The First Book of Samuel

¹ Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of thehill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son ofJeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, anEphraimite:

² and he had two wives; the name of the one wasHannah, and the name of other Peninnah: and Peninnah hadchildren, but Hannah had no children.

³ And this man went upout of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrificeunto Jehovah of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophniand Phinehas, priests unto Jehovah, were there.

⁴ And whenthe day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah hiswife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:

⁵ butunto Hannah he gave a double portion; for he loved Hannah, butJehovah had shut up her womb.

⁶ And her rival provoked hersore, to make her fret, because Jehovah had shut up her womb.

⁷ And [as] he did so year by year, when she went up to thehouse of Jehovah, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, anddid not eat.

⁸ And Elkanah her husband said unto her,Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why isthy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?

⁹ So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, andafter they had drunk. Now Eli the priest was sitting upon hisseat by the door-post of the temple of Jehovah.

¹⁰ And shewas in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto Jehovah, and weptsore.

¹¹ And she vowed a vow, and said, O Jehovah of hosts,if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, andremember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto thyhandmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto Jehovah all thedays of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

¹² And it came to pass, as she continued praying beforeJehovah, that Eli marked her mouth.

¹³ Now Hannah, she spakein her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard:therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

¹⁴ And Eli saidunto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine fromthee.

¹⁵ And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am awoman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine norstrong drink, but I poured out my soul before Jehovah.

¹⁶ Count not thy handmaid for a wicked woman; for out of theabundance of my complaint and my provocation have I spokenhitherto.

¹⁷ Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace; andthe God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked ofhim.

¹⁸ And she said, Let thy handmaid find favor in thysight. So the woman went her way, and did eat; and hercountenance was no more [sad].

¹⁹ And they rose up in the morning early, and worshippedbefore Jehovah, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah:and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and Jehovah remembered her.

²⁰ And it came to pass, when the time was come about, thatHannah conceived, and bare a son; and she called his nameSamuel, [saying], Because I have asked him of Jehovah.

²¹ And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up tooffer unto Jehovah the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.

²² ButHannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, [I will notgo up] until the child be weaned; and then I will bring him,that he may appear before Jehovah, and there abide for ever.

²³ And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeththee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only Jehovahestablish his word. So the woman tarried and gave her son suck,until she weaned him.

²⁴ And when she had weaned him, shetook him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah ofmeal, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house ofJehovah in Shiloh: and the child was young.

²⁵ And they slewthe bullock, and brought the child to Eli.

²⁶ And she said,Oh, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman thatstood by thee here, praying unto Jehovah.

²⁷ For this childI prayed; and Jehovah hath given me my petition which I asked ofhim:

²⁸ therefore also I have granted him to Jehovah; aslong as he liveth he is granted to Jehovah. And he worshippedJehovah there.

¹ And Hannah prayed, and said:My heart exulteth in Jehovah;My horn is exalted in Jehovah;My mouth is enlarged over mine enemies;Because I rejoice in thy salvation.

² There is none holy as Jehovah;For there is none besides thee,Neither is there any rock like our God.

³ Talk no more so exceeding proudly;Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth;For Jehovah is a God of knowledge,And by him actions are weighed.

⁴ The bows of the mighty men are broken;And they that stumbled are girded with strength.

⁵ They that were full have hired out themselves for bread;And they that were hungry have ceased [to hunger]:Yea, the barren hath borne seven;And she that hath many children languisheth.

⁶ Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive:He bringeth down to Sheol, and bringeth up.

⁷ Jehovah maketh poor, and maketh rich:He bringeth low, he also lifteth up.

⁸ He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,He lifteth up the needy from the dunghill,To make them sit with princes,And inherit the throne of glory:For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's,And he hath set the world upon them.

⁹ He will keep the feet of his holy ones;But the wicked shall be put to silence in darkness;For by strength shall no man prevail.

¹⁰ They that strive with Jehovah shall be broken to pieces;Against them will he thunder in heaven:Jehovah will judge the ends of the earth;And he will give strength unto his king,And exalt the horn of his anointed.

¹¹ And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the childdid minister unto Jehovah before Eli the priest.

¹² Now the sons of Eli were base men; they knew notJehovah.

¹³ And the custom of the priests with the peoplewas, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servantcame, while the flesh was boiling, with a flesh-hook of threeteeth in his hand;

¹⁴ and he struck it into the pan, orkettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the flesh-hook brought upthe priest took therewith. So they did in Shiloh unto all theIsraelites that came thither.

¹⁵ Yea, before they burnt thefat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man thatsacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will nothave boiled flesh of thee, but raw.

¹⁶ And if the man saidunto him, They will surely burn the fat first, and then take asmuch as thy soul desireth; then he would say, Nay, but thoushalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.

¹⁷ And the sin of the young men was very great beforeJehovah; for the men despised the offering of Jehovah.

¹⁸ But Samuel ministered before Jehovah, being a child,girded with a linen ephod.

¹⁹ Moreover his mother made him alittle robe, and brought it to him from year to year, when shecame up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

²⁰ And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, Jehovah givethee seed of this woman for the petition which was asked ofJehovah. And they went unto their own home.

²¹ And Jehovahvisited Hannah, and she conceived, and bare three sons and twodaughters. And the child Samuel grew before Jehovah.

²² Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sonsdid unto all Israel, and how that they lay with the women thatdid service at the door of the tent of meeting.

²³ And hesaid unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evildealings from all this people.

²⁴ Nay, my sons; for it is nogood report that I hear: ye make Jehovah's people to transgress.

²⁵ If one man sin against another, God shall judge him; butif a man sin against Jehovah, who shall entreat for him?Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto the voice of theirfather, because Jehovah was minded to slay them.

²⁶ And thechild Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with Jehovah,and also with men.

²⁷ And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said untohim, Thus saith Jehovah, Did I reveal myself unto the house ofthy father, when they were in Egypt [in bondage] to Pharaoh'shouse?

²⁸ and did I choose him out of all the tribes ofIsrael to be my priest, to go up unto mine altar, to burnincense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto thehouse of thy father all the offerings of the children of Israelmade by fire?

²⁹ Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and atmine offering, which I have commanded in [my] habitation, andhonorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with thechiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?

³⁰ Therefore Jehovah, the God of Israel, saith, I said indeed thatthy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before mefor ever: but now Jehovah saith, Be it far from me; for themthat honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall belightly esteemed.

³¹ Behold, the days come, that I will cutoff thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that thereshall not be an old man in thy house.

³² And thou shaltbehold the affliction of [my] habitation, in all the wealthwhich [God] shall give Israel; and there shall not be an old manin thy house for ever.

³³ And the man of thine, [whom] Ishall not cut off from mine altar, [shall be] to consume thineeyes, and to grieve thy heart; and all the increase of thy houseshall die in the flower of their age.

³⁴ And this shall bethe sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophniand Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them.

³⁵ AndI will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according tothat which is in my heart and in my mind: and I will build him asure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.

³⁶ And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left inthy house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silverand a loaf of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, intoone of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.

¹ And the child Samuel ministered unto Jehovah beforeEli. And the word of Jehovah was precious in those days; therewas no frequent vision.

² And it came to pass at that time,when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun towax dim, so that he could not see),

³ and the lamp of Godwas not yet gone out, and Samuel was laid down [to sleep], inthe temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was;

⁴ thatJehovah called Samuel; and he said, Here am I.

⁵ And he ranunto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And hesaid, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.

⁶ And Jehovah called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose andwent to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And heanswered, I called not, my son; lie down again.

⁷ Now Samueldid not yet know Jehovah, neither was the word of Jehovah yetrevealed unto him.

⁸ And Jehovah called Samuel again thethird time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I;for thou calledst me. And Eli perceived that Jehovah had calledthe child.

⁹ Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down:and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak,Jehovah; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down inhis place.

