One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to his young armor bearer, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. 2 Saul was staying in the outskirts of ^aGibeah under a pomegranate tree in ^bMigron; and with him were ^cabout six hundred men, 3 and Ahijah the ^ason of ^bIchabod’s brother Ahitub the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’S priest at ^cShiloh, ^dwas wearing the ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. 4 ^aBetween the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to get to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side; one crag was named Bozez, and the other, Seneh. 5 The one crag was on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

6 Jonathan said to his young armor bearer, “Come, let us cross over to the garrison of ^athese uncircumcised men; it may be that the LORD will work for us. For there is nothing to prevent ^bthe LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” 7 And his armor bearer said to him, “Do everything that is in your heart (mind) ; here I am with you ¹in whatever you think best.” 8 Jonathan said, “^aSee now, we are going to cross over to the Philistine men and reveal ourselves to them. 9 If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand in our place and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will go up, for the LORD has handed them over to us; and ^athis shall be the sign to us.” 11 When both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, “Look, the ^aHebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.” 12 So the men of the garrison responded to Jonathan and his armor bearer, “Come up to us and ^awe will tell you something.” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Climb up after me, for ^bthe LORD has given them into the hands of Israel.” 13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, his armor bearer following after him. The enemy fell before Jonathan in combat, and his armor bearer killed some of them after him. 14 That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty men within about half a plow furrow in a plot of land the area of which a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. 15 And there was trembling in the Philistine camp, in the field, and among all the people; even the garrison and ^athe raiding party trembled in fear, and ^bthe earth quaked and ^cit became a trembling and terror from God.

16 Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude melted away and they went here and there. 17 Then Saul said to the people with him, “Take a count and see who has left us.” When they had taken a count, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were missing. 18 Saul said to Ahijah the priest, “^aBring the ark of God here.” For at that time the ark of God was with the sons of Israel. 19 ^aWhile Saul talked to the priest, the commotion in the Philistine camp continued and increased, so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” 20 Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle; and behold, ^aevery Philistine man’s sword was against his companion, in wild confusion. 21 Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines previously, who went up with them all around in the camp, ^athey also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 When all the ^amen of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, they too pursued them closely in the battle. 23 So ^athe LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle spread beyond ^bBeth-aven.

24 But the men of Israel were hard-pressed that day, because Saul had ^aput the people under a curse, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food before evening, and before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the people ate any food. 25 All the people of the land came to a forest, and there was honey on the ground. 26 When the people entered the forest, ^athe honey was dripping, but no man put his hand to his mouth to taste it, because the people feared the oath of Saul. 27 But Jonathan had not heard when his father put the people under the oath. So ^ahe put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into a honeycomb, and then he put his hand to his mouth, and ^bhis ¹energy was restored. 28 But one of the people told him, “Your father strictly put the people under an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today.’” And the people were exhausted and hungry. 29 Then Jonathan said, “^aMy father has troubled the land with his foolish curse. See how my ¹energy is restored because I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much better it would have been if only the people had eaten freely today from the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great.”

31 They struck the Philistines that day from ^aMichmash to ^bAijalon. And the people were very tired. 32 When night came and the oath ended ^athe people rushed greedily upon the spoil. They took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and they ate them raw ^bwith the blood still in them. 33 Then Saul was told, “Look, the people are ^asinning against the LORD by eating the meat with the blood.” And he said, “You have violated the Law and acted treacherously; roll a large stone to me today.” Lev 7:26, 27 34 Saul said, “Spread out among the people and tell them, ‘Each one of you bring me his ox or his sheep, and butcher it properly here and eat; and do not sin against the LORD by eating the meat with the blood.’” So that night each one brought his ox with him and butchered it there. 35 And ^aSaul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first altar that he built to the LORD.

36 Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them alive.” They said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” Then ^athe priest said, “Let us approach God here.” 37 Saul ^aasked counsel of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You hand them over to Israel?” But ^bHe did not answer him that day. 38 Then Saul said, “^aCome here, all you who are leaders of the people, and let us find out how this sin causing God’s silence happened today. 39 For ^aas the LORD lives, who saves Israel, for even if the guilt is in my son Jonathan, he shall most certainly die.” But not one of all the people answered him. 40 Then he said to all the Israelites, “¹You shall be on one side; I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.” The people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” 41 Therefore, Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel, “^aGive a perfect lot identifying the transgressor.” Then Saul and Jonathan were selected by lot, but the other men went free. 42 Saul said, “Cast lots between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was selected.

43 Saul said to Jonathan, “^aTell me what you have done.” So Jonathan told him, “^bI tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must die!” 44 Saul answered, “^aMay God do so to me, and more also if I do not keep my word, for ^byou shall most certainly die, Jonathan.” 45 But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan, who has brought about this great victory in Israel, be put to death? Far from it! As the LORD lives, ^anot one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for ^bhe has worked with God this day.” So the people rescued Jonathan and he was not put to death. 46 Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

47 When Saul assumed control of the kingdom of Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side: Moab, ^athe sons (descendants) of Ammon, Edom, ^bthe kings of Zobah, and ^cthe Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment. 48 He acted valiantly and ^adefeated the Amalekites, and rescued Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.

49 Now ^aSaul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua. The names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was ^bMerab, and the name of the younger, ^cMichal. 50 The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. ^aThe commander of his army was named Abner, the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. 51 ^aKish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

52 Now the war against the Philistines was severe (brutal, relentless) all the days of Saul; and whenever Saul saw any mighty or courageous man, he ^arecruited him for his staff.