1 Samuel 14
1 One day, Jonathan said to the young man who carried his weapons, “Come with me; we will go over to where the Philistia soldiers have put up their tents.” [So they went], but Jonathan did not tell his father [what they were going to do].
One day, Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor bearer, “Come, let us go over to the Philistines' garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.
2 On that day, Saul and the 600 soldiers who were with him were sitting around a pomegranate tree at a place where the people threshed grain, near Gibeah.
Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is in Migron. About six hundred men were with him,
3 Ahijah the priest was also there. He was wearing the sacred vest. Ahijah was the son of Ahitub, who was a brother of Ichabod. Ichabod and Ahitub were the sons of Phinehas, who was the son of Eli, who had been Yahweh’s priest at Shiloh. No one knew that Jonathan had left [the Israeli camp].
including Ahijah son of Ahitub (Ichabod's brother) son of Phinehas son of Eli, the priest of Yahweh at Shiloh, who wore an ephod. The people did not know that Jonathan was gone.
4 Jonathan planned that he and the young man would go through a narrow (pass/place between two cliffs) to get to where the Philistia army was. The cliff on one side of the pass was named Bozez, and the other cliff was named Seneh.
On each side of the pass through which Jonathan wanted to go in order to get to the Philistines' garrison, there was a rocky cliff on one side and another rocky cliff on the other side. One rocky cliff was called Bozez and the other rocky cliff was called Seneh.
5 One cliff faced north toward Micmash, and the cliff on the other side faced south toward Geba [town].
One rocky cliff stood on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.
6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his weapons, “Come with me. We will go to where those (pagans/people who do not believe in Yahweh) [MTY] have set up their tents. Perhaps Yahweh will help us. It does not matter whether we are only two men or many people; nothing can hinder Yahweh from enabling us to defeat them.”
Jonathan said to his young armor bearer, “Come, let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised fellows. It may be that Yahweh will work on our behalf, for nothing can stop Yahweh from saving by many or by few people.”
7 The young man who was carrying Jonathan’s weapons said, “Do what you think is the best thing for us to do. I will help you.”
His armor bearer replied, “Do everything that is in your heart. Go ahead, see, I am with you, to obey all your commands.”
8 Then Jonathan said, “Okay, come with me. We will cross the valley to where the Philistia army is, and allow them to see us.
Then Jonathan said, “We will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them.
9 If they then say to us, ‘You two stay there until we come down to you,’ we will stay there and not go up to them.
If they say to us, 'Wait there until we come over to you'—then we will stay in our place and will not cross over to them.
10 But if they say to us, ‘Come up here [and fight against] us,’ that will show us that Yahweh will enable us to defeat them. Then we will go up and fight them.”
But if they reply, 'Come over to us,' then we will cross over; because Yahweh has given them into our hand. This will be the sign to us.”
11 When the two of them crossed the valley, the Philistia soldiers saw them coming. They said, “Look! The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes in which they have been hiding!”
So both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. The Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.”
12 Then the Philistia soldiers who were closest to Jonathan and the young man who carried his weapons said, “Come up here, and we will teach you something [about how to fight] [IDM]!” Jonathan said to the young man who was with him, “Come behind me and climb up, because Yahweh is going to help us to defeat them!”
Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something.” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Follow after me, because Yahweh has given them into the hand of Israel.”
13 So Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and his feet [because it was very steep]. The young man climbed up following him. As Jonathan climbed, he struck and killed many Philistia soldiers, and the young man who was with him killed many more as he followed behind Jonathan.
Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor bearer followed behind him. The Philistines were put to death before Jonathan, and his armor bearer put some to death behind him.
14 In that first battle the two of them killed about 20 Philistia soldiers in an area that was about half an acre.
That first attack that Jonathan and his armor bearer made, killed about twenty men within an area of half an acre.
15 Then all the other Philistia soldiers, the ones in the camp and the ones who had been attacking the Israeli towns, ones who were out in the field much closer, panicked. Then God caused the ground to shake, and they all became terrified/very afraid.
There was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among the people. Even the garrison and the raiders panicked. The earth quaked, and there was a great panic.
16 Saul’s (lookouts/men who were watching to see if enemies were coming) were in Gibeah [town] in the land of the tribe of Benjamin. They saw that the soldiers of the Philistia army were running away in all directions.
Then Saul's watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; the crowd of Philistine soldiers was dispersing, and they were going here and there.
17 Saul [realized that some of his soldiers must have attacked the Philistia army. So he] said to the soldiers who were with him, “Check to see if any of our men are not here.” So they checked, and they found out that Jonathan and the man who carried his weapons were gone.
Then Saul said to the people that were with him, “Count and see who is missing from us.” When they had counted, Jonathan and his armor bearer were missing.
