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1 Samuel 19-21
New American Standard Bible

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?”

David and Jonathan’s Covenant

20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and he came and (AA)said [n]to Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?” 2 He said to him, “Far from it, you shall not die! Behold, my father does nothing either great or small [o]without informing me. So why would my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!” 3 Yet David (AB)vowed again, [p]saying, “Your father is well aware that I have found favor in your sight, and he has said, ‘Jonathan is not to know this, otherwise he will be worried.’ But indeed (AC)as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, there is [q]just a step between me and death.” 4 Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever [r]you say, I will do for you.” 5 So David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is (AD)the new moon, and I am obligated (AE)to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go (AF)so that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening. 6 If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly requested leave of me to run to (AG)Bethlehem, his city, because it is (AH)the yearly sacrifice there for the whole family.’ 7 If he [s]says, ‘That is good,’ your servant will be safe; but if he is very angry, (AI)be aware that he has decided on evil. 8 So deal kindly with your servant, for (AJ)you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But (AK)if [t]I am guilty of wrongdoing, kill me yourself; for why then should you bring me to your father?” 9 Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! For if I in fact learn that my father has decided [u]to inflict harm on you, would I not inform you?” 10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will inform me [v]if your father answers you harshly?” 11 Jonathan said to David, “Come, and let’s go out to the field.” So both of them went out to the field.

12 Then Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, is my witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow or the third day, behold, if he has a good feeling toward [w]you, shall I not then send word to you and [x]inform you? 13 If it pleases my father to do you harm, (AL)may the Lord do so to [y]me and more so, if I fail to [z]inform you and send you away, so that you may go in safety. And (AM)may the Lord be with you as He has been with my father. 14 And if I am still alive, will you not show me the faithfulness of the Lord, so that I do not die? 15 And (AN)you shall never cut off your loyalty to my house, not even when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “(AO)May the Lord demand it from the hands of David’s enemies.” 17 And Jonathan made David vow again because of his love for him, because (AP)he loved him as he loved his own life.

18 Then Jonathan said to him, “(AQ)Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed since your seat will be empty. 19 When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on that eventful day, and you shall remain beside the stone Ezel. 20 And I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target. 21 Then behold, I will send the boy, telling him, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I specifically say to the boy, ‘Behold, the arrows are on this side of you, get them,’ then come, because it is safe for you and there is nothing to harm you, as the Lord lives. 22 But if I [aa]say to the youth, ‘(AR)Behold, the arrows are beyond you,’ go, because the Lord has sent you away. 23 (AS)As for the [ab]agreement of which you and I have spoken, behold, (AT)the Lord is between you and me forever.”

24 So David hid himself in the field; and when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 Now the king sat on his seat as usual, the seat by the wall; then Jonathan stood up and Abner sat down by Saul’s side; but (AU)David’s place was empty. 26 Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, because he thought, “It must have been an [ac]accident; (AV)he is not clean, undoubtedly he is not clean.” 27 But it came about the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David’s place was empty again; so Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 And Jonathan answered Saul, “(AW)David earnestly requested leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Please let me go, because our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has ordered me to attend. So now, if I have found favor in your sight, please let me slip away so that I may see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”

Saul Is Angry with Jonathan

30 Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For, [ad]as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now then, send men and bring him to me, for (AX)he is [ae]doomed to die!” 32 But Jonathan replied to his father Saul and said to him, “(AY)Why must he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 Then (AZ)Saul hurled his spear at him to strike and kill him; (BA)so Jonathan knew that his father had decided to put David to death. 34 Then Jonathan got up from the table in the heat of anger, and did not eat food on the second day of the new moon, because he was worried about David since his father had insulted him.

35 Now it came about in the morning that Jonathan went out to the field at the time agreed upon with David, and a little boy was with him. 36 He said to his boy, “(BB)Run, find now the arrows which I am about to shoot.” The boy ran, and he shot [af]an arrow past him. 37 When the boy reached the location of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “(BC)Is the arrow not beyond you?” 38 Then Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!” And Jonathan’s boy picked up the arrow and came to his master. 39 But the boy was not aware of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter. 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, bring them to the city.” 41 When the boy was gone, David got up from the south side, then he fell on his face to the ground and (BD)bowed three times. And they kissed each other and wept together, until (BE)David wept immeasurably. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “(BF)Go [ag]in safety, since we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘(BG)The Lord will be between me and you, and between my [ah]descendants and your [ai]descendants forever.’” [aj]So David set out and went on his way, while Jonathan went into the city.

