2 Saul samlet tre tusen menn fra Israel, to tusen hadde han med seg i Mikmas og i Betel-fjellene, og tusen var med Jonatan i Gibea i Benjamins land. Resten av folket sendte han tilbake til teltene sine.

And Saul took for himself three thousand men of Israel, of whom he kept two thousand with him in Michmash and in the mountain of Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah in the land of Benjamin: the rest of the people he sent back to their tents.

3 Jonatan angrep en filisterstyrke i Gibea. Filisterne fikk beskjed om at hebreerne hadde vendt seg mot dem. Saul lot det blåses i horn over hele landet,

And Jonathan made an attack on the armed force of the Philistines stationed at Gibeah; and news was given to the Philistines that the Hebrews were turned against them. And Saul had a horn sounded through all the land,

4 Og hele Israel fikk høre at Saul hadde angrepet filisterne, og at Israel var blitt hatet av filisterne. Folket samlet seg hos Saul i Gilgal.

And all Israel had the news that Saul had made an attack on the Philistines, and that Israel was bitterly hated by the Philistines. And the people came together after Saul to Gilgal.

5 Filisterne samlet seg for å kjempe mot Israel, med tre tusen stridsvogner og seks tusen ryttere, og en hær så tallrik som sanden ved havet. De kom opp og slo leir i Mikmas, øst for Betaven.

And the Philistines came together to make war on Israel, three thousand war-carriages and six thousand horsemen and an army of people like the sands of the sea in number: they came up and took up their position in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven.

6 Da Israels menn så hvilken fare de var i, (for folket var urolige,) søkte de dekning i klipper, skoger, berg og huler.

When the men of Israel saw the danger they were in, (for the people were troubled,) they took cover in cracks in the hillsides and in the woods and in rocks and holes and hollows.

7 Mange av folket hadde gått over Jordan til Gads land og Gilead. Men Saul var fortsatt i Gilgal, og folket fulgte ham skjelvende av frykt.

And a great number of the people had gone over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but Saul was still in Gilgal, and all the people went after him shaking in fear.

8 Han ventet der i syv dager, tiden som var bestemt av Samuel. Men Samuel kom ikke til Gilgal, og folket begynte å forlate ham.

And he went on waiting there for seven days, the time fixed by Samuel: but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were starting to go away from him.

9 Da sa Saul: Kom hit med brennofferet og fredsofferne. Og han ofret brennofferet til Herren.

Then Saul said, Come here and give me the burned offering and the peace-offerings. And he made a burned offering to the Lord.

10 Da brennofferet var fullført, kom Samuel. Og Saul gikk ut for å møte ham og velsigne ham.

And when the burned offering was ended, Samuel came; and Saul went out to see him and to give him a blessing.

11 Samuel sa: Hva har du gjort? Saul svarte: Fordi jeg så at folket forlot meg, og du ikke var kommet til fastsatt tid, og filisterne samlet seg i Mikmas,

And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were going away from me, and you had not come at the time which had been fixed, and the Philistines had come together at Michmash;

12 sa jeg til meg selv: Nå vil filisterne komme ned mot meg i Gilgal, og jeg har ikke bedt Herren om hjelp. Så jeg tvang meg selv til å ofre brennofferet.

I said, Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal, and I have made no prayer for help to the Lord: and so, forcing myself to do it, I made a burned offering.

13 Samuel sa til Saul: Du har gjort noe uklokt. Du har ikke holdt de reglene som Herren din Gud ga deg; det var Herrens plan å gjøre ditt herredømme over Israel trygt for alltid.

And Samuel said to Saul, You have done a foolish thing: you have not kept the rules which the Lord your God gave you; it was the purpose of the Lord to make your authority over Israel safe for ever.

14 Men nå skal ikke ditt herredømme fortsette. Herren har funnet en mann som er til behag for ham, og har gjort ham til hersker over sitt folk, fordi du ikke har gjort det Herren beordret deg.

But now, your authority will not go on: the Lord, searching for a man who is pleasing to him in every way, has given him the place of ruler over his people, because you have not done what the Lord gave you orders to do.

15 Så dro Samuel opp fra Gilgal, og resten av folket fulgte Saul opp imot krigerne. De dro fra Gilgal til Gibea i Benjamins land, og Saul telte folkene som var med ham, omtrent seks hundre menn.

Then Samuel went up from Gilgal and the rest of the people went up after Saul against the men of war, and they came from Gilgal to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin: and Saul took the number of the people who were with him, about six hundred men.

16 Saul, med sin sønn Jonatan og folket som var med dem, ventet i Geba i Benjamins land; men filisternes teltleir var i Mikmas.

And Saul, with Jonathan his son and the people who were with them, was waiting in Geba in the land of Benjamin: but the tents of the Philistines were in Michmash.

17 Tre grupper av menn dro ut fra filisterne for å angripe; en gruppe dro langs veien til Ofra, inn i Suals land.

And three bands of men came out from the Philistines to make an attack; one band went by the road which goes to Ophrah, into the land of Shual:

18 En annen dro mot Bet-horon, og en tredje gikk langs høyden med utsikt over Seboims dal, mot ødemarken.

And another went in the direction of Beth-horon: and another went by the hill looking down on the valley of Zeboiim, in the direction of the waste land.

19 Det fantes ingen jernarbeider i hele Israels land, for filisterne sa: Ellers kan hebreerne lage seg sverd eller spyd.

Now there was no iron-worker in all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, For fear the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears:

20 Alle israelittene måtte gå til filisterne for å få sine ploger, sigder, økser og hakker skarpe.

But all the Israelites had to go to the Philistines to get their ploughs and blades and axes and hooks made sharp;

21 For de hadde redskaper for å slipe plogene, sigdene, greipene, øksene og for å sette jernspisser på oksedriverstavene sine.

For they had instruments for putting an edge on their ploughs and blades and forks and axes, and for putting iron points on their ox-driving rods.

22 Så på dagen for kampen ved Mikmas, var det ikke et sverd eller et spyd å se i hendene på folket som var med Saul og Jonatan, bare Saul og hans sønn Jonatan hadde dem.

So on the day of the fight at Michmash, not a sword or a spear was to be seen in the hands of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan: only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

23 Og den væpnede styrken til filisterne dro ut til øde veier ved Mikmas.

And the armed force of the Philistines went out to the narrow way of Michmash.