Jonathan and David

18 Now it came about, when he had finished speaking to Saul, that ^[a](A)Jonathan committed himself to David, and ^(B)Jonathan loved him as himself. ² And Saul took him that day and ^(C)did not let him return to his father’s house. ³ Then ^(D)Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. ^4 (E)Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his military gear, including his sword, his bow, and his belt. ⁵ And David went into battle wherever Saul sent him, and always ^[b]achieved success; so Saul put him in charge of the men of war. And it was pleasing in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

⁶ Now it happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that ^(F)the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with other ^[c]musical instruments. ⁷ The women ^(G)sang as they ^[d]played, and said,

⁸ Then Saul became very angry, for this lyric ^[e]displeased him; and he said, “They have given David credit for ten thousands, but to me they have given credit for only thousands! Now what more can he have but the ^(J)kingdom?” ⁹ And Saul eyed David with suspicion from that day on.

Saul Turns against David

¹⁰ Now it came about on the next day that ^(K)an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and ^(L)he raved in the midst of the house while David was playing the harp with his hand, ^[f](M)as usual; and ^[g](N)a spear was in Saul’s hand. ¹¹ Then ^(O)Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will ^[h]pin David to the wall.” But David ^[i]escaped from his presence, twice.

¹² Now ^(P)Saul was afraid of David, ^(Q)because the Lord was with him but ^(R)had left Saul. ¹³ So Saul removed him from ^[j]his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and ^(S)he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ David was ^[k]successful in all his ways, for ^(T)the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ When Saul saw that he was ^[l]very successful, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But ^(U)all Israel and Judah loved David, for he would go out to battle and ^[m]return ^[n]before them.

¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, “^(V)Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight ^(W)the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but ^(X)let the hand of the Philistines be against him.” ¹⁸ But David said to Saul, “^(Y)Who am I, and who is my family, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” ¹⁹ So it came about at the time that Merab, Saul’s daughter, was to be given to David, that she was given instead to ^(Z)Adriel ^(AA)the Meholathite as a wife.

David Marries Saul’s Daughter

²⁰ Now ^(AB)Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they informed Saul, the thing was pleasing ^[o]to him. ²¹ For Saul thought, “I will give her to him so that she may become a trap for him, and ^(AC)that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David, “^(AD)For a second time you may become my son-in-law, today.” ²² Then Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in secret, saying, ‘Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now then, become the king’s son-in-law.’” ²³ So Saul’s servants spoke these words ^[p]to David. But David said, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law, ^(AE)since I am only a poor man and insignificant?” ²⁴ Then Saul’s servants reported to him, saying, “^[q]These are the words David spoke.” ²⁵ Saul then said, “This is what you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any ^(AF)dowry except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, ^(AG)to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’” But ^(AH)Saul plotted to have David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ When his servants told David these words, ^[r]it pleased David to become the king’s son-in-law. So ^[s](AI)before the time had expired, ²⁷ David set out and went, ^(AJ)he and his men, and fatally struck two hundred men among the Philistines. Then ^(AK)David brought their foreskins, and they presented all two hundred of them to the king, so that he might become the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal as a wife. ²⁸ When Saul saw and realized that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, ²⁹ then Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually.

³⁰ Then the commanders of the Philistines ^(AL)went to battle, and it happened as often as they went out, that David ^(AM)was more ^[t]successful than all the servants of Saul. So his name was held in high esteem.

David Protected from Saul

19 Now Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants ^(AN)to put David to death. But ^(AO)Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David. ² So Jonathan informed David, saying, “My father Saul is seeking to put you to death. Now then, please be on your guard in the morning, and stay in a hiding place and conceal yourself. ³ And as for me, I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are hiding, and I will speak with my father about you; and ^(AP)whatever I ^[u]find out, I will tell you.” ⁴ Then Jonathan ^(AQ)spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “^(AR)May the king not sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very ^[v]beneficial to you. ⁵ For ^(AS)he took his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and ^(AT)the Lord brought about a great ^[w]victory for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. ^(AU)Why then would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death ^[x]for no reason?” ⁶ Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul vowed, “As the Lord lives, David shall not be put to death.” ⁷ Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as ^(AV)before.

