1 Samuel 13

Samuel Rebukes Saul

13Saul was thirty^a years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-^b two years.

²Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand^b were with him at Mikmash^c and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah^d in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

³Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost^e at Geba,^f and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet^g blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” ⁴So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious^h to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵The Philistines assembledⁱ to fight Israel, with three thousand^c chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand^j on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash,^k east of Beth Aven.^{l 6}When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid^m in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns.^{n 7}Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad^o and Gilead.

Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking^p with fear. ⁸He waited seven^q days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. ⁹So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered^r up the burnt offering. ¹⁰Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel^s arrived, and Saul went out to greet^t him.

¹¹“What have you done?” asked Samuel.

Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash,^{u 12}I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal,^v and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.^w’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

¹³“You have done a foolish thing,^x” Samuel said. “You have not kept^y the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.^{z 14}But now your kingdom^a will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart^b and appointed^c him ruler^d of his people, because you have not kept^e the Lord’s command.”

¹⁵Then Samuel left Gilgal^d and went up to Gibeah^f in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.^g

Israel Without Weapons

¹⁶Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah^eh in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. ¹⁷Raidingⁱ parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah^j in the vicinity of Shual, ¹⁸another toward Beth Horon,^k and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim^l facing the wilderness.

¹⁹Not a blacksmith^m could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!ⁿ” ²⁰So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles^f sharpened. ²¹The price was two-thirds of a shekel^g for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel^h for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

²²So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan^o had a sword or spear^p in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

Jonathan Attacks the Philistines

²³Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass^q at Mikmash.^r