1 Samuel 13

13 ¹ Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.

² Saul chose three thousand men of Israel for himself. Two thousand were with him at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, each to his own tent.

³ Jonathan struck down the Philistine garrison at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear!" ⁴ And all Israel heard that Saul had struck down the Philistine garrison, and that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. So the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ The Philistines assembled to fight Israel — three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as countless as the sand on the seashore. They came up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble — for the people were hard pressed — they hid themselves in caves and thickets, among the rocks, in pits and cisterns. ¹ 1 v6 Cisterns were rock-hewn underground tanks built to collect and store rainwater. ⁷ Some of the Hebrews even crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

Saul Acts Without the Father's Word

⁸ He waited seven days, the time Samuel had set; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people began to scatter from him. ⁹ So Saul said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings." And he offered up the burnt offering.

¹⁰ Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to meet and greet him. ¹¹ "What have you done?" Samuel asked. Saul replied, "When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come at the appointed time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash,

¹² I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of our Father.' So I forced myself and offered up the burnt offering."

¹³ "You have acted foolishly," Samuel said to Saul. "You have not kept the command your Father gave you. Had you kept it, our Father would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not endure. Our Father has sought out for himself a man after his own heart, and he has appointed him ruler over his people, because you have not kept what he commanded you."

¹⁵ Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul counted the people who were with him — about six hundred men.

Israel Left Without Weapons

¹⁶ Saul and his son Jonathan and the people who were with them stayed at Geba in Benjamin, while the Philistines were camped at Michmash. ¹⁷ Raiders went out from the Philistine camp in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, in the land of Shual; ¹⁸ another turned toward Beth-horon; and the third turned toward the border overlooking the Valley of Zeboim, toward the wilderness.

¹⁹ Now no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, "Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears." ²⁰ So all the Israelites had to go down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, picks, axes, and sickles. ²¹ The charge was about a quarter ounce of silver for sharpening plowshares and picks, and about an eighth of an ounce for sharpening axes and for resharpening the goads. ² 2 v21 A goad was a long stick with a sharpened metal tip used to prod cattle into moving.

²² So on the day of battle not a sword or spear was to be found among any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

²³ A detachment of the Philistines went out to the pass at Michmash.