1 Samuel 13

Saul Starts Slipping

1 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he ran things in Israel for forty-two years.

2 He picked 3,000 men for his crew, 2,000 rolled with him in Michmash and Bethel, and 1,000 with Jonathan in Gibeah. The rest of the people he sent home.

3 Jonathan ran up on the Philistine outpost at Geba and smashed it. The Philistines heard about it, and Saul had the trumpets blown across the land saying, “Let the Hebrews hear what is going down!”

4 All Israel heard the news: “Saul just hit the Philistines and now they heated!” The people got called to Saul at Gilgal, ready for war.

Fear in the Camp

5 The Philistines came back deep, 3,000 chariots, 6,000 chariot drivers, and soldiers like the sand on the beach. They set up at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.

6 When Israel saw they were outnumbered and trapped, they started hiding in caves, holes, rocks, tombs, anywhere they could.

7 Some even dipped to the other side of the Jordan River to hide in Gad and Gilead. Saul stayed at Gilgal, but his people were shaky and scared.

Saul’s Big Mistake

8 Saul waited seven days, like Samuel told him, but Samuel did not show up on time, and the people started bouncing.

9 So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and peace offering.” And he did it himself.

10 Just as he finished sacrificing, Samuel pulled up. Saul went to greet him.

11 Samuel said, “What are you doing, man?” Saul said, “Look, the people were leaving, you did not show, and the Philistines were about to pounce at Michmash.”

12 “I thought, ‘I better ask for God’s help,’ so I made the sacrifice myself.”

13 Samuel said, “You acted a fool. You did not follow God’s command. If you had, He would have let your kingdom stand forever.”

14 “But now, Your kingdom is done. The Lord already picked someone after His own heart. God is not playing, He is moving on.”

15 Then Samuel left Gilgal and went to Gibeah. Saul counted the people with him, only about 600 were left.

Israel Got No Weapons

16 Saul, Jonathan, and their men were posted in Gibeah, and the Philistines set up at Michmash.

17 Philistine raiders came out in three squads, one hit Ophrah, another went to Beth-horon, and the third moved toward the border near Zeboim.

18 (Same crews, still raiding hard.)

19 Back then, Israel did not even have blacksmiths, the Philistines made sure of that. They said, “We are not letting them make swords or spears.”

20 So the Israelites had to go to the Philistines to sharpen plows, axes, and tools.

21 They were paying silver just to keep their gear sharp, hoes, forks, axes, and to fix their ox goads.

22 On battle day, none of Saul’s people had swords or spears, just Saul and Jonathan had weapons.

23 A Philistine guard unit moved out to the pass at Michmash, ready to clash.