22. All the Israelites hidden in the mountains of Ephraim heard that the Philistine soldiers were running away. They too joined the battle and chased the Philistines.
23. So the Lord saved the Israelites that day. And the battle moved on past Beth Aven.
24. The men of Israel were miserable that day. This was because Saul had made an oath for all of them. He had said, “No one should eat food before evening and before I finish defeating my enemies. If he does, he will be cursed!” So no Israelite soldier ate food.
25. Now the army went into the woods. There was some honey on the ground.
26. They came to where the honey was. But no one took any because they were afraid of the oath.
27. But Jonathan had not heard the oath Saul had put on the people. So Jonathan dipped the end of his stick into the honey. He pulled out the honey and ate it. Then he felt better.
28. So one of the soldiers told Jonathan, “Your father made an oath for all the soldiers. He said any man who eats today will be cursed! That’s why they are weak.”
29. Jonathan said, “My father has made trouble for the land! See how much better I feel after just tasting a little of this honey!
30. It would have been much better for the men to eat the food they took from their enemies today. We could have killed many more Philistines!”
31. That day the Israelites defeated the Philistines from Micmash to Aijalon. After they did this, they were very tired.
32. They had taken sheep, cattle and calves from the Philistines. Now they were so hungry they killed the animals on the ground and ate them. But 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 he said, “Go to the men. Tell them that each person must bring his ox and sheep to me. They must kill and eat their ox and sheep here. Don’t sin against the Lord. Don’t eat meat with the blood still in it.”That night everyone brought his animals and killed them there.