1 Samuel 13-14New King James Version (NKJV)
Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice
13 Saul reigned one year; and when he had
reigned two years over Israel,[a]2 Saul chose for
himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with
Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with
Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man
to his tent.
3 And Jonathan attacked the garrison
of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines
heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the
land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 4 Now all
Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the
Philistines, and that Israel had also become an abomination to
the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal.
5 Then the Philistines gathered
together to fight with Israel, thirty[b] thousand chariots and
six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the
seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east
of Beth Aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that
they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in
caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 7 And some
of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.
As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and
all the people followed him trembling. 8 Then he
waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come
to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So
Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he
offered the burnt offering. 10 Now it happened, as
soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and
Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
11 And Samuel said, “What have you
done?”
Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from
me, and that you did not come within the days appointed,
and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 then
I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not
made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a
burnt offering.”
13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have
done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your
God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established
your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your
kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man
after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander
over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded
you.”
15 Then Samuel arose and went up from
Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin.[c] And Saul numbered the
people present with him, about six hundred men.
No Weapons for the Army
16 Saul, Jonathan his son, and the
people present with them remained in Gibeah of Benjamin. But the Philistines
encamped in Michmash. 17 Then raiders came out of
the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned onto the
road to Ophrah, to the land of Shual, 18 another
company turned to the road to Beth Horon, and another company
turned to the road of the border that overlooks the Valley of
Zeboim toward the wilderness.
19 Now there was no blacksmith to be
found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the
Hebrews make swords or spears.” 20 But all the
Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare,
his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; 21 and the
charge for a sharpening was a pim[d] for the plowshares,
the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the
goads. 22 So it came about, on the day of battle,
that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people
who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul
and Jonathan his son.
23 And the garrison of the
Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.
Jonathan Defeats the Philistines
14 Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son
of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the
Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did
not tell his father. 2 And Saul was sitting in the
outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron.
The people who were with him were about six
hundred men. 3 Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s
brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh,
was wearing an ephod. But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.
4 Between the passes, by which
Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a
sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of
one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. 5 The
front of one faced northward opposite Michmash, and the other southward
opposite Gibeah.
6 Then Jonathan said to the young man
who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these
uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing
restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.”
7 So his armorbearer said to him, “Do
all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your
heart.”
8 Then Jonathan said, “Very well, let
us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to
them. 9 If they say thus to us, ‘Wait until we come
to you,’ then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. 10 But
if they say thus, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up. For
the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a
sign to us.”
11 So both of them showed themselves
to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, the
Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.” 12 Then
the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come
up to us, and we will show you something.”
Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Come up after me, for
the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” 13 And
Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him; and
they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed
them. 14 That first slaughter which Jonathan and
his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land.[e]
15 And there was trembling in the
camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also
trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling. 16 Now
the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and there was
the multitude, melting away; and they went here and there. 17 Then
Saul said to the people who were with him, “Now call the roll
and see who has gone from us.” And when they had called the roll, surprisingly,
Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there. 18 And
Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark[f] of God here” (for at
that time the ark[g] of God was with the
children of Israel). 19 Now it happened, while Saul
talked to the priest, that the noise which was in the camp of
the Philistines continued to increase; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw
your hand.” 20 Then Saul and all the people
who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle; and
indeed every man’s sword was against his neighbor, and there was very
great confusion. 21 Moreover the Hebrews who were
with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the
camp from the surrounding country, they also
joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 Likewise
all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they
heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the
battle. 23 So the Lord saved Israel that
day, and the battle shifted to Beth Aven.
Saul’s Rash Oath
24 And the men of Israel were
distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying,
“Cursed is the man who eats any food until
evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the people
tasted food. 25 Now all the people of
the land came to a forest; and there was honey on the ground. 26 And
when the people had come into the woods, there was the honey, dripping; but no
one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. 27 But
Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath; therefore he
stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand and
dipped it in a honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his countenance
brightened. 28 Then one of the people said, “Your
father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the
man who eats food this day.’” And the people were faint.
29 But Jonathan said, “My father has
troubled the land. Look now, how my countenance has brightened because I tasted
a little of this honey. 30 How much better if the
people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found!
For now would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the
Philistines?”
31 Now they had driven back the
Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. So the people were very
faint. 32 And the people rushed on the spoil, and
took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the
ground; and the people ate them with the blood. 33 Then
they told Saul, saying, “Look, the people are sinning against the Lord by
eating with the blood!”
So he said, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a large
stone to me this day.” 34 Then Saul said, “Disperse
yourselves among the people, and say to them, ‘Bring me here every man’s ox and
every man’s sheep, 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 slaughtered it there. 35 Then
Saul built an altar to the Lord. This was the first altar that he built to
the Lord.
36 Now Saul said, “Let us go down
after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning light; and
let us not leave a man of them.”
And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.”
Then the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.”
37 So Saul asked counsel of God,
“Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You deliver them into the hand of
Israel?” But He did not answer him that day. 38 And
Saul said, “Come over here, all you chiefs of the people, and know and see what
this sin was today. 39 For as the Lord lives,
who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But
not a man among all the people answered him. 40 Then
he said to all Israel, “You be on one side, and my son Jonathan and I will be
on the other side.”
And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.”
41 Therefore Saul said to
the Lord God of Israel, “Give a perfect lot.”[h] So Saul and Jonathan
were taken, but the people escaped. 42 And Saul
said, “Cast lots between my son Jonathan and me.” So Jonathan
was taken. 43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me
what you have done.”
And Jonathan told him, and said, “I only tasted a little honey
with the end of the rod that was in my hand. So now I must
die!”
44 Saul answered, “God do so and more
also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan.”
45 But the people said to Saul,
“Shall Jonathan die, who has accomplished this great deliverance in Israel?
Certainly not! As the Lord lives, not one hair of
his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the
people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.
46 Then Saul returned from pursuing
the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.
Saul’s Continuing Wars
47 So Saul established his
sovereignty over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side,
against Moab, against the people of Ammon, against Edom, against the kings of
Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he harassed them.[i] 48 And
he gathered an army and attacked the Amalekites, and delivered Israel from the
hands of those who plundered them.
49 The sons of Saul were Jonathan,
Jishui,[j] and Malchishua. And
the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the
firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal. 50 The
name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the
name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner,
Saul’s uncle. 51 Kish was the
father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of
Abiel.
52 Now there was fierce war with the
Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any
valiant man, he took him for himself.
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