David Takes Consecrated Bread

21 Then David came to (BH)Nob, to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech (BI)came trembling to meet David and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commissioned me with a matter and has said to me, ‘(BJ)No one is to know anything about the matter on which I am sending you and with which I have commissioned you; and I have directed the young men to a certain place.’ 3 Now then, what [ak]do you have on hand? Give [al]me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.” 4 The priest answered David and said, “There is no ordinary bread [am]on hand, but there is (BK)consecrated bread, if only the young men have (BL)kept themselves from women.” 5 David answered the priest and said to him, “(BM)Be assured, women have been denied to us as previously when I left and the [an](BN)bodies of the young men were consecrated, though it was an ordinary journey; how much more then will [ao]their bodies be consecrated today?” 6 So (BO)the priest gave him consecrated bread; for there was no bread there except the (BP)bread of the Presence which was removed from its place before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day it was taken away.

7 Now one of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord; and his name was (BQ)Doeg the Edomite, the (BR)chief of Saul’s shepherds.

8 David said to Ahimelech, “Now is there no spear or sword [ap]on hand? For I brought neither my sword nor my weapons [aq]with me, because the king’s matter was urgent.” 9 Then the priest said, “(BS)The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you [ar]killed (BT)in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself, take it. For there is no other except it here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

10 Then David set out and fled that day from Saul, and went to (BU)Achish king of Gath. 11 But the (BV)servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? (BW)Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying,

‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”

12 David (BX)took these words [as]to heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath. 13 So he (BY)disguised his sanity while in their sight and acted insanely in their [at]custody, and he scribbled on the doors of the gate, and drooled on his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is behaving like an insane person. Why do you bring him to me? 15 Do I lack insane people, that you have brought this one to behave like an insane person in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?”

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 19:3 Lit see
  2. 1 Samuel 19:4 Lit good
  3. 1 Samuel 19:5 Lit deliverance
  4. 1 Samuel 19:5 Or undeservedly
  5. 1 Samuel 19:8 Lit struck
  6. 1 Samuel 19:10 Lit strike David and the wall
  7. 1 Samuel 19:13 Heb teraphim
  8. 1 Samuel 19:15 Lit the
  9. 1 Samuel 19:16 Heb teraphim
  10. 1 Samuel 19:22 Lit asked and said
  11. 1 Samuel 19:23 Lit went
  12. 1 Samuel 19:24 Lit fell
  13. 1 Samuel 19:24 I.e., without outward garments
  14. 1 Samuel 20:1 Lit before
  15. 1 Samuel 20:2 Lit and he does not uncover my ear
  16. 1 Samuel 20:3 Lit and said
  17. 1 Samuel 20:3 Lit about
  18. 1 Samuel 20:4 Lit your soul says
  19. 1 Samuel 20:7 Lit says thus
  20. 1 Samuel 20:8 Lit guilt exists in me
  21. 1 Samuel 20:9 Lit evil to come on
  22. 1 Samuel 20:10 As in ancient versions; MT or what your father
  23. 1 Samuel 20:12 Lit David
  24. 1 Samuel 20:12 Lit uncover your ear
  25. 1 Samuel 20:13 Lit Jonathan
  26. 1 Samuel 20:13 Lit uncover your ear
  27. 1 Samuel 20:22 Lit say thus
  28. 1 Samuel 20:23 Lit word
  29. 1 Samuel 20:26 I.e., accident of ritual pollution
  30. 1 Samuel 20:31 Lit all the days which
  31. 1 Samuel 20:31 Lit a son of death
  32. 1 Samuel 20:36 Lit the
  33. 1 Samuel 20:42 Lit to peace
  34. 1 Samuel 20:42 Lit seed
  35. 1 Samuel 20:42 Lit seed
  36. 1 Samuel 20:42 Ch 21:1 in Heb
  37. 1 Samuel 21:3 Lit is there under your hand?
  38. 1 Samuel 21:3 Lit into my hand
  39. 1 Samuel 21:4 Lit under my hand
  40. 1 Samuel 21:5 Lit vessels
  41. 1 Samuel 21:5 Lit it be holy in the vessel
  42. 1 Samuel 21:8 Lit under your hand
  43. 1 Samuel 21:8 Lit in my hand
  44. 1 Samuel 21:9 Lit struck
  45. 1 Samuel 21:12 Lit in his
  46. 1 Samuel 21:13 Lit hand
Listen to 1 Samuel 19-21
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1 Samuel 19-21
New International Version

Saul Tries to Kill David

19 Saul told his son Jonathan(A) and all the attendants to kill(B) David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David 2 and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding(C) and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak(D) to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”

4 Jonathan spoke(E) well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong(F) to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life(G) in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory(H) for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent(I) man like David by killing him for no reason?”

