25. even though they had all found honeycomb on the ground in the forest.
26. They didn’t dare touch the honey because they all feared the oath they had taken.
27. But Jonathan had not heard his father’s command, and he dipped the end of his stick into a piece of honeycomb and ate the honey. After he had eaten it, he felt refreshed.
28. But one of the men saw him and said, “Your father made the army take a strict oath that anyone who eats food today will be cursed. That is why everyone is weary and faint.”
29. “My father has made trouble for us all!” Jonathan exclaimed. “A command like that only hurts us. See how refreshed I am now that I have eaten this little bit of honey.
30. If the men had been allowed to eat freely from the food they found among our enemies, think how many more Philistines we could have killed!”
31. They chased and killed the Philistines all day from Micmash to Aijalon, growing more and more faint.
32. That evening they rushed for the battle plunder and butchered the sheep, goats, cattle, and calves, but they ate them without draining the blood.
33. Someone reported to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the lord by eating meat that still has blood in it.”“That is very wrong,” Saul said. “Find a large stone and roll it over here.
34. Then go out among the troops and tell them, ‘Bring the cattle, sheep, and goats here to me. Kill them here, and drain the blood before you eat them. Do not sin against the lord by eating meat with the blood still in it.’”So that night all the troops brought their animals and slaughtered them there.
35. Then Saul built an altar to the lord; it was the first of the altars he built to the lord.
36. Then Saul said, “Let’s chase the Philistines all night and plunder them until sunrise. Let’s destroy every last one of them.”His men replied, “We’ll do whatever you think is best.”But the priest said, “Let’s ask God first.”