18 So Saul said to Ahijah [the Supreme Priest], “Bring the sacred vest here [and find out what we should do].” On that day Ahijah was wearing the sacred vest, going in front of the Israelis.
Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here,” for at that time it was with the people of Israel.
19 But while Saul was talking to the priest, [he saw that] the Philistia soldiers were becoming more panicked/confused. So Saul said to Ahijah, “Take your hand down [from the sacred vest. Do not waste any more time using the marked stones in the vest to find out what Yahweh wants us to do.”]
While Saul was talking to the priest, the commotion in the camp of the Philistines was continuing and increasing. Then Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
20 Then Saul gathered his men and they went toward the battle. They found that the Philistia soldiers were so confused that they were striking each other with their swords.
Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into battle. Every Philistine's sword was against his fellow countrymen, and there was very great confusion.
21 Before that, some of the Hebrew men had deserted their army and gone to join with the Philistia army. But now those men [revolted and] joined with Saul and Jonathan and the other Israeli soldiers.
Now those Hebrews who previously had been with the Philistines, and who had gone with them into the camp, even they joined with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.
22 Some of the Israeli soldiers had previously run away and hidden in the mountains where the tribe of Ephraim lived. But when they heard that the Philistia soldiers were running away, they [came down and] joined the other Israeli soldiers and pursued the Philistia soldiers.
When all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hills near Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, even they chased after them in battle.
23 So Yahweh rescued the Israelis on that day. The Israeli soldiers continued to pursue their enemies beyond Beth-Aven [town].
So Yahweh saved Israel that day, and the battle passed beyond Beth Aven.
24 Before Saul’s soldiers went to the battle, Saul declared to them solemnly, “I do not want any of you to eat any food before this evening, before we have defeated all our enemies. If anyone eats anything, [Yahweh] will curse/punish him.” So none of the Israeli soldiers ate any food, and they became faint/weak because they were very hungry.
That day the men of Israel were distressed because Saul had put the people under an oath and said, “Cursed be the man that eats any food until evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the troops tasted food.
25 The Israeli army went into the forest, and they found honeycombs on the ground, but they did not eat any honey.
Then all the people entered the forest and there was honey upon the ground.
26 They were afraid to eat any, because they had solemnly promised that they would not eat any food.
When the people entered into the forest, the honey flowed, but no one put his hand to his mouth for the people feared the oath.
27 But Jonathan did not hear what his father commanded [because he had left the camp very early in the morning]. So [when he saw] a honeycomb, he dipped the end of his walking stick into it and ate some honey. After he ate the honey, he felt stronger.
But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with an oath. He reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.
28 But one of the Israeli soldiers saw him and said to him, “Your father solemnly declared to us that [Yahweh] would curse/punish anyone who ate any food today. So now we are [very tired and] weak from being hungry [because we obeyed him].”
Then one of the people, answered, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, by saying, 'Cursed be the man that eats food on this day,' even though the people are weak from hunger.”
29 Jonathan exclaimed, “My father has caused trouble for all of us! See how refreshed/strong I am after eating a little honey!
Then Jonathan said, “My father has made trouble for the land. See how my eyes have become brightened because I tasted a little of this honey.
30 If he had permitted all of us to eat from the food we took from our enemies while we were pursuing them, we would have been able to kill many more of their soldiers!”
How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the plunder from their enemies that they found? Because now the slaughter has not been great among the Philistines.”
31 The Israelis pursued and killed Philistia soldiers all that day, from Micmash [town west] to Aijalon. But they continued to become weaker from being hungry.
They attacked the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. The people were very weary.
32 They had taken [many] sheep and cattle that the Philistia soldiers had abandoned. Now, because they were extremely hungry, they butchered some of those animals and ate the meat without draining the blood from the animals.
The people rushed greedily on the plunder and took sheep, oxen and calves, and killed them on the ground. The people ate them with the blood.
33 One of the soldiers told Saul, “Look! The men are sinning against Yahweh by eating meat that still has blood in it!” Saul replied [to the men who were near him], “They have disobeyed Yahweh! Roll a large stone over here!”
Then they told Saul, “Look, the people are sinning against Yahweh by eating with the blood.” Saul said, “You have acted unfaithfully. Now, roll a big stone here to me.”
34 After they did that, he said to those men, “Go and tell all the soldiers that each of them must bring an ox or a sheep to me, and kill it here on this stone, [and drain the blood] before he eats any of the meat. They should not sin against Yahweh by eating meat [from some animal] without draining its blood.” So that night all the soldiers brought animals and slaughtered them there. Then Saul built an altar to [worship] Yahweh.
Saul said, “Go out among the people, and tell them, 'Let every man bring his ox and his sheep, kill them here, and eat. Do not sin against Yahweh by eating with the blood.'” So each of the people brought his own ox with him that night and killed it there.
