1 Samuel 13
The full text of 1 Samuel 13 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 Saul was years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel -two years.
2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest he sent back home.
3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, "Let the Hebrews hear!"
4 So all Israel heard the news: "Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines." And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
5 The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven.
6 When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns.
7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.
8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter.
9 So he said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." And Saul offered up the burnt offering.
10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
11 "What have you done?" asked Samuel. Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash,
12 I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering."
13 "You have acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command."
15 Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.
16 Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Geba in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash.
17 Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual,
18 another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.
19 Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, "Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!"
20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened.
21 The charge was two-thirds of a shekel for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.
22 So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.
23 Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.
Translation notes (7)
- 1 Samuel 13:1a This statement about the king's reign is damaged in the Hebrew text. The standard Hebrew text literally reads, "Saul was a year old when he became king, and he reigned two years over Israel"—numbers that cannot be original. Some manuscripts of the Septuagint omit the verse entirely. Other Septuagint manuscripts and later tradition supply figures (commonly "thirty" for his age and a fuller number, such as "forty-two," for the length of reign; compare Acts 13:21, which gives forty years). The bracketed numbers reflect the most common reconstruction and are not certain; the underlying text is damaged and is not corrected with confidence here.
- 1 Samuel 13:5a "Three thousand chariots" follows the Septuagint and Syriac. The standard Hebrew text reads "thirty thousand," an improbably large figure likely from a scribal slip. "As numerous as the sand on the seashore" is a common phrase for an immense host.
- 1 Samuel 13:8a The seven-day appointment goes back to Samuel's instruction in 10:8. This is the test Saul is about to fail.
- 1 Samuel 13:9a Saul, not a priest, takes on the sacrifice himself—the act Samuel condemns in verses 11-14. The text reports it without softening the irregularity.
- 1 Samuel 13:14a "A man after his own heart" refers to David and describes God's choice, not a judgment on David's later actions. The Hebrew word nagid is again translated as "Ruler" (compare 9:16; 10:1).
- 1 Samuel 13:15a The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, has a fuller text here: "...and went his way; and the rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army, and they came from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin." The shorter standard Hebrew text is followed in this translation.
- 1 Samuel 13:21a The Hebrew pricing terms in this verse are unclear. This translation follows the meaning supported by other ancient versions. The exact weights are uncertain.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own translation of Scripture, made directly from the original Hebrew rather than revised from an older English Bible. Completed in 2026, it is the most modern English Bible translation available, and it is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Reading the TBV here on the web is free — the full study edition, with original-language tools and notes on every verse, lives in the Trinity Bible app.
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