1 Samuel 14

1 And it came about, on a certain day, that Jonathan son of Saul said unto the young man bearing his armour: Come! and let us pass over unto the garrison of the Philistines, that is on the other side, yonder! but, to his father, he told it not.

One day, Jonathan said to the young man who carried his weapons, “Come with me; we will go over to where the Philistia soldiers have put up their tents.” [So they went], but Jonathan did not tell his father [what they were going to do].

2 Now, Saul, was tarrying in the uttermost part of Gibeah, under the pomegranate tree that is in Migron, —and, the people that were with him, were about six hundred men;

On that day, Saul and the 600 soldiers who were with him were sitting around a pomegranate tree at a place where the people threshed grain, near Gibeah.

3 and, Ahijah, son of Ahitub, brother of Ichabod, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, was priest of Yahweh in Shiloh, wearing an ephod, —and, the people, knew not that Jonathan had departed.

Ahijah the priest was also there. He was wearing the sacred vest. Ahijah was the son of Ahitub, who was a brother of Ichabod. Ichabod and Ahitub were the sons of Phinehas, who was the son of Eli, who had been Yahweh’s priest at Shiloh. No one knew that Jonathan had left [the Israeli camp].

4 And, between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over up to the garrison of the Philistines, there was a crag of rock on the one side, and a crag of rock on the other side; and, the name of the one, was Bozez, and the name of the other, Seneh.

Jonathan planned that he and the young man would go through a narrow (pass/place between two cliffs) to get to where the Philistia army was. The cliff on one side of the pass was named Bozez, and the other cliff was named Seneh.

5 The one crag, was a pillar on the north, over against Michmash, —and, the other, on the south, over against Geba.

One cliff faced north toward Micmash, and the cliff on the other side faced south toward Geba [town].

6 So Jonathan said unto the young man bearing his armour—Come! and let us cross over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised, peradventure, Yahweh may work by us, —for there is no restraint with Yahweh, to save by many, or by few.

Jonathan said to the young man who carried his weapons, “Come with me. We will go to where those (pagans/people who do not believe in Yahweh) [MTY] have set up their tents. Perhaps Yahweh will help us. It does not matter whether we are only two men or many people; nothing can hinder Yahweh from enabling us to defeat them.”

7 And his armour-bearer said to him, Do all that is in thy heart, —decide for thyself (lo! I am with thee!), according to thine own heart.

The young man who was carrying Jonathan’s weapons said, “Do what you think is the best thing for us to do. I will help you.”

8 Then said Jonathan, Lo! we, are crossing over unto the men, —and will discover ourselves unto them.

Then Jonathan said, “Okay, come with me. We will cross the valley to where the Philistia army is, and allow them to see us.

9 If, thus, they say unto us, Keep quiet until we get to you, then will we stand still where we are, and will not go up unto them;

If they then say to us, ‘You two stay there until we come down to you,’ we will stay there and not go up to them.

10 but, if thus, they say, Come up unto us, then will we go up; for Yahweh hath delivered them into our hand, —This, then, is our sign.

But if they say to us, ‘Come up here [and fight against] us,’ that will show us that Yahweh will enable us to defeat them. Then we will go up and fight them.”

11 So they two discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines, —and the Philistines said—Lo! Hebrews, coming forth out of the holes, wherein they had hidden themselves.

When the two of them crossed the valley, the Philistia soldiers saw them coming. They said, “Look! The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes in which they have been hiding!”

12 And the men of the garrison responded to Jonathan and his armour-bearer, and said—Come up unto us, and we will let you know a thing. Then said Jonathan unto his armour-bearer—Come up after me, for Yahweh hath delivered them into the hand of Israel.

Then the Philistia soldiers who were closest to Jonathan and the young man who carried his weapons said, “Come up here, and we will teach you something [about how to fight] [IDM]!” Jonathan said to the young man who was with him, “Come behind me and climb up, because Yahweh is going to help us to defeat them!”

13 So Jonathan went up on his hands and on his feet, and, his armour-bearer, followed him, —and they fell before Jonathan, and, his armour-bearer, was slaying after him.

So Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and his feet [because it was very steep]. The young man climbed up following him. As Jonathan climbed, he struck and killed many Philistia soldiers, and the young man who was with him killed many more as he followed behind Jonathan.

14 And the first smiting wherewith Jonathan and his armour-bearer smote, was about twenty men, —within, as it were, half a furrow’s length of a yoke of land.

In that first battle the two of them killed about 20 Philistia soldiers in an area that was about half an acre.

15 And there came to be a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people, the outposts and the spoilers, they too, trembled, —and the earth quaked, so it became a preternatural trembling.

Then all the other Philistia soldiers, the ones in the camp and the ones who had been attacking the Israeli towns, ones who were out in the field much closer, panicked. Then God caused the ground to shake, and they all became terrified/very afraid.

16 And the scouts of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and lo! the camp, melted away, hither and thither.

Saul’s (lookouts/men who were watching to see if enemies were coming) were in Gibeah [town] in the land of the tribe of Benjamin. They saw that the soldiers of the Philistia army were running away in all directions.

17 Then said Saul unto the people who were with him: Number, I pray you, and see who hath departed from us. So they numbered; and lo! Jonathan and his armour-bearer were missing.

Saul [realized that some of his soldiers must have attacked the Philistia army. So he] said to the soldiers who were with him, “Check to see if any of our men are not here.” So they checked, and they found out that Jonathan and the man who carried his weapons were gone.

18 Then said Saul unto Ahijah, Bring near the ark of God; for the ark of God was, on that day, in the midst of the sons of Israel.

So Saul said to Ahijah [the Supreme Priest], “Bring the sacred vest here [and find out what we should do].” On that day Ahijah was wearing the sacred vest, going in front of the Israelis.

19 And it came to pass, as soon as Saul had spoken unto the priest, that, the tumultuous noise that was in the camp of the Philistines, went on and on, increasing. Then said Saul unto the priest, —Withdraw thy hand.

But while Saul was talking to the priest, [he saw that] the Philistia soldiers were becoming more panicked/confused. So Saul said to Ahijah, “Take your hand down [from the sacred vest. Do not waste any more time using the marked stones in the vest to find out what Yahweh wants us to do.”]

20 And Saul and all the people that were with him gathered themselves together, and came as far as the host, —and lo! the sword of every man was against his fellow, an exceeding great confusion.

Then Saul gathered his men and they went toward the battle. They found that the Philistia soldiers were so confused that they were striking each other with their swords.

21 And, the Hebrews who had aforetime belonged to the Philistines, who had come up with them in the host, even they, turned round so as to be with Israel who were with Saul and Jonathan.

Before that, some of the Hebrew men had deserted their army and gone to join with the Philistia army. But now those men [revolted and] joined with Saul and Jonathan and the other Israeli soldiers.

22 And, all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves throughout the hill country of Ephraim, heard that the Philistines had fled, and, they also, followed hard after them in the battle.

Some of the Israeli soldiers had previously run away and hidden in the mountains where the tribe of Ephraim lived. But when they heard that the Philistia soldiers were running away, they [came down and] joined the other Israeli soldiers and pursued the Philistia soldiers.

23 Thus did Yahweh, on that day, save Israel, —and, the battle, passed over by Beth-aven.

So Yahweh rescued the Israelis on that day. The Israeli soldiers continued to pursue their enemies beyond Beth-Aven [town].

24 Now, the men of Israel, were tired out on that day, —yet had Saul bound the people by an oath, saying—Cursed, be the man that eateth food until the evening, and I be avenged upon mine enemies. So none of the people had tasted food.

Before Saul’s soldiers went to the battle, Saul declared to them solemnly, “I do not want any of you to eat any food before this evening, before we have defeated all our enemies. If anyone eats anything, [Yahweh] will curse/punish him.” So none of the Israeli soldiers ate any food, and they became faint/weak because they were very hungry.

25 And, all the land, had entered into the forest, —and there was honey upon the face of the ground.

The Israeli army went into the forest, and they found honeycombs on the ground, but they did not eat any honey.

