2. Now a long time passed—a total of twenty years—after the chest came to stay in Kiriath-jearim, and the whole house of Israel yearned for the Lord.
3. Then Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are turning to the Lord with all your heart, then get rid of all the foreign gods and the Astartes you have. Set your heart on the Lord! Worship him only! Then he will deliver you from the Philistines’ power."
4. So the Israelites got rid of the Baals and the Astartes and worshipped the Lord only.
5. Next Samuel said, "Assemble all Israel at Mizpah. I will pray to the Lord for you."
6. So they assembled at Mizpah, and they drew water and poured it out in the Lord’s presence. They fasted that same day and confessed, "We have sinned against the Lord." Samuel served as judge of the Israelites at Mizpah.
7. When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had assembled at Mizpah, the Philistine rulers went up to attack Israel. When the Israelites learned of this, they were afraid of the Philistines.
8. The Israelites said to Samuel, "Please don’t stop praying to the Lord our God for us, so God will save us from the Philistines’ power!"
9. So Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as an entirely burned offering to the Lord. Samuel cried out in prayer to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him.