Jonathan’s Victory

14 Now the day came that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come, and let’s cross over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. ² Saul was staying on the outskirts of ^(A)Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is in ^(B)Migron. And the people who were with him numbered ^(C)about six hundred men; ³ and Ahijah, the ^(D)son of Ahitub, ^(E)Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the Lord at ^(F)Shiloh, ^(G)was ^[a]wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. ⁴ Now ^(H)between the gorges by which Jonathan sought to cross over to the Philistines’ garrison there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side; and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other, Seneh. ⁵ The one crag rose on the north opposite Michmash, and the other on the south opposite Geba.

⁶ Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come, and let’s cross over to the garrison of ^(I)these uncircumcised men; perhaps the Lord will work for us, because ^(J)the Lord is not limited to saving by many or by few!” ⁷ His armor bearer said to him, “Do everything that is in your heart; turn yourself to it, and here I am with you, as your heart desires.” ⁸ Then Jonathan said, “^(K)Behold, we are going to cross over to the men and reveal ourselves to them. ⁹ If they ^[b]say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you’; then we will stand in our place and not go up to them. ¹⁰ But if they ^[c]say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has handed them over to us; and ^(L)this shall be the sign to us.” ¹¹ When the two of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, “Behold, ^(M)Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have kept themselves hidden.” ¹² So the men of the garrison responded to Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, “Come up to us and ^(N)we will inform you of something.” And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me, for ^(O)the Lord has handed them over to Israel.” ¹³ Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him; and the men fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer put some to death after him. ¹⁴ Now that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer inflicted was about twenty men within about half a furrow in an acre of land. ¹⁵ And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even the garrison and ^(P)the raiders trembled, and ^(Q)the earth quaked so ^(R)that it became a ^[d]great trembling.

¹⁶ Now Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude dissolved; they went here and there. ¹⁷ So Saul said to the people who were with him, “Look carefully now and see who has left us.” And when they had looked, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there. ¹⁸ Then Saul said to Ahijah, “^(S)Bring the ark of God here.” For at that time the ark of God was with the sons of Israel. ^19 (T)While Saul talked to the priest, the commotion in the camp of the Philistines continued and increased; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” ²⁰ Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, ^(U)every man’s sword was against his fellow Philistine, and there was very great confusion. ²¹ Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines previously, who went up with them all around in the camp, even ^(V)they also returned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²² When all the ^(W)men of Israel who had kept themselves hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, they also closely pursued them in the battle. ²³ So ^(X)the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle ^[e]spread beyond ^(Y)Beth-aven.

Saul’s Foolish Order

²⁴ Now the men of Israel were hard-pressed on that day, for Saul had ^(Z)put the people under oath, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food ^[f]before evening, and before I have avenged myself on my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food. ²⁵ All the people of the land entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground. ²⁶ When the people entered the forest, behold, ^(AA)there was honey dripping; but no man put his hand to his mouth, because the people feared the oath. ²⁷ However, Jonathan had not heard it when his father put the people under oath; so ^(AB)he put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and ^(AC)his eyes ^[g]brightened. ²⁸ Then one of the people responded and said, “Your father strictly put the people under oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today.’” And the people were weary. ²⁹ Then Jonathan said, “^(AD)My father has troubled the land. See now that my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. ³⁰ How much more, if only the people had freely eaten today of the spoils of their enemies which they found! For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”

³¹ They attacked the Philistines that day from ^(AE)Michmash to ^(AF)Aijalon. But the people were very tired. ³² So ^(AG)the people loudly rushed upon the spoils, and took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate them ^(AH)with the blood. ³³ Then observers informed Saul, saying, “Look, the people are ^(AI)sinning against the Lord by eating meat with the blood.” And he said, “You have acted treacherously; roll a large rock to me today.” ³⁴ Then Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, ‘Each one of you bring me his ox or his sheep, and slaughter it here and eat; and do not sin against the Lord by eating it with the blood.’” So all the people brought them that night, each one his ox ^[h]with him, and they slaughtered them there. ³⁵ And ^(AJ)Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first altar that he built to the Lord.

³⁶ Then Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines by night and take plunder among them until the morning light, and let’s not leave a man among them alive.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good ^[i]to you.” So ^(AK)the priest said, “Let’s approach God here.” ³⁷ So Saul ^(AL)inquired of God: “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You hand them over to Israel?” But ^(AM)He did not answer him on that day. ³⁸ Then Saul said, “^(AN)[j]Come here, all you ^[k]leaders of the people, and investigate and see how this sin has happened today. ³⁹ For ^(AO)as the Lord lives, who saves Israel, even if it is in my son Jonathan, he shall assuredly die!” But not one of all the people answered him. ⁴⁰ Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good ^[l]to you.” ⁴¹ Therefore, Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, “^(AP)Give a ^[m]perfect lot.” And Jonathan and Saul were selected by lot, but the people ^[n]were exonerated. ⁴² Then Saul said, “Cast lots between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was selected by lot.

⁴³ So Saul said to Jonathan, “^(AQ)Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, and said, “^(AR)I did indeed taste a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must die!” ⁴⁴ And Saul said, “^(AS)May God do the same to me and more also, for ^(AT)you shall certainly die, Jonathan!” ⁴⁵ But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die, he who has ^[o]brought about this great ^[p]victory in Israel? Far from it! As the Lord lives, ^(AU)not even a hair of his head shall fall to the ground, because ^(AV)he has worked with God this day.” So the people ^[q]rescued Jonathan and he did not die. ⁴⁶ Then Saul went up from ^[r]pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

Constant Warfare

⁴⁷ Now when Saul had taken control of the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, ^(AW)the sons of Ammon, Edom, ^(AX)the kings of Zobah, and ^(AY)the Philistines; and wherever he turned, he ^[s]inflicted punishment. ⁴⁸ And he acted valiantly and ^[t](AZ)defeated the Amalekites, and saved Israel from the hands of ^[u]those who plundered them.