¹⁰ And Jehovah came, and stood, and called as at othertimes, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel said, Speak; for thy servantheareth.

¹¹ And Jehovah said to Samuel, Behold, I will do athing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one thatheareth it shall tingle.

¹² In that day I will performagainst Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, fromthe beginning even unto the end.

¹³ For I have told him thatI will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knew,because his sons did bring a curse upon themselves, and herestrained them not.

¹⁴ And therefore I have sworn unto thehouse of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not beexpiated with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

¹⁵ And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doorsof the house of Jehovah. And Samuel feared to show Eli thevision.

¹⁶ Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son.And he said, Here am I.

¹⁷ And he said, What is the thingthat [Jehovah] hath spoken unto thee? I pray thee, hide it notfrom me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide anythingfrom me of all the things that he spake unto thee.

¹⁸ AndSamuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And hesaid, It is Jehovah: let him do what seemeth him good.

¹⁹ And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and did letnone of his words fall to the ground.

²⁰ And all Israel fromDan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be aprophet of Jehovah.

²¹ And Jehovah appeared again in Shiloh;for Jehovah revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word ofJehovah.

¹ And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, andencamped beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines encamped inAphek.

² And the Philistines put themselves in array againstIsrael: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten beforethe Philistines; and they slew of the army in the field aboutfour thousand men.

³ And when the people were come into thecamp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath Jehovah smittenus to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of thecovenant of Jehovah out of Shiloh unto us, that it may comeamong us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies.

⁴ Sothe people sent to Shiloh; and they brought from thence the arkof the covenant of Jehovah of hosts, who sitteth [above] thecherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, werethere with the ark of the covenant of God.

⁵ And when the ark of the covenant of Jehovah came intothe camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that theearth rang again.

⁶ And when the Philistines heard the noiseof the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this greatshout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that theark of Jehovah was come into the camp.

⁷ And the Philistineswere afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And theysaid, Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thingheretofore.

⁸ Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of thehand of these mighty gods? these are the gods that smote theEgyptians with all manner of plagues in the wilderness.

⁹ Bestrong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that yebe not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quityourselves like men, and fight.

¹⁰ And the Philistinesfought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man to histent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell ofIsrael thirty thousand footmen.

¹¹ And the ark of God wastaken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

¹² And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, andcame to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes rent, and withearth upon his head.

¹³ And when he came, lo, Eli wassitting upon his seat by the wayside watching; for his hearttrembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into thecity, and told it, all the city cried out.

¹⁴ And when Eliheard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noiseof this tumult? And the man hasted, and came and told Eli.

¹⁵ Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes wereset, so that he could not see.

¹⁶ And the man said unto Eli,I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to-day out of thearmy. And he said, How went the matter, my son?

¹⁷ And hethat brought the tidings answered and said, Israel is fledbefore the Philistines, and there hath been also a greatslaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni andPhinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.

¹⁸ And itcame to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that [Eli]feel from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and hisneck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. Andhe had judged Israel forty years.

¹⁹ And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was withchild, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings thatthe ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and herhusband were dead, she bowed herself and brought forth; for herpains came upon her.

²⁰ And about the time of her death thewomen that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hastbrought forth a son. But she answered not, neither did sheregard it.

²¹ And she named the child Ichabod, saying, Theglory is departed from Israel; because the ark of God was taken,and because of her father-in-law and her husband.

²² And shesaid, The glory is departed from Israel; for the ark of God istaken.

¹ Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and theybrought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod.

² And the Philistinestook the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, andset it by Dagon.

³ And when they of Ashdod arose early onthe morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the groundbefore the ark of Jehovah. And they took Dagon, and set him inhis place again.

⁴ And when they arose early on the morrowmorning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the groundbefore the ark of Jehovah; and the head of Dagon and both thepalms of his hands [lay] cut off upon the threshold; only [thestump of] Dagon was left to him.

⁵ Therefore neither thepriests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread onthe threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, unto this day.

⁶ But the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon them of Ashdod,and he destroyed them, and smote them with tumors, even Ashdodand the borders thereof.

⁷ And when the men of Ashdod sawthat it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shallnot abide with us; for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagonour god.

⁸ They sent therefore and gathered all the lords ofthe Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with theark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of theGod of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried theark of the God of Israel [thither].

⁹ And it was so, that,after they had carried it about, the hand of Jehovah was againstthe city with a very great discomfiture: and he smote the men ofthe city, both small and great; and tumors brake out upon them.

¹⁰ So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came topass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites criedout, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God ofIsrael to us, to slay us and our people.

¹¹ They senttherefore and gathered together all the lords of thePhilistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God ofIsrael, and let it go again to its own place, that is slay usnot, and our people. For there was a deadly discomfiturethroughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

¹² And the men that died not were smitten with the tumors;and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

¹ And the ark of Jehovah was in the country of thePhilistines seven months.

² And the Philistines called forthe priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do with theark of Jehovah? show us wherewith we shall sent it to its place.

³ And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God ofIsrael, send it not empty; but by all means return him atrespass-offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall beknown to you why his hand is not removed from you.

⁴ Thensaid they, What shall be the trespass-offering which we shallreturn to him? And they said, Five golden tumors, and fivegolden mice, [according to] the number of the lords of thePhilistines; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

⁵ Wherefore ye shall make images of your tumors, and imagesof your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto theGod of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from offyou, and from off your gods, and from off your land.

⁶ Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians andPharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had wrought wonderfullyamong them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?

⁷ Now therefore take and prepare you a new cart, and twomilch kine, on which there hath come no yoke; and tie the kineto the cart, and bring their calves home from them;

⁸ andtake the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart; and put thejewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass-offering, ina coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go.

⁹ And see; if it goeth up by the way of its own border toBeth-shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not,then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it wasa chance that happened to us.

¹⁰ And the men did so, and took two milch kine, and tiedthem to the cart, and shut up their calves at home;

¹¹ andthey put the ark of Jehovah upon the cart, and the coffer withthe mice of gold and the images of their tumors.

¹² And thekine took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh; they wentalong the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside tothe right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistineswent after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh.

¹³ And theyof Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley;and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced tosee it.

¹⁴ And the cart came into the field of Joshua theBeth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone:and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine fora burnt-offering unto Jehovah.

¹⁵ And the Levites took downthe ark of Jehovah, and the coffer that was with it, wherein thejewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and themen of Beth-shemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificedsacrifices the same day unto Jehovah.

¹⁶ And when the fivelords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron thesame day.

¹⁷ And these are the golden tumors which the Philistinesreturned for a trespass-offering unto Jehovah: for Ashdod one,for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;

¹⁸ and the golden mice, according to the number of all thecities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both offortified cities and of country villages, even unto the greatstone, whereon they set down the ark of Jehovah, [which stoneremaineth] unto this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.

¹⁹ And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because theyhad looked into the ark of Jehovah, he smote of the peopleseventy men, [and] fifty thousand men; and the people mourned,because Jehovah had smitten the people with a great slaughter.

²⁰ And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to standbefore Jehovah, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up fromus?

²¹ And they sent messengers to the inhabitants ofKiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought back theark of Jehovah; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.

¹ And the men of Kiriath-jearim came, and fetched up theark of Jehovah, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in thehill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of Jehovah.

² And it came to pass, from the day that the ark abode inKiriath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years:and all the house of Israel lamented after Jehovah.

³ AndSamuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye doreturn unto Jehovah with all your heart, then put away theforeign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct yourhearts unto Jehovah, and serve him only; and he will deliver youout of the hand of the Philistines.

⁴ Then the children ofIsrael did put away the Baalim and the Ashtaroth, and servedJehovah only.

⁵ And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and Iwill pray for you unto Jehovah.

