6Samuel said to the people, d-“The LORD [is witness], He who appointed-d Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt. 7Come, stand before the LORD while I cite against you all the kindnesses that the LORD has done to you and your fathers.
8“When Jacob came to Egypt,e &ldots; your fathers cried out to the LORD, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. 9But they forgot the LORD their God; so He delivered them into the hands of Sisera the military commander of Hazor, into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the king of Moab; and these made war upon them. 10They cried to the LORD, ‘We are guilty, for we have forsaken the LORD and worshiped the Baalim and the Ashtaroth. Oh, deliver us from our enemies and we will serve You.’ 11And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Bedanf and Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you from the enemies around you; and you dwelt in security. 12But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was advancing against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king reigning over us’—though the LORD your God is your King.
13“Well, the LORD has set a king over you! Here is the king that you have chosen, that you have asked for.
14“If you will revere the LORD, worship Him, and obey Him, and will not flout the LORD’s command, if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, [well and good]. 15But if you do not obey the LORD and you flout the LORD’s command, the hand of the LORD will strike you d-as it did your fathers.-d
16“Now stand by and see the marvelous thing that the LORD will do before your eyes. 17It is the season of the wheat harvest.g I will pray to the LORD and He will send thunder and rain; then you will take thought and realize what a wicked thing you did in the sight of the LORD when you asked for a king.”
18Samuel prayed to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day, and the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel. 19The people all said to Samuel, “Intercede for your servants with the LORD your God that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins the wickedness of asking for a king.” 20But Samuel said to the people, “Have no fear. You have, indeed, done all those wicked things. Do not, however, turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21Do not turn away to follow worthless things, which can neither profit nor save but are worthless. 22For the sake of His great name, the LORD will never abandon His people, seeing that the LORD undertook to make you His people.
23“As for me, far be it from me to sin against the LORD and refrain from praying for you; and I will continue to instruct you in the practice of what is good and right. 24Above all, you must revere the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; and consider how grandly He has dealt with you. 25For if you persist in your wrongdoing, both you and your king shall be swept away.”
13 Saul was&ldots;a years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel two years. 2Saul picked 3,000 Israelites, of whom 2,000 were with Saul in Michmasb and in the hill country of Bethel, and 1,000 with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; the rest of the troops he sent back to their homes. 3Jonathan struck down the Philistine prefect in Geba;c and the Philistines heard about it. d-Saul had the ram’s horn sounded throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.”-d
4When all Israel heard that Saul had struck down the Philistine prefect, and that Israel had e-incurred the wrath of-e the Philistines, all the people rallied to Saul at Gilgal. 5The Philistines, in turn, gathered to attack Israel: 30,000f chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sands of the seashore. They marched up and encamped at Michmas, east of Beth-aven.
6d-When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble—for the troops were hard pressed—the people hid in caves, among thorns, among rocks, in tunnels, and in cisterns. 7Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan, [to] the territory of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and the rest of the people rallied to him in alarm.-d
8He waited seven days, the time that Samuel [had set].g But when Samuel failed to come to Gilgal, and the people began to scatter, 9Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the sacrifice of well-being”; and he presented the burnt offering. 10He had just finished presenting the burnt offering when Samuel arrived; and Saul went out to meet him and welcome him. 11But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “I saw the people leaving me and scattering; you had not come at the appointed time, and the Philistines had gathered at Michmas. 12I thought the Philistines would march down against me at Gilgal before I had entreated the LORD, so Id-forced myself-d to present the burnt offering.” 13Samuel answered Saul, h-“You acted foolishly in not keeping the commandments that the LORD your God laid upon you! Otherwise-h the LORD would have established your dynasty over Israel forever. 14But now your dynasty will not endure. The LORD will seek out a man after His own heart, and the LORD will appoint him ruler over His people, because you did not abide by what the LORD had commanded you.”
15i-Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal-i to Gibeahj of Benjamin. Saul numbered the troops who remained with him—about 600 strong. 16Saul and his son Jonathan, and the troops who remained with them, stayed in Geba of Benjamin, while the Philistines were encamped at Michmas. 17The raiders came out of the Philistine camp in three columns: One column headed for the Ophrah road that leads to the district of Shual, 18another column headed for the Beth-horon road, and the third column headed for the borderk road that overlooks the valley of Zeboim toward the desert.
19No smith was to be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines were afraid that the Hebrews would make swords or spears. 20So all the Israelites had to go down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, their mattocks, axes, and coltersl sharpened. 21m The charge for sharpening was a pimn for plowshares, mattocks, three-pronged forks, and axes, and for setting the goads. 22Thus on the day of the battle, no sword or spear was to be found in the possession of any of the troops with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and Jonathan had them.
23Now the Philistine garrison had marched out to the pass of Michmas.
14 One day, Jonathan son of Saul said to the attendant who carried his arms, “Come, let us cross over to the Philistine garrison on the other side”; but he did not tell his father. 2Now Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah,a under the pomegranate tree at Migron, and the troops with him numbered about 600. 3Ahijah son of Ahitub brother of Ichabod son of Phinehas son of Eli, the priest of the LORD at Shiloh, was there bearing an ephod.—The troops did not know that Jonathan had gone. 4b-At the crossing-b by which Jonathan sought to reach the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on one side, and another rocky crag on the other, the one called Bozez and the other Seneh. 5One crag was located on the north, near Michmas, and the other on the south, near Geba.
6Jonathan said to the attendant who carried his arms, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf, for nothing prevents the LORD from winning a victory by many or by few.” 7His arms-bearer answered him, “Do whatever c-you like. You go first,-c I am d-with you, whatever you decide.”-d 8Jonathan said, “We’ll cross over to those men and let them see us. 9If they say to us, ‘Wait until we get to you,’ then we’ll stay where we are, and not go up to them. 10But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD is delivering them into our hands. That shall be our sign.” 11They both showed themselves to the Philistine outpost and the Philistines said, “Look, some Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have been hiding.” 12The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his arms-bearer, “Come up to us, and we’ll teach you a lesson.” Then Jonathan said to his arms-bearer, “Follow me, for the LORD will deliver them into the hands of Israel.” 13And Jonathan clambered up on his hands and feet, his arms-bearer behind him; [the Philistines] fell before Jonathan, and his arms-bearer finished them off behind him. 14The initial attack that Jonathan and his arms-bearer made accounted for some twenty men,b-within a space about half a furrow long [in] an acre of land.-b 15Terror broke out among all the troops both in the camp [and] in the field; the outposts and the raiders were also terrified. The very earth quaked, and a terror from God ensued.
16Saul’s scouts in Gibeah of Benjamin saw that the
