1Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,
2Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, each man to his tent.
3Jonathan struck down the Philistine soldiers stationed in Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul blew the trumpet through all the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear."
4All Israel heard the news that Saul had struck down a group of Philistine soldiers, and that the Philistines now hated Israel. So the people were called together to follow Saul to Gilgal.
5The Philistines gathered together to fight against Israel: thirty thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and men as many as the sand on the seashore. They came up and camped in Michmash, east of Bethaven.
6When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), they hid themselves in caves, in thickets, among rocks, in high places, and in pits.
7Some 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.
8He waited seven days, the time Samuel had set. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people began to scatter away from him.
9So Saul said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings." And he offered the burnt offering.
10As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, look, Samuel came. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him.
11Samuel said, "What have you done?" Saul said, "I saw that the people were scattering away from me, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were gathering at Michmash."
12"So I said, 'The Philistines will come down on me now at Gilgal, and I have not asked the LORD for his favour.' So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering."
13Samuel said to Saul, "You have acted foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which he commanded you. If you had, the LORD would have made your kingdom over Israel last for ever."
14"But now your kingdom will not continue. The LORD has looked for a man after his own heart, and the LORD has appointed him to be leader over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you."
15Then Samuel got up and went from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul counted the people who were with him, about six hundred men.
16Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people who were with them stayed in Gibeah of Benjamin. But the Philistines camped in Michmash.
17Raiders came out of the Philistine camp in three companies. One company turned along the road that leads to Ophrah, to the land of Shual.
18Another company turned along the road to Bethhoron. And another company turned along the road of the border that looks down on the valley of Zeboim, towards the wilderness.
19Now there was no blacksmith to be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, "The Hebrews must not make swords or spears for themselves."
20So all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, each man to sharpen his ploughshare, his coulter, his axe and his mattock.
21Yet they had a file for the mattocks, for the coulters, for the forks and for the axes, and for sharpening the goads.
22So on the day of the battle there was no sword or spear in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. Only Saul and Jonathan his son had them.
23And the Philistine soldiers went out to the pass of Michmash.