⁶ And they gathered togetherto Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before Jehovah, andfasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned againstJehovah. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpah.

⁷ And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israelwere gathered together to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistineswent up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heardit, they were afraid of the Philistines.

⁸ And the childrenof Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto Jehovah our Godfor us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.

⁹ And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a wholeburnt-offering unto Jehovah: and Samuel cried unto Jehovah forIsrael; and Jehovah answered him.

¹⁰ And as Samuel wasoffering up the burnt-offering, the Philistines drew near tobattle against Israel; but Jehovah thundered with a greatthunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them;and they were smitten down before Israel.

¹¹ And the men ofIsrael went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, andsmote them, until they came under Beth-car.

¹² Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpahand Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hithertohath Jehovah helped us.

¹³ So the Philistines were subdued,and they came no more within the border of Israel: and the handof Jehovah was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

¹⁴ And the cities which the Philistines had taken fromIsrael were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; andthe border thereof did Israel deliver out of the hand of thePhilistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵ And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

¹⁶ And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el andGilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places.

¹⁷ And his return was to Ramah, for there was his house; andthere he judged Israel: and he built there an altar unto Jehovah.

¹ And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he madehis sons judges over Israel.

² Now the name of hisfirst-born was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: theywere judges in Beer-sheba.

³ And his sons walked not in hisways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, andperverted justice.

⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselvestogether, and came to Samuel unto Ramah;

⁵ and they saidunto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thyways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a kingto judge us. And Samuel prayed unto Jehovah.

⁷ And Jehovahsaid unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in allthat they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, butthey have rejected me, that I should not be king over them.

⁸ According to all the works which they have done since theday that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, inthat they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do theyalso unto thee.

⁹ Now therefore hearken unto their voice:howbeit thou shalt protest solemnly unto them, and shalt showthem the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

¹⁰ And Samuel told all the words of Jehovah unto thepeople that asked of him a king.

¹¹ And he said, This willbe the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he willtake your sons, and appoint them unto him, for his chariots, andto be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots;

¹² and he will appoint them unto him for captains ofthousands, and captains of fifties; and [he will set some] toplow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make hisinstruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots.

¹³ And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to becooks, and to be bakers.

¹⁴ And he will take your fields,and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them,and give them to his servants.

¹⁵ And he will take the tenthof your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers,and to his servants.

¹⁶ And he will take your men-servants,and your maid-servants, and your goodliest young men, and yourasses, and put them to his work.

¹⁷ He will take the tenthof your flocks: and ye shall be his servants.

¹⁸ And yeshall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye shallhave chosen you; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day.

¹⁹ But the people refused to hearken unto the voice ofSamuel; and they said, Nay: but we will have a king over us,

²⁰ that we also may be like all the nations, and that ourking may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

²¹ And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and herehearsed them in the ears of Jehovah.

²² And Jehovah saidto Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. AndSamuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto hiscity.

¹ Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish,the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the sonof Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor.

² And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a young man and a goodly:and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier personthan he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any ofthe people.

³ And the asses of Kish, Saul's father, werelost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of theservants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.

⁴ And hepassed through the hill-country of Ephraim, and passed throughthe land of Shalishah, but they found them not: then they passedthrough the land of Shaalim, and there they were not: and hepassed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found themnot.

⁵ When they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said tohis servant that was with him, Come, and let us return, lest myfather leave off caring for the asses, and be anxious for us.

⁶ And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city aman of God, and he is a man that is held in honor; all that hesaith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventurehe can tell us concerning our journey whereon we go.

⁷ Thensaid Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall webring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and thereis not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we?

⁸ And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have inmy hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I giveto the man of God, to tell us our way.

⁹ (Beforetime inIsrael, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he said, Come,and let us go to the seer; for he that is now called a Prophetwas beforetime called a Seer.)

¹⁰ Then said Saul to hisservant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went unto the citywhere the man of God was.

¹¹ As they went up the ascent to the city, they foundyoung maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Isthe seer here?

¹² And they answered them, and said, He is;behold, [he is] before thee: make haste now, for he is cometo-day into the city; for the people have a sacrifice to-day inthe high place:

¹³ as soon as ye are come into the city, yeshall straightway find him, before he goeth up to the high placeto eat; for the people will not eat until he come, because hedoth bless the sacrifice; [and] afterwards they eat that arebidden. Now therefore get you up; for at this time ye shall findhim.

¹⁴ And they went up to the city; [and] as they camewithin the city, behold, Samuel came out toward them, to go upto the high place.

¹⁵ Now Jehovah had revealed unto Samuel a day before Saulcame, saying,

¹⁶ To-morrow about this time I will send theea man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him tobe prince over my people Israel; and he shall save my people outof the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon mypeople, because their cry is come unto me.

¹⁷ And whenSamuel saw Saul, Jehovah said unto him, Behold, the man of whomI spake to thee! this same shall have authority over my people.

¹⁸ Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tellme, I pray thee, where the seer's house is.

¹⁹ And Samuelanswered Saul, and said, I am the seer; go up before me unto thehigh place, for ye shall eat with me to-day: and in the morningI will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thy heart.

²⁰ And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, setnot they mind on them; for they are found. And for whom is allthat is desirable in Israel? Is it not for thee, and for all thyfather's house?

²¹ And Saul answered and said, Am not I aBenjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and myfamily the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin?wherefore then speakest thou to me after this manner?

²² And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought theminto the guest-chamber, and made them sit in the chiefest placeamong them that were bidden, who were about thirty persons.

²³ And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring the portion which Igave thee, of which I said unto thee, Set it by thee.

²⁴ Andthe cook took up the thigh, and that which was upon it, and setit before Saul. And [Samuel] said, Behold, that which hath beenreserved! set it before thee and eat; because unto the appointedtime hath it been kept for thee, for I said, I have invited thepeople. So Saul did eat with Samuel that day.

²⁵ And when they were come down from the high place intothe city, he communed with Saul upon the housetop.

²⁶ Andthey arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of theday, that Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, saying, Up,that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went outboth of them, he and Samuel, abroad.

²⁷ As they were goingdown at the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid theservant pass on before us (and he passed on), but stand thoustill first, that I may cause thee to hear the word of God.

¹ Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it uponhis head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not that Jehovah hathanointed thee to be prince over his inheritance?

² Whenthou art departed from me to-day, then thou shalt find two menby Rachel's sepulchre, in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; andthey will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seekare found; and, lo, thy father hath left off caring for theasses, and is anxious for you, saying, What shall I do for myson?

³ Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thoushalt come to the oak of Tabor; and there shall meet thee therethree men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids,and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carryinga bottle of wine:

⁴ and they will salute thee, and givethee two loaves of bread, which thou shalt receive of theirhand.

⁵ After that thou shalt come to the hill of God,where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come topass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shaltmeet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with apsaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp, before them;and they will be prophesying:

⁶ and the Spirit of Jehovahwill come mightily upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them,and shalt be turned into another man.

⁷ And let it be, whenthese signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion shallserve thee; for God is with thee.

⁸ And thou shalt go downbefore me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, tooffer burnt-offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices ofpeace-offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come untothee, and show thee what thou shalt do.

⁹ And it was so, that, when he had turned his back to gofrom Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signscame to pass that day.

¹⁰ And when they came thither to thehill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of Godcame mightily upon him, and he prophesied among them.

¹¹ And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that,behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people saidone to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish?Is Saul also among the prophets?

¹² And one of the sameplace answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore itbecame a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?

¹³ Andwhen he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the highplace.

¹⁴ And Saul's uncle said unto him and to his servant,Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses; and when we sawthat they were not found, we came to Samuel.

¹⁵ And Saul'suncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you.

¹⁶ And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly thatthe asses were found. But concerning the matter of the kingdom,whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.

