1 Samuel 18-31

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

18 When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own life.

² Saul took David that day and would not let him return to his father’s house.

³ Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own life.

⁴ And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, even his sword, his bow, and his girdle.

⁵ And David went out wherever Saul sent him, and he prospered and behaved himself wisely; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was satisfactory both to the people and to Saul’s servants.

⁶ As they were coming home, when David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the Israelite towns, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul with timbrels, songs of joy, and instruments of music.

⁷ And the women responded as they laughed and frolicked, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

⁸ And Saul was very angry, for the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed only thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?

⁹ And Saul [jealously] eyed David from that day forward.

¹⁰ The next day an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved [madly] in his house, while David played [the lyre] with his hand, as at other times; and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand.

¹¹ And Saul cast the javelin, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall. And David evaded him twice.

¹² Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.

¹³ So Saul removed David from him and made him his commander over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

¹⁴ David acted wisely in all his ways and succeeded, and the Lord was with him.

¹⁵ When Saul saw how capable and successful David was, he stood in awe of him.

¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.

¹⁷ Saul said to David, My elder daughter Merab I will give you as wife; only serve me courageously and fight the Lord’s battles. For Saul thought, Let not my hand, but the Philistines’ hand, be upon him.

¹⁸ David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?

¹⁹ But at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as wife.

²⁰ Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David; and they told Saul, and it pleased him.

²¹ Saul thought, I will give her to him that she may be a snare to him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. So Saul said to David a second time, You shall now be my son-in-law.

²² And Saul commanded his servants to speak to David privately and say, The king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now then, become [his] son-in-law.

²³ Saul’s servants told those words to David. David said, Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?

²⁴ And the servants of Saul told him what David said.

²⁵ Saul said, Say this to David, The king wants no dowry but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to avenge himself of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the Philistines’ hands.

²⁶ When his servants told David these words, it pleased [him] well to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the days expired,

²⁷ David went, he and his men, and slew two hundred Philistine men, and brought their foreskins and gave them in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife.

²⁸ When Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David and that Michal [his] daughter loved him,

²⁹ Saul was still more afraid of David; and Saul became David’s constant enemy.

³⁰ Then the Philistine princes came out to battle, and when they did so, David had more success and behaved himself more wisely than all Saul’s servants, so that his name was very dear and highly esteemed.

19 Now Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants that they must kill David.

² But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David, and he told David, Saul my father is seeking to kill you. Now therefore, take heed to yourself in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself.

³ And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are; and I will converse with my father about you and if I learn anything, I will tell you.

⁴ And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you, and his deeds have been of good service to you.

⁵ For he took his life in his hands and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great deliverance for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood and kill David without a cause?

⁶ Saul heeded Jonathan and swore, As the Lord lives, David shall not be slain.

⁷ So Jonathan called David and told him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past.

⁸ Then there was war again, and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and made a great slaughter among them and they fled before him.

⁹ Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing [the lyre] with his hand.

¹⁰ Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away, so that Saul struck the spear into the wall. Then David fled and escaped that night.

¹¹ Saul sent messengers that night to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.

¹² So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled and escaped.

¹³ And Michal took the teraph (household good luck image) and laid it in the bed, put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with a bedspread.

¹⁴ And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.

¹⁵ Then Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.

¹⁶ And when the messengers came in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats’ hair at its head.

¹⁷ Saul said to Michal, Why have you deceived me so and sent away my enemy so that he has escaped? Michal answered Saul, He said to me, Let me go. Why should I kill you?

¹⁸ So David fled and escaped and came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.

¹⁹ And it was told Saul, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.

²⁰ And Saul sent messengers to take David; and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul and they also prophesied.

²¹ When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.

²² Then Saul himself went to Ramah and came to a great well that is in Secu; and he asked, Where are Samuel and David? And he was told, They are at Naioth in Ramah.

²³ So he went on to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went on he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴ He took off his royal robes and prophesied before Samuel and lay down stripped thus all that day and night. So they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?^(A)

20 David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said to Jonathan, What have I done? Of what am I guilty? What is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?

² Jonathan said, God forbid! You shall not die. My father does nothing great or small but what he tells me. And why should [he] hide this thing from me? It is not so.

