When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit.

But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.

But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.

When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath.

David at Adullam and Mizpah

David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.

Saul Kills the Priests of Nob

Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul was seated, spear in hand, under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side.

David said, “Lord, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me.

Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? Lord, God of Israel, tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will.”

Saul and his men began the search, and when David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Desert of Maon. When Saul heard this, he went into the Desert of Maon in pursuit of David.

While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.

“‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing.

She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say.

Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.”

Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.

When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart.

When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,