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1 Samuel 7:3
ESV And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
NIV So 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."
NASB Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, 'If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will save you from the hand of the Philistines.'
CSB Samuel told them, "If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, get rid of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths that are among you, set your hearts on the Lord, and worship only him. Then he will rescue you from the Philistines."
NLT Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, 'If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.'
KJV And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

What does 1 Samuel 7:3 mean?

The people of the Lord have been suffering under the oppression of the Philistines for at least twenty years. All the while, the ark of the Lord has sat in silence in the small town of Kiriath-jearim (1 Samuel 7:1–2) after being captured and then returned by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4—6).

Samuel re-enters the narrative as the mature prophet of the Lord and judge over Israel. His words read like the continuation of a conversation between the people of Israel and the Lord (1 Samuel 7:2). They have had enough of the oppression of their enemies, and they are ready to call out to the Lord to deliver them, following the repeated pattern of the book of Judges (Judges 10:6–16).

Samuel's message to the people is simple: Repent in more than mere words. If you mean it in your hearts, then take these three actions: Put away all the foreign gods you have been worshiping. Focus yourselves on the Lord. Serve Him only.

Israel's chronic sin before the Lord was to serve the false gods and goddesses of neighboring nations. The names of these foreign gods were often shortened to "the Baals" for the male gods and "the Ashtaroth" for the female gods. In various forms, Baal was the god of fertility and Ashtaroth—or Astarte—was the goddess of love and war. The peoples of nearly every nation worshiped versions of these gods in hopes of receiving blessing and protection. The Israelites joined in. They did not wholly abandon knowledge of God, but instead added worship of false gods to their on-and-off service to the Lord.

Samuel's promise to the people was that the Lord would once again deliver them from the Philistines, but only if they would truly repent from their sin (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 6:4–5).
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