1 Samuel 19
English Standard Version
Saul Tries to Kill David
19 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. (A)But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. 2 And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. 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 speak to 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 (B)sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. 5 For (C)he took his life in his hand (D)and he struck down the Philistine, (E)and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against (F)innocent blood by killing David without cause?” 6 And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, (G)“As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” 7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence (H)as before.
8 And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. 9 (I)Then a harmful spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. (J)And David was playing the lyre. 10 (K)And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
11 (L)Saul sent messengers 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 escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 (M)So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. 13 Michal took (N)an image[a] and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats' hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. 14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16 And when the messengers came in, behold, (O)the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats' hair at its head. 17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. (P)Why should I kill you?’”
18 Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at (Q)Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth. 19 And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, (R)the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, (S)and they also prophesied. 21 When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, (T)and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, (U)and they also prophesied. 22 Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in (V)Ramah.” 23 And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. (W)And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 (X)And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, (Y)“Is Saul also among the prophets?”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 19:13 Or a household god
1 Samuel 19
Living Bible
19 Saul now urged his aides and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan, because of his close friendship with David, 2 told him what his father was planning. “Tomorrow morning,” he warned him, “you must find a hiding place out in the fields. 3 I’ll ask my father to go out there with me, and I’ll talk to him about you; then I’ll tell you everything I can find out.”
4 The next morning[a] as Jonathan and his father were talking together, he spoke well of David and begged him not to be against David.
“He’s never done anything to harm you,” Jonathan pleaded. “He has always helped you in any way he could. 5 Have you forgotten about the time he risked his life to kill Goliath, and how the Lord brought a great victory to Israel as a result? You were certainly happy about it then. Why should you now murder an innocent man? There is no reason for it at all!”
6 Finally Saul agreed and vowed, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.”
7 Afterwards Jonathan called David and told him what had happened. Then he took David to Saul and everything was as it had been before. 8 War broke out shortly after that, and David led his troops against the Philistines and slaughtered many of them, and put to flight their entire army.
9-10 But one day as Saul was sitting at home, listening to David playing the harp, suddenly the tormenting spirit from the Lord attacked him. He had his spear in his hand and hurled it at David in an attempt to kill him. But David dodged out of the way and fled into the night, leaving the spear imbedded in the timber of the wall. 11 Saul sent troops to watch David’s house and kill him when he came out in the morning.
“If you don’t get away tonight,” Michal warned him, “you’ll be dead by morning.”
12 So she helped him get down to the ground through a window. 13 Then she took an idol[b] and put it in his bed, and covered it with blankets, with its head on a pillow of goat’s hair. 14 When the soldiers came to arrest David and take him to Saul,[c] she told them he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed. 15 Saul said to bring him in his bed, then, so that he could kill him. 16 But when they came to carry him out, they discovered that it was only an idol!
17 “Why have you deceived me and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal.
“I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.”
18 In that way David got away and went to Ramah to see Samuel, and told him all that Saul had done to him. So Samuel took David with him to live at Naioth. 19 When the report reached Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, 20 he sent soldiers to capture him; but when they arrived and saw Samuel and the other prophets prophesying, the Spirit of God came upon them and they also began to prophesy. 21 When Saul heard what had happened, he sent other soldiers, but they too prophesied! The same thing happened a third time! 22 Then Saul himself went to Ramah and arrived at the great well in Secu.
“Where are Samuel and David?” he demanded.
Someone told him they were at Naioth. 23 But on the way to Naioth the Spirit of God came upon Saul, and he too began to prophesy! 24 He tore off his clothes and lay naked all day and all night, prophesying with Samuel’s prophets. Saul’s men were incredulous!
“What!” they exclaimed. “Is Saul a prophet too?”[d]
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 19:4 the next morning, implied.
- 1 Samuel 19:13 an idol, literally, “teraphim.”
- 1 Samuel 19:14 When the soldiers came to arrest David and take him to Saul, implied.
- 1 Samuel 19:24 Is Saul a prophet too? implied; literally, “Hence it is said, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’” See 10:10-12.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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