David Protected from Saul

19 Now Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants ^(A)to put David to death. But ^(B)Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David. ² So Jonathan told David saying, “Saul my father is seeking to put you to death. Now therefore, please be on guard in the morning, and stay in a secret place and hide yourself. ³ I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you; ^(C)if I ^[a]find out anything, then I will tell you.” ⁴ Then Jonathan ^(D)spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “^(E)Do not let the king 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 deliverance for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. ^(H)Why then will you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death without a cause?” ⁶ Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul vowed, “As the Lord lives, he 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)formerly.

⁸ When there was war again, David went out and fought with the Philistines and ^[c]defeated them with great slaughter, so that they fled before 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)Saul tried to ^[d]pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, so that he ^[e]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, told 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 out and fled and escaped. ¹³ Michal took ^(P)the ^[f]household idol and laid it on the bed, and put a quilt of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes. 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 ^[g]his bed, that I may put him to death.” ¹⁶ When the messengers entered, behold, the ^[h]household idol was on the bed with the quilt of goats’ hair at its head. ¹⁷ So Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived 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 Now David fled and escaped and came ^(S)to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in ^(T)Naioth. ¹⁹ It was told 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 the 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 it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. ²² Then he himself went to Ramah and came as far as the large well that is in Secu; and he asked and said, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” ²³ He ^[i]proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and ^(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 ^[j]lay down ^[k](Y)naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “^(Z)Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Samekh.

Salutation

^1 (A)Paul, ^(B)a prisoner of ^(C)Christ Jesus, and ^(D)Timothy ^[a]our brother,

To Philemon our beloved brother and ^(E)fellow worker, ² and to Apphia ^[b](F)our sister, and to ^(G)Archippus our ^(H)fellow soldier, and to ^(I)the church in your house: ^3 (J)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

^4 (K)I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, ⁵ because I ^(L)hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the ^[c]saints; ⁶ and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective ^[d]through the ^(M)knowledge of every good thing which is in you ^[e]for Christ’s sake. ⁷ For I have come to have much ^(N)joy and comfort in your love, because the ^[f]hearts of the ^[g]saints have been ^(O)refreshed through you, brother.

⁸ Therefore, ^(P)though I have ^[h]enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is ^(Q)proper, ⁹ yet for love’s sake I rather ^(R)appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, ^[i]the ^(S)aged, and now also ^(T)a prisoner of ^(U)Christ Jesus—

Plea for Onesimus, a Free Man

¹⁰ I ^(V)appeal to you for my ^(W)child ^[j](X)Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my ^[k]imprisonment, ¹¹ who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. ¹² I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, ¹³ whom I wished to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my ^[l](Y)imprisonment for the gospel; ¹⁴ but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would ^(Z)not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will. ¹⁵ For perhaps ^(AA)he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, ^16 (AB)no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, ^(AC)a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both ^(AD)in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷ If then you regard me a ^(AE)partner, accept him as you would me. ¹⁸ But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; ^19 (AF)I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it (^(AG)not to ^[m]mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well). ²⁰ Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; ^(AH)refresh my heart in Christ.

^21 (AI)Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.

²² At the same time also prepare me a ^(AJ)lodging, for ^(AK)I hope that through ^(AL)your prayers ^(AM)I will be given to you.

^23 (AN)Epaphras, my ^(AO)fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, ²⁴ as do ^(AP)Mark, ^(AQ)Aristarchus, ^(AR)Demas, ^(AS)Luke, my ^(AT)fellow workers.

^25 (AU)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be ^(AV)with your spirit.^[n]