Some Hebrews even went across the Jordan River to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal, and all the men in his army were shaking with fear.
I will be against you, and your enemies will defeat you. These people who hate you will rule over you, and you will run away even when no one is chasing you.
Then the officers should also say, “Is anyone here afraid? Has anyone lost his courage? He may go home so that he will not cause others to lose their courage, too.”
The Lord will help your enemies defeat you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run from them in seven directions. And you will become a thing of horror among all the kingdoms on earth.
At that time we took this land to be our own. I gave the people of Reuben and Gad the land from Aroer by the Arnon Ravine, as well as half of the mountain country of Gilead and the cities in it.
So now, announce to the people, ‘Anyone who is afraid may leave Mount Gilead and go back home.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men returned home, but ten thousand remained.
When the Israelites who lived across the Jezreel Valley and those who lived across the Jordan River saw how the Israelite army had run away, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they left their cities and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived there.