War with the Philistines

13 Saul was ^[a]thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for ^[b]forty-two years over Israel.

² Now Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel, of whom two thousand were with Saul in ^(A)Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, while a thousand were with Jonathan at ^(B)Gibeah of Benjamin. But he sent the rest of the people away, each to his tent. ³ And Jonathan attacked ^(C)the garrison of the Philistines that was in ^(D)Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul ^(E)blew the trumpet throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” ⁴ And all Israel heard ^[c]the news that Saul had attacked the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel ^(F)had become repulsive to the Philistines. Then the people were summoned ^[d]to Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ Now the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and ^(G)people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance; and they came up and camped in Michmash, east of ^(H)Beth-aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard-pressed), then ^(I)the people kept themselves hidden in caves, in crevices, in cliffs, in crypts, and in pits. ⁷ And some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of ^(J)Gad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling.

⁸ Now ^(K)he waited for seven days, until the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. ⁹ So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And ^(L)he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ But as soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and ^(M)Saul went out to meet him and to ^[e]greet him. ¹¹ But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Since I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come at the appointed ^[f]time, and that ^(N)the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, ¹² I ^[g]thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not ^[h]asked the favor of the Lord.’ So I worked up the courage and offered the burnt offering.” ¹³ But Samuel said to Saul, “^(O)You have acted foolishly! ^(P)You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for the Lord would now have established your kingdom ^[i]over Israel ^(Q)forever. ¹⁴ But ^(R)now your kingdom shall not endure. ^(S)The Lord has sought for Himself a man ^[j]after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

¹⁵ Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal to ^(T)Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul ^[k]counted the people who were ^[l]present with him, ^(U)about six hundred men. ¹⁶ Now Saul, his son Jonathan, and the people who were ^[m]present with them were staying in ^(V)Geba of Benjamin while the Philistines camped at Michmash. ¹⁷ Then ^(W)[n]raiders came from the camp of the Philistines in three ^[o]companies: one ^[p]company turned ^[q]toward ^(X)Ophrah, to the land of Shual, ¹⁸ and another ^[r]company turned ^[s]toward ^(Y)Beth-horon, and another ^[t]company turned ^[u]toward the border that overlooks the Valley of ^(Z)Zeboim toward the wilderness.

¹⁹ Now ^(AA)no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make ^[v](AB)swords or spears.” ²⁰ So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his hoe. ²¹ The charge was ^[w]two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to fix the ^[x]cattle goads. ²² So it came about on the day of battle that ^(AC)neither sword nor spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, but they were found with Saul and his son Jonathan. ²³ And ^(AD)the garrison of the Philistines went out to ^(AE)the gorge of Michmash.