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1 Samuel 13 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

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Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice
Israel in Distress
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:1 - Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,[fn]
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:2 - Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:3 - And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:4 - Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:5 - Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty[fn] thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:6 - When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:7 - And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:8 - Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:9 - So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:10 - Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:11 - And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash,
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:12 - “then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:13 - And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:14 - “But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:15 - Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin.[fn] And Saul numbered the people present with him, about six hundred men.
No Weapons for the Army
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:16 - Saul, Jonathan his son, and the people present with them remained in Gibeah of Benjamin. But the Philistines encamped in Michmash.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:17 - Then raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned onto the road to Ophrah, to the land of Shual,
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:18 - another company turned to the road to Beth Horon, and another company turned to the road of the border that overlooks the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:19 - Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.”
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:20 - But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle;
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:21 - and the charge for a sharpening was a pim[fn] for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:22 - So it came about, on 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 they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son.
Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 13:23 - And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.
NKJV Footnotes
The Hebrew is difficult (compare 2 Samuel 5:4; 2 Kings 14:2; see also 2 Samuel 2:10; Acts 13:21).
Following Masoretic Text, Septuagint, Targum, and Vulgate; Syriac and some manuscripts of the Septuagint read three.
Following Masoretic Text and Targum; Septuagint and Vulgate add And the rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the people who fought against them, going from Gilgal to Gibeah in the hill of Benjamin.
About two-thirds shekel weight
NKJV

New King James Version, © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) appearing on or deriving from this or any other web page is for personal use only. Any other use of the NKJV must be in conformity with the Quotation Policy for the New King James Version. For more information about the New King James Version, the Quotation Policy, and for inquiries about permission to use the New King James Version, go to Thomas Nelson, Inc..

For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.

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1 Samuel Chapter 13 — Additional Translations: