1 Samuel 14:36

The NET Bible®

Saul said, "Let's go down after the Philistines at night; we will rout them until the break of day. We won't leave any of them alive!" They replied, "Do whatever seems best to you." But the priest said, "Let's approach God here."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines tonight and plunder them until morning. Don’t let even one remain!”

Hebrew Names Version
Sha'ul said, Let us go down after the Pelishtim by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. They said, Do whatever seems good to you. Then said the Kohen, Let us draw near here to God.

King James Version
And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God.

Lexham English Bible
Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and let us plunder them until the morning light, and let us not leave alive a man among them." So they said, "Do all that is good in your eyes." But the priest said, "Let us draw near to God here."

English Standard Version
Then Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them." And they said, "Do whatever seems good to you." But the priest said, "Let us draw near to God here."

New Century Version
Saul said, "Let's go after the Philistines tonight and rob them. We won't let any of them live!" The men answered, "Do whatever you think is best." But the priest said, "Let's ask God."

Amplified Bible
Then Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them [alive]." They said, "Do whatever seems good to you." Then the priest said, "Let us approach God here."

New American Standard Bible
Then Saul said, "Let's go down after the Philistines by night and take plunder among them until the morning light, and let's not leave a man among them alive." And they said, "Do whatever seems good to you." So the priest said, "Let's approach God here."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Saul saide, Let vs goe downe after the Philistims by night, and spoyle them vntill the morning shine, and let vs not leaue a man of them. And they saide, Doe whatsoeuer thou thinkest best. Then saide the Priest, Let vs drawe neere hither vnto God.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them." And they said, "Do whatever seems good in your eyes." So the priest said, "Let us draw near to God here."

Contemporary English Version
Saul said, "Let's attack the Philistines again while it's still dark. We can fight them all night. Let's kill them and take everything they own!" The people answered, "We will do whatever you want." "Wait!" Ahijah the priest said. "Let's ask God what we should do."

Complete Jewish Bible
Sha'ul said, "Let's go after the P'lishtim by night. We'll plunder them until dawn; we won't leave one of them alive." They answered, "Do whatever seems good to you." But the cohen said, "Let's approach God here."

Darby Translation
And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever is good in thy sight. Then said the priest, Let us come near hither to God.

Easy-to-Read Version
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."

George Lamsa Translation
And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatever seems good to you.

Good News Translation
Saul said to his men, "Let's go down and attack the Philistines in the night, plunder them until dawn, and kill them all." "Do whatever you think best," they answered. But the priest said, "Let's consult God first."

Literal Translation
And Saul said Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light, and not a man remains among them. And they said, Do all that is good in your eyes. And the priest said, Let us draw near here to God.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Saul sayde: Let vs go downe after the Philistynes, by nighte, and spoyle them tyll it be cleare mornynge, that we let none escape. They answered: Do what so euer pleaseth the. But the prest sayde: Let vs go nye here vnto God.

American Standard Version
And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God.

Bible in Basic English
And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, attacking them till the morning, till there is not a man of them living. And they said, Do whatever seems right to you. Then the priest said, Let us come near to God.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Saul sayde: Let vs go downe after the Philistines by night, and spoyle them, vntil it be day in the morning, and let vs not leaue one man of them. And they sayde: Do whatsoeuer thou thinkest best. Then sayde the priest: Let vs come hyther vnto God.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Saul said: 'Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them.' And they said: 'Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee.' Then said the priest: 'Let us draw near hither unto God.'

King James Version (1611)
And Saul saide, Let vs goe downe after the Philistines by night, and spoile them vntil the morning light, and let vs not leaue a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoeuer seemeth good vnto thee. Then said the priest, Let vs draw neere hither vnto God.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines this night, and let us plunder among them till the day break, and let us not leave a man among them. And they said, Do all that is good in thy sight: and the priest said, let us draw nigh hither to God.

English Revised Version
And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God.

Berean Standard Bible
And Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until dawn, leaving no man alive!" "Do whatever seems good to you," the troops replied. But the priest said, "We must consult God here."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Saul seide, Falle we on the Filisteis in the nyyt, and waste we hem til the morewtid schyne; and leeue we not of hem a man. And the puple seide, Do thou al thing that semeth good to thee in thin iyen. And the preest seide, Neiye we hidur to God.

Young's Literal Translation
And Saul saith, `Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and we prey upon them till the light of the morning, and leave not a man of them.' And they say, `All that is good in thine eyes do.' And the priest saith, `Let us draw near hither unto God.'

Update Bible Version
And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatever seems good to you. Then said the priest, Let us draw near here to God.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatever seemeth good to thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither to God.

World English Bible
Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. They said, Do whatever seems good to you. Then said the priest, Let us draw near here to God.

New King James Version
Now Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning light; and let us not leave a man of them." And they said, "Do whatever seems good to you." Then the priest said, "Let us draw near to God here."

New Living Translation
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."

New Life Bible
Then Saul said, "Let us go down to the Philistines during the night and take until morning what belongs to them. Let us not leave a man of them alive." They said, "Do whatever you think is best." So the religious leader said, "Let us ask of God here."

New Revised Standard
Then Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and despoil them until the morning light; let us not leave one of them." They said, "Do whatever seems good to you." But the priest said, "Let us draw near to God here."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then said Saul - Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and make of them a prey until the morning light, and let us not leave of them, a man. And they said, All that is good in thine eyes, do! Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Saul said: Let us fall upon the Philistines by night, and destroy them till the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And the people said: Do all that seemeth good in thy eyes. And the priest said: Let us draw near hither unto God.

