1Samuel:13-14
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Saul reigned one year ;
and when he had reigned two years over Israel ,
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Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel ;
whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel ,
and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin :
and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent .
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And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba ,
and the Philistines heard of it .
And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land ,
saying ,
Let the Hebrews hear .
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And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines ,
and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines .
And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal .
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And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel ,
thirty thousand chariots ,
and six thousand horsemen ,
and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude :
and they came up ,
and pitched in Michmash ,
eastward from Bethaven .
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When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait , (
for the people were distressed ,)
then the people did hide themselves in caves ,
and in thickets ,
and in rocks ,
and in high places ,
and in pits .
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And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead .
As for Saul ,
he was yet in Gilgal ,
and all the people followed him trembling .
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And he tarried seven days ,
according to the set time that Samuel had appointed :
but Samuel came not to Gilgal ;
and the people were scattered from him .
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And Saul said ,
Bring hither a burnt offering to me ,
and peace offerings .
And he offered the burnt offering .
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And it came to pass ,
that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering ,
behold ,
Samuel came ;
and Saul went out to meet him ,
that he might salute him .
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And Samuel said ,
What hast thou done ?
And Saul said ,
Because I saw that the people were scattered from me ,
and that thou camest not within the days appointed ,
and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash ;
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Therefore said I ,
The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal ,
and I have not made supplication unto the LORD :
I forced myself therefore ,
and offered a burnt offering .
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And Samuel said to Saul ,
Thou hast done foolishly :
thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God ,
which he commanded thee :
for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever .
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But now thy kingdom shall not continue :
the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart ,
and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people ,
because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee .
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And Samuel arose ,
and gat him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin .
And Saul numbered the people that were present with him ,
about six hundred men .
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And Saul ,
and Jonathan his son ,
and the people that were present with them ,
abode in Gibeah of Benjamin :
but the Philistines encamped in Michmash .
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And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies :
one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah ,
unto the land of Shual :
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And another company turned the way to Bethhoron :
and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness .
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Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel :
for the Philistines said ,
Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears :
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But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines ,
to sharpen every man his share ,
and his coulter ,
and his axe ,
and his mattock .
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Yet they had a file for the mattocks ,
and for the coulters ,
and for the forks ,
and for the axes ,
and to sharpen the goads .
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So it came to pass in the day of battle ,
that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan :
but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found .
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And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash .
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Now it came to pass upon a day ,
that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour ,
Come ,
and let us go over to the Philistines '
garrison ,
that is on the other side .
But he told not his father .
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And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron :
and the people that were with him were about six hundred men ;
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And Ahiah ,
the son of Ahitub ,
Ichabod '
s brother ,
the son of Phinehas ,
the son of Eli ,
the LORD '
S priest in Shiloh ,
wearing an ephod .
And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone .
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And between the passages ,
by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines '
garrison ,
there was a sharp rock on the one side ,
and a sharp rock on the other side :
and the name of the one was Bozez ,
and the name of the other Seneh .
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The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Michmash ,
and the other southward over against Gibeah .
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And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour ,
Come ,
and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised :
it may be that the LORD will work for us :
for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few .
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And his armourbearer said unto him ,
Do all that is in thine heart :
turn thee ;
behold ,
I am with thee according to thy heart .
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Then said Jonathan ,
Behold ,
we will pass over unto these men ,
and we will discover ourselves unto them .
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If they say thus unto us ,
Tarry until we come to you ;
then we will stand still in our place ,
and will not go up unto them .
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But if they say thus ,
Come up unto us ;
then we will go up :
for the LORD hath delivered them into our hand :
and this shall be a sign unto us .
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And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines :
and the Philistines said ,
Behold ,
the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves .
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And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer ,
and said ,
Come up to us ,
and we will shew you a thing .
And Jonathan said unto his armourbearer ,
Come up after me :
for the LORD hath delivered them into the hand of Israel .
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And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet ,
and his armourbearer after him :
and they fell before Jonathan ;
and his armourbearer slew after him .
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And that first slaughter ,
which Jonathan and his armourbearer made ,
was about twenty men ,
within as it were an half acre of land ,
which a yoke of oxen might plow .
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And there was trembling in the host ,
in the field ,
and among all the people :
the garrison ,
and the spoilers ,
they also trembled ,
and the earth quaked :
so it was a very great trembling .
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And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked ;
and ,
behold ,
the multitude melted away ,
and they went on beating down one another .
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Then said Saul unto the people that were with him ,
Number now ,
and see who is gone from us .
