7:1So the men of Kiriath-jearim came, and brought back the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in Gibeah: and Eleazar his son they sanctified, to guard the ark of the Lord. 7:2And it came about, from the day on which the ark of the Lord stayed in Kiriath-jearim, the days were multiplied (for it was now the twentieth year), and all the house of Israel rested after the Lord. 7:3And Samuel spoke to the whole house of Israel, saying: "If with all your heart you are returning to the Lord, take away the foreign gods from the midst of you, the Baals and the Ashtaroth: and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve him alone, and he will rescue you from the hand of the Philistines."
7:4So the sons of Israel took away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and served the Lord alone. 7:5And Samuel said: "Gather all Israel at Mizpah, so that I may pray the Lord for you." 7:6And they came together at Mizpah: and they drew water, and poured it out in the sight of the Lord: and they fasted on that day and said there: "We have sinned against the Lord." 7:6And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah. 7:7And the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had been gathered at Mizpah, and the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. 7:7And when the sons of Israel had heard this, they were afraid before the face of the Philistines.
7:8And they said to Samuel: "Do not cease to cry out for us to the Lord our God, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines." 7:9And Samuel took one suckling lamb, and offered it as a whole burnt-offering to the Lord: and Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him. 7:10And it came about, while Samuel was offering the burnt-offering, the Philistines entered battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great crash on that day upon the Philistines, and terrified them, and they were slain before the face of Israel. 7:11And the men of Israel, going out from Mizpah, pursued the Philistines, and struck them as far as the place which was below Beth-car.
7:12And Samuel took one stone, and placed it between Mizpah and Shen: and he called the name of that place the Stone of Help. 7:12And he said: "Thus far the Lord has helped us." 7:13And the Philistines were humbled, and they did not go on any more to come into the boundaries of Israel. 7:13And so the hand of the Lord was upon the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 7:14And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were given back to Israel, from Ekron as far as Gath, and their boundaries: and he freed Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and there was peace between Israel and the Amorite.
7:15Samuel also judged Israel all the days of his life: and he went each year going around Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and judged Israel in the places mentioned above. 7:17And he would return to Ramah: for there was his house, and there he judged Israel: he also built there an altar to the Lord.