1 Samuel 7:3-6

7:3 Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you are really turning to the Lord with all your hearts, remove from among you the foreign gods and the images of Ashtoreth. ¹  Give your hearts to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will deliver you ²  from the hand of the Philistines.” 7:4 So the Israelites ³  removed the Baals and images of Ashtoreth. They served only the Lord.

7:5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord on your behalf.” 7:6 After they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted on that day, and they confessed ⁴  there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” So Samuel led ⁵  the people of Israel at Mizpah.

¹ tn Heb “the Ashtarot” (plural; also in the following verse). The words “images of” are supplied for clarity.

² tn Following imperatives, the jussive verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

³ tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”

⁴ tn Heb “said.”

⁵ tn Heb “judged”; NAB “began to judge”; TEV “settled disputes among.”