1 SamuelChapter 13

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¹Saul was thirty years old when he became king. He ruled over Israel for forty-two years.a ²Saul chose three thousand men of Israel for himself. Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel. One thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul sent the rest of the men home. ³Then Jonathan attacked the Philistine camp at Geba. The Philistines heard about it. So Saul had the ram's horn blown all through the land. He said, "Let the Hebrews hear!" ⁴All Israel heard the news. "Saul has attacked a Philistine camp! Now the Philistines hate Israel like a bad smell!" Then the people were called to join Saul at Gilgal. ⁵The Philistines gathered to fight against Israel. They had three thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen. Their soldiers were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven. ⁶The men of Israel saw they were in danger. Their army was in deep trouble. So they hid in caves and in bushes. They hid among the rocks, in holes in the ground, and in pits for water. ⁷Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan River into the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal. All the soldiers with him were shaking with fear. ⁸Saul waited seven days, the time Samuel had set. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal. And Saul's men began to leave him. ⁹So Saul said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings." And Saul offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰Just as he finished offering it, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to greet him. ¹¹"What have you done?" Samuel asked. Saul answered, "I saw that my men were leaving me. You did not come at the time you said. And the Philistines were gathering at Michmash. ¹²I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down and attack me at Gilgal. And I have not asked the LORD for his help.' So I felt I had to offer the burnt offering." ¹³"You have been foolish," Samuel said. "You have not obeyed the command the LORD your God gave you. If you had, the LORD would have made your kingdom over Israel last for all time. ¹⁴But now your kingdom will not last. The LORD has looked for a man after his own heart. He has chosen him to rule over his people. That is because you have not obeyed the LORD's command." ¹⁵Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul counted the men who were with him. There were about six hundred. ¹⁶Saul, his son Jonathan, and their men were staying in Geba in Benjamin. The Philistines were camped at Michmash. ¹⁷Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three groups. One group went toward Ophrah in the land of Shual. ¹⁸Another went toward Beth-horon. The third went toward the border road. That road looks down over the Valley of Zeboim, facing the wilderness. ¹⁹There was not a single blacksmith in the whole land of Israel. That was because the Philistines had said, "We can't let the Hebrews make swords or spears." ²⁰So all the Israelites had to go down to the Philistines to sharpen their tools. They had to sharpen their plow blades, hoes, axes, and sickles there. ²¹It cost a pim to sharpen a plow blade or a hoe. It cost a third of a shekel to sharpen a pitchfork or an axe. It cost a third of a shekel to put a new point on a stick for driving oxen.b ²²So on the day of the battle, none of the soldiers with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or a spear. Only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons. ²³A group of Philistine soldiers had gone out to the pass at Michmash.