⁸ When there was war again, David went out and fought the Philistines and ^[y]defeated them with great slaughter, so that they fled from him. ⁹ Now there was ^(AW)an evil spirit from the Lord on Saul as he was sitting in his house ^(AX)with his spear in his hand, ^(AY)and David was playing the harp with his hand. ^10 (AZ)And Saul tried to ^[z]pin David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence, so that he stuck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

¹¹ Then ^(BA)Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, in order to put him to death in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, informed him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death!” ^12 (BB)So Michal let David down through a window, and he went and fled, and escaped. ¹³ And Michal took ^(BC)the ^[aa]household idol and laid it on the bed, and put a quilt of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothing. ¹⁴ When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “^(BD)He is sick.” ¹⁵ Then Saul sent messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on ^[ab]his bed, so that I may put him to death.” ¹⁶ When the messengers entered, behold, the ^[ac]household idol was on the bed with the quilt of goats’ hair at its head. ¹⁷ So Saul said to Michal, “Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal said to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! ^(BE)Why should I put you to death?’”

¹⁸ So David fled and escaped, and came ^(BF)to Samuel at Ramah; and he informed him of everything that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in ^(BG)Naioth. ¹⁹ But it was reported to Saul, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” ²⁰ Then ^(BH)Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw ^(BI)the company of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and ^(BJ)they also prophesied. ²¹ When Saul was informed of this, he sent other messengers, but they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again the third time, yet they prophesied. ²² Then he went to Ramah himself and came as far as the large well that is in Secu; and he ^[ad]asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” ²³ So he ^[ae]proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; but ^(BK)the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴ He also stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and ^[af]lay down ^[ag](BL)naked all that day and all night. Therefore they say, “^(BM)Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Family of David

3 ^(A)Now these were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second was Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelitess; ² the third was Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth was Adonijah the son of Haggith; ³ the fifth was Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth was Ithream, by his wife Eglah. ⁴ Six were born to him in Hebron, and ^(B)he reigned there for seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem he reigned for thirty-three years. ^5 (C)These were the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and ^(D)Solomon, four by ^(E)Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel; ⁶ and Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, ⁷ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁸ Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. ⁹ All of these were the sons of David, besides the sons of the concubines; and ^(F)Tamar was their sister.

¹⁰ Now Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, then Abijah was his son, Asa, his son, Jehoshaphat, his son, ¹¹ Joram, his son, Ahaziah, his son, Joash, his son, ¹² Amaziah, his son, Azariah, his son, Jotham, his son, ¹³ Ahaz, his son, Hezekiah, his son, Manasseh, his son, ¹⁴ Amon, his son, and Josiah, his son. ¹⁵ The sons of Josiah were Johanan, the firstborn, the second was Jehoiakim, the third, Zedekiah, and the fourth, Shallum. ¹⁶ The sons of Jehoiakim were his son Jeconiah and his son Zedekiah. ¹⁷ The sons of Jeconiah, the prisoner, were his son Shealtiel ¹⁸ and Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. ¹⁹ The sons of Pedaiah were Zerubbabel and Shimei. And the ^[a]sons of Zerubbabel were Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith was their sister; ²⁰ and Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab-hesed, five. ²¹ The ^[b]sons of Hananiah were Pelatiah and Jeshaiah, the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah. ²² The ^[c]descendants of Shecaniah were Shemaiah, and the sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat, six. ²³ The ^[d]sons of Neariah were Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam, three. ²⁴ The sons of Elioenai were Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani, seven.

First Missionary Journey

13 Now there were ^(A)prophets and ^(B)teachers at ^(C)Antioch, in the ^(D)church that was there: ^(E)Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of ^(F)Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with ^(G)Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were ^[a]serving the Lord and fasting, ^(H)the Holy Spirit said, “Set ^(I)Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for ^(J)the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then, when they had fasted, ^(K)prayed, and ^(L)laid their hands on them, ^(M)they sent them away.

⁴ So, being ^(N)sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to ^(O)Cyprus. ⁵ When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in ^(P)the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had ^(Q)John as their helper. ⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a ^(R)magician, a Jewish ^(S)false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was with the ^(T)proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the ^(U)magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the ^(V)proconsul away from ^(W)the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who was also known as Paul, ^[b](X)filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him, ¹⁰ and said, “^[c]You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you ^(Y)son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked ^(Z)the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹ Now, behold, ^(AA)the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the ^(AB)proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at ^(AC)the teaching of the Lord.

