1 Samuel 14:24-30

New Catholic Bible

²⁴ Saul’s Oath. The men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, so Saul placed the people under an oath which said, “Whoever eats any food before this evening, before I have had the chance to seek vengeance upon my enemies, will be cursed,” Therefore, no one ate anything.

²⁵ All of them entered a woodland, and there was some honey on the ground. ²⁶ When they entered the woods, they saw honey oozing out, but no one put his hand to his mouth because they feared the oath. ²⁷ But Jonathan had not heard about the oath with which his father had bound the people, so he stuck out the end of the staff that was in his hand and he dipped it in the honeycomb. He then put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.

²⁸ Jonathan’s Violation of the Oath. One of the men shouted out, “Your father has put the people under an oath saying, ‘Whoever eats food today will be under a curse.’ ” By now, the people were faint. ²⁹ Jonathan said, “My father has brought trouble into the land. Look how my eyes brightened up just because I ate a little bit of this honey. ³⁰ The slaughter among the Philistines has not been all that great. How much larger would it have been today if the people had eaten freely of their enemies’ plunder that they had found?”