Beginning
The Philistines Prepare to Fight against Israel
28 At that time the Philistines assembled their army for war to fight against Israel. Achish told David, “You know, of course, that you and your men will go out with me into the battle.”
2 David told Achish, “Very well, you will now see[a] what your servant will do.”
Achish told David, “Very well, I’ll appoint you as my permanent bodyguard.”
Saul and the Medium at Endor
3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.
4 The Philistines assembled, moved out, and camped at Shunem, while Saul assembled all Israel and camped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 6 Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him, either through dreams or Urim[b] or through prophets. 7 Saul told his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium so I can go to her and make my inquiry through her.”
His servants told him, “Look, there’s a woman at Endor who is a medium.”
8 Saul disguised himself, putting on different clothes. He went along with two men to the woman at night. He said, “Consult a familiar spirit for me and bring up for me the one whom I tell you.”
9 The woman told him, “Look, you know what Saul has done. He has removed mediums and spiritists from the land, so why are you trying to entrap me, so as to cause my death?”
10 Saul swore to her by the Lord: “As surely as the Lord lives, no punishment will come on you for this thing.”
11 The woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”
Saul[c] said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly.[d] The woman told Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”
13 The king told her, “Don’t be afraid; but what do you see?”
The woman told Saul, “I see a divine being[e] coming up out of the ground.”
14 Saul[f] told her, “What does he look like?”
She said, “An old man is coming up, and he’s wrapped in a robe.” Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed low to the ground and prostrated himself.
Samuel’s Message to Saul
15 Samuel told Saul, “Why did you disturb me by bringing me up?”
Saul said, “I’m in great distress. The Philistines are waging war against me. God has departed from me and won’t answer me anymore, either by messages written by[g] the hand of the prophets or by dreams. So I’ve summoned you to tell me what I should do.”
16 Samuel said, “Why do you ask me, since the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done to you exactly as he spoke through me.[h] The Lord has torn the kingdom away from you[i] and has given it to your colleague David. 18 Because you didn’t obey the Lord and didn’t display his fierce anger against Amalek, therefore, the Lord will do this thing to you today. 19 The Lord is giving both you, and Israel with you, into Philistine control. Tomorrow, the Lord will give you, your sons with you, and also the army of Israel into the control[j] of the Philistines.”
The Medium Attends to Saul
20 Saul immediately fell down full-length on the ground. He was terrified because of Samuel’s words, and he had no strength because he had not eaten food all day and all night. 21 Then the woman came to Saul and saw that he was very disturbed. She told him, “Look, your servant[k] obeyed you. I put my life into your hands, and I listened to your words that you spoke to me. 22 Now, please listen to your servant.[l] I’ll put a piece of bread before you so you can eat and have strength to go on your way.”[m]
23 Saul[n] refused, saying, “I won’t eat!”
Both his servants and the woman urged him, and so he listened to them. He got up off the ground and sat on the bed. 24 The woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly slaughtered it. She took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread. 25 She brought it to Saul and to his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and went out that night.
The Philistine Leaders Reject David
29 The Philistines gathered all their troops at Aphek, while Israel was camped at the spring in Jezreel. 2 The Philistine leaders were passing in review among[o] the military units,[p] and David and his men were among[q] them in the rear with Achish.
3 The Philistine leaders said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”
Achish asked the Philistine leaders, “Isn’t this David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather[r] these years? I’ve found no fault in him from the day he deserted[s] until now.”
4 But the Philistine leaders were angry with him, so they[t] pleaded with him, “Send the man back! Let him return to the[u] place you assigned him. He mustn’t go into battle with us. Otherwise, he may become our adversary in the battle! How could there be a better way for[v] this fellow to reconcile himself with his lord? Wouldn’t it be with the heads of these men? 5 Isn’t this the same[w] David about whom the maidens[x] sang when they were dancing,
‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
but David his ten thousands’?”
Achish Sends David Home
6 Then Achish summoned David and told him, “As surely as the Lord lives, you are trustworthy,[y] and it seems good to me for you to campaign[z] with me as part of the army. Indeed, I’ve not found any evil in you from the time you came to me until now.[aa] But the leaders don’t approve of you. 7 Now return and go in peace, so you do nothing to displease the Philistine leaders.”
8 David told Achish, “What have I done, and what have you found in your servant from the time I came before you until this very moment,[ab] that I shouldn’t go out and fight the enemies of your majesty?”[ac]
9 Achish answered David, “I know that I’m pleased with you. You’re[ad] like an angel of God. But the Philistine leaders have said, ‘He mustn’t go into battle with us.’ 10 Now, get up early in the morning along with your lord’s servants who came with you.[ae] Get up early in the morning, and go as soon as you have light.” 11 So[af] David and his men got up early in the morning to return to Philistine territory, while the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
Trouble on David’s Return to Ziklag
30 When David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the Negev[ag] and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and set it on fire. 2 They took the women in it captive, from young to old.[ah] They did not kill anyone. Instead, they carried them off and went on their way. 3 David and his men came to the town, and it had been burned down. Their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and cried until they had no more strength left to cry. 5 David’s two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal’s former[ai] wife, had been captured. 6 David was in great danger[aj] because all the people were bitter because of their sons and daughters, and they were talking about stoning him. But David found strength[ak] in the Lord his God.
