1 Samuel 7:2-11

New Catholic Bible

Samuel the Judge.^{[a] 2} The Ark remained at Kiriath-jearim for a long time, for twenty years. All of the people of Israel lamented after the Lord.

³ Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you intend to return to the Lord with your whole heart, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods you have among you, the Astartes, and commit your hearts to serve the Lord alone, then he will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the Israelites threw away their Baals and Astartes,^[b] and served the Lord alone.

⁵ Samuel then said, “Assemble all of the Israelites at Mizpah,^[c] and I will intercede to the Lord for you.” ⁶ When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it^[d] before the Lord. They fasted that day and confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” Now, Samuel was the judge of the Israelites at Mizpah.

Defeat of the Philistines. ⁷ When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up to attack them. When the Israelites heard about this, they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸ The Israelites said to Samuel, “Intercede for us unceasingly with the Lord, our God, that he might deliver us from the power of the Philistines.”

⁹ So Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a burnt offering to the Lord. Samuel cried out to the Lord for the sake of Israel, and the Lord heard him.

¹⁰ While Samuel was performing the sacrifice, the Philistines drew near to engage the Israelites in combat. The Lord boomed with a loud thunder that day, and the Philistines panicked and they were defeated by the Israelites. ¹¹ The men of Israel rushed out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines. They slaughtered them all the way to Beth-car.