David Protected from Saul

19 Now Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants ^(A)to put David to death. But ^(B)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 ^(C)whatever I ^[a]find out, I will tell you.” ⁴ Then Jonathan ^(D)spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “^(E)May the king not sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very ^[b]beneficial to you. ⁵ For ^(F)he took his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and ^(G)the Lord brought about a great ^[c]victory for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. ^(H)Why then would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death ^[d]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 ^(I)before.

⁸ When there was war again, David went out and fought the Philistines and ^[e]defeated them with great slaughter, so that they fled from him. ⁹ Now there was ^(J)an evil spirit from the Lord on Saul as he was sitting in his house ^(K)with his spear in his hand, ^(L)and David was playing the harp with his hand. ^10 (M)And Saul tried to ^[f]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 ^(N)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 (O)So Michal let David down through a window, and he went and fled, and escaped. ¹³ And Michal took ^(P)the ^[g]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, “^(Q)He is sick.” ¹⁵ Then Saul sent messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on ^[h]his bed, so that I may put him to death.” ¹⁶ When the messengers entered, behold, the ^[i]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! ^(R)Why should I put you to death?’”

¹⁸ So David fled and escaped, and came ^(S)to Samuel at Ramah; and he informed him of everything that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in ^(T)Naioth. ¹⁹ But it was reported to Saul, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” ²⁰ Then ^(U)Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw ^(V)the company of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and ^(W)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 ^[j]asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” ²³ So he ^[k]proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; but ^(X)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 ^[l]lay down ^[m](Y)naked all that day and all night. Therefore they say, “^(Z)Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Elihu Speaks of God’s Dealings with Mankind

36 Then Elihu continued and said,

The Beast from the Sea

13 And the dragon stood on the sand of the ^[a]seashore.

Then I saw a ^(A)beast coming up out of the sea, having ^(B)ten horns and ^(C)seven heads, and on his horns were ^(D)ten crowns, and on his heads were ^(E)blasphemous names. ² And the beast that I saw was ^(F)like a leopard, and his feet were like those of ^(G)a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of ^(H)a lion. And the ^(I)dragon gave him his power and his ^(J)throne, and great authority. ³ I saw one of his heads as if it had been ^[b]fatally wounded, and his ^(K)fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth ^(L)was amazed and followed after the beast; ⁴ they worshiped the ^(M)dragon because he ^(N)gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “^(O)Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” ⁵ A mouth was given to him ^(P)speaking ^[c]arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for ^(Q)forty-two months was given to him. ⁶ And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, ^(R)those who dwell in heaven.

⁷ It was also given to him to ^(S)make war with the ^[d]saints and to overcome them, and authority was given to him over ^(T)every tribe, people, language, and nation. ⁸ All who ^(U)live on the earth will worship him, everyone ^(V)whose name has not been ^[e]written ^(W)since the foundation of the world in the ^(X)book of life of ^(Y)the Lamb who has been slaughtered. ^9 (Z)If anyone has an ear, let him hear. ^10 (AA)If anyone ^[f]is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; ^(AB)if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is ^(AC)the ^[g]perseverance and the faith of the ^[h]saints.

The Beast from the Earth

¹¹ Then ^(AD)I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had ^(AE)two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a ^(AF)dragon. ¹² He ^(AG)exercises all the authority of the first beast ^[i](AH)in his presence. And he makes ^(AI)the earth and those who live on it ^(AJ)worship the first beast, whose ^(AK)fatal wound was healed. ¹³ He ^(AL)performs great signs, so that he even makes ^(AM)fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the presence of people. ¹⁴ And he ^(AN)deceives ^(AO)those who live on the earth because of ^(AP)the signs which it was given him to perform ^[j](AQ)in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the ^(AR)wound of the sword and has come to life. ¹⁵ And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even ^[k]speak and cause ^(AS)all who do not ^(AT)worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶ And he causes all, ^(AU)the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, ^[l]to be given a ^(AV)mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the ^(AW)mark, either ^(AX)the name of the beast or ^(AY)the number of his name. ^18 (AZ)Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that ^(BA)of a ^[m]man; and his number is ^[n]six hundred and sixty-six.