Saul's Unlawful Sacrifice
8 1He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.
9
So Saul said, "Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings." And he offered the burnt offering.
10
As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him.
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Samuel said, "What have you done?" And Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash,
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I said, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.' So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering."
13
And Samuel said to Saul,
2"You have done foolishly.
3You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
14
But now
4your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man
5after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you."
15
And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to
6Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him,
7about six hundred men.
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And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in
8Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.
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And
9raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual;
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another company turned toward
10Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of
11Zeboim toward the wilderness.
19
12Now 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."
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But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle,
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and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads.
22
So on the day of the battle
13there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them.
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And
14the garrison of the Philistines went out to the
15pass of
16Michmash.