1 Samuel 13–31

Saul Fights the Philistines

13Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel,^{1 2}Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in ^kMichmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in ^lGibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. ³Jonathan defeated ^mthe garrison of the Philistines that was ⁿat Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul ^oblew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” ⁴And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops ^plike the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of ^qBeth-aven. ⁶When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves ^rin caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, ⁷and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

^8sHe waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. ⁹So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. ¹¹Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, ¹²I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” ¹³And Samuel said to Saul, ^t“You have done foolishly. ^uYou have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴But now ^vyour kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man ^wafter his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince² over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” ¹⁵And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal³ to ^xGibeah of Benjamin.

And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, ^yabout six hundred men. ¹⁶And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in ^zGeba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. ¹⁷And ^araiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; ¹⁸another company turned toward ^bBeth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of ^cZeboim toward the wilderness.

^19dNow there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.” ²⁰But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle,^{4 21}and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel⁵ for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel⁶ for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads.^{7 22}So on the day of the battle ^ethere was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. ²³And ^fthe garrison of the Philistines went out to the ^gpass of ^hMichmash.

Jonathan Defeats the Philistines

14One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. ²Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave¹ at ^hMigron. The people who were with him were about ⁱsix hundred men, ³including ^jAhijah the son of Ahitub, ^kIchabod’s brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord ^lin Shiloh, ^mwearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. ⁴Within ⁿthe passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. ⁵The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of ^oGeba.

⁶Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these ^puncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, ^qfor nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” ⁷And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish.² Behold, I am with you heart and soul.” ⁸Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them. ⁹If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. ¹⁰But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.” ¹¹So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming ^rout of the holes where they have hidden themselves.” ¹²And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.” ¹³Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him. ¹⁴And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre³ of land. ¹⁵And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even ^sthe raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.⁴

¹⁶And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude ^twas dispersing here and there.^{5 17}Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Count and see who has gone from us.” And when they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there. ¹⁸So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here.” For the ark of God went at that time with the people⁶ of Israel. ¹⁹Now ^uwhile Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” ²⁰Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle. And behold, ^vevery Philistine’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion. ²¹Now the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines before that time and who had gone up with them into the camp, ^weven they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²²Likewise, when all the men of Israel ^xwho had hidden themselves ^yin the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle. ^23zSo the Lord saved Israel that day. And the battle passed beyond ^aBeth-aven.

Saul’s Rash Vow

²⁴And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, ^bso Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the people had tasted food. ²⁵Now when all the people⁷ came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground. ²⁶And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. ²⁷But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, ^cso he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright. ²⁸Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food this day.’ ” And the people were ^dfaint. ²⁹Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. ³⁰How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”

³¹They struck down the Philistines that day from ^eMichmash to ^fAijalon. And the people were very ^dfaint. ³²The people ^gpounced on the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ate them ^hwith the blood. ³³Then they told Saul, “Behold, the people are sinning against the Lord by eating ^hwith the blood.” And he said, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a great stone to me here.”^{8 34}And Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, ‘Let every man bring his ox or his sheep and slaughter them here and eat, and do not sin against the Lord by eating with the blood.’ ” So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night and they slaughtered them there. ³⁵And Saul ⁱbuilt an altar to the Lord; it was the first altar that he built to the Lord.

³⁶Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” But ^jthe priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.” ³⁷And Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” ^kBut he did not answer him that day. ³⁸And Saul said, “Come here, all…