War Breaks Out with the Philistines
1Saul was one year old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel.* 2Saul chose for himself three thousand men from Israel. Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the people home, each to his own tent. 3Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 4All Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines.” So the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal. 5The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with thirty thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven. 6When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble — for the troops were hard pressed — they hid in caves, in thickets, among rocks, in cellars, and in cisterns. 7Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul, however, stayed at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were trembling.
Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice
8He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the troops began to scatter. 9So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10Just as he finished offering it, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. 11“What have you done?” Samuel asked. Saul answered, “I saw that the troops were scattering, and you did not come at the set time, and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash. 12I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought Yahweh’s favor.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” 13“You have acted foolishly,” Samuel said to Saul. “You have not kept the command Yahweh your God gave you. Yahweh would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14But now your kingdom will not endure. Yahweh has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler over his people, because you have not kept what Yahweh commanded you.” 15Then Samuel got up and went from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him — about six hundred. 16Saul and his son Jonathan, along with the men who remained with them, were staying at Geba in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Michmash. 17Raiders came out from the Philistine camp in three companies. One turned toward Ophrah, in the region of Shual; 18another turned toward Beth-horon; and the third turned toward the border overlooking the Valley of Zeboim, facing the wilderness.
No Blacksmiths in Israel
19Now no blacksmith could be found anywhere in the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears.” 20So all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles. 21The price was a pim for sharpening the plowshares and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening the forks and axes and for repointing the goads. 22So on the day of battle, not a single sword or spear could be found in the hands of any of the troops with Saul and Jonathan, except for Saul himself and his son Jonathan. 23A Philistine detachment went out to the pass at Michmash.
Notes
- 13:1 — The Hebrew literally reads, “Saul was a year old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel.” The number of years is damaged in the transmission of the Hebrew text: the Septuagint omits the verse entirely, and the Vulgate repeats the same strange number, with no ancient witness offering a well-attested alternative figure. ZARZA translates it literally (“one year… two years”), without guessing at a more plausible number, so as not to paper over a real gap in the text.
