In those days men wore coats of mail, and bore a shield with them so as to ward off the darts. These shields were made of a thick piece of wood, on which the skin of an ox was stretched when dried.
Jon-a-than, Saul's son, wore a coat of mail, and had a man to bear his spear and his shield when he did not care to use them. And he said to his man, Come, let us go to the camp of the Phil-is-tines. For it may be that the Lord will help us.
And the man said he would go.
Jon-a-than said this should be their sign: They would go where the foe could see them, and if they said, Wait there till I come to you, they would know the Lord did not mean to help them. But if the Phil-is-tines said, Come up to us and we will show you some-thing, they would go up, for the Lord would be with them.
So Jon-a-than and his man stood out where the foe could see them. And the Phil-is-tines made sport of them, and cried out, Come up to us, and we will shew you some-thing.
And the two went up the rocks on their hands and feet, and fought with the Phil-is-tines, and slew a score of them. And the Lord shook the earth, so that the Phil-is-tines were in great fear.
Now Saul and the men who were with him did not know what his son had done. But his watch-man, who was on the look-out, saw that there was a fight in the camp of the Phil-is-tines, and told Saul of it.
And Saul and his men went to join in the fight. And all those who had hid in caves and holes, or up on the mount, when they heard that the Phil-is-tines had fled, went with Saul, and Is-ra-el won the day.
But Saul did not de-sire to please the Lord in all things. For when the Lord sent him out to fight King A-gag, he told Saul to wipe him and all he had from the face of the earth. But Saul kept back some of the spoils, the best of the sheep and lambs, and did not put the king to death as he should have done.
And the Lord told Sam-u-el that Saul was not a good king, and his reign should be short.