^13 (A)So the Philistines were subdued, and they ^(B)did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

The Birth of Samson^(A)

13 Again the children of Israel ^(B)did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them ^(C)into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

The Tragic End of Saul and His Sons^(A)

31 Now ^(B)the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount ^(C)Gilboa. ² Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed ^(D)Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. ^3 (E)The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers ^[a]hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers.

^4 (F)Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest ^(G)these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and ^[b]abuse me.”

But his armorbearer would not, ^(H)for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and ^(I)fell on it. ⁵ And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him. ⁶ So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.

⁷ And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

Saul Consults a Medium^(A)

³ Now ^(B)Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in ^(C)Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put ^(D)the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.

⁴ Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at ^(E)Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at ^(F)Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was ^(G)afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.

⁴⁹ Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. ⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a ^(A)sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹ Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his ^(B)sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.

And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, ^(C)they fled. ⁵² Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of ^[a]the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to ^(D)Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents.

²⁰ Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle; and indeed ^(A)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 ^(B)had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle. ^23 (C)So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted ^(D)to Beth Aven.

⁶ Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these ^(A)uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord ^(B)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 ^(C)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 ^(D)hidden.” ¹² Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will ^[a]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 ^(E)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 ^[b]half an acre of land.

¹⁵ And ^(F)there was ^[c]trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and ^(G)the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was ^(H)a very great trembling. ¹⁶ Now the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and there was the multitude, melting away; and they ^(I)went here and there.

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.

⁵ For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no ^(A)razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be ^(B)a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall ^(C)begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”