1 Samuel 7

The Ark Returned to Israel

1 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of a Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. 2 From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

Samuel Judges Israel

3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, b "If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then c put away the foreign gods and the d Ashtaroth from among you and e direct your heart to the Lord f and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." 4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.

5 Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel at g Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you." 6 So they gathered at g Mizpah h and drew water and poured it out before the Lord i and fasted on that day and said there, j "We have sinned against the Lord." And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. 7 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 And the people of Israel said to Samuel, "Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines." 9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And k Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. l But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were routed before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.

12 Then Samuel m took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen 1 and called its name Ebenezer; 2 for he said, "Till now the Lord has helped us." 13 n So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord 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 to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.

15 o Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 17 Then he would return to p Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. q And he built there an altar to the Lord.

  1. Cross References
    2 Samuel 6:3
    And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart.
  2. Cross References
    1 Kings 8:48
    If they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name.
    Isaiah 55:7
    Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
    Hosea 6:1
    Come, let us return to the Lord ; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
    Joel 2:12
    Yet even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.
    Deuteronomy 30:2 - 10
    And return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul.
  3. Cross References
    Genesis 35:2
    So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.
    Joshua 24:14
    Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
    Joshua 24:23
    He said, "Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.
    Judges 10:16
    So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel.
  4. Cross References
    Judges 2:13
    They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.
  5. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 19:3
    Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asherahs out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.
    2 Chronicles 30:19
    Who sets his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness.
    Ezra 7:10
    For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
  6. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 6:13
    It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
    Deuteronomy 10:20
    You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear.
    Deuteronomy 13:4
    You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.
    Matthew 4:10
    Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'
    Luke 4:8
    And Jesus answered him, "It is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'
  7. Cross References
    Judges 20:1
    Then all the people of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead, and the congregation assembled as one man to the Lord at Mizpah.
  8. Cross References
    1 Samuel 7:5
    Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.
  9. Cross References
    2 Samuel 14:14
    We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God will not take away life, and he devises means so that the banished one will not remain an outcast.
  10. Cross References
    1 Samuel 31:13
    And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
    Nehemiah 9:1
    Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads.
  11. Cross References
    Judges 10:10
    And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, "We have sinned against you, because we have forsaken our God and have served the Baals.
  12. Cross References
    Psalms 99:6
    Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. They called to the Lord, and he answered them.
    Jeremiah 15:1
    Then the Lord said to me, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!
  13. Cross References
    1 Samuel 2:10
    The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed.
    2 Samuel 22:14 - 15
    The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice.
    Psalms 18:13
    The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.
  14. Cross References
    Genesis 28:18
    So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
    Genesis 31:45
    So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
    Genesis 35:14
    And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.
    Joshua 4:9
    And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.
    Joshua 24:26
    And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone and set it up there under the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.
  15. Cross References
    Judges 13:1
    And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
  16. Cross References
    1 Samuel 7:6
    So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against the Lord." And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.
    1 Samuel 12:11
    And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.
    Judges 2:16
    Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
  17. Cross References
    1 Samuel 1:19
    They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord ; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.
  18. Cross References
    1 Samuel 14:35
    And Saul built an altar to the Lord ; it was the first altar that he built to the Lord.
    Judges 21:4
    And the next day the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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