Chronological

Saul and the Medium of Endor

28 Later, the Philistines gathered their armies to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You understand that you and your men must join with me in my army.”

² David answered, “Certainly! Then you can see for yourself what I, your servant, can do!”

Achish said, “Fine, I’ll make you my bodyguard for life.”

³ Now Samuel was dead, and all the Israelites had shown their sadness for him. They had buried Samuel in his hometown of Ramah.

And Saul had forced out the mediums and fortune-tellers from the land of Israel.

⁴ The Philistines came together and made camp at Shunem. Saul gathered all the Israelites and made camp at Gilboa. ⁵ When he saw the Philistine army, he was afraid. His heart pounded with fear. ⁶ He prayed to the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him through dreams, Urim or prophets. ⁷ Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium. I’ll go and ask her what will happen.”

His servants answered, “There is a medium in Endor.”

⁸ Then Saul put on other clothes so no one would know who he was. At night Saul and two of his men went to see the woman. Saul said to her, “Talk to a spirit for me. Call up the person I name.”

⁹ But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has forced the mediums and fortune-tellers out from the land of Israel. You are trying to trap me and kill me.”

¹⁰ Saul made a promise to the woman in the name of the Lord. He said, “As surely as the Lord lives, you won’t be punished for doing this.”

¹¹ The woman asked, “Whom do you want me to bring up for you?”

He answered, “Bring up Samuel.”

¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed loudly. She said, “Why have you tricked me? You are Saul!”

¹³ The king said to the woman, “Don’t be afraid! What do you see?”

The woman said, “I see a spirit coming up out of the ground.”

¹⁴ Saul asked, “What does he look like?”

The woman answered, “An old man wearing a coat is coming up.”

Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed facedown on the ground.

¹⁵ Samuel asked Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

Saul said, “I am greatly troubled. The Philistines are fighting against me. God has left me. He won’t answer me anymore, either by prophets or in dreams. That’s why I called you. I want you to tell me what to do.”

¹⁶ Samuel said, “The Lord has left you. He has become your enemy. So why do you call on me? ¹⁷ He has done what he said he would do. He said these things through me. He has torn the kingdom out of your hands. He has given it to one of your neighbors, David. ¹⁸ You did not obey the Lord. You did not show the Amalekites how angry he was with them. That’s why he has done this to you today. ¹⁹ The Lord will give both Israel and you to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will let the Philistines defeat the army of Israel.”

²⁰ Saul quickly fell to the ground and lay there. He was afraid because of what Samuel had said. He was also very weak because he had eaten nothing all that day and night.

²¹ Then the woman came to Saul. She saw that he was really frightened. She said, “Look, I, your servant, have obeyed you. I have risked my life and done what you told me to do. ²² Now please listen to me. Let me give you some food. Then you may eat and have enough strength to go on your way.”

²³ But Saul refused. He said, “I won’t eat.”

His servants joined the woman in asking him to eat. And he listened to them. So he got up from the ground and sat on the bed.

²⁴ The woman had a fat calf at the house. She quickly killed it. She took some flour and mixed dough with her hands. Then she baked some bread without yeast. ²⁵ She put the food before them, and they ate. Then that same night they got up and left.

David Goes Back to Ziklag

29 The Philistines gathered all their soldiers at Aphek. Israel camped by the spring at Jezreel. ² The Philistine kings were marching with their groups of 100 and 1,000 men. David and his men were marching at the back with Achish. ³ The Philistine commanders asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

Achish told them, “This is David. He was an officer to Saul king of Israel. But he has been with me for over a year now. I have found nothing wrong in David since the time he left Saul and came to me.”

⁴ But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish. They said, “Send David back! He must go back to the city you gave him. He can’t go with us into battle. If he’s here, we’ll have an enemy in our own camp. He would please his king by killing our own men. ⁵ David is the one the Israelites sing about in their dances:

⁶ So Achish called David. He said to him, “As surely as the Lord lives, you are loyal. I would be pleased to have you serve in my army. Since the day you came to me, I have found no wrong in you. But the Philistine kings don’t trust you. ⁷ Go back in peace. Don’t do anything to displease the Philistine kings.”

⁸ David asked, “What wrong have I done? What evil have you found in me from the day I came to you until now? Why won’t you allow me to fight your enemies, my lord and king?”

⁹ Achish answered, “I know you are as pleasing to me as an angel from God. But the Philistine commanders have said, ‘David can’t go with us into battle.’ ¹⁰ Early in the morning you and your master’s servants, the Israelites, should go back. Go back to the city I gave you. Leave as soon as the sun comes up.”

¹¹ So David and his men got up early in the morning. They went back to the country of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David’s War with the Amalekites

30 On the third day David and his men arrived at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern Judah and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it. ² They took the women and everyone in Ziklag as prisoners, both young and old. But they did not kill any of the people. They only took them away.

