from a well and poured it out before the Lord. They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the Lord. (It was at Mizpah that Samuel became Israel’s judge.)
7 When the Philistine rulers heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpah, they mobilized their army and advanced. The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching. 8 “Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel. 9 So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered him.
10 Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. 11 The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way.
12 Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah.[a] He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!”
13 So the Philistines were subdued and didn’t invade Israel again for some time. And throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the Lord’s powerful hand was raised against the Philistines. 14 The Israelite villages near Ekron and Gath that the Philistines had captured were restored to Israel, along with the rest of the territory that the Philistines had taken. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites in those days.
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- 7:12 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads Shen.
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