26 So the people came into the forest, and lo! there were streams of honey, —but no man reached his hand to his mouth, because the people revered the oath.

They were afraid to eat any, because they had solemnly promised that they would not eat any food.

27 But, Jonathan, heard not his father putting the people on oath, so he reached forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and dipped it in the honey-copse, —and brought back his hand to his mouth, and his eyes were brightened.

But Jonathan did not hear what his father commanded [because he had left the camp very early in the morning]. So [when he saw] a honeycomb, he dipped the end of his walking stick into it and ate some honey. After he ate the honey, he felt stronger.

28 Then responded one from among the people, and said—With an oath, did thy father charge the people, saying—Cursed, be the man that eateth food to-day! And so the people were faint.

But one of the Israeli soldiers saw him and said to him, “Your father solemnly declared to us that [Yahweh] would curse/punish anyone who ate any food today. So now we are [very tired and] weak from being hungry [because we obeyed him].”

29 Then said Jonathan: My father hath afflicted the land, —See, I pray you, how my own eyes have been brightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.

Jonathan exclaimed, “My father has caused trouble for all of us! See how refreshed/strong I am after eating a little honey!

30 How much more if haply the people had, eaten freely, to-day of the spoil of their enemies, which they found? for, now, would not the smiting of the Philistines have been, mighty?

If he had permitted all of us to eat from the food we took from our enemies while we were pursuing them, we would have been able to kill many more of their soldiers!”

31 Howbeit they smote the Philistines on that day from Michmash to Aijalon, —but the people became exceeding faint.

The Israelis pursued and killed Philistia soldiers all that day, from Micmash [town west] to Aijalon. But they continued to become weaker from being hungry.

32 And the people darted greedily upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and felled them to the ground, —and the people did eat, with the blood.

They had taken [many] sheep and cattle that the Philistia soldiers had abandoned. Now, because they were extremely hungry, they butchered some of those animals and ate the meat without draining the blood from the animals.

33 And they told Saul, saying, Lo! the people, are sinning against Yahweh, by eating with the blood. And he said—Ye have dealt treacherously, roll unto me, here, a great stone.

One of the soldiers told Saul, “Look! The men are sinning against Yahweh by eating meat that still has blood in it!” Saul replied [to the men who were near him], “They have disobeyed Yahweh! Roll a large stone over here!”

34 And Saul said—Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them—Bring near unto me every man his ox, and every man his lamb, and slay them here, and then eat, so shall ye not sin against Yahweh, by eating with the blood. And all the people brought near—every man that which was in his hand, that night, and they slew them there.

After they did that, he said to those men, “Go and tell all the soldiers that each of them must bring an ox or a sheep to me, and kill it here on this stone, [and drain the blood] before he eats any of the meat. They should not sin against Yahweh by eating meat [from some animal] without draining its blood.” So that night all the soldiers brought animals and slaughtered them there. Then Saul built an altar to [worship] Yahweh.

35 And Saul built an altar unto Yahweh, —the same, was the first altar that he built unto Yahweh.

That was the first [time that he built an] altar for Yahweh.

36 Then said Saul—Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and make of them a prey until the morning light, and let us not leave of them, a man. And they said, All that is good in thine eyes, do! Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God.

Then Saul said [to the Israeli soldiers], “Let’s pursue the Philistia soldiers tonight. We can attack them all night. We will not allow any of them to escape alive.” The Israeli soldiers answered, “We will do whatever you think is the best thing for us to do.” But the priest said, “We should ask Yahweh [what he thinks we should do].”

37 So Saul asked of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not, that day.

So Saul asked God, “Should we pursue the Philistine soldiers? Will you enable us to defeat them?” But God did not answer Saul that day.

38 Then said Saul, Come near hither, all ye chiefs of the people, —and get to know and see, wherein, hath been this sin, to-day.

Then Saul summoned all the leaders of his army. He said to them, “[I am sure that God has not answered me because] someone has sinned. We must find out what sin someone has committed.

39 For, by the life of Yahweh, who saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, yet shall he, die. But there was none ready to answer him, of all the people.

