1 Samuel 14:23-26

Easy-to-Read Version

²³So 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.^[a]

Saul Makes Another Mistake

²⁴But Saul made a big mistake that day.^[b] 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.

^25-26Because 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.

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Footnotes

1 Samuel 14:23 The whole army … Ephraim This is from the ancient Greek version.
1 Samuel 14:24 But Saul … that day This is from the ancient Greek version. The standard Hebrew text has “The Israelites were very tired and hungry that day.”