⁴⁹ Now ^(BA)the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was ^(BB)Merab, and the name of the younger, ^(BC)Michal. ⁵⁰ And the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And ^(BD)the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. ^51 (BE)Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

⁵² Now the war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any warrior or any valiant man, he ^[v](BF)attached him to his staff.

Descendants of Judah

4 ^(A)The sons of Judah were Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. ² Reaiah the son of Shobal fathered Jahath, and Jahath fathered Ahumai and Lahad. These were the families of the Zorathites. ³ These were the ^[a]sons of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazzelelponi. ⁴ Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem. ⁵ Ashhur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives, Helah and Naarah. ⁶ Naarah bore to him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah. ⁷ The sons of Helah were Zereth, ^[b]Izhar, and Ethnan. ⁸ Koz fathered Anub and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel, the son of Harum. ⁹ Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I gave birth to him in pain.” ¹⁰ Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would greatly bless me and extend my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would ^[c]keep me from harm so that it would not hurt me!” And God brought about what he requested.

¹¹ Chelub the brother of Shuhah fathered Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. ¹² Eshton fathered Beth-rapha and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of ^[d]Ir-nahash. These are the men of Recah.

¹³ Now the sons of Kenaz were Othniel and Seraiah. And the sons of Othniel were Hathath and Meonothai. ¹⁴ Meonothai fathered Ophrah, and Seraiah fathered Joab the father of ^[e]Ge-harashim, for they were craftsmen. ¹⁵ The sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh were Iru, Elah, and Naam; and the ^[f]son of Elah was ^[g]Kenaz. ¹⁶ The sons of Jehallelel were Ziph and Ziphah, Tiria and Asarel. ¹⁷ The ^[h]sons of Ezrah were Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. And Mered’s wife conceived and gave birth to ^[i]Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. ¹⁸ (His Jewish wife gave birth to Jered, the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.) ^[j]These were the sons of Bithia the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered ^[k]married. ¹⁹ The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the ^[l]fathers of Keilah the Garmite and Eshtemoa the Maacathite. ²⁰ The sons of Shimon were Amnon and Rinnah, and Benhanan and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi were Zoheth and Ben-zoheth. ²¹ The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were Er the father of Lecah and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of the linen workers at Beth-ashbea; ²² and Jokim, the men of Cozeba, Joash, Saraph, who ruled in Moab, and Jashubi-lehem. And the ^[m]records are ancient. ²³ These were the potters and the inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah; they lived there with the king for his work.

Descendants of Simeon

²⁴ The sons of Simeon were ^[n]Nemuel and Jamin, ^[o]Jarib, ^[p]Zerah, and Shaul; ²⁵ Shallum was his son, Mibsam his son, and Mishma his son. ²⁶ The sons of Mishma were Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, and Shimei his son. ²⁷ Now Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, nor did all their family increase like the sons of Judah. ²⁸ They lived in Beersheba, Moladah, and Hazar-shual, ²⁹ in Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, ³⁰ Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹ Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities until the reign of David. ³² Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five cities, ³³ and all their settlements that were around the same cities as far as ^[q]Baal. These were their dwellings, and they have their genealogy.

³⁴ Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah the son of Amaziah, ³⁵ Joel, Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel, ³⁶ and Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, ³⁷ and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah— ³⁸ these ^[r]mentioned by name were leaders in their families; and their fathers’ houses spread out greatly. ³⁹ They went to the entrance of Gedor, as far as the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. ⁴⁰ They found pasture that was rich and good, and ^(B)the land was spread out on both sides, and peaceful and undisturbed; for those who lived there previously were Hamites. ^41 (C)These people, recorded by name, came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and they ^[s]attacked their tents and the Meunites who were found there, and utterly destroyed them to this day; and they lived in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks. ⁴² From them, from the sons of Simeon, five hundred men went to ^(D)Mount Seir, with Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, as their leaders. ^43 (E)They ^[t]destroyed the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and they have lived there to this day.

Examine Yourselves

13 ^(A)This is the third time that I am coming to you. ^(B)On the ^[a]testimony of two or three witnesses every matter shall be confirmed. ² I have previously said when I was present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have ^(C)sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that ^(D)if I come again I will not ^(E)spare anyone, ³ since you are ^(F)seeking proof of the ^(G)Christ who speaks in me, who is not weak toward you, but ^(H)mighty in you. ⁴ For indeed He was ^(I)crucified because of weakness, yet He lives ^(J)because of the power of God. For we too are ^(K)weak ^[b]in Him, yet ^(L)we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.

^5 (M)Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; ^(N)examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you ^[c](O)fail the test? ⁶ But I expect that you will realize that we ourselves ^[d]do not fail the test. ⁷ Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong; not so that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, though we may ^[e]appear unapproved. ⁸ For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. ⁹ For we rejoice when we ourselves are ^(P)weak, but you are strong; this we also pray for, ^[f]that you ^(Q)become mature. ¹⁰ For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present ^(R)I need not use ^(S)severity, in accordance with the ^(T)authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

^11 (U)Finally, brothers and sisters, ^[g]rejoice, ^(V)mend your ways, be comforted, ^(W)be like-minded, ^(X)live in peace; and ^(Y)the God of love and peace will be with you. ^12 (Z)Greet one another with a holy kiss. ^13 (AA)All the ^[h]saints greet you.

^14 (AB)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the ^(AC)love of God, and the ^(AD)fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.