Yahweh has rescued us [from the Philistia army]. Just as certain as Yahweh lives, whoever has sinned must be executed. Even if it is my son Jonathan who has sinned, he must be executed.” [His men knew who was guilty], but none of them said anything [to Saul].

40 Then said he unto all Israel—Ye, shall be on one side, and, I and Jonathan my son, will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, What is good in thine eyes, do!

Then Saul said to all the Israeli soldiers, “You stand on one side. My son Jonathan and I will stand on the other side.” His men replied, “Do whatever you think is best.”

41 And Saul said unto Yahweh—O God of Israel! now set forth the truth. Then were, Jonathan and Saul, taken, and, the people, escaped.

Then Saul prayed to Yahweh, the Israelis’ God, “Tell me who is guilty and who is not guilty.” Then the priest (cast lots/threw the stones that were marked), and they indicated that it was [either] Jonathan or Saul who was the guilty one, and that the other men were not guilty.

42 And Saul said, Cast lots between me, and Jonathan my son. Then was, Jonathan, taken.

Then Saul said to the priest, “Throw the stones again to indicate which of us two is guilty.” So he did, and the stones indicated that Jonathan was the guilty one.

43 And Saul said unto Jonathan, Come tell me, what thou hast done. So Jonathan told him, and said, I, just tasted, with the end of the staff that was in my hand, a little honey, here I am—I must die!

Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done [that was wrong].” Jonathan replied, “I ate a little bit of honey. It was only a little bit that was on the end of my stick. Do I [deserve to be] executed [because of doing that]?”

44 Then said Saul: So, may God do, and, so, may he add, surely thou must, die, Jonathan!

Saul replied, “Yes, you must be executed! I hope/wish that God will strike me and kill me if you are not executed for having done that!”

45 But the people said unto Saul—Shall, Jonathan, die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? Far be it! By the life of Yahweh, there shall not fall a hair of his head to the ground, for, with God, hath he wrought this day. So the people delivered Jonathan, that he died not.

But the Israeli soldiers said to Saul, “Jonathan has won a great victory for all us Israelis. Should he be executed for eating some honey [RHQ]? Certainly not! Just as surely as Yahweh lives, we will not allow you to injure him in any manner [IDM], [because] today God helped Jonathan [to kill many soldiers of the Philistia army]!” So [by saying that] the Israeli soldiers rescued Jonathan, and he was not executed.

46 Then Saul went up from following the Philistines, —and, the Philistines, departed unto their own place.

Then Saul ordered his soldiers to stop pursuing the Philistia army, so the Philistia soldiers returned to their homes.

47 And, Saul, took possession of the kingdom over Israel, —and made war round about against all his enemies—against Moab, and against the sons of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines, and, whomsoever he turned against, he was victorious.

After Saul became the ruler/king of the Israeli people, his army fought against their enemies in many areas. They fought against armies of the Moab people-group, the Ammon people-group, the Edom people-group, the kings of Zobah [city/area], and the Philistia people-group. Wherever the Israeli army fought, they defeated their enemies.

48 Then made he ready a force, and smote the Amalekites, —and delivered Israel out of the hand of such as plundered them.

Saul’s army fought bravely and defeated the [very tall] descendants of Amalek. His army rescued the Israelis from those who had (plundered/forcefully taken things from) them.

49 And the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchishua, —and, the names of his two daughters, were, the name of the firstborn, Merab, and, the name of the younger, Michal, —

Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishbosheth, and Malchishua. He also had two daughters, Merab and her younger sister Michal.

50 and, the name of Saul’s wife, was Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz, —and the name of the prince of his host, Abner, son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.

Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz. The commander of Saul’s army was Abner, who was the son of Saul’s uncle Ner.

51 And, Kish, was Saul’s father, and, Ner, Abner’s father, was son of Abiel.

Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were both sons of Abiel.

52 And the war was severe against the Philistines all the days of Saul, —and, whensoever Saul saw any mighty man, or any son of valour, he drew him unto himself.

All the time that Saul was alive, his army fought against the Philistia army. And whenever Saul saw a young man who was (brave/not afraid to fight) and strong, he forced him to join his army.