¹⁷ And Samuel called the people together unto Jehovah toMizpah;

¹⁸ and he said unto the children of Israel, Thussaith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out ofEgypt, and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, andout of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you:

¹⁹ but ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saveth youout of all your calamities and your distresses; and ye have saidunto him, [Nay], but set a king over us. Now therefore presentyourselves before Jehovah by your tribes, and by your thousands.

²⁰ So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and thetribe of Benjamin was taken.

²¹ And he brought the tribe ofBenjamin near by their families; and the family of the Matriteswas taken; and Saul the son of Kish was taken: but when theysought him, he could not be found.

²² Therefore they askedof Jehovah further, Is there yet a man to come hither? AndJehovah answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the baggage.

²³ And they ran and fetched him thence; and when he stoodamong the people, he was higher than any of the people from hisshoulders and upward.

²⁴ And Samuel said to all the people,See ye him whom Jehovah hath chosen, that there is none like himalong all the people? And all the people shouted, and said,[Long] live the king.

²⁵ Then Samuel told the people the manner of thekingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before Jehovah.And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

²⁶ And Saul also went to his house to Gibeah; and therewent with him the host, whose hearts God had touched.

²⁷ But certain worthless fellows said, How shall this man save us?And they despised him, and brought him no present. But he heldhis peace.

¹ Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped againstJabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Makea covenant with us, and we will serve thee.

² And Nahashthe Ammonite said unto them, On this condition will I make itwith you, that all your right eyes be put out; and I will lay itfor a reproach upon all Israel.

³ And the elders of Jabeshsaid unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may sendmessengers unto all the borders of Israel; and then, if there benone to save us, we will come out to thee.

⁴ Then came themessengers to Gibeah of Saul, and spake these words in the earsof the people: and all the people lifted up their voice, andwept.

⁵ And, behold, Saul came following the oxen out ofthe field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep?And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh.

⁶ And the Spirit of God came mightily upon Saul when heheard those words, and his anger was kindled greatly.

⁷ Andhe took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent themthroughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers,saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel,so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the dread of Jehovah fellon the people, and they came out as one man.

⁸ And henumbered them in Bezek; and the children of Israel were threehundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

⁹ And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye sayunto the men of Jabesh-gilead, To-morrow, by the time the sun ishot, ye shall have deliverance. And the messengers came and toldthe men of Jabesh; and they were glad.

¹⁰ Therefore the menof Jabesh said, To-morrow we will come out unto you, and yeshall do with us all that seemeth good unto you.

¹¹ And itwas so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in threecompanies; and they came into the midst of the camp in themorning watch, and smote the Ammonites until the heat of theday: and it came to pass, that they that remained werescattered, so that not two of them were left together.

¹² And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said,Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them todeath.

¹³ And Saul said, There shall not a man be put todeath this day; for to-day Jehovah hath wrought deliverance inIsrael.

¹⁴ Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us goto Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.

¹⁵ And all thepeople went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king beforeJehovah in Gilgal; and there they offered sacrifices ofpeace-offerings before Jehovah; and there Saul and all the menof Israel rejoiced greatly.

¹ And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I havehearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and havemade a king over you.

² And now, behold, the king walkethbefore you; and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sonsare with you: and I have walked before you from my youth untothis day.

³ Here I am: witness against me before Jehovah,and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose asshave I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed?or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind mine eyestherewith? and I will restore it you.

⁴ And they said, Thouhast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou takenaught of any man's hand.

⁵ And he said unto them, Jehovahis witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day,that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they said, He iswitness.

⁶ And Samuel said unto the people, It is Jehovah thatappointed Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up outof the land of Egypt.

⁷ Now therefore stand still, that Imay plead with you before Jehovah concerning all the righteousacts of Jehovah, which he did to you and to your fathers.

⁸ When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried untoJehovah, then Jehovah sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forthyour fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place.

⁹ But they forgat Jehovah their God; and he sold them intothe hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into thehand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab;and they fought against them.

¹⁰ And they cried untoJehovah, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsakenJehovah, and have served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth: but nowdeliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will servethee.

¹¹ And Jehovah sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, andJephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of yourenemies on every side; and ye dwelt in safety.

¹² And whenye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon cameagainst you, ye said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign overus; when Jehovah your God was your king.

¹³ Now thereforebehold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have asked for:and, behold, Jehovah hath set a king over you.

¹⁴ If yewill fear Jehovah, and serve him, and hearken unto his voice,and not rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, and both yeand also the king that reigneth over you be followers of Jehovahyour God, [well]:

¹⁵ but if ye will not hearken unto thevoice of Jehovah, but rebel against the commandment of Jehovah,then will the hand of Jehovah be against you, as it was againstyour fathers.

¹⁶ Now therefore stand still and see thisgreat thing, which Jehovah will do before your eyes.

¹⁷ Isit not wheat harvest to-day? I will call unto Jehovah, that hemay send thunder and rain; and ye shall know and see that yourwickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of Jehovah,in asking you a king.

¹⁸ So Samuel called unto Jehovah; andJehovah sent thunder and rain that day: and all the peoplegreatly feared Jehovah and Samuel.

¹⁹ And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thyservants unto Jehovah thy God, that we die not; for we haveadded unto all our sins [this] evil, to ask us a king.

²⁰ And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not; ye have indeed doneall this evil; yet turn not aside from following Jehovah, butserve Jehovah with all your heart:

²¹ and turn ye notaside; for [then would ye go] after vain things which cannotprofit nor deliver, for they are vain.

²² For Jehovah willnot forsake his people for his great name's sake, because ithath pleased Jehovah to make you a people unto himself.

²³ Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin againstJehovah in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you inthe good and the right way.

²⁴ Only fear Jehovah, and servehim in truth with all your heart; for consider how great thingshe hath done for you.

²⁵ But if ye shall still do wickedly,ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.

¹ Saul was [forty] years old when he began to reign; andwhen he had reigned two years over Israel,

² Saul chose himthree thousand men of Israel, whereof two thousand were withSaul in Michmash and in the mount of Beth-el, and a thousandwere with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of thepeople he sent every man to his tent.

³ And Jonathan smotethe garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba: and thePhilistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughoutall the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.

⁴ And allIsrael heard say that Saul had smitten the garrison of thePhilistines, and also that Israel was had in abomination withthe Philistines. And the people were gathered together afterSaul to Gilgal.

⁵ And the Philistines assembled themselves together tofight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousandhorsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore inmultitude: and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastwardof Beth-aven.

⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they werein a strait (for the people were distressed), then the peopledid hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, andin coverts, and in pits.

⁷ Now some of the Hebrews had goneover the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but as for Saul,he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

⁸ And he tarried seven days, according to the set timethat Samuel [had appointed]: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; andthe people were scattered from him.

⁹ And Saul said, Bringhither the burnt-offering to me, and the peace-offerings. And heoffered the burnt-offering.

¹⁰ And it came to pass that, assoon as he had made an end of offering the burnt-offering,behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that hemight salute him.

¹¹ And Samuel said, What hast thou done?And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered fromme, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and thatthe Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash;

¹² therefore said I, Now will the Philistines come downupon me to Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor ofJehovah: I forced myself therefore, and offered theburnt-offering.

¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast donefoolishly; thou hast not kept the commandment of Jehovah thyGod, which he commanded thee: for now would Jehovah haveestablished thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.

¹⁴ But nowthy kingdom shall not continue: Jehovah hath sought him a manafter his own heart, and Jehovah hath appointed him to be princeover his people, because thou hast not kept that which Jehovahcommanded thee.

¹⁵ And Samuel arose, and gat him up fromGilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin.And Saul numbered the people that were present with him,about six hundred men.

¹⁶ And Saul, and Jonathan his son,and the people that were present with them, abode in Geba ofBenjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.