35 That was the first [time that he built an] altar for Yahweh.
Saul built an altar to Yahweh, which was the first altar that he built to Yahweh.
36 Then Saul said [to the Israeli soldiers], “Let’s pursue the Philistia soldiers tonight. We can attack them all night. We will not allow any of them to escape alive.” The Israeli soldiers answered, “We will do whatever you think is the best thing for us to do.” But the priest said, “We should ask Yahweh [what he thinks we should do].”
Then Saul said, “Let us pursue the Philistines by night and plunder them until morning; let us not leave one of them alive.” They replied, “Do whatever seems good to you.” But the priest said, “Let us approach God here.”
37 So Saul asked God, “Should we pursue the Philistine soldiers? Will you enable us to defeat them?” But God did not answer Saul that day.
Saul asked God, “Should I pursue the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.
38 Then Saul summoned all the leaders of his army. He said to them, “[I am sure that God has not answered me because] someone has sinned. We must find out what sin someone has committed.
Then Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people; learn and see how this sin has happened today.
39 Yahweh has rescued us [from the Philistia army]. Just as certain as Yahweh lives, whoever has sinned must be executed. Even if it is my son Jonathan who has sinned, he must be executed.” [His men knew who was guilty], but none of them said anything [to Saul].
For, as Yahweh lives, who saves Israel, even if it is in Jonathan my son, he will surely die.” But none of the men among all the people answered him.
40 Then Saul said to all the Israeli soldiers, “You stand on one side. My son Jonathan and I will stand on the other side.” His men replied, “Do whatever you think is best.”
Then he said to all Israel, “You must stand on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other.” The people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.”
41 Then Saul prayed to Yahweh, the Israelis’ God, “Tell me who is guilty and who is not guilty.” Then the priest (cast lots/threw the stones that were marked), and they indicated that it was [either] Jonathan or Saul who was the guilty one, and that the other men were not guilty.
Saul said, “Yahweh, God of Israel! If this sin has been committed by me or by my son Jonathan, then, Yahweh, God of Israel, give the Urim. But if this sin has been committed by your people Israel, give the Thummim.” Then Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, but the army was exonerated.
42 Then Saul said to the priest, “Throw the stones again to indicate which of us two is guilty.” So he did, and the stones indicated that Jonathan was the guilty one.
Then Saul said, “Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son.” Then Jonathan was taken by lot.
43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done [that was wrong].” Jonathan replied, “I ate a little bit of honey. It was only a little bit that was on the end of my stick. Do I [deserve to be] executed [because of doing that]?”
Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand. Here I am; I will die.”
44 Saul replied, “Yes, you must be executed! I hope/wish that God will strike me and kill me if you are not executed for having done that!”
Saul said, “God do so and more also to me, if you do not die, Jonathan.”
45 But the Israeli soldiers said to Saul, “Jonathan has won a great victory for all us Israelis. Should he be executed for eating some honey [RHQ]? Certainly not! Just as surely as Yahweh lives, we will not allow you to injure him in any manner [IDM], [because] today God helped Jonathan [to kill many soldiers of the Philistia army]!” So [by saying that] the Israeli soldiers rescued Jonathan, and he was not executed.
Then the people said to Saul, “Should Jonathan die, who has accomplished this great victory for Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh lives, not one hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he has worked with God today.” So the people rescued Jonathan so that he did not die.
46 Then Saul ordered his soldiers to stop pursuing the Philistia army, so the Philistia soldiers returned to their homes.
Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.
47 After Saul became the ruler/king of the Israeli people, his army fought against their enemies in many areas. They fought against armies of the Moab people-group, the Ammon people-group, the Edom people-group, the kings of Zobah [city/area], and the Philistia people-group. Wherever the Israeli army fought, they defeated their enemies.
When Saul began to rule over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side. He fought against Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.
48 Saul’s army fought bravely and defeated the [very tall] descendants of Amalek. His army rescued the Israelis from those who had (plundered/forcefully taken things from) them.
He acted with great courage and defeated the Amalekites. He rescued Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them.
49 Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishbosheth, and Malchishua. He also had two daughters, Merab and her younger sister Michal.
The sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malki-Shua. The names of his two daughters were Merab, the firstborn, and Michal, the younger.
50 Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz. The commander of Saul’s army was Abner, who was the son of Saul’s uncle Ner.
The name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam; she was the daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the captain of his army was Abner son of Ner, Saul's uncle.
51 Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were both sons of Abiel.
Kish was Saul's father; and Ner, the father of Abner, was the son of Abiel.
52 All the time that Saul was alive, his army fought against the Philistia army. And whenever Saul saw a young man who was (brave/not afraid to fight) and strong, he forced him to join his army.
There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. When Saul saw any mighty man, or any valiant man, he attached him to himself.
