1 Samuel 13:23-14:14
New American Standard Bible
23 And (A)the garrison of the Philistines went out to (B)the gorge of Michmash.
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 (C)Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is in (D)Migron. And the people who were with him numbered (E)about six hundred men; 3 and Ahijah, the (F)son of Ahitub, (G)Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the Lord at (H)Shiloh, (I)was [a]wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. 4 Now (J)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 (K)these uncircumcised men; perhaps the Lord will work for us, because (L)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, “(M)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 (N)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, (O)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 (P)we will inform you of something.” And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me, for (Q)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.
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 14:3 Lit carrying
- 1 Samuel 14:9 Lit say thus
- 1 Samuel 14:10 Lit say thus
1 Samuel 13:23-14:14
Living Bible
23 The mountain pass at Michmash had meanwhile been secured by a contingent of the Philistine army.
14 A day or so later, Prince Jonathan said to his young bodyguard, “Come on, let’s cross the valley to the garrison of the Philistines.” But he didn’t tell his father that he was leaving.
2 Saul and his six hundred men were camped at the edge of Gibeah, around the pomegranate tree at Migron. 3 Among his men was Ahijah the priest (the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother; Ahitub was the son of Phinehas and the grandson of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh).
No one realized that Jonathan had gone. 4 To reach the Philistine garrison, Jonathan had to go over a narrow pass between two rocky crags which had been named Bozez and Seneh. 5 The crag on the north was in front of Michmash and the southern one was in front of Geba.
6 “Yes, let’s go across to those heathen,” Jonathan had said to his bodyguard. “Perhaps the Lord will do a miracle for us. For it makes no difference to him how many enemy troops there are!”
7 “Fine!” the youth replied. “Do as you think best; I’m with you heart and soul, whatever you decide.”
8 “All right, then this is what we’ll do,” Jonathan told him. 9 “When they see us, if they say, ‘Stay where you are or we’ll kill you!’ then we will stop and wait for them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come on up and fight!’ then we will do just that; for it will be God’s signal that he will help us defeat them!”
11 When the Philistines saw them coming they shouted, “Look! The Israelis are crawling out of their holes!” 12 Then they shouted to Jonathan, “Come on up here and we’ll show you how to fight!”
“Come on, climb right behind me,” Jonathan exclaimed to his bodyguard, “for the Lord will help us defeat them!”
13 So they clambered up on their hands and knees, and the Philistines fell back as Jonathan and the lad killed them right and left, 14 about twenty men in all, and their bodies were scattered over about half an acre of land.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.