¹⁵ And Samuel left and went on his way from Gilgal.^[a] The rest of the people followed Saul to join the army; they went up from Gilgal toward Gibeah of Benjamin.^[b]

Preparations for Battle

Saul counted the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.^(A)

² Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is at Migron; the troops who were with him were about six hundred men,^(A)

² Saul chose three thousand out of Israel; two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; the rest of the people he sent home to their tents.^(A)

⁶ When the Israelites saw that they were in distress (for the troops were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns.^{(A) 7} Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.