The Reign of Saul and the Introduction of David

Chapter 13

Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice. ¹ Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he ruled over Israel for forty-two years. ² Saul chose three thousand of the men of Israel for himself. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash in the hill country of Bethel, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent the rest of the people to their homes.

³ Jonathan attacked an outpost of the Philistines at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Saul had trumpets blown all throughout the land and proclaimed, “Let the Hebrews hear!” ⁴ All of Israel heard the report: “Saul has attacked an outpost of the Philistines, and now Israel has become abhorrent to the Philistines.” The people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ The Philistines were assembled to fight against Israel. They had thirty thousand chariots,^[a] six thousand charioteers, and so many men that they seemed like the sand on the shore of the sea. They went up and camped outside of Michmash, to the east of Beth-haven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble for the people were being hard pressed, they hid themselves in caves, in thickets, among the rocks, in cellars, and in cisterns. ⁷ Some Hebrews even crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

Saul was still in Gilgal, and all of the people who were following him trembled with fear. ⁸ He waited for seven days, the time period that Samuel had established, and yet Samuel had not yet arrived. The people began to drift away. ^9 [b]So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offerings and the peace offerings,” and he offered up the burnt offerings. ¹⁰ Just as he finished offering up the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to greet him. ¹¹ Samuel asked him, “What have you done?” Saul answered, “I did it because the people were drifting away from me, and you had not arrived at the established time, and the Philistines were assembled at Michmash. ¹² I thought, ‘The Philistines are coming down against me at Gilgal, and I have not yet made entreaty to the Lord.’ I felt compelled to offer up a burnt offering.”

¹³ Samuel responded to Saul, “You have acted foolheartedly, you have not observed the command of the Lord, your God. If you had, the Lord would have established your reign over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your reign shall not endure because you have not observed what the Lord commanded you. The Lord has sought a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as leader over his people.”

¹⁵ Preparations for War. Samuel got up and left Gilgal for Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul counted those who were with him, and there were around six hundred men. ¹⁶ Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people who were with him stayed in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped outside of Michmash.

¹⁷ Raiders went out from the camp in Michmash in three groups. One went toward Ophrah into the land of Shual, ¹⁸ another went toward Beth-horon, and the third went toward the border that lay over the Valley of Zeboim near the desert.

¹⁹ There were no blacksmiths in the land of Israel for the Philistines had reasoned, “Otherwise the Hebrews might make swords or spears.” ²⁰ So all of the Israelites had to travel down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, their hoes, their axes, and their sickles sharpened. ²¹ The charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and hoes, and one-third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and pointing the goads.^{[c] 22} This is why on the day of the battle not a sword or a spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and Jonathan, his son, had them. ²³ Now a force of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Michmash.