Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

13 Saul ^[a]reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, ² Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in ^(A)Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with ^(B)Jonathan in ^(C)Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent.

³ And Jonathan attacked ^(D)the garrison of the Philistines that was in ^(E)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 ^[b]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, ^[c]thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people ^(F)as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of ^(G)Beth Aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people ^(H)hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. ⁷ And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the ^(I)land of Gad and Gilead.

As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. ^8 (J)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 ^[d]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, ^(K)“You have done foolishly. ^(L)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 (M)But now your kingdom shall not continue. ^(N)The Lord has sought for Himself a man ^(O)after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have ^(P)not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

¹⁵ Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of ^[e]Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, ^(Q)about six hundred men.

No Weapons for the Army

¹⁶ Saul, Jonathan his son, and the people present with them remained in ^[f]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 ^(R)Ophrah, to the land of Shual, ¹⁸ another company turned to the road to ^(S)Beth Horon, and another company turned to the road of the border that overlooks the Valley of ^(T)Zeboim toward the wilderness.

¹⁹ Now ^(U)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 ^[g]pim 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 ^(V)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 (W)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 ^[a]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 ^(A)Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men. ^3 (B)Ahijah the son of Ahitub, ^(C)Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh, was ^(D)wearing an ephod. But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.

⁴ Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over ^(E)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 ^(F)uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord ^(G)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 ^(H)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 ^(I)hidden.” ¹² Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will ^[b]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 ^(J)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 ^[c]half an acre of land.

¹⁵ And ^(K)there was ^[d]trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and ^(L)the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was ^(M)a very great trembling.