Revised Standard Version
Then Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and despoil them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them." And they said, "Do whatever seems good to you." But the priest said, "Let us draw near hither to God."

THE MESSAGE
Saul said, "Let's go after the Philistines tonight! We can spend the night looting and plundering. We won't leave a single live Philistine!" "Sounds good to us," said the troops. "Let's do it!" But the priest slowed them down: "Let's find out what God thinks about this."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them." And they said, "Do whatever seems good to you." So the priest said, "Let us draw near to God here."

Contextual Overview

³⁶ Saul said, "Let's go down after the Philistines at night; we will rout them until the break of day. We won't leave any of them alive!" They replied, "Do whatever seems best to you." But the priest said, "Let's approach God here." ³⁷ So Saul asked God, "Should I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?" But he did not answer him that day. ³⁸ Then Saul said, "All you leaders of the army come here. Find out how this sin occurred today. ³⁹ For as surely as the Lord , the deliverer of Israel, lives, even if it turns out to be my own son Jonathan, he will certainly die!" But no one from the army said anything. ⁴⁰ Then he said to all Israel, "You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side." The army replied to Saul, "Do whatever you think is best." ⁴¹ Then Saul said, "O Lord God of Israel! If this sin has been committed by me or by my son Jonathan, then, O Lord God of Israel, respond with Urim. But if this sin has been committed by your people Israel, respond with Thummim." Then Jonathan and Saul were indicated by lot, while the army was exonerated. ⁴² Then Saul said, "Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan!" Jonathan was indicated by lot. ⁴³ So Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell me what you have done." Jonathan told him, "I used the end of the staff that was in my hand to taste a little honey. I must die!" ⁴⁴ Saul said, "God will punish me severely if Jonathan doesn't die!" ⁴⁵ But the army said to Saul, "Should Jonathan, who won this great victory in Israel, die? May it never be! As surely as the Lord lives, not a single hair of his head will fall to the ground! For it is with the help of God that he has acted today." So the army rescued Jonathan from death.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Let us go: Joshua 10:9-14, Joshua 10:19, Jeremiah 6:5

let us not leave: 1 Samuel 11:11, Joshua 11:14

Then said the priest: It is evident that Ahiah, who had before been interrupted by Saul's impatience, doubted of the propriety of pursuing the Philistines that night, and properly counselled them to enquire of the Lord. Numbers 27:21, Psalms 73:28, Isaiah 48:1, Isaiah 48:2, Isaiah 58:2, Malachi 2:7, James 4:8

Reciprocal: Genesis 27:13 - Upon 1 Samuel 14:40 - Do what seemeth 1 Samuel 23:6 - an ephod 2 Kings 3:27 - they departed 1 Chronicles 13:3 - we inquired Ecclesiastes 9:18 - sinner John 10:35 - unto

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Saul said,.... To his son Jonathan, or to some of the principal officers of his army:

let us go down after the Philistines by night; or tonight, that same night; which is another hardship he laid his troops under; as he had restrained them from eating all that day until evening, now he proposed they shall take no sleep that night, but proceed on in their pursuit of the Philistines, having eaten, and drank, and refreshed themselves. The Arabic version is, "let us go down to the Philistines"; and so Noldius e chooses to render the words; which I pretty much wonder at, and especially at what he observes in favour of it, and against the common rendering; that at this time the Philistines had not turned their backs, so that the Israelites could not be said to go after them, but were in a camp opposite to them; but that they had fled, and were pursued, is most certain from 1 Samuel 14:22,

and spoil them until the morning light; or kill of them, as the Targum, and so the Arabic version; for spoiling must be meant of killing; for as for the spoil of their provisions, riches, c. that had already fallen into their hands, 1 Samuel 14:30, and this is confirmed by what follows:

and let us not leave a man of them great numbers had been slain already, partly by their falling upon one another, and partly by the swords of Jonathan and his armourbearer at the first onset, and by Saul and his men in the pursuit of them; and so intent was Saul in the utter destruction of them, that he was for following and cutting them off, that none of their prodigious army might return home:

and they said, do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; they had religiously observed his oath, in refraining from food all the day, and now they were as willing to be obedient to his command in denying themselves refreshing rest in sleep:

then said the priest, let us draw near hither unto God; Ahiah the priest, Josephus f calls him Ahitob, who was present with the ark, agreed to the proposal of Saul, only moved, that before they set forward they would seek the Lord; perhaps reflecting upon the abrupt manner in which Saul departed from Gibeah, just as he was consulting the Lord, and not staying for an answer from him; which the priest might fear would be resented by him, and therefore proposes first to draw nigh to God; not to the altar Saul had built, or had just begun to build, but to the ark, with which the high priest was, and was a symbol of the divine Presence: the Targum is,

"let us draw near hither, and inquire by the word of the Lord.''

e Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 15. No. 92. f Antiqu. l. 6. c. 6. sect. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Then said the priest ... - Ahijah, with equal courage and faithfulness, worthy of his office as “the priest,” when every one else yielded to Saul’s humor, proposed that they should draw near to God to inquire of Him. (Compare 1 Kings 22:7.)

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 14:36. Then said the priest — It is evident that Ahiah doubted the propriety of pursuing the Philistines that night; and as a reverse of fortune might be ruinous after such a victory, he wished to have specific directions from the Lord.