6 Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.”

7 So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.(J)

8 Once more war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such force that they fled before him.

9 But an evil[a] spirit(K) from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the lyre,(L) 10 Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded(M) him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.

11 Saul sent men to David’s house to watch(N) it and to kill him in the morning.(O) But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through a window,(P) and he fled and escaped. 13 Then Michal took an idol(Q) and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head.

14 When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said,(R) “He is ill.”

15 Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him.” 16 But when the men entered, there was the idol in the bed, and at the head was some goats’ hair.

17 Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?”

Michal told him, “He said to me, ‘Let me get away. Why should I kill you?’”

18 When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah(S) and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. 19 Word came to Saul: “David is in Naioth at Ramah”; 20 so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets(T) prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on(U) Saul’s men, and they also prophesied.(V) 21 Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Seku. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”

“Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said.

23 So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying(W) until he came to Naioth. 24 He stripped(X) off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s(Y) presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”(Z)

David and Jonathan

20 Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged(AA) your father, that he is trying to kill me?”(AB)

2 “Never!” Jonathan replied. “You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!”

3 But David took an oath(AC) and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.’ Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”

4 Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.”

5 So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast,(AD) and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide(AE) in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. 6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission(AF) to hurry to Bethlehem,(AG) his hometown, because an annual(AH) sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.’ 7 If he says, ‘Very well,’ then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper,(AI) you can be sure that he is determined(AJ) to harm me. 8 As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant(AK) with you before the Lord. If I am guilty, then kill(AL) me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”

9 “Never!” Jonathan said. “If I had the least inkling that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn’t I tell you?”

10 David asked, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”

11 “Come,” Jonathan said, “let’s go out into the field.” So they went there together.

12 Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound(AM) out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? 13 But if my father intends to harm you, may the Lord deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely,(AN) if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the Lord be with(AO) you as he has been with my father. 14 But show me unfailing kindness(AP) like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, 15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family(AQ)—not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

16 So Jonathan(AR) made a covenant(AS) with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord call David’s enemies to account.(AT)” 17 And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath(AU) out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.

18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon feast. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty.(AV) 19 The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid(AW) when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel. 20 I will shoot three arrows(AX) to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target. 21 Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,’ then come, because, as surely as the Lord lives, you are safe; there is no danger. 22 But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond(AY) you,’ then you must go, because the Lord has sent you away. 23 And about the matter you and I discussed—remember, the Lord is witness(AZ) between you and me forever.”

24 So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon feast(BA) came, the king sat down to eat. 25 He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan,[b] and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty.(BB) 26 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.(BC)” 27 But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”

28 Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission(BD) to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice(BE) in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”

30 Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? 31 As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom(BF) will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!”

32 “Why(BG) should he be put to death? What(BH) has he done?” Jonathan asked his father. 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended(BI) to kill David.

34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the feast he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David.

35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him, 36 and he said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond(BJ) you?” 38 Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master. 39 (The boy knew nothing about all this; only Jonathan and David knew.) 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.”

41 After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground.(BK) Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.

42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace,(BL) for we have sworn friendship(BM) with each other in the name of the Lord,(BN) saying, ‘The Lord is witness(BO) between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.(BP)’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.[c]

David at Nob

21 [d]David went to Nob,(BQ) to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled(BR) when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”

4 But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread(BS) on hand; however, there is some consecrated(BT) bread here—provided the men have kept(BU) themselves from women.”

5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual(BV) whenever[e] I set out. The men’s bodies are holy(BW) even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!” 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread,(BX) since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

7 Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg(BY) the Edomite,(BZ) Saul’s chief shepherd.

8 David asked Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was urgent.”

9 The priest replied, “The sword(CA) of Goliath(CB) the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah,(CC) is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.”

David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

David at Gath

10 That day David fled from Saul and went(CD) to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:

“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
    and David his tens of thousands’?”(CE)

12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane(CF) in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 19:9 Or But a harmful
  2. 1 Samuel 20:25 Septuagint; Hebrew wall. Jonathan arose
  3. 1 Samuel 20:42 In Hebrew texts this sentence (20:42b) is numbered 21:1.
  4. 1 Samuel 21:1 In Hebrew texts 21:1-15 is numbered 21:2-16.
  5. 1 Samuel 21:5 Or from us in the past few days since
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