Beginning

Saul Fears David

18 When David finished talking with Saul, Jonathan felt very close to David. He loved David as much as he loved himself. ² Saul kept David with him from that day on. He did not let David go home to his father’s house. ³ Jonathan made an agreement with David. He did this because he loved David as much as himself. ⁴ He took off his coat and gave it to David. He also gave David his uniform, including his sword, bow and belt.

⁵ Saul sent David to fight in different battles. And David was very successful. Then Saul put David over the soldiers. When he did this, Saul’s officers and all the other people were pleased.

⁶ After David had killed the Philistine, he and the men returned home. Women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul. They sang songs of joy, danced and played tambourines and stringed instruments. ⁷ As they played, they sang,

⁸ The women’s song upset Saul, and he became very angry. He thought, “The women say David has killed tens of thousands of enemies. But they say I killed only thousands of enemies. The only thing left for him to have is the kingdom!” ⁹ So Saul watched David closely from then on. He was jealous of him.

¹⁰ The next day an evil spirit from God entered Saul with power. And he prophesied in his house. David was playing the harp as he usually did. But Saul had a spear in his hand. ¹¹ He raised the spear and thought, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David got away from him two times.

¹² The Lord was with David but had left Saul. So Saul was afraid of David. ¹³ He sent David away from him. He made David commander of 1,000 soldiers. So David led them in battle. ¹⁴ He had great success in everything he did because the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ Saul saw that David was very successful. And he became even more afraid of David. ¹⁶ But all the people of Israel and Judah loved David. This was because he led them well in battle.

Saul’s Daughter and David

¹⁷ Saul said to David, “You’re a brave soldier. And you fight the Lord’s battles. Here is my older daughter Merab. I will let you marry her.” Saul had decided, “I won’t have to kill David. The Philistines will do that!”

¹⁸ But David said, “I am not good enough for this honor. And my family is not important enough for me to become the king’s son-in-law.” ¹⁹ So when the time came for Saul’s daughter Merab to marry David, Saul gave her instead to Adriel of Meholah.

²⁰ Now Saul’s other daughter Michal loved David. When they told Saul about Michal loving David, he was pleased. ²¹ He thought, “I will let Michal marry David. Then she will become a trap for him. And the Philistines will defeat him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You may become my son-in-law.”

²² And Saul gave an order to his servants. He told them, “Speak to David in private. Say, ‘Look, the king is pleased with you. His servants like you. You should become his son-in-law.’”

²³ Saul’s servants said these words to David. But David answered, “Do you think it is easy to become the king’s son-in-law? I’m only a poor man. Nobody knows me.”

²⁴ Then Saul’s servants told him what David had said. ²⁵ Saul said, “Say to David, ‘The king doesn’t want you to pay a large price for the bride. All he wants is 100 Philistine foreskins. Then he will be even with his enemies.’” Saul planned to let the Philistines kill David.

²⁶ Saul’s servants told David these words. David was pleased that he could become the king’s son-in-law. ²⁷ So he and his men went out and killed 200 Philistines. David took all their foreskins and brought them to Saul. He wanted to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife. ²⁸ Saul saw that the Lord was with David. He also saw that his daughter Michal loved David. ²⁹ So he became even more afraid of David. And he was David’s enemy all his life.

³⁰ The Philistine commanders continued to go out to fight the Israelites. But every time, David defeated them. He had more success than Saul’s officers. And he became famous.

Saul Plans to Kill David

19 Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan cared very much for David. ² So he warned David, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Watch out in the morning. Hide in a secret place. ³ I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are hiding. I’ll talk to him about you. Then I’ll let you know what I find out.”

⁴ Jonathan talked to Saul his father. He said good things about David. Jonathan said, “You are the king. Don’t do wrong to your servant David. He did nothing wrong to you. What he did has helped you greatly. ⁵ David risked his life when he killed Goliath the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and you were happy. Why would you do wrong against David? He’s innocent. There’s no reason to kill him!”

⁶ Saul listened to Jonathan. Then he made this promise: “As surely as the Lord lives, David won’t be put to death.”

⁷ So Jonathan called to David. He told David everything that had been said. And he brought David to Saul. So David was with Saul as before.

⁸ When war broke out again, David went out to fight the Philistines. He defeated them, and they ran away from him.

⁹ But once again an evil spirit from the Lord entered Saul. He was sitting in his house, and he had his spear in his hand. David was playing the harp. ¹⁰ Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear. But David moved away from him. So Saul’s spear went into the wall. And David ran away that night.

¹¹ Saul sent men to David’s house. They watched it, wanting to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him. She said, “Tonight you must run away to save your own life. If you don’t, you will be killed tomorrow morning.” ¹² Then she let David down out of a window. So he ran away and escaped. ¹³ Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed. She covered it with clothes and put goats’ hair at its head.

¹⁴ Saul sent messengers to take David prisoner. But Michal said, “He is sick.”

¹⁵ The men went and told Saul, but he sent them back to see David. He told them, “Bring him to me on his bed so I can kill him.”

¹⁶ But when the messengers entered David’s house, they found it was just an idol on the bed. Its hair was goats’ hair.

¹⁷ Saul said to Michal, “Why did you trick me this way? You let my enemy go. He has run away!”

Michal answered Saul, “David told me if I did not help him escape, he would kill me.”

