1 Samuel 14
14
1And the day cometh that Jonathan son of Saul saith unto the young man bearing his weapons, ‘Come, and we pass over unto the station of the Philistines, which [is] on the other side of this;’ and to his father he hath not declared [it].
2And Saul is abiding at the extremity of Gibeah, under the pomegranate which [is] in Migron, and the people who [are] with him, about six hundred men,
3and Ahiah, son of Ahitub, brother of I-Chabod, son of Phinehas son of Eli priest of Jehovah in Shiloh, bearing an ephod; and the people knew not that Jonathan hath gone.
4And between the passages where Jonathan sought to pass over unto the station of the Philistines [is] the edge of a rock on the one side, and the edge of a rock on the other side, and the name of the one is Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
5The one edge [is] fixed on the north over-against Michmash, and the one on the south over-against Gibeah.
6And Jonathan saith unto the young man bearing his weapons, ‘Come, and we pass over unto the station of these uncircumcised; it may be Jehovah doth work for us, for there is no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few.’
7And the bearer of his weapons saith to him, ‘Do all that [is] in thy heart; turn for thee; lo, I [am] with thee, as thine own heart.’
8And Jonathan saith, ‘Lo, we are passing over unto the men, and are revealed unto them;
9if thus they say unto us, ‘Stand still till we have come unto you,’ then we have stood in our place, and do not go up unto them;
10and if thus they say, ‘Come up against us,’ then we have gone up, for Jehovah hath given them into our hand, and this to us [is] the sign.
11And revealed are both of them unto the station of the Philistines, and the Philistines say, ‘Lo, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hid themselves.’
12And the men of the station answer Jonathan, and the bearer of his weapons, and say, ‘Come up unto us, and we cause you to know something.’ And Jonathan saith unto the bearer of his weapons, ‘Come up after me, for Jehovah hath given them into the hand of Israel.’
13And Jonathan goeth up on his hands, and on his feet, and the bearer of his weapons after him; and they fall before Jonathan, and the bearer of his weapons is putting to death after him.
14And the first smiting which Jonathan and the bearer of his weapons have smitten is of about twenty men, in about half a furrow of a yoke of a field,
15and there is a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people, the station and the destroyers have trembled — even they, and the earth shaketh, and it becometh a trembling of God.
16And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin see, and lo, the multitude hath melted away, and it goeth on, and is beaten down.
17And Saul saith to the people who [are] with him, ‘Inspect, I pray you, and see; who hath gone from us?’ and they inspect, and lo, Jonathan and the bearer of his weapons are not.
18And Saul saith to Ahiah, ‘Bring nigh the ark of God;’ for the ark of God hath been on that day with the sons of Israel.
19And it cometh to pass, while Saul spake unto the priest, that the noise which [is] in the camp of the Philistines goeth on, going on and becoming great, and Saul saith unto the priest, ‘Remove thy hand.’
20And Saul is called, and all the people who [are] with him, and they come in unto the battle, and, lo, the sword of each hath been against his neighbour — a very great destruction.
21And the Hebrews [who] have been for the Philistines as heretofore, who had gone up with them into the camp, have turned round, even they, to be with Israel who [are] with Saul and Jonathan,
22and all the men of Israel, who are hiding themselves in the hill-country of Ephraim, have heard that the Philistines have fled, and they pursue — even they — after them in battle.
23And Jehovah saveth Israel on that day, and the battle hath passed over to Beth-Aven.
24And the men of Israel have been distressed on that day, and Saul adjureth the people, saying, ‘Cursed [is] the man who eateth food till the evening, and I have been avenged of mine enemies;’ and none of the people hath tasted food.
25And all [they of] the land have come into a forest, and there is honey on the face of the field;
26and the people come in unto the forest, and lo, the honey dropped, and none is moving his hand unto his mouth, for the people feared the oath.
27And Jonathan hath not heard of his father's adjuring the people, and putteth forth the end of the rod, which [is] in his hand, and dippeth it in the honeycomb, and bringeth back his hand unto his mouth — and his eyes see!
