¹Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. ²And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men. ³Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lᴏʀᴅ’s priest in Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. ⁴Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. ⁵The front of one faced northward opposite Michmash, and the other southward opposite Gibeah. ⁶Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lᴏʀᴅ will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lᴏʀᴅ from saving by many or by few.” ⁷So his armorbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.” ⁸Then Jonathan said, “Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them. ⁹If they say thus to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. ¹⁰But if they say thus, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up. For the Lᴏʀᴅ has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us.” ¹¹So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.” ¹²Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something.” Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Come up after me, for the Lᴏʀᴅ has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” ¹³And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed them. ¹⁴That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land. ¹⁵And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling. ¹⁶Now the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and there was the multitude, melting away; and they went here and there. ¹⁷Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Now call the roll and see who has gone from us.” And when they had called the roll, surprisingly, Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there. ¹⁸And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here” (for at that time the ark of God was with the children of Israel). ¹⁹Now it happened, while Saul talked to the priest, that the noise which was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” ²⁰Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle; and indeed every man’s sword was against his neighbor, and there was very great confusion. ²¹Moreover the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country, they also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²²Likewise all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle. ²³So the Lᴏʀᴅ saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Beth Aven. ²⁴And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food. ²⁵Now all the people of the land came to a forest; and there was honey on the ground. ²⁶And when the people had come into the woods, there was the honey, dripping; but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. ²⁷But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath; therefore he stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in a honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his countenance brightened. ²⁸Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food this day.’ ” And the people were faint. ²⁹But Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. Look now, how my countenance has brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. ³⁰How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?” ³¹Now they had driven back the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. So the people were very faint. ³²And the people rushed on the spoil, and took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood. ³³Then they told Saul, saying, “Look, the people are sinning against the Lᴏʀᴅ by eating with the blood!” So he said, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a large stone to me this day.” ³⁴And Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, ‘Bring me here every man’s ox and every man’s sheep, slaughter them here, and eat; and do not sin against the Lᴏʀᴅ by eating with the blood.’ ” So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night, and slaughtered it there. ³⁵Then Saul built an altar to the Lᴏʀᴅ. This was the first altar that he built to the Lᴏʀᴅ. ³⁶Now Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning light; and let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” Then the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.” ³⁷So Saul asked counsel of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You deliver them into the hand of Israel?” But He did not answer him that day. ³⁸And Saul said, “Come over here, all you chiefs of the people, and know and see what this sin was today. ³⁹For as the Lᴏʀᴅ lives, who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But not a man among all the people answered him. ⁴⁰Then he said to all Israel, “You be on one side, and my son Jonathan and I will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” ⁴¹Therefore Saul said to the Lᴏʀᴅ God of Israel, “Give a perfect lot.” So Saul and Jonathan were taken, but the people escaped. ⁴²And Saul said, “Cast lots between my son Jonathan and me.” So Jonathan was taken. ⁴³Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, and said, “I only tasted a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand. So now I must die!” ⁴⁴And Saul answered, “God do so and more also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan.” ⁴⁵But the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has accomplished this great deliverance in Israel? Certainly not! As the Lᴏʀᴅ lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die. ⁴⁶Then Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place. ⁴⁷So Saul established his sovereignty over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the people of Ammon, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he harassed them. ⁴⁸And he gathered an army and attacked the Amalekites, and delivered Israel from the hands of those who plundered them. ⁴⁹The sons of Saul were Jonathan, Jishui and Malchishua. And the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal. ⁵⁰The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. ⁵¹Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. ⁵²Now there was fierce war with the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he took him for himself.

¹I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ²And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. ³For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. ⁴For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, ⁵so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. ⁶Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. ⁹Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. ¹⁰Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; ¹¹not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹²rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; ¹³distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. ¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. ¹⁷Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. ¹⁸If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

¹Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, Against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, A destroying wind. ²And I will send winnowers to Babylon, Who shall winnow her and empty her land. For in the day of doom They shall be against her all around. ³Against her let the archer bend his bow, And lift himself up against her in his armor. Do not spare her young men; Utterly destroy all her army. ⁴Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, And those thrust through in her streets. ⁵For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, By his God, the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts, Though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.” ⁶Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For this is the time of the Lᴏʀᴅ’s vengeance; He shall recompense her. ⁷Babylon was a golden cup in the Lᴏʀᴅ’s hand, That made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; Therefore the nations are deranged. ⁸Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her! Take balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed. ⁹We would have healed Babylon, But she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go everyone to his own country; For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies. ¹⁰The Lᴏʀᴅ has revealed our righteousness. Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lᴏʀᴅ our God. ¹¹Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The Lᴏʀᴅ has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it, Because it is the vengeance of the Lᴏʀᴅ, The vengeance for His temple. ¹²Set up the standard on the walls of Babylon; Make the guard strong, Set up the watchmen, Prepare the ambushes. For the Lᴏʀᴅ has both devised and done What He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. ¹³O you who dwell by many waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your covetousness. ¹⁴The Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts has sworn by Himself: “Surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, And they shall lift up a shout against you.” ¹⁵He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, And stretched out the heaven by His understanding. ¹⁶When He utters His voice— There is a multitude of waters in the heavens: “He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries.” ¹⁷Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them. ¹⁸They are futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish. ¹⁹The Portion of Jacob is not like them, For He is the Maker of all things; And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts is His name. ²⁰“You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nation in pieces; With you I will destroy kingdoms; ²¹With you I will break in pieces the horse and its rider; With you I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider; ²²With you also I will break in pieces man and woman; With you I will break in pieces old and young; With you I will break in pieces the young man and the maiden; ²³With you also I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen; And with you I will break in pieces governors and rulers. ²⁴“And I will repay Babylon And all the inhabitants of Chaldea For all the evil they have done In Zion in your sight,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. ²⁵“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys all the earth,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. “And I will stretch out My hand against you, Roll you down from the rocks, And make you a burnt mountain. ²⁶They shall not take from you a stone for a corner Nor a stone for a foundation, But you shall be desolate forever,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. ²⁷Set up a banner in the land, Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, Call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts. ²⁸Prepare against her the nations, With the kings of the Medes, Its governors and all its rulers, All the land of his dominion. ²⁹And the land will tremble and sorrow; For every purpose of the Lᴏʀᴅ shall be performed against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. ³⁰The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, They have remained in their strongholds; Their might has failed, They became like women; They have burned her dwelling places, The bars of her gate are broken. ³¹One runner will run to meet another, And one messenger to meet another, To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides; ³²The passages are blocked, The reeds they have burned with fire, And the men of war are terrified. ³³For thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts, the God of Israel: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor When it is time to thresh her; Yet a little while And the time of her harvest will come.” ³⁴“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon Has devoured me, he has crushed me; He has made me an empty vessel, He has swallowed me up like a monster; He has filled his stomach with my delicacies, He has spit me out. ³⁵Let the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon,” The inhabitant of Zion will say; “And my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!” Jerusalem will say. ³⁶Therefore thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. ³⁷Babylon shall become a heap, A dwelling place for jackals, An astonishment and a hissing, Without an inhabitant. ³⁸They shall roar together like lions, They shall growl like lions’ whelps. ³⁹In their excitement I will prepare their feasts; I will make them drunk, That they may rejoice, And sleep a perpetual sleep And not awake,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁴⁰“I will bring them down Like lambs to the slaughter, Like rams with male goats. ⁴¹“Oh, how Sheshach is taken! Oh, how the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become desolate among the nations! ⁴²The sea has come up over Babylon; She is covered with the multitude of its waves. ⁴³Her cities are a desolation, A dry land and a wilderness, A land where no one dwells, Through which no son of man passes. ⁴⁴I will punish Bel in Babylon, And I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed; And the nations shall not stream to him anymore. Yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall. ⁴⁵“My people, go out of the midst of her! And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁴⁶And lest your heart faint, And you fear for the rumor that will be heard in the land (A rumor will come one year, And after that, in another year A rumor will come, And violence in the land, Ruler against ruler), ⁴⁷Therefore behold, the days are coming That I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon; Her whole land shall be ashamed, And all her slain shall fall in her midst. ⁴⁸Then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them Shall sing joyously over Babylon; For the plunderers shall come to her from the north,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁴⁹As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, So at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall. ⁵⁰You who have escaped the sword, Get away! Do not stand still! Remember the Lᴏʀᴅ afar off, And let Jerusalem come to your mind. ⁵¹We are ashamed because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, For strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the Lᴏʀᴅ’s house. ⁵²“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ, “That I will bring judgment on her carved images, And throughout all her land the wounded shall groan. ⁵³Though Babylon were to mount up to heaven, And though she were to fortify the height of her strength, Yet from Me plunderers would come to her,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁵⁴The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, And great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans, ⁵⁵Because the Lᴏʀᴅ is plundering Babylon And silencing her loud voice, Though her waves roar like great waters, And the noise of their voice is uttered, ⁵⁶Because the plunderer comes against her, against Babylon, And her mighty men are taken. Every one of their bows is broken; For the Lᴏʀᴅ is the God of recompense, He will surely repay. ⁵⁷“And I will make drunk Her princes and wise men, Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men. And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep And not awake,” says the King, Whose name is the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts. ⁵⁸Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts: “The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, And her high gates shall be burned with fire; The people will labor in vain, And the nations, because of the fire; And they shall be weary.” ⁵⁹The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was the quartermaster. ⁶⁰So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. ⁶¹And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, ⁶²then you shall say, ‘O Lᴏʀᴅ, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’ ⁶³Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates. ⁶⁴Then you shall say, ‘Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary.’ “ Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

¹A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the house of David. I will extol You, O Lᴏʀᴅ, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me. ²O Lᴏʀᴅ my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me. ³O Lᴏʀᴅ, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. ⁴Sing praise to the Lᴏʀᴅ, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. ⁵For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. ⁶Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” ⁷Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong; You hid Your face, and I was troubled. ⁸I cried out to You, O Lᴏʀᴅ; And to the Lᴏʀᴅ I made supplication: ⁹“What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth? ¹⁰Hear, O Lᴏʀᴅ, and have mercy on me; Lord, be my helper!” ¹¹You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, ¹²To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lᴏʀᴅ my God, I will give thanks to You forever.