14:1 And when a certain day arrived,
Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man that bore his armour, Come,
and let us go over to Messab of the Philistines that is on the other side
yonder; but he told not his father.
14:2 And Saul sat on the top of the hill under the pomegranate tree that is
in Magdon, and there were with him about six hundred men.
14:3 And Achia son of Achitob, the brother of Jochabed the son of Phinees,
the son of Heli, [was] the priest of Elohim in Selom wearing an ephod: and the
people knew not that Jonathan was gone.
14:4 And in the midst of the passage whereby Jonathan sought to pass over to
the encampment of the Philistines, there was both a sharp rock on this side,
and a sharp rock on the other side: the name of the one [was] Bases, and the
name of the other Senna.
14:5 The one way [was] northward to one coming to Machmas, and the other way
[was] southward to one coming to Gabae.
14:6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armour, Come, let us
go over to Messab of these uncircumcised, if [peradventure] Yehovah may do
something for us; for Yehovah is not straitened to save by many or by few.
14:7 And his armour-bearer said to him, Do all that thine heart inclines
toward: behold, I [am] with thee, my heart [is] as thy heart.
14:8 And Jonathan said, Behold, we will go over to the men, and will come
down suddenly upon them.
14:9 If they should say thus to us, Stand aloof there until we shall send
you word; then we will stand still by ourselves, and will not go up against
them.
14:10 [But] if they should say thus to us, Come up to us; then will we go
up, for Yehovah has delivered them into our hands; this [shall be] a sign
to us.
14:11 And they both went in to Messab of the Philistines; and the
Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of their Caves, where
they had hidden themselves.
14:12 And the men of Messab answered Jonathan and his armour-bearer, and
said, Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing: and Jonathan said to his
armour-bearer, Come up after me, for Yehovah has delivered them into the
hands of Israel.
14:13 And Jonathan went up on his hands and feet, and his armour-bearer with
him; and they looked on the face of Jonathan, and he smote them, and his
armour-bearer did smite [them] after him.
14:14 And the first slaughter which Jonathan and his armour-bearer effected
was twenty men, with darts and slings, and pebbles of the field.
14:15 And there was dismay in the camp, and in the field; and all the people
in Messab, and the spoilers were amazed; and they would not act, and the
land was terror-struck, and there was dismay from the lord.
14:16 And the watchmen of Saul beheld in Gabaa of Benjamin, and, behold, the
army was thrown into confusion on every side.
14:17 And Saul said to the people with him, Number yourselves now, and see
who has gone out from you: and they numbered themselves, and behold,
Jonathan and his armour-bearer were not found.
14:18 And Saul said to Achia, Bring the ephod; for he wore the ephod in that
day before Israel.
14:19 And it came to pass while Saul was speaking to the priest, that the
sound in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase greatly; and Saul
said to the priest, Withdraw thy hands.
14:20 And Saul went up and all the people that were with him, and they come
to the battle: and, behold, [every] man's sword was against his neighbour, a
very great confusion.
14:21 And the servants who had been before with the Philistines, who had
gone up to the army, turned themselves also to be with the Israelites who
were with Saul and Jonathan.
14:22 And all the Israelites who were hidden in mount Ephraim heard also
that the Philistines fled; and they also gather themselves after them to
battle: and Yehovah saved Israel in that day; and the war passed through
Bamoth; and all the people with Saul were about ten thousand men.
14:23 And the battle extended itself to every city in the mount Ephraim.
14:24 And Saul committed a great trespass of ignorance in that day, and he
lays a curse on the people, saying, Cursed [is] the man who shall eat bread
before the evening; so I will avenge myself on my enemy: and none of the
people tasted bread, though all the land was dining.
14:25 And Jaal was a wood abounding in swarms of bees on the face of the
ground.
14:26 And the people went into the place of the bees, and, behold, they
continued speaking; and, behold, there was none that put his hand to his
mouth, for the people feared the oath of Yehovah.
