1 Samuel 14:24-48

Living Bible

^24-25 Saul had declared, “A curse upon anyone who eats anything before evening—before I have full revenge on my enemies.” So no one ate anything all day, even though they found honeycomb on the ground in the forest, ²⁶ for they all feared Saul’s curse. ²⁷ Jonathan, however, had not heard his father’s command; so he dipped a stick into a honeycomb, and when he had eaten the honey he felt much better. ²⁸ Then someone told him that his father had laid a curse upon anyone who ate food that day, and everyone was weary and faint as a result.

²⁹ “That’s ridiculous!” Jonathan exclaimed. “A command like that only hurts us. See how much better I feel now that I have eaten this little bit of honey. ³⁰ If the people had been allowed to eat freely from the food they found among our enemies, think how many more we could have slaughtered!”

³¹ But hungry as they were, they chased and killed the Philistines all day from Michmash to Aijalon, growing more and more faint. ³² That evening^[a] they flew upon the battle loot and butchered the sheep, oxen, and calves, and ate the raw, bloody meat. ³³ Someone reported to Saul what was happening, that the people were sinning against the Lord by eating blood.

“That is very wrong,” Saul said. “Roll a great stone over here, ³⁴ and go out among the troops and tell them to bring the oxen and sheep here to kill and drain them, and not to sin against the Lord by eating the blood.” So that is what they did.

³⁵ And Saul built an altar to the Lord—his first.

³⁶ Afterwards Saul said, “Let’s chase the Philistines all night and destroy every last one of them.”

“Fine!” his men replied. “Do as you think best.”

But the priest said, “Let’s ask God first.”

³⁷ So Saul asked God, “Shall we go after the Philistines? Will you help us defeat them?” But the Lord made no reply all night.

³⁸ Then Saul said to the leaders, “Something’s wrong!^[b] We must find out what sin was committed today. ³⁹ I vow by the name of the God who saved Israel that though the sinner be my own son Jonathan, he shall surely die!” But no one would tell him what the trouble was.

⁴⁰ Then Saul proposed, “Jonathan and I will stand over here, and all of you stand over there.” And the people agreed.

⁴¹ Then Saul said, “O Lord God of Israel, why haven’t you answered my question? What is wrong? Are Jonathan and I guilty, or is the sin among the others? O Lord God, show us who is guilty.” And Jonathan and Saul were chosen by sacred lot as the guilty ones, and the people were declared innocent.

⁴² Then Saul said, “Now draw lots between me and Jonathan.” And Jonathan was chosen as the guilty one.

⁴³ “Tell me what you’ve done,” Saul demanded of Jonathan.

“I tasted a little honey,” Jonathan admitted. “It was only a little bit on the end of a stick; but now I must die.”

⁴⁴ “Yes, Jonathan,” Saul said, “you must die; may God strike me dead if you are not executed for this.”

⁴⁵ But the troops retorted, “Jonathan, who saved Israel today, shall die? Far from it! We vow by the life of God that not one hair on his head will be touched, for he has been used of God to do a mighty miracle today.” So the people rescued Jonathan.

⁴⁶ Then Saul called back the army, and the Philistines returned home. ⁴⁷ And now, since he was securely in the saddle as king of Israel, Saul sent the Israeli army out in every direction against Moab, Ammon, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. And wherever he turned, he was successful. ⁴⁸ He did great deeds and conquered the Amalekites and saved Israel from all those who had been their conquerors.