¹⁷ Andthe spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in threecompanies: one company turned unto the way that leadeth toOphrah, unto the land of Shual;

¹⁸ and another companyturned the way to Beth-horon; and another company turned the wayof the border that looketh down upon the valley of Zeboim towardthe wilderness.

¹⁹ Now there was no smith found throughout all the landof Israel; for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make themswords or spears:

²⁰ but all the Israelites went down tothe Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and hiscoulter, and his axe, and his mattock;

²¹ yet they had afile for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks,and for the axes, and to set the goads.

²² So it came topass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword norspear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Sauland Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was therefound.

²³ And the garrison of the Philistines went out untothe pass of Michmash.

¹ Now it fell upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saulsaid unto the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us goover to the Philistines' garrison, that is on yonder side. Buthe told not his father.

² And Saul abode in the uttermostpart of Gibeah under the pomegranate-tree which is in Migron:and the people that were with him were about six hundred men;

³ and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the sonof Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Jehovah in Shiloh,wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan wasgone.

⁴ And between the passes, by which Jonathan sought togo over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a rocky cragon the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and thename of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.

⁵ The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash,and the other on the south in front of Geba.

⁶ And Jonathan said to the young man that bare hisarmor, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of theseuncircumcised: it may be that Jehovah will work for us; forthere is no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few.

⁷ And his armorbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thyheart: turn thee, behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.

⁸ Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto themen, and we will disclose ourselves unto them.

⁹ If theysay thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will standstill in our place, and will not go up unto them.

¹⁰ But ifthey say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up; for Jehovahhath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be the signunto us.

¹¹ And both of them disclosed themselves unto thegarrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold,the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hidthemselves.

¹² And the men of the garrison answeredJonathan and his armorbearer, and said, Come up to us, and wewill show you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armorbearer,Come up after me; for Jehovah hath delivered them into the handof Israel.

¹³ And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands andupon his feet, and his armorbearer after him: and they fellbefore Jonathan; and his armorbearer slew them after him.

¹⁴ And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and hisarmorbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half afurrow's length in an acre of land.

¹⁵ And there was atrembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people;the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled; and theearth quaked: so there was an exceeding great trembling.

¹⁶ And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjaminlooked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went[hither] and thither.

¹⁷ Then said Saul unto the peoplethat were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. Andwhen they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armorbearerwere not there.

¹⁸ And Saul said unto Ahijah, Bring hitherthe ark of God. For the ark of God was [there] at that time withthe children of Israel.

¹⁹ And it came to pass, while Saultalked unto the priest, that the tumult that was in the camp ofthe Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said unto thepriest, Withdraw thy hand.

²⁰ And Saul and all the peoplethat were with him were gathered together, and came to thebattle: and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow,[and there was] a very great discomfiture.

²¹ Now theHebrews that were with the Philistines as beforetime, and thatwent up with them into the camp, [from the country] round about,even they also [turned] to be with the Israelites that were withSaul and Jonathan.

²² Likewise all the men of Israel thathad hid themselves in the hill-country of Ephraim, when theyheard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hardafter them in the battle.

²³ So Jehovah saved Israel thatday: and the battle passed over by Beth-aven.

²⁴ And the men of Israel were distressed that day; forSaul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man thateateth any food until it be evening, and I be avenged on mineenemies. So none of the people tasted food.

²⁵ And all thepeople came into the forest; and there was honey upon theground.

²⁶ And when the people were come unto the forest,behold, the honey dropped: but no man put his hand to his mouth;for the people feared the oath.

²⁷ But Jonathan heard notwhen his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore heput forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped itin the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyeswere enlightened.

²⁸ Then answered one of the people, andsaid, Thy father straitly charged the people with an oath,saying, Cursed be the man that eateth food this day. And thepeople were faint.

²⁹ Then said Jonathan, My father hathtroubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have beenenlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.

³⁰ How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to-day ofthe spoil of their enemies which they found? for now hath therebeen no great slaughter among the Philistines.

³¹ And they smote of the Philistines that day fromMichmash to Aijalon. And the people were very faint;

³² andthe people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, andcalves, and slew them on the ground; and the people did eat themwith the blood.

³³ Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, thepeople sin against Jehovah, in that they eat with the blood. Andhe said, ye have dealt treacherously: roll a great stone unto methis day.

³⁴ And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among thepeople, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, andevery man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin notagainst Jehovah in eating with the blood. And all the peoplebrought every man his ox with him that night, and slew themthere.

³⁵ And Saul built an altar unto Jehovah: the samewas the first altar that he built unto Jehovah.

³⁶ And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistinesby night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, andlet us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoeverseemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw nearhither unto God.

³⁷ And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall Igo down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into thehand of Israel? But he answered him not that day.

³⁸ AndSaul said, Draw nigh hither, all ye chiefs of the people; andknow and see wherein this sin hath been this day.

³⁹ For,as Jehovah liveth, who saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathanmy son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among allthe people that answered him.

⁴⁰ Then said he unto allIsrael, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be onthe other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemethgood unto thee.

⁴¹ Therefore Saul said unto Jehovah, theGod of Israel, Show the right. And Jonathan and Saul were taken[by lot]; but the people escaped.

⁴² And Saul said, Cast[lots] between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken.

⁴³ Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hastdone. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did certainly taste alittle honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; and,lo, I must die.

⁴⁴ And Saul said, God do so and more also;for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan.

⁴⁵ And the people saidunto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this greatsalvation in Israel? Far from it: as Jehovah liveth, there shallnot one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wroughtwith God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he diednot.

⁴⁶ Then Saul went up from following the Philistines;and the Philistines went to their own place.

⁴⁷ Now whenSaul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against allhis enemies on every side, against Moab, and against thechildren of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings ofZobah, and against the Philistines: and whithersoever he turnedhimself, he put [them] to the worse.

⁴⁸ And he didvaliantly, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out ofthe hands of them that despoiled them.

⁴⁹ Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, andMalchishua; and the names of his two daughters were these: thename of the first-born Merab, and the name of the youngerMichal:

⁵⁰ and the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam thedaughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the captain of his host wasAbner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.

⁵¹ And Kish was thefather of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

⁵² And there was sore war against the Philistines allthe days of Saul: and when Saul saw any mighty man, or anyvaliant man, he took him unto him.

¹ And Samuel said unto Saul, Jehovah sent me to anointthee to be king over his people, over Israel: now thereforehearken thou unto the voice of the words of Jehovah.

² Thussaith Jehovah of hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did toIsrael, how he set himself against him in the way, when he cameup out of Egypt.

³ Now go and smite Amalek, and utterlydestroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay bothman and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

⁴ And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them inTelaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men ofJudah.

⁵ And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid waitin the valley.

⁶ And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go,depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroyyou with them; for ye showed kindness to all the children ofIsrael, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departedfrom among the Amalekites.

⁷ And Saul smote the Amalekites,from Havilah as thou goest to Shur, that is before Egypt.

⁸ And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterlydestroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

⁹ ButSaul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, andof the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all thatwas good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everythingthat was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

¹⁰ Then came the word of Jehovah unto Samuel, saying,

¹¹ It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; forhe is turned back from following me, and hath not performed mycommandments. And Samuel was wroth; and he cried unto Jehovahall night.

¹² And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in themorning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel,and, behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passedon, and went down to Gilgal.

¹³ And Samuel came to Saul;and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of Jehovah: I haveperformed the commandment of Jehovah.

¹⁴ And Samuel said,What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, andthe lowing of the oxen which I hear?

¹⁵ And Saul said, Theyhave brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared thebest of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thyGod; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

¹⁶ Then Samuelsaid unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what Jehovah hathsaid to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

¹⁷ And Samuel said, Though thou wast little in thine ownsight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? AndJehovah anointed thee king over Israel;

¹⁸ and Jehovah sentthee on a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinnersthe Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.

