Book of Common Prayer

¹⁹ Now there was no metalsmith to be found anywhere in all the land of Isra’el, because the P’lishtim had said, “We don’t want the Hebrews making themselves swords or spears.” ²⁰ So whenever any of the people of Isra’el wanted to sharpen his hoe, plowshare, axe or pick, he had to go down to the P’lishtim, ²¹ where the exorbitant prices were two-thirds of a shekel for filing a pick or plowshare and one-third of a shekel for filing an axe or setting an oxgoad in its handle. ²² Thus when the time came to fight, no one in the army of Sha’ul and Y’honatan was equipped with either sword or spear; although Sha’ul and Y’honatan his son did have them.

²³ A garrison of the P’lishtim had gone out to the pass of Mikhmas.

14 One day Y’honatan the son of Sha’ul said to the young man carrying his armor, “Come, let’s go across to the garrison of the P’lishtim on the other side. But he didn’t tell his father. ² Sha’ul was waiting at the far edge of Giv‘ah under the pomegranate tree in Migron; the force with him numbered about 600 men. ³ Achiyah the son of Achituv, I-Khavod’s brother, the son of Pinchas the son of ‘Eli, the cohen of Adonai in Shiloh, was carrying a ritual vest. No one knew that Y’honatan had gone.

⁴ Between the passes by which Y’honatan was trying to cross to the garrison of the P’lishtim, there was a rocky spur on one side and another rocky spur on the other side; the name of the one was Botzetz, and of the other, Seneh. ⁵ The one spur rose up on the north, in front of Mikhmas, and the other on the south, in front of Geva. ⁶ Y’honatan said to his armor-bearer, “Come on, let’s go across to the garrison of these uncircumcised people. Maybe Adonai will do something for us, since Adonai can rescue with a few people as easily as with many.” ⁷ His armor-bearer replied, “Do everything you think you should; I’m with you, whatever you decide.” ⁸ Y’honatan said, “Here, we’ll cross over to those men and let them know we’re there. ⁹ If they say, ‘Wait till we come to you,’ we’ll stand still where we are and not go up to them. ¹⁰ But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we’ll go on up; and that will be the sign that Adonai has given us victory over them.”

¹¹ So both of them let their presence be known to the garrison of the P’lishtim; and the P’lishtim said, “Look, some Hebrews coming out of the holes they’ve been hiding in!” ¹² Then the men of the garrison said to Y’honatan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us; we want to show you something.” Y’honatan told his armor-bearer, “Come on up after me, for Adonai has handed them over to Isra’el.” ¹³ Y’honatan climbed up, using his hands as well as his feet, with his armor-bearer behind him. The P’lishtim fell before Y’honatan, and his armor-bearer following him finished them off. ¹⁴ That first slaughter, of about twenty men, was accomplished by Y’honatan and his armor bearer in a space only half as long as one side of the area a pair of oxen could plow in a day [about 200 yards].

¹⁵ There was panic in the field camp among all the P’lishtim; likewise, the garrison and the raiding party panicked. Besides all this, there was an earthquake; thus it grew into panic caused by God.

9 Meanwhile, Sha’ul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s talmidim, went to the cohen hagadol ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Dammesek, authorizing him to arrest any people he might find, whether men or women, who belonged to “the Way,” and bring them back to Yerushalayim.

³ He was on the road and nearing Dammesek, when suddenly a light from heaven flashed all around him. ⁴ Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Sha’ul! Sha’ul! Why do you keep persecuting me?” ⁵ “Sir, who are you?” he asked. “I am Yeshua, and you are persecuting me. ⁶ But get up, and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.”

⁷ The men traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸ They helped Sha’ul get up off the ground; but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So, leading him by the hand, they brought him into Dammesek. ⁹ For three days he remained unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.

²⁶ As the Roman soldiers led Yeshua away, they grabbed hold of a man from Cyrene named Shim‘on, who was on his way in from the country. They put the execution-stake on his back and made him carry it behind Yeshua. ²⁷ Large numbers of people followed, including women crying and wailing over him. ²⁸ Yeshua turned to them and said, “Daughters of Yerushalayim, don’t cry for me; cry for yourselves and your children! ²⁹ For the time is coming when people will say, ‘The childless women are the lucky ones — those whose wombs have never borne a child, whose breasts have never nursed a baby! ³⁰ Then

³¹ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what is going to happen when it’s dry?”