1 Saul had been king for one year {ben-shanah: one regnal year}, and he reigned two years {shanim: span of time} over Israel.
2 And Saul chose for himself three thousand men from Israel. Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest {yeter: remaining group} of the people he sent, each man to his tent {ohel: pastoral dwelling}.
3 And Jonathan {Yonatan: covenant warrior} struck the Philistine garrison that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews {ivrim: Israelite descendants} hear!”
4 And all Israel heard it said, “Saul has struck the Philistine outpost,” and Israel was held in contempt {nib'ash: became despised} among the Philistines. And the people were summoned after Saul {sha'ul: requested one} to Gilgal.
5 And the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, with thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and a host as numerous as the sand {kakhol: immeasurable multitude} along the shore of the sea. They advanced and encamped at Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven {beit aven: place of emptiness}.
6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in distress {tsar-lo: Severe Crisis} and that the people were hard pressed, the people hid themselves in the caves and in the thickets, and in the rocks, and in the crevices, and in the pits {borot: Underground Cisterns}.
7 And Hebrews crossed over the Jordan {yarden: river boundary} into the land of Gad and Gilead, while Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the people trembled {kharadu: fearful trembling} after him.
8 He waited seven days for the appointed time {moed: fixed meeting} Samuel had set, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal {Gilgal: renewal site}, and the people scattered from him.
9 Then Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering {olah: whole offering} and the peace offerings {shelamim: offerings of well-being},” and he offered up the burnt offering.
10 And it happened, as he finished {kekalloto: upon completing} offering up the burnt offering, behold Samuel came, and Saul went out to meet {likrato: to go forth toward} him.
11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “Because I saw that the people {ha-am: gathered assembly} had scattered from me, that you had not come at the appointed time {moed: agreed time} of the days, and that the Philistines were gathering at Michmash.”
12 And I said, “Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the face {pnei: presence} of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge}; so I restrained myself and I offered the burnt offering.”
13 Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly {niskalta: failed spiritual judgment}; you did not keep the commandment of the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Covenant King}, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.”
14 But now your kingdom will not endure. The LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} has sought for Himself a man after His own heart {levav: inner will}, and the LORD has appointed him to be leader over His people, because you did not keep what the LORD commanded you.
15 Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin, and Saul counted {pakad: mustered} the people {am: gathered men} who were found with him, about six hundred men.
16 And Saul {Shaul: Anointed Monarch} and his son Jonathan and the people who were found with them dwelt in Geba {Geba: Tribal Stronghold} of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.
17 And the raiding party {hamashchit: destructive force} went out from the camp of the Philistines {Pelishtim: coastal adversaries} in three detachments; one detachment turned toward the road to Ophrah, toward the land of Shual.
18 And one company {harosh: military detachment} turned toward the road to Beth Horon, and one company turned toward the road to the border that overlooks the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness {midbarah: arid open land}.
19 And no craftsman {charash: artisan} could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews {haivrim: Israelite people} make a sword or a spear.”
20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines {Plishtim: rival nation} for each man to sharpen his plowshare {macharashto: farming blade}, his mattock, his axe, and his sickle.
21 And the charge for sharpening was a pim {pim: unit of weight} for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and for three-pronged forks and for the axes, and for fixing the goad {hadorvan: cattle prod}.
22 And it came to pass on the day of battle {milchemet: combat encounter} that no sword or spear was found in the hand {yad: personal possession} of all the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, but it was found for Saul and for Jonathan his son.
23 And the outpost {matzav: forward military position} of the Philistines went out to the pass {maavar: mountain defile} at Michmash.