¹⁹ Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of Jehovah,but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil inthe sight of Jehovah?

²⁰ And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, Ihave obeyed the voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way whichJehovah sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, andhave utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

²¹ But the peopletook of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devotedthings, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God in Gilgal.

²² AndSamuel said, Hath Jehovah as great delight in burnt-offeringsand sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, toobey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat oframs.

²³ For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, andstubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hastrejected the word of Jehovah, he hath also rejected thee frombeing king.

²⁴ And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned; for I havetransgressed the commandment of Jehovah, and thy words, becauseI feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

²⁵ Nowtherefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me,that I may worship Jehovah.

²⁶ And Samuel said unto Saul, Iwill not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word ofJehovah, and Jehovah hath rejected thee from being king overIsrael.

²⁷ And as Samuel turned about to go away, [Saul]laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent.

²⁸ AndSamuel said unto him, Jehovah hath rent the kingdom of Israelfrom thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine,that is better than thou.

²⁹ And also the Strength ofIsrael will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that heshould repent.

³⁰ Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor menow, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and beforeIsrael, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah thyGod.

³¹ So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saulworshipped Jehovah.

³² Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the kingof the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him cheerfully. And Agagsaid, Surely the bitterness of death is past.

³³ And Samuelsaid, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thymother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in piecesbefore Jehovah in Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to hishouse to Gibeah of Saul.

³⁵ And Samuel came no more to seeSaul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul:and Jehovah repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

¹ And Jehovah said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mournfor Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king overIsrael? fill thy horn with oil, and go: I will send thee toJesse the Beth-lehemite; for I have provided me a king among hissons.

² And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, hewill kill me. And Jehovah said, Take a heifer with thee, andsay, I am come to sacrifice to Jehovah.

³ And call Jesse tothe sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: and thoushalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.

⁴ AndSamuel did that which Jehovah spake, and came to Beth-lehem. Andthe elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said,Comest thou peaceably?

⁵ And he said, Peaceably; I am cometo sacrifice unto Jehovah: sanctify yourselves, and come with meto the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, andcalled them to the sacrifice.

⁶ And it came to pass, when they were come, that helooked on Eliab, and said, Surely Jehovah's anointed is beforehim.

⁷ But Jehovah said unto Samuel, Look not on hiscountenance, or on the height of his stature; because I haverejected him: for [Jehovah seeth] not as man seeth; for manlooketh on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh on theheart.

⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him passbefore Samuel. And he said, Neither hath Jehovah chosen this.

⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neitherhath Jehovah chosen this.

¹⁰ And Jesse made seven of hissons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Jehovahhath not chosen these.

¹¹ And Samuel said unto Jesse, Arehere all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet theyoungest, and, behold, he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel saidunto Jesse, Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till hecome hither.

¹² And he sent, and brought him in. Now he wasruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to lookupon. And Jehovah said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he.

¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him inthe midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of Jehovah camemightily upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up,and went to Ramah.

¹⁴ Now the Spirit of Jehovah departedfrom Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him.

¹⁵ And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spiritfrom God troubleth thee.

¹⁶ Let our lord now command thyservants, that are before thee, to seek out a man who is askilful player on the harp: and it shall come to pass, when theevil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with hishand, and thou shalt be well.

¹⁷ And Saul said unto hisservants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring himto me.

¹⁸ Then answered one of the young men, and said,Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that isskilful in playing, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war,and prudent in speech, and a comely person; and Jehovah is withhim.

¹⁹ Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, andsaid, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep.

²⁰ AndJesse took an ass [laden] with bread, and a bottle of wine, anda kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.

²¹ AndDavid came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved himgreatly; and he became his armorbearer.

²² And Saul sent toJesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for hehath found favor in my sight.

²³ And it came to pass, whenthe [evil] spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took theharp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and waswell, and the evil spirit departed from him.

¹ Now the Philistines gathered together their armies tobattle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, whichbelongeth to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, inEphes-dammim.

² And Saul and the men of Israel weregathered together, and encamped in the vale of Elah, and set thebattle in array against the Philistines.

³ And thePhilistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israelstood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valleybetween them.

⁴ And there went out a champion out of thecamp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose heightwas six cubits and a span.

⁵ And he had a helmet of brassupon his head, and he was clad with a coat of mail; and theweight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

⁶ And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a javelin ofbrass between his shoulders.

⁷ And the staff of his spearwas like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head [weighed] sixhundred shekels of iron: and his shield-bearer went before him.

⁸ And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, andsaid unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array?am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a manfor you, and let him come down to me.

⁹ If he be able tofight with me, and kill me, then will we be your servants; butif I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be ourservants, and serve us.

¹⁰ And the Philistine said, I defythe armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fighttogether.

¹¹ And when Saul and all Israel heard those wordsof the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

¹² Now David was the son of that Ephrathite ofBeth-lehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons:and the man was an old man in the days of Saul, stricken [inyears] among men.

¹³ And the three eldest sons of Jesse hadgone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sonsthat went to the battle were Eliab the first-born, and next untohim Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

¹⁴ And David was theyoungest; and the three eldest followed Saul.

¹⁵ Now Davidwent to and fro from Saul to feed his father's sheep atBeth-lehem.

¹⁶ And the Philistine drew near morning andevening, and presented himself forty days.

¹⁷ And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thybrethren an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves,and carry [them] quickly to the camp to thy brethren;

¹⁸ and bring these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand,and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.

¹⁹ Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valeof Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

⁰ And David rose up early in the morning, and left thesheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commandedhim; and he came to the place of the wagons, as the host whichwas going forth to the fight shouted for the battle.

²¹ AndIsrael and the Philistines put the battle in array, army againstarmy.

²² And David left his baggage in the hand of thekeeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and salutedhis brethren.

²³ And as he talked with them, behold, therecame up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name,out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spake according to thesame words: and David heard them.

²⁴ And all the men ofIsrael, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were soreafraid.

²⁵ And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen thisman that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and itshall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich himwith great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make hisfather's house free in Israel.

²⁶ And David spake to themen that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the manthat killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach fromIsrael? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he shoulddefy the armies of the living God?

²⁷ And the peopleanswered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done tothe man that killeth him.

²⁸ And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake untothe men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and hesaid, Why art thou come down? and with whom hast thou left thosefew sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and thenaughtiness of thy heart; for thou art come down that thoumightest see the battle.

²⁹ And David said, What have I nowdone? Is there not a cause?

³⁰ And he turned away from himtoward another, and spake after the same manner: and the peopleanswered him again after the former manner.

³¹ And when the words were heard which David spake, theyrehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him.

³² AndDavid said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thyservant will go and fight with this Philistine.

³³ And Saulsaid to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistineto fight with him; for thou art but a youth, and he a man of warfrom his youth.

³⁴ And David said unto Saul, Thy servantwas keeping his father's sheep; and when there came a lion, or abear, and took a lamb out of the flock,

³⁵ I went out afterhim, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and whenhe arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him,and slew him.

³⁶ Thy servant smote both the lion and thebear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them,seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

³⁷ AndDavid said, Jehovah that delivered me out of the paw of thelion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out ofthe hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, andJehovah shall be with thee.

³⁸ And Saul clad David with hisapparel, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head, and he cladhim with a coat of mail.

³⁹ And David girded his sword uponhis apparel, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. AndDavid said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have notproved them. And David put them off him.

⁴⁰ And he took hisstaff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of thebrook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even inhis wallet; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near tothe Philistine.

⁴¹ And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David;and the man that bare the shield went before him.

⁴² Andwhen the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdainedhim; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a faircountenance.

⁴³ And the Philistine said unto David, Am I adog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistinecursed David by his gods.

⁴⁴ And the Philistine said toDavid, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the birds ofthe heavens, and to the beasts of the field.