14:27 And Jonathan had not heard when his father adjured the people; and he
reached forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, an dipped it into
the honeycomb, and returned his hand to his mouth, and his eyes recovered
their sight.
14:28 And one of the people answered and said, Thy father solemnly adjured
the people, saying, Cursed [is] the man who shall eat bread to-day. And the
people were very faint,
14:29 and Jonathan knew it, and said, My father has destroyed the land: see
how my eyes have received sight [now] that I have tasted a little of this
honey.
14:30 Surely if the people had this day eaten freely of the spoils of their
enemies which they found, the slaughter among the Philistines would have
been greater.
14:31 And on that day he smote some of the Philistines in Machmas; and the
people were very weary.
14:32 And the people turned to the spoil; and the people took flocks, and
herds, and calves, and slew them on the ground, and the people ate with the
blood.
14:33 And it was reported to Saul, saying, The people have sinned against
Yehovah, eating with the blood: and Saul said, Out of Getthaim roll a great
stone to me hither.
14:34 And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them to
bring hither every one his calf, and every one his sheep: and let them slay
it on this [stone] and sin not against Yehovah in eating with the blood:
and the people brought each one that which was in his hand, and they slew
[them] there.
14:35 And Saul built an altar there to Yehovah: this was the first altar
that Saul built to Yehovah.
14:36 And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines this night, and
let us plunder among them till the day break, and let us not leave a man
among them. And they said, Do all that is good in thy sight: and the priest
said, let us draw nigh hither to Elohim.
14:37 And Saul enquired of Elohim, If I go down after the Philistines, wilt
thou deliver them into the hands of Israel? And he answered him not in that
day.
14:38 And Saul said, Bring hither all the chiefs of Israel, and know and see
by whom this sin has been committed this day.
14:39 For as Yehovah lives who has saved Israel, if answer should be
against my son Jonathan, he shall surely die. And there was no one that
answered out of all the people.
14:40 And he said to all the men of Israel, Ye shall be under subjection,
and I an Jonathan my son will be under subjection: and the people said to
Saul, Do that which is good in thy sight.
14:41 And Saul said, O Lord Elohim of Israel, why hast thou not answered thy
servant this day? [is] the iniquity in me, or in Jonathan my son? Lord Elohim
of Israel, give clear [manifestations]; and if [the lot] should declare
this, give, I pray thee, to thy people of Israel, give, I pray, holiness.
And Jonathan and Saul are taken, and the people escaped.
14:42 And Saul said, Cast [lots] between me and my son Jonathan: whomsoever
Yehovah shall cause to be taken by lot, let him die: and the people said to
Saul, This thing is not [to be done: and Saul prevailed against the people,
and they cast [lots] between him and Jonathan his son, and Jonathan is taken
by lot.
14:43 And Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done: and Jonathan
told him, and said, I did indeed taste a little honey, with the end of my
staff that was in my hand, and, lo! I [am to] die.
14:44 And Saul said to him, Elohim do so to me, and more also, thou shalt
surely die to-day.
14:45 And the people said to Saul, Shall he that has wrought this great
salvation in Israel be put to death this day? [As] Yehovah lives, there
shall not fall to the ground one of the hairs of his head; for the people of
Elohim have wrought successfully this day. And the people prayed for Jonathan
in that day, and he died not.
14:46 And Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the Philistines
departed to their place.
14:47 And Saul received the kingdom, by lot he inherits the office [of
ruling] over Israel: and he fought against all his enemies round about,
against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against the children of
Edom, and against Baethaeor, and against the king of Suba, and against the
Philistines: whithersoever he turned, he was victorious.
14:48 And he wrought valiantly, and smote Amalec, and rescued Israel out of
the hand of them that trampled on him.
14:49 And the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Jessiu, and Melchisa: and
[these were] the names of his two daughters, the name of the first-born
Merob, and the name of the second Melchol.
