1 Samuel 13

Saul Fights the Philistines

1 Saul 1 reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, 2

2 Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in a Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with b Jonathan in c Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent. 3 And Jonathan attacked d the garrison of the Philistines that was in e Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear!" 4 Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become 3 an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal.

5 Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, 4 thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people f as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of g Beth Aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people h hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the i land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

Saul's Unlawful Sacrifice

8 j Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, "Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me." And he offered the burnt offering. 10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might 5 greet him. 11 And Samuel said, "What have you done?" Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 "then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.' Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering." 13 And Samuel said to Saul, k "You have done foolishly. l You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 m "But now your kingdom shall not continue. n The LORD has sought for Himself a man o after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have p not kept what the LORD commanded you."

15 Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of 6 Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, q about six hundred men. 16 Saul, Jonathan his son, and the people present with them remained in 7 Gibeah of Benjamin. But the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17 Then raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned onto the road to r Ophrah, to the land of Shual, 18 another company turned to the road to s Beth Horon, and another company turned to the road of the border that overlooks the Valley of t Zeboim toward the wilderness.

19 Now u there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, "Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears." 20 But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man's plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; 21 and the charge for a sharpening was a 8 pim 8 for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads. 22 So it came about, on the day of battle, that v there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son. 23 w And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

  1. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:36
    The LORD will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods - wood and stone.
  2. Cross References
    1 Samuel 14:5
    The front of one faced northward opposite Michmash, and the other southward opposite Gibeah.
    1 Samuel 14:31
    Now they had driven back the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. So the people were very faint.
  3. Cross References
    1 Samuel 14:1
    Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on the other side." But he did not tell his father.
  4. Cross References
    1 Samuel 10:26
    And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and valiant men went with him, whose hearts God had touched.
  5. Cross References
    1 Samuel 10:5
    After that you shall come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is. And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying.
  6. Cross References
    2 Samuel 5:25
    And David did so, as the LORD commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.
  7. Cross References
    Judges 7:12
    Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.
  8. Cross References
    Joshua 7:2
    Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, "Go up and spy out the country." So the men went up and spied out Ai.
    1 Samuel 14:23
    So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Beth Aven.
  9. Cross References
    Judges 6:2
    And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains.
    1 Samuel 14:11
    So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, "Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.
  10. Cross References
    Numbers 32:1 - 42
    Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock.
  11. Cross References
    1 Samuel 10:8
    "You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do."
  12. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 16:9
    "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars."
  13. Cross References
    1 Samuel 15:11
    I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments." And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night.
    1 Samuel 15:22
    So Samuel said: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
    1 Samuel 15:28
    So Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.
  14. Cross References
    1 Samuel 15:28
    So Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.
    1 Samuel 31:6
    So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.
  15. Cross References
    1 Samuel 16:1
    Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.
  16. Cross References
    Psalms 89:20
    I have found My servant David; With My holy oil I have anointed him.
    Acts 7:46
    Who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob.
    Acts 13:22
    "And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.'
  17. Cross References
    1 Samuel 15:11
    I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments." And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night.
    1 Samuel 15:19
    "Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD?"
  18. Cross References
    1 Samuel 13:2
    Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent.
    1 Samuel 13:6
    When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits.
    1 Samuel 13:7
    And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
    1 Samuel 14:2
    And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men.
  19. Cross References
    Joshua 18:23
    Avim, Parah, Ophrah.
  20. Cross References
    Joshua 16:3
    And went down westward to the boundary of the Japhletites, as far as the boundary of Lower Beth Horon to Gezer; and it ended at the sea.
    Joshua 18:13
    The border went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz (which is Bethel) southward; and the border descended to Ataroth Addar, near the hill that lies on the south side of Lower Beth Horon.
    Joshua 18:14
    Then the border extended around the west side to the south, from the hill that lies before Beth Horon southward; and it ended at Kirjath Baal (which is Kirjath Jearim), a city of the children of Judah. This was the west side.
  21. Cross References
    Genesis 14:2
    That they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
    Nehemiah 11:34
    In Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat.
  22. Cross References
    Judges 5:8
    They chose new gods; Then there was war in the gates; Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.
    2 Kings 24:14
    Also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem: all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.
    Jeremiah 24:1
    The LORD showed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the LORD, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
    Jeremiah 29:2
    (This happened after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.)
  23. Cross References
    Judges 5:8
    They chose new gods; Then there was war in the gates; Not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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