³ But David replied, Your father certainly knows that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death.

⁴ Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever you desire, I will do for you.

⁵ David said to Jonathan, Tomorrow is the New Moon [festival], and I should not fail to sit at the table with the king; but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening.

⁶ If your father misses me at all, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.

⁷ If he says, All right, then it will be well with your servant; but if he is angry, then be sure that evil is determined by him.

⁸ Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought [me] into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father?

⁹ And Jonathan said, Far be it from you! If I knew that evil was determined for you by my father, would I not tell you?

¹⁰ Then said David to Jonathan, Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?

¹¹ Jonathan said, Come, let us go into the field. So they went into the field.

¹² Jonathan said to David, The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness. When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well inclined toward David, and I do not send and let you know it,

¹³ The Lord do so, and much more, to Jonathan. But if it please my father to do you harm, then I will disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father.

¹⁴ While I am still alive you shall not only show me the loving-kindness of the Lord, so that I die not,

¹⁵ But also you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever—no, not even when the Lord has cut off every enemy of David from the face of the earth.

¹⁶ So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, And the Lord will require that this covenant be kept at the hands of David’s enemies.

¹⁷ And Jonathan caused David to swear again by his love for him, for Jonathan loved him as he loved his own life.

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the New Moon festival; and you will be missed, for your seat will be empty.

¹⁹ On the third day you will go quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain by the stone Ezel.

²⁰ And I will shoot three arrows on the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.

²¹ And I will send a lad, saying, Go, find the arrows. If I expressly say to the lad, Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them—then you are to come, for it is safe for you and there is no danger, as the Lord lives.

²² But if I say to the youth, Look, the arrows are beyond you—then go, for the Lord has sent you away.

²³ And as touching the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you and me forever.

²⁴ So David hid himself in the field, and when the New Moon [festival] came, the king sat down to eat food.

²⁵ The king sat, as at other times, on his seat by the wall, and Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty.

²⁶ Yet Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, Something has befallen him and he is not clean—surely he is not clean.

²⁷ But on the morrow, the second day after the new moon, David’s place was empty; and Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?

²⁸ And Jonathan answered, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.

²⁹ He said, Let me go, I pray, for our family holds a sacrifice in the city and my brother commanded me to be there. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers. That is why he has not come to the king’s table.

³⁰ Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan and he said to him, You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do not I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother who bore you?

³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the earth, you shall not be established nor shall your kingdom. So now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.

³² Jonathan answered Saul his father, Why should he be killed? What has he done?

³³ But Saul cast his spear at him to smite him, by which Jonathan knew that his father had determined to kill David.

³⁴ So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food that second day of the month, for he grieved for David because his father had disgraced him.

³⁵ In the morning Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad was with him.

³⁶ And he said to his lad, Run, find the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.

³⁷ When the lad came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called to [him], Is not the arrow beyond you?

³⁸ And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not! The lad gathered up the arrow and came to his master.

³⁹ But the lad knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

⁴⁰ Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad and told him, Go, carry them to the city.

⁴¹ And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose from beside the heap of stones and fell on his face to the ground and bowed himself three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another until David got control of himself.

⁴² And Jonathan told David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and yours forever. And Jonathan arose and departed into the city.

21 Then David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech was afraid at meeting David, and said to him, Why are you alone and no man with you?

² David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has charged me with a matter and has told me, Let no man know anything of the mission on which I send you and with what I have charged you. I have appointed the young men to a certain place.

³ Now what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you may have.

⁴ And the priest answered David, There is no common bread on hand, but there is hallowed bread—if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

⁵ And David told the priest, Truly women have been kept from us in these three days since I came out, and the food bags and utensils of the young men are clean, and although the bread will be used in a secular way, it will be set apart in the clean bags.

⁶ So the priest gave him holy bread, for there was no bread there but the showbread which was taken from before the Lord to put hot bread in its place the day when it was taken away.

⁷ Now a certain man of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen.

⁸ David said to Ahimelech, Do you have at hand a sword or spear? The king’s business required haste, and I brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me.

⁹ The priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you slew in the Valley of Elah, see, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you will take that, do so, for there is no other here. And David said, There is none like that; give it to me.

¹⁰ David arose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.

¹¹ The servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David, the king of the land? Did they not sing one to another of him in their dances: Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

¹² David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish king of Gath.

¹³ And he changed his behavior before them, and pretended to be insane in their [Philistine] hands, and scribbled on the gate doors, and drooled on his beard.

¹⁴ Then said Achish to his servants, You see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me?

¹⁵ Have I need of madmen, that you bring this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?

22 So David departed and escaped to the cave of Adullam: and when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.

² And everyone in distress or in debt or discontented gathered to him, and he became a commander over them. And there were with him about 400 men.

³ And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, Let my father [of Moabite descent] and my mother, I pray you, come out [of Judah] and be with you till I know what God will do for me.^(B)

⁴ And he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the stronghold [in Moab].

⁵ Then the prophet Gad said to David, Do not remain in the stronghold; leave, and get into the land of Judah. So David left and went into the forest of Hareth.

⁶ Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him. Saul was sitting in Gibeah under the tamarisk tree on the height, his spear in his hand and all his servants standing about him.

⁷ Saul said to his servants who stood about him, Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards and make you all commanders of thousands and hundreds,

⁸ That all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a league with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in wait, as he does this day?

⁹ Then Doeg the Edomite, who stood with Saul’s servants, said, I saw the son of Jesse come to Nob, to Ahimelech son of Ahitub.

¹⁰ And [Ahimelech] inquired of the Lord for him, and gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.

¹¹ Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were at Nob, and they all came to the king.

¹² Saul said, Hear now, you son of Ahitub. He replied, Here I am, my lord.

¹³ Saul said to him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so he could rise against me to lie in wait, as he does this day?

¹⁴ Then Ahimelech answered the king, And who is so faithful among all your servants as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and is taken into your council and honored in your house?

¹⁵ Have I only today begun inquiring of God for him? No! Let not the king impute any wrong to his servant or to all the house of my father, for your servant has known nothing of all this, little or much.

¹⁶ [Saul] said, You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.

¹⁷ And the king said to the guard that stood about him, Turn and slay the Lord’s priests, because their hand also is with David and because they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hands against the Lord’s priests.

¹⁸ The king said to Doeg, You turn and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests and slew that day eighty-five persons who wore the priest’s linen ephod.

¹⁹ And Nob, the city of the priests, he smote with the sword; both men and women, children and sucklings, oxen and donkeys and sheep, he put to the sword.

²⁰ And one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub named Abiathar escaped and fled after David.

²¹ And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain the Lord’s priests.

²² David said to Abiathar, I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all your father’s house.

²³ Stay with me, fear not; for he who seeks my life seeks your life. But with me you shall be safeguarded.

23 Then they told David, Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.

² So David inquired of the Lord, Shall I go and attack these Philistines? And the Lord said to David, Go, smite the Philistines and save Keilah.

³ David’s men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more, then, if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?

⁴ Then David inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.

⁵ So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines with a great slaughter and brought away their cattle. So David delivered the people of Keilah.

⁶ When Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he came with an ephod in his hand.

⁷ Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand, for he is shut in by going into a town that has gates and bars.

⁸ Saul summoned all the men for war, to go to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

⁹ David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring the ephod here.

¹⁰ Then David said, O Lord, the God of Israel, Your servant has surely heard that Saul intends to come and destroy the city of Keilah on my account.

¹¹ Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Lord, God of Israel, I beseech You, tell Your servant. And the Lord said, He will come down.

¹² Then David asked, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into Saul’s hand? The Lord said, They will deliver you up.

¹³ Then David and his men, about 600, arose and left Keilah, going wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up going there.

¹⁴ David remained in the wilderness strongholds in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hands.

¹⁵ David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in the wood [at Horesh].

¹⁶ And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went into the wood to David [at Horesh] and strengthened his hand in God.

¹⁷ He said to him, Fear not; the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father knows that too.

¹⁸ And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. And David remained in the wood [at Horesh], and Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹ Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the wood [at Horesh], on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon?

²⁰ Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hands.

²¹ And Saul said, The Lord bless you, for you have compassion on me.

²² Go, make yet more sure; and know and see where his haunt is and who has seen him there; for I am told he deals very craftily.

²³ See and take note of all his hiding places and come back to me with the certain facts, and I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.

²⁴ So they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon.

²⁵ Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told; so he went down to the rock in the Wilderness of Maon and stayed. When Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon.

²⁶ And Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David made haste to get away for fear of Saul, for Saul and his men were surrounding [him] and his men to capture them.

²⁷ But a messenger came to Saul, saying, Make haste and come, for the Philistines have made a raid on the land.

²⁸ So Saul returned from pursuing David and went against the Philistines. So they called that place the Rock of Escape.

²⁹ David went up from there and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi.

24 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, Behold, David is in the Wilderness of En-gedi.

² Then Saul took 3,000 chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men among the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

³ He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the cave’s innermost recesses.

⁴ David’s men said to him, Behold the day of which the Lord said to you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hands and you shall do to him as seems good to you. Then David arose [in the darkness] and stealthily cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe.

⁵ Afterward, David’s heart smote him because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.

⁶ He said to his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to put my hand out against him, when he is the anointed of the Lord.

⁷ So David checked his men with these words and did not let them rise against Saul. But Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.

⁸ David also arose afterward and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, My lord the king! And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and did obeisance.

⁹ And David said to Saul, Why do you listen to the words of men who say, David seeks to do you harm?

¹⁰ Behold, your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hands in the cave. Some told me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.

¹¹ See, my father, see the skirt of your robe in my hand! Since I cut off the skirt of your robe and did not kill you, you know and see that there is no evil or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, yet you hunt my life to take it.

¹² May the Lord judge between me and you, and may the Lord avenge me upon you, but my hand shall not be upon you.

¹³ As the proverb of the ancients says, Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness; but my hand shall not be against you.

¹⁴ After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog? After a flea?

¹⁵ May the Lord be judge and judge between me and you, and see and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hands.^(C)

¹⁶ When David had said this to Saul, Saul said, Is this your voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

¹⁷ He said to David, You are more upright in God’s eyes than I, for you have repaid me good, but I have rewarded you evil.

¹⁸ You have declared today how you have dealt well with me; for when the Lord gave me into your hand, you did not kill me.

¹⁹ For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? Therefore may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done for me this day.

²⁰ And now, behold, I well know that you shall surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hands.

²¹ Swear now therefore to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.

²² David gave Saul his oath; and Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

25 Now Samuel died, and all the Israelites assembled and mourned for him, and buried him at his house in Ramah. David arose and went to the Wilderness of Paran.

² A very rich man was in Maon, whose possessions and business were in Carmel. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

³ The man’s name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail; she was a woman of good understanding, and beautiful. But the man was rough and evil in his doings; he was a Calebite.

⁴ David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

⁵ And David sent out ten young men and said to [them], Go up to Carmel to Nabal and greet him in my name;

⁶ And salute him thus: Peace be to you and to your house and to all that you have.

⁷ I have heard that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel.

⁸ Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your sight, for we come at an opportune time. I pray you, give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.

⁹ And when David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then paused.

¹⁰ And Nabal answered David’s servants and said, Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who are each breaking away from his master.

¹¹ Shall I then take my bread and my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they belong?

¹² So David’s young men turned away, and came and told him all that was said.

¹³ And David said to his men, Every man gird on his sword. And they did so, and David also girded on his sword; and there went up after David about 400 men, and 200 remained with the baggage.

¹⁴ But one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed at them.

¹⁵ But David’s men were very good to us, and we were not harmed, nor did we miss anything as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields.

¹⁶ They were a wall to us night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep.

¹⁷ So know this and consider what you will do, for evil is determined against our master and all his house. For he is such a wicked man that one cannot speak to him.

¹⁸ Then Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five measures of parched grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.

¹⁹ And she said to her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰ As she rode on her donkey, she came down hidden by the mountain, and behold, David and his men came down opposite her, and she met them.

²¹ Now David had said, Surely in vain have I protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has repaid me evil for good.

²² May God do so, and more also, to David ^[a]if I leave of all who belong to him one male alive by morning.

²³ When Abigail saw David, she hastened and lighted off the donkey, and fell before David on her face and did obeisance.

²⁴ Kneeling at his feet she said, Upon me alone let this guilt be, my lord. And let your handmaid, I pray you, speak in your presence, and hear the words of your handmaid.

²⁵ Let not my lord, I pray you, regard this foolish and wicked fellow Nabal, for as his name is, so is he—Nabal [foolish, wicked] is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your handmaid, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

²⁶ So now, my lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, seeing that the Lord has prevented you from bloodguiltiness and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal.

²⁷ And now this gift, which your handmaid has brought my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

²⁸ Forgive, I pray you, the trespass of your handmaid, for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the Lord’s battles, and evil has not been found in you all your days.

²⁹ Though man is risen up to pursue you and to seek your life, yet the life of my lord shall be bound in the living bundle with the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies—them shall He sling out as out of the center of a sling.

³⁰ And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that He has promised concerning you and has made you ruler over Israel,

³¹ This shall be no staggering grief to you or cause for pangs of conscience to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause or that my lord has avenged himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then [^[b]earnestly] remember your handmaid.

³² And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, Who sent you this day to meet me.

³³ And blessed be your discretion and advice, and blessed be you who have kept me today from bloodguiltiness and from avenging myself with my own hand.

³⁴ For as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, Who has prevented me from hurting you, if you had not hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning there would not have been left so much as one male to Nabal.

³⁵ So David accepted what she had brought him and said to her, Go up in peace to your house. See, I have hearkened to your voice and have granted your petition.

³⁶ And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house like the feast of a king. And [his] heart was merry, for he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light.

³⁷ But in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife told him these things, his heart died within him and he became [paralyzed, helpless as] a stone.

³⁸ And about ten days after that, the Lord smote Nabal and he died.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord, Who has pleaded the cause of my reproach at the hand of Nabal, and kept His servant from evil. For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him as his wife.

⁴⁰ And when the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, David sent us to you to take you to him to be his wife.

⁴¹ And she arose and bowed herself to the earth and said, Behold, let your handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

⁴² And Abigail hastened and arose and rode on a donkey, with five of her maids who followed her, and she went after the messengers of David and became his wife.

⁴³ David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.

⁴⁴ Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

26 The Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself on the hill of Hachilah, east of Jeshimon?

² So Saul arose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, with 3,000 chosen men of Israel, to seek David [there].

³ Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. And when he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness,

⁴ David sent out spies and learned that Saul had actually come.

⁵ David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped, and saw where Saul lay with Abner son of Ner, commander of his army; and Saul was lying in the encampment, with the army encamped around him.

⁶ Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, Who will go down with me into the camp of Saul? And Abishai said, I will go down with you.

⁷ So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there Saul lay sleeping within the encampment with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the army lay round about him.

⁸ Then said Abishai to David, God has given your enemy into your hands this day. Now therefore let me smite him to the earth at once with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.

⁹ David said to Abishai, Do not destroy him; for who can raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?

¹⁰ David said, As the Lord lives, [He] will smite him; or his day will come to die or he will go down in battle and perish.

¹¹ The Lord forbid that I should raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed; but take now the spear that is at his head and the bottle of water, and let us go.

¹² So David took the spear and the bottle of water from Saul’s head, and they got away. And no man saw or knew or wakened, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.

¹³ Then David went over to the other side and stood on the top of the mountain afar off, a great space being between them.

¹⁴ David called to the army and Abner son of Ner, Will you answer, Abner? Abner replied, Who are you, calling [and disturbing] the king?

¹⁵ David said to Abner, Are you not a valiant man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came in [to your camp] to destroy the king your lord.

¹⁶ This thing is not good that you have done. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not guarded your master, the Lord’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is and the bottle of water that was at his head.

¹⁷ And Saul knew David’s voice and said, Is this your voice, my son David? And David said, My voice, my lord O king!

¹⁸ And David said, Why does my lord thus pursue his servant? What have I done? Or what evil is in my hand [tonight]?

¹⁹ Now therefore, I pray you, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the Lord has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering; but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods.

²⁰ Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord; for the king of Israel is come out to seek one flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains.

²¹ Then said Saul, I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have ^[c]played the fool and have erred exceedingly.

²² David answered, See the king’s spear! Let one of the young men come and get it.

²³ The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hands today, but I would not stretch forth my hand against the Lord’s anointed.

²⁴ And behold, as your life was precious today in my sight, so let my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and let Him deliver me out of all tribulation.

²⁵ Then Saul said to David, May you be blessed, my son David; you will both do mightily and surely prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

27 But David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any more within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.

² So David arose and went over with the 600 men who were with him to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath.

³ And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow.

⁴ When it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he sought for him no more.

⁵ And David said to Achish, If I have now found favor in your eyes, let me be given a place to dwell in some country town; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?

⁶ Then Achish gave David the town of Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.

⁷ The time David dwelt in the Philistines’ country was a year and four months.

⁸ Now David and his men went up and made attacks on the Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites [enemies of Israel Joshua had failed to exterminate]. For from of old those nations inhabited the land, as one goes to Shur even to the land of Egypt.^(D)

⁹ And David smote the land and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels, and the apparel, and returned to Achish.

¹⁰ Achish would ask, Against whom have you made a raid today? And David would reply, ^[d]Against the South (Negeb) of Judah, or of the Jerahmeelites, or of the Kenites.

¹¹ And David saved neither man nor woman alive to bring tidings to Gath, thinking, Lest they should say about us, So did David, and so will he do as long as he dwells in the Philistines’ country.

¹² And Achish believed David, saying, He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; so he shall be my servant always.

28 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war against Israel. Achish said to David, Understand that you and your men shall go with me to battle.

² David said to Achish, All right, you shall know what your servant can do. Achish said to David, Therefore I will make you my bodyguard always.

³ Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the wizards out of the land.

⁴ And the Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel and they encamped at Gilboa.

⁵ When Saul saw the Philistine host, he was afraid; his heart trembled greatly.

⁶ When Saul inquired of the Lord, He refused to answer him, either by dreams or by Urim [a symbol worn by the priest when seeking the will of God for Israel] or by the prophets.^(E)

⁷ Then Saul said to his servants, Find me a woman who is a medium [between the living and the dead], that I may go and inquire of her. His servants said, Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at Endor.

⁸ So Saul disguised himself, put on other raiment, and he and two men with him went and came to the woman at night. He said to her, Perceive for me by the familiar spirit and bring up for me the dead person whom I shall name to you.

⁹ The woman said, See here, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and wizards out of the land. Why then do you lay a trap for my life to cause my death?

¹⁰ And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord lives, there shall no punishment come to you for this.

¹¹ The woman said, Whom shall I bring up for you? He said, Bring up Samuel for me.

¹² And when the woman saw Samuel, she screamed and she said to Saul, Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!

¹³ The king said to her, Be not afraid; what do you see? The woman said to Saul, I see a god [terrifying superhuman being] coming up out of the earth!

¹⁴ He said to her, In what form is he? And she said, An old man comes up, covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and made obeisance.

¹⁵ And Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disturbed me to bring me up? Saul answered, I am bitterly distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I should do.

¹⁶ Samuel said, Why then do you ask me, seeing that the Lord has turned from you and has become your enemy?

¹⁷ The Lord has done to you as He said through me He would do; for [He] has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to your neighbor David.^(F)

¹⁸ Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord or execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day.

¹⁹ Moreover, the Lord will also give Israel with you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me [among the dead]. The Lord also will give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.

²⁰ Then immediately Saul fell full length upon the earth floor [of the medium’s house], and was exceedingly afraid because of Samuel’s words. There was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night.

²¹ The woman came to Saul, and seeing that he was greatly troubled, she said to him, Behold, your handmaid has obeyed you, and I have put my life in my hands and have listened to what you said to me.

²² So now, I pray you, listen also to the voice of your handmaid and let me set a morsel of food before you, and eat, so you may have strength when you go on your way.

²³ But he said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he heeded their words. So he arose from the ground and sat upon the bed.

²⁴ The woman had a fat calf in the house; she hurried and killed it, and took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread.

²⁵ Then she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose up and went away that night.

29 Now the Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by the fountain in Jezreel.

² As the Philistine lords were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were in the rear with Achish,

³ The Philistine princes said, What are these Hebrews doing here? Achish said to the Philistine princes, Is not this David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days and years, and I have found no fault in him since he deserted to me to this day?