¹³ Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from ^(AD)Paphos and came to ^(AE)Perga in ^(AF)Pamphylia; but ^(AG)John left them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But going on from Perga, they arrived at ^(AH)Pisidian ^(AI)Antioch, and on ^(AJ)the Sabbath day they went into ^(AK)the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After ^(AL)the reading of the Law and ^(AM)the Prophets, ^(AN)the synagogue officials sent word to them, saying, “^[d]Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.” ¹⁶ Paul stood up, and ^(AO)motioning with his hand said,

“Men of Israel, and ^(AP)you who fear God, listen: ¹⁷ The God of this people Israel ^(AQ)chose our fathers and ^[e](AR)made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm ^(AS)He led them out from it. ¹⁸ For ^(AT)a period of about forty years ^(AU)He put up with them in the wilderness. ^19 (AV)When He had destroyed ^(AW)seven nations in the land of Canaan, He ^(AX)distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took ^(AY)about 450 years. ²⁰ After these things He ^(AZ)gave them judges until ^(BA)Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then they ^(BB)asked for a king, and God gave them ^(BC)Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² After He had ^(BD)removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘^(BE)I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My ^[f]will.’ ^23 (BF)From the descendants of this man, ^(BG)according to promise, God has brought to Israel ^(BH)a Savior, Jesus, ²⁴ after ^(BI)John had proclaimed, before ^[g]His coming, a ^(BJ)baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And while John ^(BK)was completing his course, ^(BL)he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶ “^[h]Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of ^(BM)this salvation has been sent. ²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem, and their ^(BN)rulers, ^(BO)recognizing neither Him nor the ^[i]declarations of ^(BP)the prophets which are ^(BQ)read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him. ²⁸ And though they found no grounds for putting Him to death, they ^(BR)asked Pilate that He be executed. ²⁹ When they had ^(BS)carried out everything that was written concerning Him, ^(BT)they took Him down from the ^[j](BU)cross and ^(BV)laid Him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God ^(BW)raised Him from the dead; ³¹ and for many days ^(BX)He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now ^(BY)His witnesses to the people. ³² And we ^(BZ)preach to you the good news of ^(CA)the promise made to the fathers, ³³ that God has fulfilled this promise to those of us who are the descendants by ^(CB)raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘^(CC)You are My Son; today I have fathered You.’ ³⁴ As for the fact that He ^(CD)raised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘^(CE)I will give you the holy and faithful mercies of David.’ ³⁵ Therefore, He also says in another Psalm: ‘^(CF)You will not ^[k]allow Your ^[l]Holy One to ^[m]undergo decay.’ ³⁶ For ^(CG)David, after he had ^[n]served God’s ^(CH)purpose in his own generation, ^(CI)fell asleep, and was ^[o]buried among his fathers and ^[p]underwent decay; ³⁷ but He whom God ^(CJ)raised did not ^[q]undergo decay. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, ^[r]brothers, that ^(CK)through ^[s]Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and ^[t]through Him ^(CL)everyone who believes is ^[u]freed ^[v]from all things, from which you could not be ^[w]freed ^[x]through the Law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Therefore, see that the thing spoken of ^(CM)in the Prophets does not come upon you:

⁴² As ^[z]Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people repeatedly begged to have these ^[aa]things spoken to them the next ^(CO)Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the ^(CP)God-fearing ^[ab](CQ)proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and urging them to continue in ^(CR)the grace of God.

Paul Turns to the Gentiles

⁴⁴ The next ^(CS)Sabbath nearly all the city assembled to hear the word of ^[ac]the Lord. ⁴⁵ But when ^(CT)the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were ^[ad]blaspheming. ⁴⁶ Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you ^(CU)first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, ^(CV)we are turning to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so the Lord has commanded us,

⁴⁸ When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying ^(CY)the word of ^[ag]the Lord; and all who ^(CZ)had been appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹ And ^(DA)the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. ⁵⁰ But ^(DB)the Jews incited the ^[ah](DC)devout women ^(DD)of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their ^[ai]region. ⁵¹ But ^(DE)they shook off the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to ^(DF)Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were continually ^(DG)filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Prayer for Rescue from Enemies.

For the music director; set to ^[a]Al-tashheth. A ^[b]Mikhtam of David, ^[c]when Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him.