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 us cross over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. ² Saul was staying in the outskirts of ^(A)Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in ^(B)Migron. And the people who were with him were ^(C)about six hundred men, ³ and Ahijah, the ^(D)son of Ahitub, ^(E)Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the Lord at ^(F)Shiloh, ^(G)was ^[a]wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. ^4 (H)Between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp crag on the one side and a sharp 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 us cross over to the garrison of ^(I)these uncircumcised; perhaps the Lord will work for us, for ^(J)the Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few.” ⁷ His armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your ^[b]desire.” ⁸ Then Jonathan said, “^(K)Behold, we will cross over to the men and reveal ourselves to them. ⁹ If they ^[c]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 ^[d]say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hands; and ^(L)this shall be the sign to us.” ¹¹ When both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, “Behold, ^(M)Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.” ¹² So the men of the garrison ^[e]hailed Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, “Come up to us and ^(N)we will tell you something.” And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me, for ^(O)the Lord has given them into the hands of Israel.” ¹³ Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him; and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer put some to death after him. ¹⁴ That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty men within about half a furrow in an acre of land. ¹⁵ And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even the garrison and ^(P)the raiders trembled, and ^(Q)the earth quaked so ^(R)that it became a ^[f]great trembling.

¹⁶ Now Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude melted away; and they went here and there. ¹⁷ Saul said to the people who were with him, “^[g]Number now and see who has gone from us.” And when they had ^[h]numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there. ¹⁸ Then Saul said to Ahijah, “^(S)Bring the ark of God here.” For the ark of God was at that time with the sons of Israel. ^19 (T)While Saul talked to the priest, the commotion in the camp of the Philistines continued and increased; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” ²⁰ Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, ^(U)every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion. ²¹ Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines previously, who went up with them all around in the camp, even ^(V)they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²² When all the ^(W)men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, even they also pursued them closely in the battle. ²³ So ^(X)the Lord delivered Israel that day, and the battle ^[i]spread beyond ^(Y)Beth-aven.

Saul’s Foolish Order

²⁴ Now the men of Israel were hard-pressed on that day, for Saul had ^(Z)put the people under oath, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food ^[j]before evening, and until I have avenged myself on my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food. ²⁵ All the people of the land entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground. ²⁶ When the people entered the forest, behold, ^(AA)there was a flow of honey; but no man put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. ²⁷ But Jonathan had not heard when his father put the people under oath; therefore, ^(AB)he put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and ^(AC)his eyes brightened. ²⁸ Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly put the people under oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today.’” And the people were weary. ²⁹ Then Jonathan said, “^(AD)My father has troubled the land. See now, how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. ³⁰ How much more, if only the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great.”

³¹ They struck among the Philistines that day from ^(AE)Michmash to ^(AF)Aijalon. And the people were very weary. ^32 (AG)The people ^[k]rushed greedily upon the spoil, and took sheep and oxen and calves, and slew them on the ground; and the people ate them ^(AH)with the blood. ³³ Then they told Saul, saying, “Behold, the people are ^(AI)sinning against the Lord by eating with the blood.” And he said, “You have acted treacherously; roll a great stone to me today.” ³⁴ Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, ‘Each one of you bring me his ox or his sheep, and slaughter it here and eat; and do not sin against the Lord by eating with the blood.’” So all the people that night brought each one his ox ^[l]with him and slaughtered it there. ³⁵ And ^(AJ)Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first altar that he built to the Lord.

³⁶ Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good ^[m]to you.” So ^(AK)the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.” ³⁷ Saul ^(AL)inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?” But ^(AM)He did not answer him on that day. ³⁸ Saul said, “^(AN)Draw near here, all you ^[n]chiefs of the people, and investigate and see how this sin has happened today. ³⁹ For ^(AO)as the Lord lives, who delivers Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But not one of all the people answered him. ⁴⁰ Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good ^[o]to you.” ⁴¹ Therefore, Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, “^(AP)Give a perfect lot.” And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped. ⁴² Saul said, “Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son.” And Jonathan was taken.

