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 1 there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” So Samuel led 2 the people of Israel at Mizpah.
7:7 When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the leaders of the Philistines went up against Israel. When the Israelites heard about this, they were afraid of the Philistines. 7:8 The Israelites said to Samuel, “Keep 3 crying out to the Lord our 4 God so that he may save us 5 from the hand of the Philistines!” 7:9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb 6 and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Samuel cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
7:10 As Samuel was offering burnt offerings, the Philistines approached to do battle with Israel. 7 But on that day the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines. He caused them to panic, and they were defeated by 8 Israel. 7:11 Then the men of Israel left Mizpah and chased the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth Car.
7:12 Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen. 9 He named it Ebenezer, 10 saying, “Up to here the Lord has helped us.” 7:13 So the Philistines were defeated; they did not invade Israel again. The hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
7:14 The cities that the Philistines had captured from Israel were returned to Israel, from Ekron to Gath. Israel also delivered their territory from the control 11 of the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. 7:15 So Samuel led 12 Israel all the days of his life. 7:16 Year after year he used to travel the circuit of Bethel, 13 Gilgal, and Mizpah; he used to judge Israel in all of these places. 7:17 Then he would return to Ramah, because his home was there. He also judged 14 Israel there and built an altar to the Lord there.
1 tn Heb “said.”
2 tn Heb “judged”; NAB “began to judge”; TEV “settled disputes among.”
3 tn Heb “don’t stop.”
4 tc The LXX reads “your God” rather than the MT’s “our God.”
5 tn After the negated jussive, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.
6 tn Heb “a lamb of milk”; NAB “an unweaned lamb”; NIV “a suckling lamb”; NCV “a baby lamb.”
7 tn Heb “approached for battle against Israel.”
8 tn Heb “before.”
9 tn Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “Jeshanah.”
10 sn The name Ebenezer (אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר) means “stone of help” in Hebrew (cf. TEV); NLT adds the meaning parenthetically after the name.
11 tn Heb “hand.”
12 tn Heb “judged” (also in v. 17).
13 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
14 tn Or perhaps “settled disputes for” (cf. NLT “would hear cases there”; NRSV “administered justice there”).