14:50 And the name of his wife was Achinoom, the daughter of Achimaa: and
the name of his captain of the host was Abenner, the son of Ner, son of a
kinsman of Saul.
14:51 And Kis [was] the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abenezer,
[was] son of Jamin, son of Abiel.
14:52 And the war was vehement against the Philistines all the days of Saul;
and when Saul saw any mighty man, and any valiant man, then he took them to
himself. |
14:1 Now it came to pass upon a day, that
Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armor, Come,
and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on the other side.
But he told not his father.
14:2 And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate
tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six
hundred men;
14:3 And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas,
the son of Eli, Yehovah's priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the
people knew not that Jonathan was gone.
14:4 And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the
Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp
rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of
the other Seneh.
14:5 The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Michmash,
and the other southward over against Gibeah.
14:6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let
us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that Yehovah
will work for us: for there is no restraint to Yehovah to save by many or
by few.
14:7 And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn
thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.
14:8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we
will discover ourselves unto them.
14:9 If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will
stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them.
14:10 But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the
Yehovah hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us.
14:11 And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the
Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of
the holes where they had hid themselves.
14:12 And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer,
and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. And Jonathan said
unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for Yehovah hath delivered them
into the hand of Israel.
14:13 And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his
armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer
slew after him.
14:14 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made,
was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke
of oxen might plow.
14:15 And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the
people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth
quaked: so it was a very great trembling.
14:16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold,
the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another.
14:17 Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see
who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his
armourbearer were not there.
14:18 And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of Elohim. For the ark of
Elohim was at that time with the children of Israel.
14:19 And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise
that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said
unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand.
14:20 And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves,
and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man's sword was against his
fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.
14:21 Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time,
which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, even
they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.
14:22 Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in mount
Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed
hard after them in the battle.
14:23 So Yehovah saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto
Bethaven.
14:24 And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured
the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening,
that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any
food.
14:25 And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the
ground.
14:26 And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey
dropped; but no man put his hand to his mouth: for the people feared the
oath.
14:27 But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the
oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and
dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were
enlightened.
14:28 Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father straitly charged
the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this
day. And the people were faint.
14:29 Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you,
how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this
honey.
14:30 How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to day of the
spoil of their enemies which they found? for had there not been now a much
greater slaughter among the Philistines?
14:31 And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and
the people were very faint.
14:32 And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and
calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the
blood.
14:33 Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against Yehovah,
in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a
great stone unto me this day.
14:34 And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto
them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay
them here, and eat; and sin not against Yehovah in eating with the blood.
And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew
them there.
14:35 And Saul built an altar unto Yehovah: the same was the first altar
that he built unto Yehovah.
14:36 And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and
spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And
they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let
us draw near hither unto Elohim.
14:37 And Saul asked counsel of Elohim, Shall I go down after the Philistines?
wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that
day.
14:38 And Saul said, Draw ye near hither, all the chief of the people: and
know and see wherein this sin hath been this day.
14:39 For, as Yehovah liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan
my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people
that answered him.
14:40 Then said he unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my
son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what
seemeth good unto thee.
14:41 Therefore Saul said unto Yehovah Elohim of Israel, Give a perfect lot.
And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped.
14:42 And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan
was taken.
14:43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan
told him, and said, I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod
that was in mine hand, and, lo, I must die.
14:44 And Saul answered, Elohim do so and more also: for thou shalt surely die,
Jonathan.
14:45 And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought
this great salvation in Israel? Elohim forbid: as Yehovah liveth, there shall
not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with Elohim
this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not.
14:46 Then Saul went up from following the Philistines: and the Philistines
went to their own place.
14:47 So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his
enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and
against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines:
and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them.
14:48 And he gathered an host, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered
Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them.
14:49 Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishui, and Melchishua: and the
names of his two daughters were these; the name of the firstborn Merab, and
the name of the younger Michal:
14:50 And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz: and
the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.
14:51 And Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the
son of Abiel.
14:52 And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul:
and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him. |