1 Samuel 13

₁Saul was 30 years old when he became king, and he ruled over Israel for 42 years. ₂He chose 3 000 men from the Israelites. There were 2 000 men with him at the town of Mikmash and on the mountain at Bethel, and the other 1 000 were with his son Jonathan at the town of Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. Saul said the other men could go back to their homes.

₃Jonathan defeated the Philistine soldiers at the army camp at Geba and they told the other Philistines what had happened. Saul told his men to blow the rams'-horns in all the places of the land. He said the Hebrews must listen to what had happened. ₄All the Israelites heard that Saul had defeated the Philistines in their camp and that the Philistines were very angry with the Israelites. Then Saul said all the men must come together at the town of Gilgal. ₅The Philistines also came together to go to war_against Israel. They had 3 000 war-chariots and 6 000 men on horses and a lot of other men, as many as the sand of the sea. They came and they put up their tents at Mikmash, near the town of Beth-Aven. ₆When the Israelites saw how many Philistines there were, they hid in caves and among rocks and bushes and in places under the ground and in holes. ₇Some of the Hebrews went over the Jordan River to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still in Gilgal and all the men with him were afraid. ₈Samuel told Saul to wait for him for 7 days and Saul did. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal. When Saul's men started to run away, ₉Saul said: ‘Bring me the burnt-offering and meal-offerings,’ and Saul sacrificed the burnt-offering himself. ₁₀When he had finished sacrificing the burnt-offering, Samuel came to them. Saul went to meet and greet him. ₁₁Samuel asked Saul: ‘What have you done?’ Saul said: ‘You told me to wait for you for 7 days, but you did not come. When I saw that the men had started to run away and the Philistine men had come together at Mikmash, ₁₂I thought they would come here to Gilgal before we could sacrifice an offering to the Lord and ask Him to help. Then I did a brave thing and sacrificed the burnt-offering myself.’

₁₃Samuel said to Saul: ‘You have done a foolish thing. You did not do what the Lord your God said. If you had listened to the Lord, then He would have let you rule over the Israelites for many years. ₁₄But now you will not be king for many years. The Lord has found someone whom He likes and who will listen to Him. The Lord has made this man king over his people, because you have not done what the Lord said.’

₁₅Then Samuel left Gilgal. He went to the town of Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. Saul counted the men who were with him. There were about 600 men. ₁₆He and his son Jonathan and these men stayed in Gibeah in the land of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped in Mikmash. ₁₇There were 3 groups of Philistine men who came from their camp to take everything they could find in the towns of Israel. One group went on the Ophrah road to the towns of Shual, ₁₈one group went on the Beth-Horon road and one group went to the places on the other side of the Zeboyim Valley near the desert. ₁₉In the whole land_of_Israel there was not one blacksmith, because the Philistines said if the Hebrews learned to be blacksmiths, they would make swords and spears. ₂₀All the Israelites had to go to the Philistines to sharpen their plough-blades, axes and pickaxes. ₂₁They had to give the Philistines 2 3rds of a shekel of silver for every plough-blade, and one 3rd of a shekel for every pickaxe, fork or axe that they had to sharpen. They had to pay even to sharpen the points of the sticks that they used to chase the oxen. ₂₂That is why not one of the men with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or a spear when the war started. Only Saul and his son Jonathan each had a sword and a spear.

₂₃A group of Philistine soldiers went to the mountain-pass near the town of Mikmash.