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1 S A MU EL 1 4
Jonathan’s Daring Plan
One day Jonathan said to his armor
bearer, “Come on, let’s go over to where
the Philistines have their outpost.” But Jonathan did not tell his father what he was doing.
2 Meanwhile, Saul and his 600 men were
camped on the outskirts of Gibeah, around the
pomegranate tree* at Migron. 3 Among Saul’s
men was Ahijah the priest, who was wearing
the ephod, the priestly vest. Ahijah was the son
of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub, son of Phinehas,
son of Eli, the priest of the Lord who had served
at Shiloh.
No one realized that Jonathan had left the Israelite camp. 4 To reach the Philistine outpost,
Jonathan had to go down between two rocky
cliffs that were called Bozez and Seneh. 5 The
cliff on the north was in front of Micmash, and
the one on the south was in front of Geba. 6 “Let’s
go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the Lord
will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He
can win a battle whether he has many warriors
or only a few!”
7 “Do what you think is best,” the armor
bearer replied. “I’m with you completely, whatever you decide.”
8 “All right, then,” Jonathan told him. “We
will cross over and let them see us. 9 If they say
to us, ‘Stay where you are or we’ll kill you,’ then
we will stop and not go up to them. 10 But if they
say, ‘Come on up and fight,’ then we will go up.
That will be the Lord’s sign that he will help us
defeat them.”
11 When the Philistines saw them coming,
they shouted, “Look! The Hebrews are crawling
out of their holes!” 12 Then the men from the outpost shouted to Jonathan, “Come on up here,
and we’ll teach you a lesson!”
“Come on, climb right behind me,” Jonathan
said to his armor bearer, “for the Lord will help
us defeat them!”
13 So they climbed up using both hands and
feet, and the Philistines fell before Jonathan,
and his armor bearer killed those who came
behind them. 14 They killed some twenty men in
all, and their bodies were scattered over about
half an acre.*
15 Suddenly, panic broke out in the Philistine
army, both in the camp and in the field, including even the outposts and raiding parties. And
just then an earthquake struck, and everyone
was terrified.
14
Israel Defeats the Philistines
16 Saul’s lookouts in Gibeah of Benjamin saw
a strange sight—the vast army of Philistines
began to melt away in every direction.* 17 “Call
the roll and find out who’s missing,” Saul ordered. And when they checked, they found that
Jonathan and his armor bearer were gone.
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18 Then Saul shouted to Ahijah, “Bring the
ephod here!” For at that time Ahijah was wearing the ephod in front of the Israelites.* 19 But
while Saul was talking to the priest, the confusion in the Philistine camp grew louder and
louder. So Saul said to the priest, “Never mind;
let’s get going!”*
20 Then Saul and all his men rushed out to
the battle and found the Philistines killing each
other. There was terrible confusion everywhere.
21 Even the Hebrews who had previously gone
over to the Philistine army revolted and joined
in with Saul, Jonathan, and the rest of the Israelites. 22 Likewise, the men of Israel who were
hiding in the hill country of Ephraim joined
the chase when they saw the Philistines running away. 23 So the Lord saved Israel that day,
and the battle continued to rage even beyond
Beth-aven.
Saul’s Foolish Oath
24 Now the men of Israel were pressed to exhaustion that day, because Saul had placed
them under an oath, saying, “Let a curse fall
on anyone who eats before evening—before I
have full revenge on my enemies.” So no one
ate anything all day, 25 even though they had all
found honeycomb on the ground in the forest.
26 They didn’t dare touch the honey because they
all feared the oath they had taken.
27 But Jonathan had not heard his father’s
command, and he dipped the end of his stick
into a piece of honeycomb and ate the honey.
After he had eaten it, he felt refreshed.* 28 But
one of the men saw him and said, “Your father
made the army take a strict oath that anyone
who eats food today will be cursed. That is why
everyone is weary and faint.”
29 “My father has made trouble for us all!”
Jonathan exclaimed. “A command like that only
hurts us. See how refreshed I am now that I have
eaten this little bit of honey. 30 If the men had
been allowed to eat freely from the food they
found among our enemies, think how many
more Philistines we could have killed!”
31 They chased and killed the Philistines all
day from Micmash to Aijalon, growing more and
more faint. 32 That evening they rushed for the
battle plunder and butchered the sheep, goats,
cattle, and calves, but they ate them without
draining the blood. 33 Someone reported to Saul,
“Look, the men are sinning against the Lord by
eating meat that still has blood in it.”
“That is very wrong,” Saul said. “Find a
large stone and roll it over here. 34 Then go out
14:2 Or around the rock of Rimmon; compare Judg 20:45, 47;
21:13. 14:14 Hebrew half a yoke; a “yoke” was the amount of
land plowed by a pair of yoked oxen in one day. 14:16 As in
Greek version; Hebrew reads they went and there. 14:18 As
in some Greek manuscripts; Hebrew reads “Bring the Ark of
God.” For at that time the Ark of God was with the Israelites.
14:19 Hebrew Withdraw your hand. 14:27 Or his eyes
brightened; similarly in 14:29.