David Pursues the Amalekites
7 David told Ahimelech’s son Abiathar the priest, “Bring me the ephod.”[al] So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 David inquired of the Lord: “Shall I pursue this raiding party?[am] Will I overtake them?”
The Lord[an] told David,[ao] “Pursue them! You will definitely overtake them and rescue the captives.”[ap] 9 So David and 600 men who were with him set out. They came to the Wadi[aq] Besor where those who were left behind stayed. 10 David and 400 men continued the pursuit,[ar] while the 200 men who were too exhausted to cross over the Wadi[as] Besor remained there.[at]
An Egyptian Leads David to the Amalekites
11 They found an Egyptian man in the field, and they took him to David. They gave him food to eat and provided water for him. 12 They gave him part of a fig cake and two bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, he revived,[au] since he had neither eaten food nor had he drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 David told him, “To whom do you belong and where are you from?”
The Egyptian[av] replied, “I’m a young Egyptian man, the slave of an Amalekite man. My master abandoned me, because I got sick three days ago. 14 We raided the Negev[aw] of the Cherethites, the territory that belongs to Judah,[ax] and the Negev[ay] of Caleb, and we set Ziklag on fire.”
15 David asked him, “Will you take me to this raiding party?”[az]
He said, “Swear to me by God that you won’t kill me or turn me over to my master, and I’ll take you to the raiding party.”[ba]
David Defeats the Amalekites
16 The Egyptian[bb] led him to the camp,[bc] and there the Amalekites[bd] were spread out over the whole area, eating, drinking, and celebrating with the great amount of spoil they had taken from the territory belonging to the Philistines and to Judah. 17 David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not one of them escaped except for 400 young men who mounted camels and fled. 18 David rescued everyone whom the Amalekites[be] had captured, including[bf] his two wives. 19 Nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or large, sons or daughters, spoil, or anything that they had taken for themselves—David brought back everything. 20 David took all the rest of[bg] the sheep and cattle, driving them ahead of their rescued livestock.[bh] People said about all this,[bi] “This is David’s spoil.”
David Divides the Spoil
21 David came to the 200 men who were too exhausted to follow him[bj] and who had been left at the Wadi[bk] Besor. They came out to meet David and the people who were with him. As David approached the people, he asked them how they were doing.[bl] 22 At this point, all the wicked and worthless men of the group who had gone with David answered, “Because they didn’t go with us, we won’t give them any of the spoil that we recovered, except that each person may take his wife and his children and go.”
23 David said, “No, you won’t do this, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He guarded us and gave the raiding party[bm] that came against us into our hand. 24 Who will listen to you in this matter? Indeed, the share of those who went down into battle and the share of those who stayed with the supplies will be the same. They’ll share alike.” 25 From that day forward he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel, and it remains[bn] to this present[bo] day.
David Shares the Spoil with the People of Judah
26 David came to Ziklag, and he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, and to his friends, telling them, “Look, this is a gift for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord 27 in Bethel, Ramoth-negev, Jattir, 28 Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, 29 Rachal, in the Jerahmeelite towns, in the Kenite towns, 30 in Hormah, Bor-ashan, Athach, 31 Hebron, and for all those places where David and his men had frequented.”
Saul Killed by the Philistines(A)
31 The Philistines fought against Israel, and the army[bp] of Israel fled before the Philistines. They fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons. The Philistines struck down Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons. 3 The heaviest fighting was directed toward Saul,[bq] and when the bowmen who were shooting located Saul, he was severely wounded by them.[br]
4 Saul told his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised people will come and run me through and make sport of me.” But his armor bearer did not want to do it[bs] because he was very frightened, so Saul took the sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. 6 As a result, Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men died together that day. 7 When the men of Israel who were across the valley and who were across the Jordan saw that the army[bt] of Israel had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled, and the Philistines came and occupied them.
The Philistines Desecrate Saul’s Body(B)
8 The next day, the Philistines came to strip the dead, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off his head and stripped him of his weapons. They sent people throughout the territory of the Philistines to report the good news in the temples of their idols and to the people. 10 They put Saul’s[bu] weapons in the temple of Asherah[bv] and fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth-shan.
The People of Jabesh-gilead Give Saul a Proper Burial(C)
11 When the residents of Jabesh-gilead heard what[bw] the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 every valiant soldier[bx] got up, traveled all night, and removed Saul’s body and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. Then they went to Jabesh and cremated the bodies[by] there. 13 They took their bones, buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.
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