1 Samuel 13–31

13^*Saul ^†reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, ²Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in ^aMichmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in ^bGibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. ³And Jonathan smote the ^cgarrison of the Philistines that was in ^||Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul ^dblew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. ⁴And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a ^cgarrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also ^†was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people ^ewere called together after Saul to Gilgal. ⁵And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people ^fas the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from ^gBeth-aven. ⁶When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people ^hwere distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in ⁱcaves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in ^jhigh places, and in pits. ⁷And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people ^†followed him trembling.

⁸And ^khe tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. ⁹And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might ^†salute him. ¹¹And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; ¹²Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not ^†made supplication unto the Lord: I ^lforced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. ¹³And Samuel said to Saul, ^mThou hast done foolishly: ⁿthou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. ^14oBut now thy kingdom shall not continue: ^pthe Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.

¹⁵And Samuel arose, and gat him up from Gilgal unto ^qGibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were ^†present with him, ^rabout six hundred men. ¹⁶And Saul, and ^sJonathan his son, and the people that were ^†present with them, abode in ^†Gibeah of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. ¹⁷And ^tthe spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way that leadeth to ^uOphrah, unto the land of ^vShual: ¹⁸And another company turned the way to ^wBeth-horon: and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of ^xZeboim toward the wilderness. ¹⁹Now ^ythere was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: ²⁰But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his ^zcoulter, and his axe, and his mattock. ²¹Yet they had ^†a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and ^†to sharpen the ^agoads. ²²So it came to pass in the day of battle, that ^bthere was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found. ²³And the ^||garrison of the Philistines went out to ^cthe passage of Michmash.

14^*Now ^||it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father. ²And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of ^aGibeah under a ^bpomegranate tree which is in ^cMigron: and the people that were with him were ^dabout six hundred men; ³And ^||Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, ^eIchabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in ^fShiloh, ^gwearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. ⁴And between ^hthe passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. ⁵The ^†forefront of the one was ⁱsituate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against ^jGibeah. ⁶And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these ^kuncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord ^lto save by many or by few. ⁷And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart. ⁸Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them. ⁹If they say thus unto us, ^†Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them. ¹⁰But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for ^mthe Lord hath delivered them into our hand: and ⁿthis shall be a sign unto us. ¹¹And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews ^ocome forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves. ¹²And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel. ¹³And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer slew after him. ¹⁴And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were ^||an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow. ¹⁵And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and ^pthe spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was ^†a very great trembling.

¹⁶And the watchmen of Saul in ^qGibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude ^rmelted away, and they went on ^sbeating down one another. ¹⁷Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there. ¹⁸And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel. ¹⁹And it came to pass, while ^tSaul talked unto the priest, that the ^||noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand. ²⁰And Saul and all the people that were with him ^†assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, ^uevery man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great ^vdiscomfiture. ²¹Moreover ^wthe Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan. ²²Likewise all the men of Israel which ^xhad hid themselves in ^ymount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle. ^23zSo the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over ^aunto Beth-aven.

²⁴And the men of Israel ^bwere distressed that day: for Saul had ^cadjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food. ²⁵And ^dall they of the land came to a wood; and there was ^ehoney upon the ground. ²⁶And when the people were come into the wood, behold, ^ethe honey dropped; but no man put his hand to his mouth: for the people feared the oath. ²⁷But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an ^fhoneycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened. ²⁸Then ^ganswered one of the people, and said, Thy father straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day. And the people were ^||faint. ²⁹Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. ³⁰How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines? ³¹And they smote the Philistines that day from ^hMichmash to ⁱAijalon: and the people were very faint. ³²And the people ^jflew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them ^kwith the blood. ³³Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the Lord, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have ^||transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day. ³⁴And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his ^lsheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against the Lord in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox ^†with him that night, and slew them there. ³⁵And Saul ^mbuilt an altar unto the Lord: ^†the same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord.

³⁶And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and…