1 Samuel 13
13
The LORD Rejects Saul as King
1Saul was ⌞thirty⌟ years old when he became king, and he was king of Israel ⌞forty-two⌟ years.#13:1 The text of 1 Samuel 13:1 is problematic in all traditions. Some late Greek manuscripts state Saul was 30 years old when he became king. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus and Acts 13:21 state that Saul ruled for 40 years.
2Saul chose 3,000 men from Israel; 2,000 of them were stationed with Saul at Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and 1,000 were stationed with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. But the rest of the people he sent home.
3Jonathan defeated the Philistine troops at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. With the sounding of the ram’s horn throughout the land, Saul announced, “Listen, Hebrews!” 4(So all Israel listened.) “I, Saul, have defeated the Philistine troops, and now Israel has become offensive to the Philistines!” All the troops rallied behind Saul at Gilgal.
5The Philistines assembled to fight against Israel. They had 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and as many soldiers as the sand on the seashore. They camped at Michmash, east of Beth Aven. 6When the Israelites saw they were in trouble because the army was hard-pressed, they hid in caves, in thorny thickets, among rocks, in pits, and in cisterns. 7Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan River into the territory of Gad and Gilead. But Saul remained in Gilgal, and all the people who followed him trembled ⌞in fear⌟.
8He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel. But Samuel had not come to Gilgal, and the troops began to scatter. 9Then Saul said, “Bring me the animals for the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” So he sacrificed the burnt offering. 10As he finished sacrificing the burnt offering, Samuel came, and Saul went to greet him.
11Samuel asked, “What have you done?”
Saul replied, “I saw the troops were scattering. You didn’t come when you said you would, and the Philistines were assembling at Michmash. 12So I thought, ‘Now, the Philistines will come against me at Gilgal, but I haven’t sought the Lord’s favor.’ I felt pressured into sacrificing the burnt offering.”
13“You did a foolish thing,” Samuel told Saul. “You didn’t follow the command of the Lord your God. ⌞If you had,⌟ the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel permanently. 14But now your kingdom will not last. The Lord has searched for a man after his own heart. The Lord has appointed him as ruler of his people, because you didn’t follow the command of the Lord.”
15Samuel left Gilgal. The rest of the people followed Saul to meet the soldiers. They went from Gilgal #13:15 “Samuel … from Gilgal” Greek; Masoretic Text omits these words. to Gibeah in Benjamin, where Saul counted the troops who were still with him—about 600 men. 16Saul, his son Jonathan, and the troops who were with them stayed at Geba in Benjamin while the Philistines camped at Michmash.
17Raiding parties left the Philistine camp in three columns. One column turned onto the road to Ophrah to the region of Shual. 18Another column turned onto the road to Beth Horon. And one turned onto the road toward the region that overlooks the valley of Zeboim and the desert.
19No blacksmith could be found in the entire land of Israel. In this way the Philistines kept the Hebrews from making swords and spears. 20Everyone in Israel had to go to the Philistines to sharpen the blade of his plow, his mattock, ax, or sickle. 21The price was a pim #13:21 A pim was a measure of weight. for plow blades and mattocks, and one-tenth of an ounce of silver to sharpen a mattock or set a metal point on a cattle-prod. 22So on the day of battle, not one sword or spear could be found among all the troops who were with Saul and Jonathan. But Saul and his son Jonathan had them.
23Now, Philistine troops had gone out to the pass at Michmash.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
1 Samuel 13
13
1Saul was...years old when he became king; and he reigned two years over Israel. 2And Saul chose him three thousand men out of Israel: there were with Saul two thousand in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. 3And Jonathan smote the outpost of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. 4And all Israel heard say, Saul has smitten the garrison of the Philistines, and Israel also has become odious to the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal. 5And the Philistines were assembled together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude; and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastward from Beth-Aven. 6And the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed); and the people hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in cliffs, and in strongholds, and in pits. 7And the Hebrews went over the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. And Saul was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
8And he waited seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9And Saul said, Bring hither to me the burnt-offering and the peace-offerings. And he offered up the burnt-offering. 10And it came to pass, as soon as he had ended offering up the burnt-offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. 11And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou didst not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines were assembled at Michmash, 12I said, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to Jehovah; and I forced myself, and offered up the burnt-offering. 13And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of Jehovah thy God#GodHebrew: Elohim which he commanded thee; for now would Jehovah have established thy kingdom over Israel for ever. 14But now thy kingdom shall not continue: Jehovah has sought him a man after his own heart, and Jehovah has appointed him ruler over his people; for thou hast not kept what Jehovah commanded thee.
15And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were found with him, about six hundred men. 16And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were found with them, abode in Geba of Benjamin; and the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17And the ravagers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned the way of Ophrah, into the land of Shual; 18and another company turned the way to Beth-horon; and the other company turned the way to the district that looks over the ravine of Zeboim toward the wilderness. 19Now there was no smith found throughout the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears. 20And all Israel went down to the Philistines, every man to get his ploughshare, and his hoe, and his axe, and his sickle sharpened, 21when the edges of the sickles, and the hoes, and the forks, and the axes were blunted; and to set the goads. 22And it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan; but with Saul and with Jonathan his son there was found. 23And a garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.