1የቂርያትይዓሪም ሰዎችም መጥተው የእግዚአብሔርን ታቦት ይዘው ወጡ፤ ከዚያም በኰረብታው ላይ ወዳለው ወደ አሚናዳብ ቤት ወሰዱት። የእግዚአብሔርን ታቦት እንዲጠብቅም ልጁን አልዓዛርን ቀደሱት።
የፍልስጥኤማውያን መሸነፍ
2ታቦቱ በቂርያትይዓሪም ከተቀመጠ ረዥም ጊዜ ሆነው፤ በአጠቃላይ ሃያ ዓመት ቈየ። የእስራኤል ሕዝብ ሁሉ አዘነ፤ እግዚአብሔርንም ፈለገ። 3ሳሙኤልም የእስራኤልን ቤት ሁሉ፣ “በፍጹም ልባችሁ ወደ እግዚአብሔር የምትመለሱ ከሆነ፣ ሌሎችን አማልክትና አስታሮትን ከመካከላችሁ አስወግዱ፤ ራሳችሁንም ለእግዚአብሔር አሳልፋችሁ ስጡ፤ እርሱንም ብቻ አምልኩ፤ እርሱም ከፍልስጥኤማውያን እጅ ይታደጋችኋል።” አላቸው። 4ስለዚህ እስራኤላውያን የበኣልንና የአስታሮትን አማልክት አስወግደው፣ እግዚአብሔርን ብቻ አመለኩ።
5ከዚያ በኋላ ሳሙኤል፣ “እስራኤልን ሁሉ በምጽጳ ሰብስቡ፤ እኔም ስለ እናንተ ወደ እግዚአብሔር እጸልያለሁ” አለ። 6እስራኤላውያን በምጽጳ በተሰበሰቡ ጊዜ፣ ውሃ ቀድተው በእግዚአብሔር ፊት አፈሰሱ፤ በዚያች ዕለት ጾሙ፤ በዚያም “እግዚአብሔርን በድለናል” ብለው ተናዘዙ። ሳሙኤልም በምጽጳ እስራኤልን ይፈርድ ነበር።
7እስራኤል በምጽጳ መሰብሰባቸውን ፍልስጥኤማውያን በሰሙ ጊዜ፣ የፍልስጥኤማውያን ገዦች ሊወጓቸው ወጡ፤ እስራኤላውያንም ይህን ሲሰሙ፣ ፍልስጥኤማውያንን ፈሩ፤ 8ሳሙኤልንም፣ “አምላካችን እግዚአብሔር ከፍልስጥኤማውያን እጅ ያድነን ዘንድ ስለ እኛ ወደ እርሱ መጸለይህን አታቋርጥ” አሉት። 9ሳሙኤልም አንድ የሚጠባ የበግ ግልገል ወስዶ ሙሉ ለሙሉ የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕት በማድረግ ለእግዚአብሔር አቀረበው፤ ስለ እስራኤልም ወደ እግዚአብሔር ጸለየ፤ እግዚአብሔርም መለሰለት።
10ሳሙኤል የሚቃጠለውን መሥዋዕት በሚያሳርግበት ጊዜ፣ ፍልስጥኤማውያን እስራኤልን ለመውጋት ቀረቡ። ይሁን እንጂ በዚያ ዕለት እግዚአብሔር በፍልስጥኤማውያን ላይ ከባድ የነጐድጓድ ድምፅ ስላንጐዳጐደባቸው እጅግ ተሸበሩ፤ ድልም ተመተው ከእስራኤላውያን ፊት ሸሹ። 11እስራኤላውያንም ከምጽጳ ወጥተው ፍልስጥኤማውያንን በየመንገዱ እየገደሉ ከቤትካር በታች እስካለው ስፍራ ድረስ አሳደዷቸው።
12ከዚህ በኋላ ሳሙኤል አንድ ድንጋይ ወስዶ በምጽጳና በሼን መካከል አቆመው፤ ስሙንም “እግዚአብሔር እስከ አሁን ድረስ ረድቶናል” ሲል “አቤንኤዘር7፥12 አቤኔዘር ማለት የርዳታ ድንጋይ ማለት ነው።” ብሎ ጠራው። 13በዚህ ሁኔታ ፍልስጥኤማውያን ድል ስለ ተመቱ፣ የእስራኤልን ምድር ዳግመኛ አልወረሩም።
ሳሙኤል በሕይወት በነበረበት ዘመን ሁሉ፣ የእግዚአብሔር እጅ በፍልስጥኤማውያን ላይ ከብዳ ነበር። 14ፍልስጥኤማውያን ከእስራኤል የወሰዷቸው ከአቃሮን እስከ ጌት የነበሩ ከተሞች ለእስራኤል ተመለሱላት፤ ግዛታቸውም ከፍልስጥኤማውያን እጅ ነፃ ወጣች፤ በእስራኤልና በአሞራውያንም መካከል ሰላም ነበረ።
15ሳሙኤል በሕይወት በነበረበት ዘመን ሁሉ፣ እስራኤልን ይዳኝ ነበር። 16በየዓመቱ በቤቴል፣ በጌልገላና በምጽጳ እየተዘዋወረ፣ በእነዚህ ቦታዎች ሁሉ በእስራኤል ላይ ይፈርድ ነበር። 17ከዚያም በአርማቴም ወዳለው ቤቱ ይመለስ ነበር፤ በዚያም ደግሞ በእስራኤል ላይ ይፈርድ ነበር። በዚያም ለእግዚአብሔር መሠዊያ ሠራ።
1So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord. They brought it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord. 2The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time – twenty years in all.
Samuel subdues the Philistines at Mizpah
Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. 3So Samuel said to all the Israelites, ‘If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.’ 4So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.
5Then Samuel said, ‘Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.’ 6When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, ‘We have sinned against the Lord.’ Now Samuel was serving as leader7:6 Traditionally judge; also in verse 15 of Israel at Mizpah.
7When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. 8They said to Samuel, ‘Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.’ 9Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
10While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. 11The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.
12Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,7:12 Ebenezer means stone of help. saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’
13So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. 14The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighbouring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
15Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life. 16From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. 17But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the Lord.