And when they had numbered ,
behold ,
Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there .
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And Saul said unto Ahiah ,
Bring hither the ark of God .
For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel .
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And it came to pass ,
while Saul talked unto the priest ,
that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased :
and Saul said unto the priest ,
Withdraw thine hand .
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And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves ,
and they came to the battle :
and ,
behold ,
every man '
s sword was against his fellow ,
and there was a very great discomfiture .
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Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time ,
which went up with them into the camp from the country round about ,
even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan .
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Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in mount Ephraim ,
when they heard that the Philistines fled ,
even they also followed hard after them in the battle .
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So the LORD saved Israel that day :
and the battle passed over unto Bethaven .
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And the men of Israel were distressed that day :
for Saul had adjured the people ,
saying ,
Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening ,
that I may be avenged on mine enemies .
So none of the people tasted any food .
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And all they of the land came to a wood ;
and there was honey upon the ground .
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And when the people were come into the wood ,
behold ,
the honey dropped ;
but no man put his hand to his mouth :
for the people feared the oath .
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But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath :
wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand ,
and dipped it in an honeycomb ,
and put his hand to his mouth ;
and his eyes were enlightened .
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Then answered one of the people ,
and said ,
Thy father straitly charged the people with an oath ,
saying ,
Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day .
And the people were faint .
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Then said Jonathan ,
My father hath troubled the land :
see ,
I pray you ,
how mine eyes have been enlightened ,
because I tasted a little of this honey .
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How much more ,
if haply the people had eaten freely to day of the spoil of their enemies which they found ?
for had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines ?
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And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon :
and the people were very faint .
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And the people flew upon the spoil ,
and took sheep ,
and oxen ,
and calves ,
and slew them on the ground :
and the people did eat them with the blood .
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Then they told Saul ,
saying ,
Behold ,
the people sin against the LORD ,
in that they eat with the blood .
And he said ,
Ye have transgressed :
roll a great stone unto me this day .
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And Saul said ,
Disperse yourselves among the people ,
and say unto them ,
Bring me hither every man his ox ,
and every man his sheep ,
and slay them here ,
and eat ;
and sin not against the LORD in eating with the blood .
And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night ,
and slew them there .
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And Saul built an altar unto the LORD :
the same was the first altar that he built unto the LORD .
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And Saul said ,
Let us go down after the Philistines by night ,
and spoil them until the morning light ,
and let us not leave a man of them .
And they said ,
Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee .
Then said the priest ,
Let us draw near hither unto God .
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And Saul asked counsel of God ,
Shall I go down after the Philistines ?
wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel ?
But he answered him not that day .
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And Saul said ,
Draw ye near hither ,
all the chief of the people :
and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day .
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For ,
as the LORD liveth ,
which saveth Israel ,
though it be in Jonathan my son ,
he shall surely die .
But there was not a man among all the people that answered him .
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Then said he unto all Israel ,
Be ye on one side ,
and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side .
And the people said unto Saul ,
Do what seemeth good unto thee .
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Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel ,
Give a perfect lot .
And Saul and Jonathan were taken :
but the people escaped .
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And Saul said ,
Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son .
And Jonathan was taken .
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Then Saul said to Jonathan ,
Tell me what thou hast done .
And Jonathan told him ,
and said ,
I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand ,
and ,
lo ,
I must die .
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And Saul answered ,
God do so and more also :
for thou shalt surely die ,
Jonathan .
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And the people said unto Saul ,
Shall Jonathan die ,
who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel ?
God forbid :
as the LORD liveth ,
there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground ;
for he hath wrought with God this day .
So the people rescued Jonathan ,
that he died not .
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Then Saul went up from following the Philistines :
and the Philistines went to their own place .
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So Saul took the kingdom over Israel ,
and fought against all his enemies on every side ,
against Moab ,
and against the children of Ammon ,
and against Edom ,
and against the kings of Zobah ,
and against the Philistines :
and whithersoever he turned himself ,
he vexed them .
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And he gathered an host ,
and smote the Amalekites ,
and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them .
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Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan ,
and Ishui ,
and Melchishua :
and the names of his two daughters were these ;
the name of the firstborn Merab ,
and the name of the younger Michal :
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And the name of Saul '
s wife was Ahinoam ,
the daughter of Ahimaaz :
and the name of the captain of his host was Abner ,
the son of Ner ,
Saul '
s uncle .
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And Kish was the father of Saul ;
and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel .
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And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul :
and when Saul saw any strong man ,
or any valiant man ,
he took him unto him .
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Samuel also said unto Saul ,
The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people ,
over Israel :
now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD .