1 Samuel 14 — Septuagint (LXX)

One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man who carried his weapons, "Come, let's cross over to the Philistine outpost on the other side." But he did not tell his father.

Saul was sitting at the edge of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree at Migron, and the force with him was about six hundred men.

Ahijah son of Ahitub — brother of Ichabod, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, priest of the LORD at Shiloh — was wearing the ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.

Between the passes by which Jonathan intended to cross to the Philistine outpost, there was a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other. One was named Bozez and the other Seneh.

One crag rose as a cliff face on the north, facing Michmash, and the other on the south, facing Geba.

His armor-bearer said to him, "Do everything that is in your heart. Go forward — I am with you, heart and soul."

Jonathan said, "Right — we are going to cross over toward those men and let them see us."

"If they say to us, 'Stay where you are until we come down to you,' then we will stand in place and not go up to them."

"But if they say, 'Come up to us' — then we will climb up, because the LORD has given them into our hands. That will be the sign for us."

The two of them revealed themselves to the Philistine outpost. The Philistines said, "Look — Hebrews coming out of the holes where they have been hiding."

The men of the outpost called out to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, "Come up to us and we will teach you a lesson!" Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, "Climb up behind me — the LORD has given them into Israel's hand."

Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer finished them off behind him.

That first strike by Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed about twenty men within roughly half the area a team of oxen could plow in a day.

Terror struck the camp — in the field, among all the troops, the outpost, and the raiding parties — they all trembled. The ground itself shook. It became a God-sent panic.

Saul's lookouts in Gibeah of Benjamin watched as the Philistine horde was dissolving, scattering in every direction.

Saul said to the troops with him, "Take a count and find out who has left us." They took the count, and Jonathan and his armor-bearer were missing.

While Saul was still speaking to the priest, the commotion in the Philistine camp kept growing louder and louder. Saul said to the priest, "Pull your hand back."

Saul and all the troops with him rallied and advanced to the battle. When they arrived, every Philistine's sword was turned against his neighbor — the confusion was catastrophic.

The Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines — who had gone up with them into the camp from the surrounding area — even they turned to join the Israelites under Saul and Jonathan.

And all the Israelites who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, and they too joined the pursuit in battle.

The LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle moved past Beth-aven.

The men of Israel were hard-pressed that day, because Saul had bound the troops with an oath, saying, "Cursed is the man who eats any food before evening, until I have taken vengeance on my enemies!" So none of the troops ate anything.

The whole army entered a forest, and there was honey on the surface of the ground.

When the troops entered the forest, honey was flowing freely, but no one raised his hand to his mouth, because the troops feared the oath.

But Jonathan had not heard when his father bound the troops with the oath. He reached out the tip of the staff in his hand, dipped it into the honeycomb, brought his hand to his mouth — and his eyes brightened.

One of the soldiers spoke up and said, "Your father strictly bound the troops with an oath, saying, 'Cursed is the man who eats food today.'" The troops were exhausted.

Jonathan said, "My father has brought trouble on the land. Look at how my eyes have brightened because I tasted just a little of this honey."

How much greater would the victory have been if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder of their enemies! The slaughter among the Philistines would have been far greater.

They struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon, and the troops were utterly exhausted.

The troops rushed at the plunder, seizing sheep, cattle, and calves, and slaughtered them right on the ground. The troops ate the meat with the blood still in it.

Someone reported to Saul, "Look, the troops are sinning against the LORD by eating meat with the blood." He said, "You have acted treacherously! Roll a large stone over to me right now."

Saul said, "Spread out among the troops and tell them: Every man bring his ox, every man his sheep — slaughter them here on this stone and eat. Do not sin against the LORD by eating meat with the blood." All the troops brought their animals that night, each man leading his ox by hand, and slaughtered them there.

Saul built an altar to the LORD. It was the first altar he had ever built to the LORD.

Saul said, "Let's go down after the Philistines tonight and plunder them until dawn, and not leave a single man alive." The troops said, "Do whatever seems good to you." But the priest said, "Let us approach God here first."

Saul inquired of God: "Should I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel's hand?" But God did not answer him that day.

Saul said, "Come forward — all the leaders of the troops. Find out and determine what sin has been committed today."

"As the LORD who saves Israel lives — even if the guilt lies with my son Jonathan, he will certainly die." But not a single person among all the troops said a word.

He said to all Israel, "You will stand on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will stand on the other." The people said to Saul, "Do what seems good to you."

Saul said, "Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan." And Jonathan was selected.

Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell me — what have you done?" Jonathan told him: "I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff in my hand. Here I am — I am ready to die."

Saul said, "May God do this to me and worse — you will certainly die, Jonathan."

Saul broke off the pursuit of the Philistines, and the Philistines returned to their own territory.

Saul had secured the kingship over Israel and waged war on every side against all his enemies: against Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted defeat.

He mustered a fighting force and struck Amalek, and he rescued Israel from the hands of those who plundered them.

The sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malki-shua. The names of his two daughters: the firstborn was Merab, and the younger was Michal.

The name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of his army commander was Abner son of Ner, Saul's uncle.

Kish was Saul's father, and Ner, Abner's father, was the son of Abiel.

The war against the Philistines was fierce throughout Saul's entire reign. Whenever Saul saw a strong warrior or any capable fighting man, he would recruit him into his service.