⁴³ Then Saul said to Jonathan, “^(AQ)Tell me what you have done.” So Jonathan told him and said, “^(AR)I indeed tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must die!” ⁴⁴ Saul said, “^(AS)May God do ^[p]this to me and more also, for ^(AT)you shall surely die, Jonathan.” ⁴⁵ But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die, who has ^[q]brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Far from it! As the Lord lives, ^(AU)not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for ^(AV)he has worked with God this day.” So the people ^[r]rescued Jonathan and he did not die. ⁴⁶ Then Saul went up from ^[s]pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

Constant Warfare

⁴⁷ Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, ^(AW)the sons of Ammon, Edom, ^(AX)the kings of Zobah, and ^(AY)the Philistines; and wherever he turned, he ^[t]inflicted punishment. ⁴⁸ He acted valiantly and ^[u](AZ)defeated the Amalekites, and delivered Israel from the hands of ^[v]those who plundered them.

⁴⁹ Now ^(BA)the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi and Malchi-shua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn ^(BB)Merab and the name of the younger ^(BC)Michal. ⁵⁰ The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And ^(BD)the name of the captain of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. ^51 (BE)Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

⁵² Now the war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man or any valiant man, he ^[w](BF)attached him to ^[x]his staff.

Yodh.

Safe at Malta

28 When ^(A)they had been brought safely through, ^(B)then we found out that ^(C)the island was called ^[a]Malta. ^2 (D)The ^[b]natives showed us extraordinary kindness; for because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and ^(E)received us all. ³ But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out ^[c]because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. ⁴ When ^(F)the ^[d]natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “^(G)Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, ^[e]justice has not allowed him to live.” ⁵ However ^(H)he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ But they were expecting that he was about to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and ^(I)began to say that he was a god.

⁷ Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us courteously three days. ⁸ And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with recurrent fever and dysentery; and Paul went in to see him and after he had ^(J)prayed, he ^(K)laid his hands on him and healed him. ⁹ After this had happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and getting cured. ¹⁰ They also honored us with many ^[f]marks of respect; and when we were setting sail, they ^[g]supplied us with ^[h]all we needed.

Paul Arrives at Rome

¹¹ At the end of three months we set sail on ^(L)an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had ^[i]the Twin Brothers for its figurehead. ¹² After we put in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. ¹³ From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium, and a day later a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. ^14 [j]There we found some ^(M)brethren, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and thus we came to Rome. ¹⁵ And the ^(N)brethren, when they heard about us, came from there as far as the ^[k]Market of Appius and ^[l]Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶ When we entered Rome, Paul was ^(O)allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.

¹⁷ After three days ^[m]Paul called together those who were ^(P)the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “^(Q)Brethren, ^(R)though I had done nothing against our people or ^(S)the customs of our ^[n]fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. ¹⁸ And when they had ^(T)examined me, they ^(U)were willing to release me because there was ^(V)no ground ^[o]for putting me to death. ¹⁹ But when the Jews ^[p]objected, I was forced to ^(W)appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation. ²⁰ For this reason, therefore, I ^[q]requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am wearing ^(X)this chain for ^(Y)the sake of the hope of Israel.” ²¹ They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of ^(Z)the brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. ²² But we desire to hear from you what ^[r]your views are; for concerning this ^(AA)sect, it is known to us that ^(AB)it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³ When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at ^(AC)his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly ^(AD)testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, ^(AE)from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. ^24 (AF)Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. ²⁵ And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, ²⁶ saying,

²⁸ Therefore let it be known to you that ^(AJ)this salvation of God has been sent ^(AK)to the Gentiles; they will also listen.” ²⁹ [^[v]When he had spoken these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.]

³⁰ And he stayed two full years ^[w]in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, ^31 [x](AL)preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ ^(AM)with all openness, unhindered.