¹ And Abraham departed thence towards the south country, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned at Gerar.

² And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech the king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art [but] a dead man, because of the woman that thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.

⁴ But Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, Lord, wilt thou also kill a righteous nation?

⁵ Did he not say to me, She is my sister? and she, even she said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and in the innocency of my hands have I done this.

⁶ And God said to him in a dream, I also knew that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart, and I, too, have withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore have I not suffered thee to touch her.

⁷ And now, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and will pray for thee, that thou mayest live. And if thou do not restore [her], know that thou shalt certainly die, thou and all that is thine.

⁸ And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and spoke all these words in their ears; and the men were greatly afraid.

⁹ And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, What hast thou done to us? And in what have I sinned against thee, that thou hast brought on me, and on my kingdom, a great sin? Thou hast done to me deeds that ought not to be done.

¹⁰ And Abimelech said to Abraham, What hast thou seen that thou hast done this?

¹¹ And Abraham said, Because I said, Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will kill me for my wife's sake.

¹² But she is also truly my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

¹³ And it came to pass when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, Let this be thy kindness which thou shalt shew to me: at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

¹⁴ And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and bondmen and bondwomen, and gave [them] to Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.

¹⁵ And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it is good in thine eyes.

¹⁶ And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand [pieces] of silver; behold, let that be to thee a covering of the eyes, in respect of all that are with thee, and with all; and she was reproved.

¹⁷ And Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife and his handmaids, and they bore [children].

¹⁸ For Jehovah had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah Abraham's wife.

¹ Now it fell on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on the other side." But he didn't tell his father.

² Saul stayed in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people who were with him were about six hundred men;

³ and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Yahweh in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. The people didn't know that Jonathan was gone.

⁴ Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.

⁵ The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

⁶ Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, "Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint on Yahweh to save by many or by few."

⁷ His armor bearer said to him, "Do all that is in your heart. Turn and, behold, I am with you according to your heart."

⁸ Then Jonathan said, "Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will reveal ourselves to them.

⁹ If they say thus to us, 'Wait until we come to you!' then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them.

¹⁰ But if they say this, 'Come up to us!' then we will go up; for Yahweh has delivered them into our hand. This shall be the sign to us."

¹¹ Both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, "Behold, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they had hidden themselves!"

¹² The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, "Come up to us, and we will show you something!" Jonathan said to his armor bearer, "Come up after me; for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel."

¹³ Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer killed them after him.

¹⁴ That first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land.

¹⁵ There was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled; and the earth quaked: so there was an exceeding great trembling.

¹⁶ The watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and behold, the multitude melted away, and they went [here] and there.

¹⁷ Then Saul said to the people who were with him, "Count now, and see who is missing from us." When they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.

¹⁸ Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring the ark of God here." For the ark of God was [there] at that time with the children of Israel.

¹⁹ It happened, while Saul talked to the priest, that the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said to the priest, "Withdraw your hand!"

²⁰ Saul and all the people who were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle: and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, [and there was] a very great confusion.

²¹ Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines as before, and who went up with them into the camp, [from the country] all around, even they also [turned] to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

²² Likewise all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle.

²³ So Yahweh saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over by Beth Aven.

²⁴ The men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, "Cursed is the man who eats any food until it is evening, and I am avenged of my enemies." So none of the people tasted food.

²⁵ All the people came into the forest; and there was honey on the ground.

²⁶ When the people were come to the forest, behold, the honey dropped: but no man put his hand to his mouth; for the people feared the oath.

²⁷ But Jonathan didn't hear when his father commanded the people with the oath: therefore he put forth the end of the rod who was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.

²⁸ Then one of the people answered, and said, "Your father directly commanded the people with an oath, saying, 'Cursed is the man who eats food this day.'" The people were faint.

²⁹ Then Jonathan said, "My father has troubled the land. Please look how my eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.

³⁰ How much more, if perhaps the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found? For now has there been no great slaughter among the Philistines."

³¹ They struck of the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. The people were very faint;

³² and the people flew on the spoil, and took sheep, and cattle, and calves, and killed them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood.

³³ Then they told Saul, saying, "Behold, the people are sinning against Yahweh, in that they eat meat with the blood." He said, "You have dealt treacherously. Roll a large stone to me this day!"

³⁴ Saul said, "Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them, 'Bring me here every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and kill them here, and eat; and don't sin against Yahweh in eating meat with the blood.'" All the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and killed them there.

³⁵ Saul built an altar to Yahweh. This was the first altar that he built to Yahweh.

³⁶ Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them." They said, "Do whatever seems good to you." Then the priest said, "Let us draw near here to God."

³⁷ Saul asked counsel of God, "Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?" But he didn't answer him that day.

³⁸ Saul said, "Draw near here, all you chiefs of the people; and know and see in which this sin has been this day.

³⁹ For, as Yahweh lives, who saves Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die." But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.

⁴⁰ Then he said to all Israel, "You be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side." The people said to Saul, "Do what seems good to you."

⁴¹ Therefore Saul said to Yahweh, the God of Israel, "Show the right." Jonathan and Saul were chosen; but the people escaped.

⁴² Saul said, "Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son." Jonathan was selected.

⁴³ Then Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell me what you have done!" Jonathan told him, and said, "I certainly did taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; and behold, I must die."

⁴⁴ Saul said, "God do so and more also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan."

⁴⁵ The people said to Saul, "Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God this day!" So the people rescued Jonathan, that he didn't die.

⁴⁶ Then Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the Philistines went to their own place.

⁴⁷ Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and wherever he turned himself, he put [them] to the worse.

⁴⁸ He did valiantly, and struck the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who despoiled them.

⁴⁹ Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchishua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal:

⁵⁰ and the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the captain of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.

⁵¹ Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

⁵² There was severe war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any mighty man, or any valiant man, he took him to him.