28And a man of the people answereth and saith, ‘Thy father certainly adjured the people, saying, Cursed [is] the man who eateth food to-day; and the people are weary.’
29And Jonathan saith, ‘My father hath troubled the land; see, I pray you, that mine eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey.
30How much more if the people had well eaten to-day of the spoil of its enemies which it hath found, for now, the smiting hath not been great among the Philistines.’
31And they smite on that day among the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, and the people are very weary,
32and the people make unto the spoil, and take sheep, and oxen, and sons of the herd, and slaughter on the earth, and the people eat with the blood.
33And they declare to Saul, saying, ‘Lo, the people are sinning against Jehovah, to eat with the blood.’ And he saith, ‘Ye have dealt treacherously, roll unto me to-day a great stone.’
34And Saul saith, ‘Be ye scattered among the people, and ye have said to them, Bring ye nigh unto me each his ox, and each his sheep; and ye have slain [them] in this place, and eaten, and ye do not sin against Jehovah to eat with the blood.’ And all the people bring nigh each his ox, in his hand, that night, and slaughter [them] there.
35And Saul buildeth an alter to Jehovah; with it he hath begun to build altars to Jehovah.
36And Saul saith, ‘Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and we prey upon them till the light of the morning, and leave not a man of them.’ And they say, ‘All that is good in thine eyes do.’ And the priest saith, ‘Let us draw near hither unto God.’
37And Saul asketh of God, ‘Do I go down after the Philistines? dost Thou give them into the hand of Israel?’ and He hath not answered him on that day.
38And Saul saith, ‘Draw ye nigh hither all, the chiefs of the people, and know and see in what this sin hath been to-day;
39for, Jehovah liveth, who is saving Israel: surely if it be in Jonathan my son, surely he doth certainly die;’ and none is answering him out of all the people.
40And he saith unto all Israel, ‘Ye — ye are on one side, and I and Jonathan my son are on another side;’ and the people say unto Saul, ‘That which is good in thine eyes do.’
41And Saul saith unto Jehovah, God of Israel, ‘Give perfection;’ and Jonathan and Saul are captured, and the people went out.
42And Saul saith, ‘Cast between me and Jonathan my son;’ and Jonathan is captured.
43And Saul saith unto Jonathan, ‘Declare to me, what hast thou done?’ and Jonathan declareth to him, and saith, ‘I certainly tasted with the end of the rod that [is] in my hand a little honey; lo, I die!’
44And Saul saith, ‘Thus doth God do, and thus doth He add, for thou dost certainly die, Jonathan.’
45And the people say unto Saul, ‘Doth Jonathan die who wrought this great salvation in Israel? — a profanation! Jehovah liveth, if there falleth from the hair of his head to the earth, for with God he hath wrought this day;’ and the people rescue Jonathan, and he hath not died.
46And Saul goeth up from after the Philistines, and the Philistines have gone to their place;
47and Saul captured the kingdom over Israel, and he fighteth round about against all his enemies, against Moab, and against the Bene-Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines, and whithersoever he turneth he doth vex [them].
48And he maketh a force, and smiteth Amalek, and delivereth Israel out of the hand of its spoiler.
49And the sons of Saul are Jonathan, and Ishui, and Melchi-Shua; as to the name of his two daughters, the name of the first-born [is] Merab, and the name of the younger Michal;
50and the name of the wife of Saul [is] Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz; and the name of the head of his host [is] Abner son of Ner, uncle of Saul;
51and Kish [is] father of Saul, and Ner father of Abner [is] son of Ahiel.
52And the war is severe against the Philistines all the days of Saul; when Saul hath seen any mighty man, and any son of valour, then he doth gather him unto himself.
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1 Samuel 14: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
1 Samuel 14
14
Jonathan Attacks the Philistines
1That day, Saul’s son Jonathan was talking with the young man who carried his weapons. Jonathan said, “Let’s go to the Philistine camp on the other side of the valley.” But Jonathan did not tell his father.
2Saul was sitting under a pomegranate tree at the threshing floor#14:2 at the threshing floor Or “in Migron.” at the edge of the hill.#14:2 edge of the hill Or “the edge of Gibeah.” Saul had about 600 men with him. 3One of the men was named Ahijah. Ahijah was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub. Ahitub was the son of Phinehas. Phinehas was the son of Eli. Eli had been the Lord’s priest at Shiloh. Now Ahijah was the priest who wore the ephod.
These men did not know that Jonathan had left. 4Jonathan was planning to go through a pass to get to the Philistine camp. There was a large rock on each side of the pass. The large rock on one side was named Bozez. The large rock on the other side was named Seneh. 5One of the rocks faced north toward Micmash, and the other faced south toward Geba.
6Jonathan said to his young helper who carried his weapons, “Come on, let’s go to the camp of those foreigners.#14:6 foreigners Literally, “uncircumcised.” This means people who did not share in the agreement God made with Israel. See “circumcise, circumcision” in the Word List. Maybe the Lord will use us to defeat them. Nothing can stop the Lord—it doesn’t matter if we have many soldiers or just a few soldiers.”
7The young man who carried Jonathan’s weapons said to him, “Do what you think is best. Whatever you decide, I am with you all the way.”
8Jonathan said, “Let’s go! We’ll cross the valley and go to the Philistine guards. We’ll let them see us. 9If they say to us, ‘Stay there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are. We won’t go up to them. 10But if the Philistine men say, ‘Come up here,’ then we will climb up to them. That will be a sign from God. That will mean that the Lord will allow us to defeat them.”
11So Jonathan and his helper let the Philistines see them. The Philistine guards said, “Look! The Hebrews are coming out of the holes they were hiding in.” 12The Philistines in the fort shouted to Jonathan and his helper, “Come up here. We’ll teach you a lesson.”
Jonathan said to his helper, “Follow me up the hill. The Lord is letting Israel defeat the Philistines.”
13-14So Jonathan climbed up the hill with his hands and feet, and his helper was right behind him. Jonathan and his helper attacked them. In the first attack, they killed 20 Philistines in an area about one-half acre in size. Jonathan fought the men who attacked from the front. His helper came behind him and killed the men who were only wounded.
15Great fear spread among the Philistine soldiers—those in the field, in the camp, and at the fort. Even the bravest soldiers were afraid. The ground began to shake, and they were completely overcome with fear.
16Saul’s guards at Gibeah in the land of Benjamin saw the Philistine soldiers running away in different ways. 17Saul said to the army with him, “Count the men. I want to know who left camp.”
They counted the men. Jonathan and his helper were gone.
18Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring God’s Holy Box!” (At that time God’s Holy Box was there with the Israelites.)#14:18 The ancient Greek and Latin versions have “Saul said to Ahijah, ‘Bring the ephod!’ (At that time Ahijah was wearing the ephod.)” 19Saul was talking to Ahijah the priest waiting for advice from God. But the noise and confusion in the Philistine camp was growing and growing. Saul was becoming impatient. Finally, he said to Ahijah the priest, “That’s enough. Put your hand down and stop praying.”
20Saul gathered his army together and went to the battle. The Philistine soldiers were very confused. They were even fighting each other with their swords. 21There were Hebrews who served the Philistines in the past and who stayed in the Philistine camp. But now these Hebrews joined the Israelites with Saul and Jonathan. 22All the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard the Philistine soldiers were running away. So these Israelites also joined in the battle and began chasing the Philistines.
23So the Lord saved the Israelites that day. The battle moved on past Beth Aven. The whole army was with Saul—he now had about 10,000 men. The battle spread to every city in the hill country of Ephraim.#14:23 The whole army … Ephraim This is from the ancient Greek version.
Saul Makes Another Mistake
24But Saul made a big mistake that day.#14:24 But Saul … that day This is from the ancient Greek version. The standard Hebrew text has “The Israelites were very tired and hungry that day.” He made this oath: “If any man eats food before evening comes, before I finish defeating my enemies, he will be under a curse.” He made the soldiers promise not to eat. So none of them ate anything.