⁴ And the Philistine princes were angry with Achish and they said to him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place where you have assigned him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could David reconcile himself to his master? Would it not be with the heads of the men here?

⁵ Is not this David, of whom they sang to one another in dances, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

⁶ Then Achish called David and said to him, As surely as the Lord lives, you have been honest and upright, and for you to go out and come in with me in the army is good in my sight; for I have found no evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Yet the lords do not approve of you.

⁷ So return now and go peaceably, so as not to displease the Philistine lords.

⁸ David said to Achish, But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant as long as I have been with you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

⁹ And Achish said to David, I know that you are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

¹⁰ So now rise up early in the morning, with your master’s servants who have come with you, and as soon as you are up and have light, depart.

¹¹ So David and his men rose up early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel [to fight against Israel].

30 Now when David and his men came home to Ziklag on the third day, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid on the South (the Negeb) and on Ziklag, and had struck Ziklag and burned it with fire,

² And had taken the women and all who were there, both great and small, captive. They killed no one, but carried them off and went on their way.

³ So David and his men came to the town, and behold, it was burned, and their wives and sons and daughters were taken captive.

⁴ Then David and the men with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.

⁵ David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.

⁶ David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

⁷ David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray you, bring me the ephod. And Abiathar brought him the ephod.

⁸ And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? The Lord answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.

⁹ So David went, he and the 600 men with him, and came to the brook Besor; there those remained who were left behind.

¹⁰ But David pursued, he and 400 men, for 200 stayed behind who were too exhausted and faint to cross the brook Besor.

¹¹ They found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and water to drink,

¹² And a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins; and when he had eaten, his spirit returned to him, for he had eaten no food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.

¹³ And David said to him, To whom do you belong? And from where have you come? He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me because three days ago I fell sick.

¹⁴ We had made a raid on the South (Negeb) of the Cherethites and upon that which belongs to Judah and upon the South (Negeb) of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag with fire.

¹⁵ And David said to him, Can you take me down to this band? And he said, Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.

¹⁶ And when he had brought David down, behold, the raiders were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

¹⁷ And David smote them from twilight even to the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except 400 youths who rode camels and fled.

¹⁸ David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken and rescued his two wives.

¹⁹ Nothing was missing, small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken; David recovered all.

²⁰ Also David captured all the flocks and herds [which the enemy had], and the people drove those animals before him and said, This is David’s spoil.

²¹ And David came to the 200 men who were so exhausted and faint that they could not follow [him] and had been left at the brook Besor [with the baggage]. They came to meet David and those with him, and when he came near to the men, he saluted them.

²² Then all the wicked and base men who went with David said, Because they did not go with us, we will give them nothing of the spoil we have recovered, except that every man may lead away his wife and children and depart.

²³ David said, You shall not do so, my brethren, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and has delivered into our hands the troop that came against us.

²⁴ Who would listen to you in this matter? For as is the share of him who goes into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.

²⁵ And from that day to this he made it a statute and ordinance for Israel.

²⁶ When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to the elders of Judah, his friends, saying, Here is a gift for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord:

²⁷ For those in Bethel, Ramoth of the Negeb, Jattir,

²⁸ Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,

²⁹ Racal, the cities of the Jerahmeelites, the cities of the Kenites,

³⁰ Hormah, Bor-ashan, Athach,

³¹ Hebron, and for those in all the places David and his men had habitually haunted.

31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before [them] and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

² And the Philistines pursued Saul and his sons, and slew Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons.

³ The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers severely wounded him.

⁴ Saul said to his armor-bearer, Draw your sword and thrust me through, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse and mock me. But his armor-bearer would not, for he was terrified. So ^[e]Saul took a sword and fell upon it.

⁵ When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword and died with him.

⁶ So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died that day together.

⁷ And when the men of Israel on the other side of the valley and beyond the Jordan saw that the Israelites had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

⁸ The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

⁹ They cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his armor and sent them round about the land of the Philistines to publish it in the house of their idols and among the people.

¹⁰ And they put Saul’s armor in the house of the Ashtaroth [the idols representing the female deities Ashtoreth and Asherah], and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

¹¹ When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹² All the valiant men arose and went all night, and they took the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan and came to Jabesh and cremated them there.

¹³ And they took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.