¹⁵ Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal. ⎣The rest of the people followed Saul to meet the army. They went up from Gilgal⎦^[a] to Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul counted the people who were present with him. There were about six hundred men. ¹⁶ Saul, and his son Jonathan, and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba^[b] of Benjamin, but the Philistines camped at Mikmash.

¹⁷ Raiding parties set out from the camp of the Philistines in three groups. One group headed down the road toward Ophrah, toward the land of Shual. ¹⁸ Another group headed down the road to Beth Horon, and the third group headed toward the position on the border that looks down on the Valley of Zeboim, toward the wilderness.

¹⁹ At that time no blacksmith could be found throughout the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines said, “If we allow this, the Hebrews will make swords or spears for themselves.” ²⁰ So all the Israelites had to go down to the Philistines to get their plowshares, mattocks,^[c] axes, and sickles^[d] sharpened. ²¹ The price was two thirds of a shekel^[e] to sharpen plowshares and mattocks and one third of a shekel for pitchforks and axes and to repair ox goads.

²² The result was that when the day of battle came, no swords or spears were found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. Only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.