1 Samuel 7:3-9

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.

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 ⁶  crying out to the Lord our ⁷  God so that he may save us ⁸  from the hand of the Philistines!” 7:9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb ⁹  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.

[7:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the Ashtarot” (plural; also in the following verse). The words “images of” are supplied for clarity.

[7:3]  ² tn Following imperatives, the jussive verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

[7:4]  ³ tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”

[7:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “said.”

[7:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “judged”; NAB “began to judge”; TEV “settled disputes among.”

[7:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “don’t stop.”

[7:8]  ⁷ tc The LXX reads “your God” rather than the MT’s “our God.”

[7:8]  ⁸ tn After the negated jussive, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

[7:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “a lamb of milk”; NAB “an unweaned lamb”; NIV “a suckling lamb”; NCV “a baby lamb.”