25-26Because of the fighting, the people went into some woods. Then they saw a honeycomb on the ground. The Israelites went up to the honeycomb, but they didn’t eat any of it. They were afraid to break the promise. 27But Jonathan didn’t know about the oath. He didn’t hear his father make the soldiers promise not to eat. Jonathan had a stick in his hand, so he dipped the end of the stick into the honeycomb and pulled out some honey. He ate the honey and began to feel much better.
28One of the soldiers told Jonathan, “Your father forced the soldiers to make a special promise. He said that any man who eats today will be under a curse. So the men have not eaten anything. That’s why they are weak.”
29Jonathan said, “My father has brought a lot of trouble to the land. See how much better I feel after tasting just a little of this honey. 30It would have been much better for the men to eat the food that they took from their enemies today. We could have killed more Philistines.”
31That day the Israelites defeated the Philistines. They fought them all the way from Micmash to Aijalon. So the people were very tired and hungry. 32They had taken sheep, cattle, and calves from the Philistines. Now they were so hungry that they killed the animals on the ground and ate them. And the blood was still in the animals.
33Someone said to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the Lord. They’re eating meat that still has blood in it!”
Saul said, “You have sinned. Roll a large stone over here now!” 34Then Saul said, “Go to the men and tell them that each one must bring his bull and sheep to me. Then the men must kill their bulls and sheep here. Don’t sin against the Lord! Don’t eat meat that still has blood in it.”
That night everyone brought their animals and killed them there. 35Then Saul built an altar for the Lord. Saul himself began building that altar for the Lord.
36Saul said, “Let’s go after the Philistines tonight. We will take everything from them. We will kill them all!”
The army answered, “Do whatever you think is best.”
But the priest said, “Let’s ask God.”
37So Saul asked God, “Should I go chase the Philistines? Will you let us defeat the Philistines?” But God did not answer Saul that day.
38So Saul said, “Bring all the leaders to me! Let’s find who committed the sin today. 39I swear by the Lord who saves Israel, that even if my own son Jonathan sinned, he must die.” None of the people said a word.
40Then Saul said to all the Israelites, “You stand on this side. I and my son Jonathan will stand on the other side.”
The soldiers answered, “As you wish, sir.”
41Then Saul prayed, “Lord, God of Israel, why haven’t you answered me today? Show us who sinned. If it was I or my son Jonathan, give Urim. But if it was your people Israel who sinned, give Thummim.”#14:41 Then Saul prayed … give Thummim This is found in the ancient Greek version. The standard Hebrew text has, “Then Samuel prayed to the Lord, God of Israel, ‘Give the right answer.’”
Saul and Jonathan were shown to be the ones who sinned, and the people went free. 42Saul said, “Throw them again to show the guilty one—me or my son Jonathan.” Jonathan was shown to be the one.
43Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.”
Jonathan told Saul, “I only tasted a little honey from the end of my stick. Should I die for doing that?”
44Saul said, “I made an oath and asked God to punish me if I didn’t keep it. Jonathan, you must die.”
45But the soldiers said to Saul, “Jonathan led Israel to a great victory today. Must Jonathan die? Never! As surely as the Lord lives, not one hair of Jonathan’s head will fall to the ground! God helped Jonathan fight against the Philistines today.” So the people saved Jonathan from death.
46Saul did not chase the Philistines. The Philistines went back to their place.
Saul Fights Israel’s Enemies
47Saul took full control of Israel and fought all the enemies who lived around Israel. Saul fought Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the king of Zobah, and the Philistines. He defeated Israel’s enemies wherever he went. 48Saul was very brave. He saved Israel from all the enemies who tried to take things from the Israelites. He even defeated the Amalekites.
49Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malki Shua. Saul’s older daughter was named Merab. Saul’s younger daughter was named Michal. 50Saul’s wife was named Ahinoam. Ahinoam was the daughter of Ahimaaz.
The commander of Saul’s army was named Abner son of Ner. Ner was Saul’s uncle. 51Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were sons of Abiel.
52Saul was brave all his life. He fought hard against the Philistines. Any time Saul saw a man who was strong or brave, he took that man and put him into the group of soldiers who stayed near the king and protected him.
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