⁴⁵ Then saidDavid to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, andwith a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to thee in the nameof Jehovah of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thouhast defied.

⁴⁶ This day will Jehovah deliver thee into myhand; and I will smite thee, and take thy head from off thee;and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistinesthis day unto the birds of the heavens, and to the wild beastsof the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God inIsrael,

⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that Jehovahsaveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is Jehovah's,and he will give you into our hand.

⁴⁸ And it came to pass,when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David,that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet thePhilistine.

⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his bag, and tookthence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in hisforehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell uponhis face to the earth.

⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a slingand with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; butthere was no sword in the hand of David.

⁵¹ Then David ran,and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew itout of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his headtherewith. And when the Philistines saw that their champion wasdead, they fled.

⁵² And the men of Israel and of Judaharose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thoucomest to Gai, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of thePhilistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath,and unto Ekron.

⁵³ And the children of Israel returned fromchasing after the Philistines, and they plundered their camp.

⁵⁴ And David took the head of the Philistine, and broughtit to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.

⁵⁵ And when Saul saw David go forth against thePhilistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner,whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, Oking, I cannot tell.

⁵⁶ And the king said, Inquire thouwhose son the stripling is.

⁵⁷ And as David returned fromthe slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought himbefore Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? AndDavid answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse theBeth-lehemite.

¹ And it came to pass, when he had made an end ofspeaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with thesoul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

² And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home tohis father's house.

³ Then Jonathan and David made acovenant, because he loved him as his own soul.

⁴ AndJonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, andgave it to David, and his apparel, even to his sword, and to hisbow, and to his girdle.

⁵ And David went out whithersoeverSaul sent him, [and] behaved himself wisely: and Saul set himover the men of war, and it was good in the sight of all thepeople, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

⁶ And itcame to pass as they came, when David returned from theslaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all thecities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, withtimbrels, with joy, and with instruments of music.

⁷ Andthe women sang one to another as they played, and said,Saul hath slain his thousands,And David his ten thousands.

⁸ And Saul was very wroth, and this saying displeasedhim; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands,and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he havemore but the kingdom?

⁹ And Saul eyed David from that dayand forward.

¹⁰ And it came to pass on the morrow, that an evilspirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he prophesied inthe midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as hedid day by day. And Saul had his spear in his hand;

¹¹ andSaul cast the spear; for he said, I will smite David even to thewall. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

¹² AndSaul was afraid of David, because Jehovah was with him, and wasdeparted from Saul.

¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from him,and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out andcame in before the people.

¹⁴ And David behaved himselfwisely in all his ways; and Jehovah was with him.

¹⁵ Andwhen Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood inawe of him.

¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David; for hewent out and came in before them.

¹⁷ And Saul said to David, Behold, my elder daughterMerab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant forme, and fight Jehovah's battles. For Saul said, Let not my handbe upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.

¹⁸ And David said unto Saul, Who am I, and what is my life,[or] my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-lawto the king?

¹⁹ But it came to pass at the time when Merab,Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she wasgiven unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife.

²⁰ And Michal,Saul's daughter, loved David: and they told Saul, and the thingpleased him.

²¹ And Saul said, I will give him her, thatshe may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistinesmay be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shaltthis day be my son-in-law a second time.

²² And Saul commanded his servants, [saying], Communewith David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight inthee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be theking's son-in-law.

²³ And Saul's servants spake those wordsin the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a lightthing to be the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man,and lightly esteemed?

²⁴ And the servants of Saul told him,saying, On this manner spake David.

²⁵ And Saul said, Thusshall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but ahundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of theking's enemies. Now Saul thought to make David fall by the handof the Philistines.

²⁶ And when his servants told Davidthese words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law.And the days were not expired;

²⁷ and David arose and went,he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; andDavid brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full numberto the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saulgave him Michal his daughter to wife.

²⁸ And Saul saw andknew that Jehovah was with David; and Michal, Saul's daughter,loved him.

²⁹ And Saul was yet the more afraid of David;and Saul was David's enemy continually.

³⁰ Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: andit came to pass, as often as they went forth, that David behavedhimself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that hisname was much set by.

¹ And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all hisservants, that they should slay David. But Jonathan, Saul's son,delighted much in David.

² And Jonathan told David, saying,Saul my father seeketh to slay thee: now therefore, I pray thee,take heed to thyself in the morning, and abide in a secretplace, and hide thyself:

³ and I will go out and standbeside my father in the field where thou art, and I will communewith my father of thee; and if I see aught, I will tell thee.

⁴ And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father,and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant,against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, andbecause his works have been to thee-ward very good:

⁵ forhe put his life in his hand, and smote the Philistine, andJehovah wrought a great victory for all Israel: thou sawest it,and didst rejoice; wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocentblood, to slay David without a cause?

⁶ And Saul hearkenedunto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As Jehovah liveth,he shall not be put to death.

⁷ And Jonathan called David,and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan broughtDavid to Saul, and he was in his presence, as beforetime.

⁸ And there was war again: and David went out, andfought with the Philistines, and slew them with a greatslaughter; and they fled before him.

⁹ And an evil spiritfrom Jehovah was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with hisspear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand.

¹⁰ And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the spear;but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote thespear into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.

¹¹ And Saul sent messengers unto David's house, to watchhim, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal, David's wife,told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrowthou wilt be slain.

¹² So Michal let David down through thewindow: and he went, and fled, and escaped.

¹³ And Michaltook the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow ofgoats' [hair] at the head thereof, and covered it with theclothes.

¹⁴ And when Saul sent messengers to take David,she said, He is sick.

¹⁵ And Saul sent the messengers tosee David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I mayslay him.

¹⁶ And when the messengers came in, behold, theteraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats' [hair] at thehead thereof.

¹⁷ And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thoudeceived me thus, and let mine enemy go, so that he is escaped?And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why shouldI kill thee?

¹⁸ Now David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel toRamah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he andSamuel went and dwelt in Naioth.

¹⁹ And it was told Saul,saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.

²⁰ And Saulsent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company ofthe prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them,the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and theyalso prophesied.

²¹ And when it was told Saul, he sentother messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sentmessengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.

²² Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great wellthat is in Secu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel andDavid? And one said, Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.

²³ And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spiritof God came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, untilhe came to Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴ And he also stripped off hisclothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel, and lay downnaked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, IsSaul also among the prophets?

¹ And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and saidbefore Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? andwhat is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?

² And he said unto him, Far from it; thou shalt not die:behold, my father doeth nothing either great or small, but thathe discloseth it unto me; and why should my father hide thisthing from me? it is not so.

³ And David sware moreover,and said, Thy father knoweth well that I have found favor inthine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he begrieved: but truly as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth,there is but a step between me and death.

⁴ Then saidJonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will evendo it for thee.

⁵ And David said unto Jonathan, Behold,to-morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with theking at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the fieldunto the third day at even.

⁶ If thy father miss me at all,then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run toBeth-lehem his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there forall the family.

⁷ If he say thus, It is well; thy servantshall have peace: but if he be wroth, then know that evil isdetermined by him.

⁸ Therefore deal kindly with thyservant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant ofJehovah with thee: but if there be in me iniquity, slay methyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?

⁹ And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee; for if I should at allknow that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee,then would not I tell it thee?

¹⁰ Then said David toJonathan, Who shall tell me if perchance thy father answer theeroughly?

¹¹ And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let usgo out into the field. And they went out both of them into thefield.

¹² And Jonathan said unto David, Jehovah, the God ofIsrael, [be witness]: when I have sounded my father about thistime to-morrow, [or] the third day, behold, if there be goodtoward David, shall I not then send unto thee, and disclose itunto thee?

¹³ Jehovah do so to Jonathan, and more also,should it please my father to do thee evil, if I disclose it notunto thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: andJehovah be with thee, as he hath been with my father.

