Scriptures

New Living Translation (NLT)

1 Samuel 13
¹⁹ There were no blacksmiths in the land of Israel in those days. The Philistines wouldn’t allow them for fear they would make swords and spears for the Hebrews.
²⁰ So whenever the Israelites needed to sharpen their plowshares, picks, axes, or sickles, they had to take them to a Philistine blacksmith.
²¹ (The charges were as follows: a quarter of an ounce of silver for sharpening a plowshare or a pick, and an eighth of an ounce for sharpening an ax, a sickle, or an ox goad.)
²² So on the day of the battle none of the people of Israel had a sword or spear, except for Saul and Jonathan.
²³ The pass at Micmash had meanwhile been secured by a contingent of the Philistine army.
1 Samuel 14
¹ One day Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come on, let’s go over to where the Philistines have their outpost.” But Jonathan did not tell his father what he was doing.
² Meanwhile, Saul and his 600 men were camped on the outskirts of Gibeah, around the pomegranate tree at Migron.
³ Among Saul’s men was Ahijah the priest, who was wearing the ephod, the priestly vest. Ahijah was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the LORD who had served at Shiloh. No one realized that Jonathan had left the Israelite camp.
⁴ To reach the Philistine outpost, Jonathan had to go down between two rocky cliffs that were called Bozez and Seneh.
⁵ The cliff on the north was in front of Micmash, and the one on the south was in front of Geba.
⁶ “Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the LORD will help us, for nothing can hinder the LORD. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!”