Then one day, Jonathan, son of Saul, said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, and let us go over on the other side, to the Philistines' garrison.” But he did not tell his father. 2And Saul was staying in the farthest part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and there were about six hundred men with him, 3Among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. Ahijah was the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the LORD's priest in Shiloh. And no one knew that Jonathan had left the camp. 4And there was a cliff on each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to go through to the Philistines' garrison. One cliff was named Bozez, and the other named Seneh. 5The one cliff was situated northward toward Michmash, and the other southward toward Gibeah. 6And Jonathan had said to his armor-bearer, “Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will act on our behalf; for there is no restraint upon the LORD to save, by many or by few.” 7And his armor-bearer replied, “Do whatever is in your heart: I am with you, whatever you decide.” 8Then Jonathan said, “Look, we will cross over to these men, and let them see us. 9If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you’; then we will stay where we are, and not go up to them. 10But if they say, ‘Come up and fight!’; then we will go up; for the LORD has delivered them into our hand, and this shall be our sign that He has given them to us.” 11And they both showed themselves to the Philistine garrison; and the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they had been hiding in.” 12And the men of the garrison reacted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer by saying, “Come up to us, and we will teach you a lesson.” Then Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Follow me; for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” 13And Jonathan climbed up on all fours, with his armor-bearer right behind him; and the Philistines fell before Jonathan; and his armor-bearer followed and killed those behind him. 14And that first slaughter, by Jonathan and his armor-bearer, was of about twenty men, all within about a half-acre of land. 15And there was panic in the entire army of Philistines - in the field, in the garrison, and among the raiding parties, and the earth quaked: so there was a very great panic.

16And Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and saw the multitude of Philistines running away, knocking one another down as they ran. 17Then Saul ordered: “Take a muster, and see who is missing from among us.” And when they did, they found that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were missing. 18And Saul told Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here.” For the ark of God was at that time with the Israelites. 19And while Saul was talking with the priest, the tumult within the army of the Philistines continued and increased; and Saul said to the priest, “Never mind, let’s get going!” 20And Saul and his men rushed out into battle; and they found the Philistines in great confusion – with every Philistine's sword used against his fellow soldier. 21And even those Hebrews from the surrounding country, who had been with the Philistines, and had accompanied them into their camp, turned to join with Saul, Jonathan, and the rest of the Israelites. 22And when the Israelites who had hidden in Mount Ephraim heard that the Philistines fled, they also pursued them in the battle. 23So on that day, the LORD saved Israel; and the battle moved on beyond Beth-aven. 24But the men of Israel were in distress that day; because Saul had solemnly charged them, saying, “Cursed be any man who eats any food until evening, that I may be avenged on my enemies.” And so none of the people had tasted any food. 25And they had come into a forest; and found honey on the ground. 26And when they entered the forest, it was dripping with honey, but no man put his hand to his mouth; for they feared Saul’s oath. 27But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath; so he dipped the end of the rod in his hand into a honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were brightened. 28Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats any food this day’.” And the people were faint. 29Then Jonathan said, “My father has unnecessarily troubled the land; look how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. 30How much better, if all the men had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found! There could have been an even greater slaughter among the Philistines!”

31And they chased and killed the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon; but the men were very weak and exhausted. 32And so the Israelites flew upon the spoil, and killed sheep, oxen, and calves on the ground; and they ate them with the blood. 33Then they told Saul, “Look, the people have sinned against the LORD, in that they ate with the blood.” And Saul said, “You have transgressed! Find and roll a large stone over to me at once.” 34And Saul said, “Go among the men, and tell them, ‘Have every man bring his ox or sheep here to me, and slaughter them here on that big rock, and eat; and not sin against the LORD by eating flesh with the blood.’” And all the men brought and killed them there that night. 35And Saul built an altar unto the LORD; it was the first altar that Saul built unto the LORD.

36And Saul said, “Let us go down and pursue the Philistines all night, and plunder them until the sunrise, and not leave one of them alive.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” Then the priest said, “Let us draw near here to God.” 37And Saul asked counsel of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You deliver them into Israel’s hand?” But God did not answer him that day. 38And Saul said, “Come near here, all you leaders of the people; and let us find out where this sin has been committed today. 39For, as the LORD lives, Who saves Israel, even if the guilt lies in Jonathan, my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all them that said a word to him. 40Then he said to all Israel, “You stand on one side, and I and Jonathan, my son, will stand on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” 41Therefore Saul said to the LORD God of Israel, “Give a perfect lot.” And Saul and Jonathan were taken, but the people were cleared. 42And Saul said, “Cast lots between me and Jonathan, my son.” And Jonathan was taken. 43Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, “I did taste just a little honey with the end of the rod in my hand, and, now, I must die.” 44And Saul answered, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not did surely die, Jonathan.” 45But the people said to Saul, “Should Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for all he has done with God this day.” And so, the people intervened and rescued Jonathan, so that he did not die. 46Then Saul ceased pursuing the Philistines; and the Philistines returned to their own place.

47So Saul assumed rule of the kingdom of Israel, and fought against all its enemies on every side - against Moab, Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah, the Philistines; and wherever he turned, he defeated them. 48And he gathered an army, and struck the Amalekites, and rescued Israel from those that plundered them.

49Now these were the sons of Saul: Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua; and the names of his two daughters were Merab, the older, and Michal, the younger. 50And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz; and the name of the commander of his army was Abner, son of Ner, Saul's uncle. 51And Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner, the father of Abner, was the son of Abiel.

52And there was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any strong or valiant man, he drafted him for his army.