1S 14:1Now one day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, Come and let us cross over to the garrison of the Philistines that is on the other side; but he did not tell his father.
1S 14:2And Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is in Migron; and the people with him were about six hundred men,
1S 14:3Including Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Jehovah in Shiloh, wearing an ephod; and the people did not know that Jonathan went.
1S 14:4And in the pass by which Jonathan sought to cross over to the garrison of the Philistines, there was a rocky crag on one side, and another rocky crag on the other side; and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other was Seneh.
1S 14:5The one crag rose up on the north before Michmash; and the other, on the south before Geba.
1S 14:6And Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. Perhaps Jehovah will act on our behalf, for there is no constraint on Jehovah to save by many or by few.
1S 14:7And his armor bearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart. Go to it; I am here with you according to your heart.
1S 14:8And Jonathan said, Now we will cross over to the men and disclose ourselves to them.
1S 14:9If they say this to us, Wait until we come to you; then we will stand in our place and not go up to them.
1S 14:10But if they say this, Come up to us; then we will go up, for Jehovah will have delivered them into our hand, and this will be the sign of it to us.
1S 14:11And both of them disclosed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, The Hebrews are now coming out of the holes that they hid themselves in.
1S 14:12And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, Come up to us, and we will show you something. Then Jonathan said to his armor bearer, Come up after me, for Jehovah has delivered them into the hand of Israel.
1S 14:13And Jonathan went up on his hands and feet with his armor bearer behind him; and the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer went behind him killing them.
1S 14:14And that first slaughter that Jonathan and his armor bearer made was of about twenty men in half a furrow of an acre of land.
1S 14:15And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; even the garrison and the raiders were in a panic; and the earth quaked. And there came to be a very great panic.
1S 14:16And Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and the multitude was just then melting away, and they were going here and there.
1S 14:17Then Saul said to the people who were with him, Call a muster, and see who has gone from us. And they called a muster, and Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.
1S 14:18And Saul said to Ahijah, Bring the Ark of God here; for the Ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel.
1S 14:19And while Saul spoke to the priest, the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase. Then Saul said to the priest, Withdraw your hand.
1S 14:20And Saul and all the people who were with him gathered together and went into the battle. And each man’s sword was against his companion; the tumult was very great.
1S 14:21And the Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and who had gone up with them into the camp all around, they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.
1S 14:22Likewise, when all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, even they followed them closely in the battle.
1S 14:23Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day, and the battle crossed over beyond Beth-aven.
1S 14:24And the men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, Cursed be the man who eats any food before the evening, when I am avenged of my enemies. So none of the people even tasted food.
1S 14:25And all those from the land came upon a honeycomb, and there was honey on the surface of the ground.
1S 14:26And when the people came to the honeycomb, there was honey flowing; but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people were afraid of the oath.
1S 14:27But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath; and he put forth the end of his staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb, and he put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.
1S 14:28Then someone from among the people responded and said, Your father sternly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man who eats any food today; and so the people are faint.
1S 14:29Then Jonathan said, My father has troubled the land. Look how my eyes lit up because I tasted a bit of this honey.
1S 14:30How much more if today the people had eaten up the spoil from their enemies, which they found, for now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great.
1S 14:31Now they had struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon, and the people were very faint.
1S 14:32And the people flew upon the spoil; and they took sheep and oxen and calves, and slew them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood.
1S 14:33And it was reported to Saul, saying, The people are now sinning against Jehovah by eating the spoil with the blood. And he said, You have dealt treacherously. Roll a large stone to me today.
1S 14:34And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, Let each man bring his ox here to me, and each his sheep; and slay them here and eat; and do not sin against Jehovah by eating these things with the blood. And all the people brought their oxen with them there that night and slew them there.
1S 14:35And Saul built an altar to Jehovah; it was the first altar that he built to Jehovah.
1S 14:36And 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 among them. And they said, Do all that is good in your sight. But the priest said, Let us draw near to God here.
1S 14:37And Saul inquired of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You deliver them into the hand of Israel? But He did not answer him that day.
1S 14:38Then Saul said, Come here, all you chiefs of the people; and find out how this sin has happened today.
1S 14:39For as Jehovah lives, who saves Israel, even if it is with Jonathan my son, he shall surely be put to death. But there was no one among all the people who answered him.
1S 14:40And he said to all Israel, You shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son shall be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, Do what is good in your sight.
1S 14:41Then Saul said to Jehovah the God of Israel, Show perfectly. And Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, but the people escaped.
1S 14:42And Saul said, Cast the lot between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken.
1S 14:43Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what you have done. And Jonathan told him and said, I did indeed taste a bit of honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I must die.
1S 14:44And Saul said, God do so to me and more so, for you shall surely die, Jonathan.
1S 14:45Then the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has executed this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As Jehovah lives, not a hair of his head shall fall to the ground; for he has worked with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan so that he did not die.
1S 14:46Then Saul went up from following the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.
1S 14:47Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies all around, against Moab and against the children of Ammon and against Edom and against the kings of Zobah and against the Philistines. And wherever he turned, he did them harm.
1S 14:48And he performed valiantly and struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel from the hand of those who had plundered them.
1S 14:49Now 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 was Merab, and the name of the younger was Michal.
1S 14:50And the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the captain of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.
1S 14:51And Kish was Saul’s father; and Ner, the father of Abner, was the son of Abiel.
1S 14:52And there was severe war against the Philistines all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man or any valiant man, he took him for himself.
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