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²Saul picked 3,000 men, keeping 2,000 of them with him in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel and sending 1,000 with his son Jonathan to Gibeah, in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. The rest of the men Saul sent home.

³Jonathan killed the Philistine commander in Geba, and all the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul sent messengers to call the Hebrews to war by blowing a trumpet throughout the whole country. ⁴All the Israelites were told that Saul had killed the Philistine commander and that the Philistines hated them. So the people answered the call to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵The Philistines assembled to fight the Israelites; they had 30,000 war chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and as many soldiers as there are grains of sand on the seashore. They went to Michmash, east of Bethaven, and camped there. ⁶Then they launched a strong attack against the Israelites, putting them in a desperate situation. Some of the Israelites hid in caves and holes or among the rocks or in pits and wells; ⁷others crossed the River Jordan into the territories of Gad and Gilead.

Saul was still at Gilgal, and the people with him were trembling with fear. ⁸He waited seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him to do, but Samuel still had not come to Gilgal. The people began to desert Saul, ⁹so he said to them, “Bring me the burnt sacrifices and the fellowship sacrifices.” He offered a burnt sacrifice, ¹⁰and just as he was finishing, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet him and welcome him, ¹¹but Samuel said, “What have you done?”

Saul answered, “The people were deserting me, and you had not come when you said you would; besides that, the Philistines are gathering at Michmash. ¹²So I thought, ‘The Philistines are going to attack me here in Gilgal, and I have not tried to win the LORD 's favour.’ So I felt I had to offer a sacrifice.”

¹³“That was a foolish thing to do,” Samuel answered. “You have not obeyed the command the LORD your God gave you. If you had obeyed, he would have let you and your descendants rule over Israel for ever. ¹⁴But now your rule will not continue. Because you have disobeyed him, the LORD will find the kind of man he wants and make him ruler of his people.”

¹⁵Samuel left Gilgal and went on his way. The rest of the people followed Saul as he went to join his soldiers. They went from Gilgal to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. Saul inspected his troops, about 600 men. ¹⁶Saul, his son Jonathan, and their men camped in Geba in the territory of Benjamin; the Philistine camp was at Michmash. ¹⁷The Philistine soldiers went out on raids from their camp in three groups: one group went towards Ophrah in the territory of Shual, ¹⁸another went towards Beth Horon, and the other one went to the border overlooking the Valley of Zeboim and the wilderness.

¹⁹There were no blacksmiths in Israel because the Philistines were determined to keep the Hebrews from making swords and spears. ²⁰(The Israelites had to go to the Philistines to get their ploughs, hoes, axes, and sickles sharpened; ²¹the charge was one small coin for sharpening axes and for repairing ox goads, and two coins for sharpening ploughs or hoes.) ²²And so on the day of battle none of the Israelite soldiers except Saul and his son Jonathan had swords or spears.

²³The Philistines sent a group of soldiers to defend the pass of Michmash.