1 Samuel 13
Open in the reader1Asked-For was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Strives-with-God forty-two years.
2He chose for himself three thousand men of Strives-with-God: Two thousand were with Asked-For at Hidden-Place and in the hill country of House-of-God, and a thousand were with He-Who-Is-Has-Given in The-Hill of Son-of-the-Right-Hand. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home.
3Then He-Who-Is-Has-Given attacked the Philistine outpost at Hillock, and the Philistines heard about it. So Asked-For blew the ram’s horn throughout the land, saying, “Let the Crosser hear!”
4And all Strives-with-God heard the news: “Asked-For has attacked an outpost of the Philistines, and now Strives-with-God has become a stench to the Philistines!” Then the people were summoned to join Asked-For at The-Rolling.
5Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Strives-with-God with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Hidden-Place, east House-of-Iniquity Beth-aven.
6Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Strives-with-God hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.
7Some Crosser even crossed the Descender into the land of Fortune and Heap-of-Witness. Asked-For, however, remained at The-Rolling, and all his troops were quaking in fear.
8And Asked-For waited seven days for the time appointed by Heard-of-God, but Heard-of-God did not come to The-Rolling, and the troops began to desert Asked-For.
9So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered up the burnt offering.
10Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Heard-of-God arrived, and Asked-For went out to greet him.
11“What have you done?” Heard-of-God asked. And Asked-For replied, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me, and that you did not come at the appointed time and the Philistines were gathering at Hidden-Place,
12I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will descend upon me at The-Rolling, and I have not sought the favor of He-Who-Is.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
13“You have acted foolishly,” Heard-of-God declared. “You have not kept the command that He-Who-Is your God gave you; if you had, He-Who-Is would have established your kingdom over Strives-with-God for all time.
14But now your kingdom will not endure; He-Who-Is has sought a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept the command of He-Who-Is.”
15Then Heard-of-God set out from The-Rolling and went up to The-Hill in Son-of-the-Right-Hand. And Asked-For numbered the troops who were with him, about six hundred men.
16Now Asked-For and He-Who-Is-Has-Given his son and the troops with them were staying in Hillock of Son-of-the-Right-Hand, while the Philistines camped at Hidden-Place.
17And raiders went out of the Philistine camp in three divisions. One headed toward Fawn in the land of Shual,
18another toward House-of-Hollow, and the third down the border road overlooking the Valley House-of-Hollow Zeboim facing the wilderness.
19And no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Strives-with-God, because the Philistines had said, “The Crosser must not be allowed to make swords or spears.”
20Instead, all the children of Strives-with-God would go down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles.
21The charge was a pim for sharpening a plowshare or mattock, a third of a shekel for sharpening a pitchfork or an axe, and a third of a shekel for repointing an oxgoad.
22So on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hands of the troops with Asked-For and He-Who-Is-Has-Given; only Asked-For and his son He-Who-Is-Has-Given had weapons.
23And a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Hidden-Place.