nkjv 1Samuel:14 SEEK
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Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor , "
Come ,
let us go over to the Philistines '
garrison that is on the other side ."
But he did not tell his father .
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And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron .
The people who were with him were about six hundred men .
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Ahijah the son of Ahitub ,
Ichabod '
s brother ,
the son of Phinehas ,
the son of Eli ,
the LORD '
s priest in Shiloh ,
was wearing an ephod .
But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone .
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Between the passes ,
by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines '
garrison ,
there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side .
And the name of one was Bozez ,
and the name of the other Seneh .
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The front of one faced northward opposite Michmash ,
and the other southward opposite Gibeah .
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Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor , "
Come ,
let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised ;
it may be that the LORD will work for us .
For nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few ."
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So his armorbearer said to him , "
Do all that is in your heart .
Go then ;
here I am with you ,
according to your heart ."
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Then Jonathan said , "
Very well ,
let us cross over to these men ,
and we will show ourselves to them .
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If they say thus to us , "
Wait until we come to you ,'
then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them .
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But if they say thus , "
Come up to us ,'
then we will go up .
For the LORD has delivered them into our hand ,
and this will be a sign to us ."
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So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines .
And the Philistines said , "
Look ,
the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden ."
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Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer ,
and said , "
Come up to us ,
and we will show you something ."
Jonathan said to his armorbearer , "
Come up after me ,
for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel ."
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And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him ;
and they fell before Jonathan .
And as he came after him ,
his armorbearer killed them .
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That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land .
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And there was trembling in the camp ,
in the field ,
and among all the people .
The garrison and the raiders also trembled ;
and the earth quaked ,
so that it was a very great trembling .
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Now the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked ,
and there was the multitude ,
melting away ;
and they went here and there .
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Then Saul said to the people who were with him , "
Now call the roll and see who has gone from us ."
And when they had called the roll ,
surprisingly ,
Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there .
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And Saul said to Ahijah , "
Bring the ark of God here " (
for at that time the ark of God was with the children of Israel ).
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Now it happened ,
while Saul talked to the priest ,
that the noise which was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase ;
so Saul said to the priest , "
Withdraw your hand ."
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Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled ,
and they went to the battle ;
and indeed every man '
s sword was against his neighbor ,
and there was very great confusion .
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Moreover the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time ,
who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country ,
they also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan .
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Likewise all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim ,
when they heard that the Philistines fled ,
they also followed hard after them in the battle .
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So the LORD saved Israel that day ,
and the battle shifted to Beth Aven .
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And the men of Israel were distressed that day ,
for Saul had placed the people under oath ,
saying , "
Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening ,
before I have taken vengeance on my enemies ."
So none of the people tasted food .
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Now all the people of the land came to a forest ;
and there was honey on the ground .
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And when the people had come into the woods ,
there was the honey ,
dripping ;
but no one put his hand to his mouth ,
for the people feared the oath .
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But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath ;
therefore he stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in a honeycomb ,
and put his hand to his mouth ;
and his countenance brightened .
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Then one of the people said , "
Your father strictly charged the people with an oath ,
saying , "
Cursed is the man who eats food this day ."'
And the people were faint .
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But Jonathan said , "
My father has troubled the land .
Look now ,
how my countenance has brightened because I tasted a little of this honey .
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How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found !
For now would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the Philistines ?"
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Now they had driven back the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon .
So the people were very faint .
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And the people rushed on the spoil ,
and took sheep ,
oxen ,
and calves ,
and slaughtered them on the ground ;
and the people ate them with the blood .
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Then they told Saul ,
saying , "
Look ,
the people are sinning against the LORD by eating with the blood !"
So he said , "
You have dealt treacherously ;
roll a large stone to me this day ."
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Then Saul said , "
Disperse yourselves among the people ,
and say to them , "
Bring me here every man '
s ox and every man '
s sheep ,
slaughter them here ,
and eat ;
and do not sin against the LORD by eating with the blood ."'
So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night ,
and slaughtered it there .
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Then Saul built an altar to the LORD .
This was the first altar that he built to the LORD .
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Now 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 ."
And they said , "
Do whatever seems good to you ."
Then the priest said , "
Let us draw near to God here ."
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So Saul asked counsel of God , "
Shall I go down after the Philistines ?
Will You deliver them into the hand of Israel ?"
But He did not answer him that day .
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And Saul said , "
Come over here ,
all you chiefs of the people ,
and know and see what this sin was today .
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For as the LORD lives ,
who saves Israel ,
though it be in Jonathan my son ,
he shall surely die ."
But not a man among all the people answered him .
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Then he said to all Israel , "
You be on one side ,
and my son Jonathan and I will be on the other side ."
And the people said to Saul , "
Do what seems good to you ."
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Therefore Saul said to the LORD God of Israel , "
Give a perfect lot ."
So Saul and Jonathan were taken ,
but the people escaped .
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And Saul said , "
Cast lots between my son Jonathan and me ."
So Jonathan was taken .
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Then Saul said to Jonathan , "
Tell me what you have done ."
And Jonathan told him ,
and said , "
I only tasted a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand .
So now I must die !"
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Saul answered , "
God do so and more also ;
for you shall surely die ,
Jonathan ."
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But the people said to Saul , "
Shall Jonathan die ,
who has accomplished this great deliverance in Israel ?
Certainly not !
As the LORD lives ,
not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground ,
for he has worked with God this day ."
So the people rescued Jonathan ,
and he did not die .
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Then Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines ,
and the Philistines went to their own place .
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So Saul established his sovereignty over Israel ,
and fought against all his enemies on every side ,
against Moab ,
against the people of Ammon ,
against Edom ,
against the kings of Zobah ,
and against the Philistines .
Wherever he turned ,
he harassed them .
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And he gathered an army and attacked the Amalekites ,
and delivered Israel from the hands of those who plundered them .
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The sons of Saul were Jonathan ,
Jishui ,
and Malchishua .
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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The name of Saul '
s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz .
And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner ,
Saul '
s uncle .
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Kish was the father of Saul ,
and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel .
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Now there was fierce war with the Philistines all the days of Saul .
And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man ,
he took him for himself .