10. But if the Philistine men say, ‘Come up here,’ then we will climb up to them. That will be a sign from God. That will mean that the Lord will allow us to defeat them.”
11. So Jonathan and his helper let the Philistines see them. The Philistine guards said, “Look! The Hebrews are coming out of the holes they were hiding in.”
12. The Philistines in the fort shouted to Jonathan and his helper, “Come up here. We’ll teach you a lesson.” Jonathan said to his helper, “Follow me up the hill. The Lord is letting Israel defeat the Philistines.”
15. Great fear spread among the Philistine soldiers—those in the field, in the camp, and at the fort. Even the bravest soldiers were afraid. The ground began to shake, and they were completely overcome with fear.
16. Saul’s guards at Gibeah in the land of Benjamin saw the Philistine soldiers running away in different ways.
17. Saul said to the army with him, “Count the men. I want to know who left camp.” They counted the men. Jonathan and his helper were gone.
18. Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring God’s Holy Box!” (At that time God’s Holy Box was there with the Israelites.)
19. Saul was talking to Ahijah the priest waiting for advice from God. But the noise and confusion in the Philistine camp was growing and growing. Saul was becoming impatient. Finally, he said to Ahijah the priest, “That’s enough. Put your hand down and stop praying.”
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.