3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you areturn to the Lord with all your hearts, thenbput away the foreign gods and the cAshtoreths from among you, and dprepare your hearts for the Lord, and eserve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
4 So the children of Israel put away the aBaals and the Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.
5 And Samuel said, a“Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and bI will pray to the Lord for you.”
6 So they gathered together at Mizpah, adrew water, and poured it out before the Lord. And they bfasted that day, and said there, c“We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah.
7 Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard ofit, they were afraid of the Philistines.
8 So the children of Israel said to Samuel, a“Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
9 And Samuel took a asuckling lamb and offered itas a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then bSamuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him.
10 Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. aBut the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel.
11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car.
12 Then Samuel atook a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name1 Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
13aSo the Philistines were subdued, and they bdid not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
14 Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of the Philistines. Also there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
15 And Samuel ajudged Israel all the days of his life.
16 He went from year to year on a circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places.
17 But ahe always returned to Ramah, for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and there he bbuilt an altar to the Lord.
THE ISRAELITES, THROUGH SAMUEL'S INFLUENCE, SOLEMNLY REPENT AT MIZPEH. (I Samuel 7:3-6)
Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel—A great national reformation was effected through the influence of Samuel. Disgusted with their foreign servitude, and panting for the restoration of liberty and independence, they were open to salutary impressions; and convinced of their errors, they renounced idolatry. The re-establishment of the faith of their fathers was inaugurated at a great public meeting, held at Mizpeh in Judah, and hallowed by the observance of impressive religious solemnities. The drawing water, and pouring it out before the Lord, seems to have been a symbolical act by which, in the people's name, Samuel testified their sense of national corruption, their need of that moral purification of which water is the emblem, and their sincere desire to pour out their hearts in repentance before God.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing 1 Samuel 7:5:
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