¹⁸ After David had escaped from Saul, he went to Samuel at Ramah. He told Samuel everything Saul had done to him. Then David and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. ¹⁹ Saul heard that David was in Naioth at Ramah. ²⁰ So he sent men to capture him. But they met a group of prophets prophesying. Samuel was leading this group and was standing there. The Spirit of God entered Saul’s men, and they also prophesied.

²¹ Saul heard the news. So he sent other men, but they also prophesied. Then he sent men a third time, but they also prophesied. ²² Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah. He came to the well at Secu. He asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”

The people answered, “In Naioth at Ramah.”

²³ Then Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God also entered him. And he walked on, prophesying until he came to Naioth at Ramah. ²⁴ He took off his robes and prophesied in front of Samuel. He lay that way all day and all night. That is why people ask, “Is even Saul one of the prophets?”

David and Jonathan

20 Then David ran away from Naioth in Ramah. He went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I sinned against your father so that he’s trying to kill me?”

² Jonathan answered, “No! You won’t die! See, my father doesn’t do anything without first telling me. It doesn’t matter if it is very important or just a small thing. Why would he refuse to tell me he wants to kill you? No, it’s not true!”

³ But David took an oath. He said, “Your father knows very well that I’m your friend. He has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know about it. If he knows, he will tell David.’ But as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I am very close to death!”

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

⁵ So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon festival. I am supposed to eat with the king. But let me hide in the field until the third evening. ⁶ Your father may notice I am gone. If he does, tell him, ‘David begged me to let him go to his hometown of Bethlehem. Every year at this time, his family group offers a sacrifice.’ ⁷ If your father says, ‘Fine,’ I am safe. But if he becomes angry, you can believe he wants to hurt me. ⁸ Jonathan, be kind to me, your servant. You have made an agreement with me before the Lord. If I am guilty, you may kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”

⁹ Jonathan answered, “No, never! If I learn that my father plans to harm you, I will warn you!”

¹⁰ David asked, “Who will let me know if your father answers you unkindly?”

¹¹ Then Jonathan said, “Come, let’s go out into the field.” So Jonathan and David went together into the field.

¹² Jonathan said to David, “I promise this before the Lord, the God of Israel: At this same time day after tomorrow, I will find out how my father feels. If he feels good toward you, I’ll send word to you. I’ll let you know. ¹³ But my father may mean to hurt you. If so, I will let you know and send you away safely. May the Lord punish me terribly if I don’t do this. And may the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. ¹⁴ But show me the kindness of the Lord as long as I live. Do this so that I may not die. ¹⁵ You must not stop showing your kindness to my family. Don’t do this, even when the Lord has destroyed all your enemies from the earth.”

¹⁶ So Jonathan made an agreement with David. He said, “May the Lord punish David’s enemies.” ¹⁷ And Jonathan asked David to repeat his promise of love for him. He did this because he loved David as much as he loved himself.

¹⁸ Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon festival. Your seat will be empty. So my father will notice you’re gone. ¹⁹ On the third day go to the place where you hid when this trouble began. Wait by the rock Ezel. ²⁰ On the third day I will shoot three arrows to the side of the rock. I will shoot as if I am shooting at a target. ²¹ Then I will send a boy and tell him to go find the arrows. I may say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you. Bring them here.’ If so, you may come out of hiding. You may do this as surely as the Lord lives because you are safe. There is no danger. ²² But I may say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you.’ If I do, you must go, because the Lord has sent you away. ²³ Remember what we talked about. The Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”

²⁴ So David hid in the field. And when the New Moon festival came, the king sat down to eat. ²⁵ He sat where he always sat, near the wall. Jonathan sat across from him, and Abner sat next to him. But David’s place was empty. ²⁶ That day Saul said nothing. He thought, “Maybe something has happened to David so that he is unclean.” ²⁷ But the next day was the second day of the month. And David’s place was empty again. So Saul said to Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the festival yesterday or today?”

²⁸ Jonathan answered, “David begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. ²⁹ He said, ‘Let me go, because our family has a sacrifice in the town. And my brother has ordered me to be there. Now if I am your friend, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”

³⁰ Then Saul became very angry with Jonathan. He said, “You son of an evil and disobedient woman! I know you are on the side of David son of Jesse! You bring shame on yourself and on your mother who gave birth to you. ³¹ As long as Jesse’s son lives, you’ll never be king or have a kingdom. Now send for David and bring him to me. He must die!”

³² Jonathan asked his father, “Why should David be killed? What wrong has he done?” ³³ Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan, trying to kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father really wanted to kill David. ³⁴ Jonathan was very angry and left the table. That second day of the month he refused to eat. He was upset about what his father wanted to do to David.

³⁵ The next morning Jonathan went out to the field. He went to meet David as they had agreed. He had a young boy with him. ³⁶ Jonathan said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” When he ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. ³⁷ The boy ran to the place where Jonathan’s arrow fell. But Jonathan called, “The arrow is beyond you!” ³⁸ Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and brought it back to his master. ³⁹ (The boy knew nothing about what this meant. Only Jonathan and David knew.) ⁴⁰ Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy. He told him, “Go back to town.”

⁴¹ When the boy left, David came out from the south side of the rock. He bowed facedown on the ground before Jonathan. He did this three times. Then David and Jonathan kissed each other. They cried together, but David cried the most.

⁴² Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace. We have promised by the Lord that we will be friends. We said, ‘The Lord will be a witness between you and me, and between our descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to town.