20. Saul gathered his army together and went to the battle. The Philistine soldiers were very confused. They were even fighting each other with their swords.
21. There were Hebrews who served the Philistines in the past and who stayed in the Philistine camp. But now these Hebrews joined the Israelites with Saul and Jonathan.
22. All the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard the Philistine soldiers were running away. So these Israelites also joined in the battle and began chasing the Philistines.
23. So the Lord saved the Israelites that day. The battle moved on past Beth Aven. The whole army was with Saul—he now had about 10,000 men. The battle spread to every city in the hill country of Ephraim.
24. But Saul made a big mistake that day. He made this oath: “If any man eats food before evening comes, before I finish defeating my enemies, he will be under a curse.” He made the soldiers promise not to eat. So none of them ate anything.
25-26. Because of the fighting, the people went into some woods. Then they saw a honeycomb on the ground. The Israelites went up to the honeycomb, but they didn’t eat any of it. They were afraid to break the promise.
27. But Jonathan didn’t know about the oath. He didn’t hear his father make the soldiers promise not to eat. Jonathan had a stick in his hand, so he dipped the end of the stick into the honeycomb and pulled out some honey. He ate the honey and began to feel much better.
28. One of the soldiers told Jonathan, “Your father forced the soldiers to make a special promise. He said that any man who eats today will be under a curse. So the men have not eaten anything. That’s why they are weak.”
29. Jonathan said, “My father has brought a lot of trouble to the land. See how much better I feel after tasting just a little of this honey.
30. It would have been much better for the men to eat the food that they took from their enemies today. We could have killed more Philistines.”
31. That day the Israelites defeated the Philistines. They fought them all the way from Micmash to Aijalon. So the people were very tired and hungry.
32. They had taken sheep, cattle, and calves from the Philistines. Now they were so hungry that they killed the animals on the ground and ate them. And the blood was still in the animals.
33. Someone said to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the Lord. They’re eating meat that still has blood in it!” Saul said, “You have sinned. Roll a large stone over here now!”
34. Then Saul said, “Go to the men and tell them that each one must bring his bull and sheep to me. Then the men must kill their bulls and sheep here. Don’t sin against the Lord! Don’t eat meat that still has blood in it.” That night everyone brought their animals and killed them there.
35. Then Saul built an altar for the Lord. Saul himself began building that altar for the Lord.
36. Saul said, “Let’s go after the Philistines tonight. We will take everything from them. We will kill them all!” The army answered, “Do whatever you think is best.” But the priest said, “Let’s ask God.”
37. So Saul asked God, “Should I go chase the Philistines? Will you let us defeat the Philistines?” But God did not answer Saul that day.
38. So Saul said, “Bring all the leaders to me! Let’s find who committed the sin today.