1 Samuel Chapter 13    

¹Saul reigned a year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,
  ²Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel of which 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin, and the rest of the people he sent home, each man to his tent.
 

³And Jonathan struck the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. And Saul blew the shofar throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”
  ⁴And all Israel heard that Saul had struck the garrison of the Philistines and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. The people were called together after Saul to Gilgal.
 

⁵Now the Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, 3,000 chariots^a and 6,000 horsemen and people as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, and they came up, and encamped in Michmash east of Beth-aven.
 

⁶When the men of Israel saw that they were in a tight spot (for the people were hard-pressed), then the people hid themselves in caves and in thickets and in rocks and in underground chambers and in cisterns.
  ⁷Now some of the Hebrews had crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
 

⁸And he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal and the people were scattering from him.
  ⁹Then Saul said, “Bring here to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.
 

¹⁰But as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him to bless him in greeting.
  ¹¹But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me and that you did not come during the appointed days and that the Philistines were assembling themselves together at Michmash,
  ¹²so I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me to Gilgal and I have not asked the favor of Yahweh.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.”
 

¹³But Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Yahweh your God that he commanded you. If you had, Yahweh would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
  ¹⁴But now your kingdom will not continue. Yahweh has sought for himself a man after his own heart and Yahweh has commanded him to be ruler over his people because you have not kept what Yahweh commanded you.”
  ¹⁵Then Samuel arose and went from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul counted the people who were present with him, about 600 men.
 

¹⁶And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.
  ¹⁷And the raiding parties came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned to the way that leads to Ophrah, to the land of Shual,
  ¹⁸and another company turned toward the road to Beth-horon, and another company turned toward the road of the territory that looks down on the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
 

¹⁹Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.”
  ²⁰So all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, each man to sharpen his plow blade, mattock, axe and sickle,
  ²¹and the exorbitant charge was two-thirds of a shekel^b for the plow blades, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the goads.
  ²²So it came to pass in the day of battle that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them.
 

²³And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.