³ When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found the town had been burned. Their wives, sons and daughters had been taken as prisoners. ⁴ Then David and his army cried loudly until they were too weak to cry anymore. ⁵ David’s two wives had also been taken. They were Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal from Carmel. ⁶ The men in the army were threatening to kill David with stones. This upset David very much. Each man was sad and angry because his sons and daughters had been taken as prisoners. But David found strength in the Lord his God. ⁷ David said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring me the holy vest.”

⁸ Then David prayed to the Lord. He said, “Should I chase the people who took our families? Will I catch them?”

The Lord answered, “Chase them. You will catch them. You will succeed in saving your families.”

⁹ David and the 600 men with him came to the Besor Ravine. Some of the men stayed there. ¹⁰ David and 400 men kept up the chase. The other 200 men stayed behind because they were too tired and weak to cross the ravine.

¹¹ David’s men found an Egyptian in a field. They took him to David. They gave the Egyptian some water to drink and some food to eat. ¹² They gave him a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. He felt better after eating. He had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and nights.

¹³ David asked him, “Who is your master? Where do you come from?”

He answered, “I’m an Egyptian. I’m the slave of an Amalekite. Three days ago my master left me, because I became sick. ¹⁴ We attacked the southern area of the Kerethites. We attacked the land of Judah and the southern area belonging to Caleb. We burned Ziklag, as well.

¹⁵ David asked him, “Will you lead me to the people who took our families?”

He answered, “Yes, if you will make a promise to me before God. Promise that you won’t kill me or give me back to my master. Then I will take you to them.”

¹⁶ So the Egyptian led David to the Amalekites. They were lying around on the ground, eating and drinking. They were celebrating with the things they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. ¹⁷ David fought them from sunset until evening the next day. None of them escaped, except 400 young men who rode off on their camels. ¹⁸ David got his two wives back. He also got back everything the Amalekites had taken. ¹⁹ Nothing was missing. David brought back everything: the young and old people, the sons and daughters, the valuable things and everything the Amalekites had taken. ²⁰ David took all the sheep and cattle. His men made these animals go in front. They said, “They are David’s prize.”

²¹ Then David came to the 200 men who had been too tired and weak to follow him. He had made them stay at the Besor Ravine. They came out to meet David and the army with him. When he came near, the men at the ravine greeted David and his army.

²² But there were evil men and troublemakers in the group that followed David. They said, “These 200 men didn’t go with us. So we won’t give them any of the things we took. But each man may take his wife and children and go.”

²³ David answered, “No, my brothers. Don’t do that after what the Lord has given us. He has given us the enemy who attacked us. ²⁴ Who will listen to what you say? The share will be the same for the man who stayed with the supplies as for the man who went into battle. All will share alike.” ²⁵ David made this an order and rule for Israel. This order and rule continues even today.

²⁶ David arrived in Ziklag. Then he sent some of the things he had taken from the Amalekites to his friends, the leaders of Judah. He said, “Here is a present for you from the things we took from the Lord’s enemies.”

²⁷ David sent some things from the Amalekites to the leaders in Bethel, Ramoth in the southern part of Judah, Jattir, ²⁸ Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa ²⁹ and Racal. He also sent some to the leaders of the cities of the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites, ³⁰ to Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach ³¹ and Hebron. He sent some things to the people in all the other places where he and his men had been.

The Death of Saul

31 The Philistines fought against Israel, and the Israelites ran away from them. Many Israelites were killed at Mount Gilboa. ² The Philistines fought hard against Saul and his sons. They killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. ³ The fighting became bad around Saul. When the archers shot at him, he was badly wounded. ⁴ He said to the officer who carried his armor, “Pull out your sword and kill me. Then those uncircumcised men won’t make fun of me and kill me.” But Saul’s officer refused, because he was afraid. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. ⁵ The officer saw that Saul was dead. So he threw himself on his own sword. And he died with Saul. ⁶ So Saul, his three sons and the officer who carried his armor died together that day.

⁷ Now there were Israelites who lived on the other side of Jezreel Valley. And some lived across the Jordan River. They saw how the Israelite army had run away. And they saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their cities and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived there.

⁸ The next day the Philistines came to take all the valuable things from the dead soldiers. They found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ They cut off Saul’s head and took off his armor. Then they sent men to tell the news through all the land of the Philistines. They told it in the temple of their idols and to their people. ¹⁰ They put Saul’s armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths. They also hung his body on the wall of Beth Shan.

¹¹ The people living in Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. ¹² So the brave soldiers of Jabesh marched all night and came to Beth Shan. They took the bodies of Saul and his sons off the wall of Beth Shan. Then they took them to Jabesh. There the people of Jabesh burned the bodies. ¹³ They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh. Then the people of Jabesh gave up eating for seven days.

A Song of Victory

For the director of music. By the Lord’s servant, David. David sang this song to the Lord. He sang it when the Lord had saved him from Saul and all his other enemies.