¹⁴ And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me thelovingkindness of Jehovah, that I die not;

¹⁵ but also thoushalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever; no, notwhen Jehovah hath cut off the enemies of David every one fromthe face of the earth.

¹⁶ So Jonathan made a covenant withthe house of David, [saying], And Jehovah will require it at thehand of David's enemies.

¹⁷ And Jonathan caused David to swear again, for thelove that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his ownsoul.

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said unto him, To-morrow is the newmoon: and thou wilt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.

¹⁹ And when thou hast stayed three days, thou shalt go downquickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyselfwhen the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stoneEzel.

²⁰ And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof,as though I shot at a mark.

²¹ And, behold, I will send thelad, [saying], Go, find the arrows. If I say unto the lad,Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee; take them, andcome; for there is peace to thee and no hurt, as Jehovah liveth.

²² But if I say thus unto the boy, Behold, the arrows arebeyond thee; go thy way; for Jehovah hath sent thee away.

²³ And as touching the matter which thou and I have spokenof, behold, Jehovah is between thee and me for ever.

²⁴ So David hid himself in the field: and when the newmoon was come, the king sat him down to eat food.

²⁵ Andthe king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon theseat by the wall; and Jonathan stood up, and Abner sat by Saul'sside: but David's place was empty.

²⁶ Nevertheless Saulspake not anything that day: for he thought, Something hathbefallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.

²⁷ And it came to pass on the morrow after the new moon, [whichwas] the second [day], that David's place was empty: and Saulsaid unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son ofJesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to-day?

²⁸ AndJonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to goto Beth-lehem:

²⁹ and he said, Let me go, I pray thee; forour family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hathcommanded me [to be there]: and now, if I have found favor inthine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren.Therefore he is not come unto the king's table.

³⁰ Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, andhe said unto him, Thou son of a perverse rebellious woman, donot I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine ownshame, and unto the shame of thy mother's nakedness?

³¹ Foras long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shaltnot be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send andfetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.

³² And Jonathananswered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore should hebe put to death? what hath he done?

³³ And Saul cast hisspear at him to smite him; whereby Jonathan knew that is wasdetermined of his father to put David to death.

³⁴ SoJonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat nofood the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David,because his father had done him shame.

³⁵ And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathanwent out into the field at the time appointed with David, and alittle lad with him.

³⁶ And he said unto his lad, Run, findnow the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot anarrow beyond him.

³⁷ And when the lad was come to the placeof the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after thelad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?

³⁸ AndJonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. AndJonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.

³⁹ But the lad knew not anything: only Jonathan and Davidknew the matter.

⁴⁰ And Jonathan gave his weapons unto hislad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.

⁴¹ Andas soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of [a place] towardthe South, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himselfthree times: and they kissed one another, and wept one withanother, until David exceeded.

⁴² And Jonathan said toDavid, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in thename of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah shall be between me and thee,and between my seed and thy seed, for ever. And he arose anddeparted: and Jonathan went into the city.

¹ Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: andAhimelech came to meet David trembling, and said unto him, Whyart thou alone, and no man with thee?

² And David said untoAhimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, andhath said unto me, Let no man know anything of the businesswhereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and Ihave appointed the young men to such and such a place.

³ Now therefore what is under thy hand? give me five loaves ofbread in my hand, or whatsoever there is present.

⁴ And thepriest answered David, and said, There is no common bread undermy hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men havekept themselves from women.

⁵ And David answered thepriest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept fromus about these three days; when I came out, the vessels of theyoung men were holy, though it was but a common journey; howmuch more then to-day shall their vessels be holy?

⁶ So thepriest gave him holy [bread]; for there was no bread there butthe showbread, that was taken from before Jehovah, to put hotbread in the day when it was taken away.

⁷ Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was therethat day, detained before Jehovah; and his name was Doeg theEdomite, the chiefest of the herdsmen that belonged to Saul.

⁸ And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not hereunder thy hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought mysword nor my weapons with me, because the king's businessrequired haste.

⁹ And the priest said, The sword of Goliaththe Philistine, whom thou slewest in the vale of Elah, behold,it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilttake that, take it; for there is no other save that here. AndDavid said, There is none like that; give it me.

¹⁰ And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul,and went to Achish the king of Gath.

¹¹ And the servants ofAchish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land?did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying,Saul hath slain his thousands,And David his ten thousands?

¹² And David laid up these words in his heart, and wassore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

¹³ And he changedhis behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in theirhands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let hisspittle fall down upon his beard.

¹⁴ Then said Achish untohis servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad; wherefore then have yebrought him to me?

¹⁵ Do I lack madmen, that ye havebrought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shallthis fellow come into my house?

¹ David therefore departed thence, and escaped to thecave of Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father'shouse heard it, they went down thither to him.

² And everyone that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, andevery one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him;and he became captain over them: and there were with him aboutfour hundred men.

³ And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he saidunto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee,come forth, [and be] with you, till I know what God will do forme.

⁴ And he brought them before the king of Moab: and theydwelt with him all the while that David was in the stronghold.

⁵ And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in thestronghold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. ThenDavid departed, and came into the forest of Hereth.

⁶ And Saul heard that David was discovered, and the menthat were with him: now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under thetamarisk-tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all hisservants were standing about him.

⁷ And Saul said unto hisservants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will theson of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will hemake you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds,

⁸ that all of you have conspired against me, and there isnone that discloseth to me when my son maketh a league with theson of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, ordiscloseth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servantagainst me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

⁹ Then answeredDoeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, and said, Isaw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son ofAhitub.

¹⁰ And he inquired of Jehovah for him, and gave himvictuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.

¹¹ Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, theson of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that werein Nob: and they came all of them to the king.

¹² And Saulsaid, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am,my lord.

¹³ And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspiredagainst me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast givenhim bread, and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, thathe should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

¹⁴ Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And whoamong all thy servants is so faithful as David, who is theking's son-in-law, and is taken into thy council, and ishonorable in thy house?

¹⁵ Have I to-day begun to inquireof God for him? be it far from me: let not the king imputeanything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father;for thy servant knoweth nothing of all this, less or more.

¹⁶ And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech,thou, and all thy father's house.

¹⁷ And the king said untothe guard that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests ofJehovah; because their hand also is with David, and because theyknew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me. But theservants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall uponthe priests of Jehovah.

¹⁸ And the king said to Doeg, Turnthou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned,and he fell upon the priests, and he slew on that day fourscoreand five persons that did wear a linen ephod.

¹⁹ And Nob,the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword,both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and assesand sheep, with the edge of the sword.

²⁰ And one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub,named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.

²¹ AndAbiathar told David that Saul had slain Jehovah's priests.

²² And David said unto Abiathar, I knew on that day, whenDoeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: Ihave occasioned [the death] of all the persons of thy father'shouse.

²³ Abide thou with me, fear not; for he that seekethmy life seeketh thy life: for with me thou shalt be in safeguard.

¹ And they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistinesare fighting against Keilah, and are robbing thethreshing-floors.

² Therefore David inquired of Jehovah,saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And Jehovah saidunto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.

³ And David's men said unto him, Behold, we are afraid herein Judah: how much more then if we go to Keilah against thearmies of the Philistines?

⁴ Then David inquired of Jehovahyet again. And Jehovah answered him, and said, Arise, go down toKeilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand.

⁵ And David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with thePhilistines, and brought away their cattle, and slew them with agreat slaughter. So David save the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶ And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled toDavid to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.

⁷ And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah.And Saul said, God hath delivered him into my hand; for he isshut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars.

⁸ And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down toKeilah, to besiege David and his men.

⁹ And David knew thatSaul was devising mischief against him; and he said to Abiatharthe priest, Bring hither the ephod.

¹⁰ Then said David, OJehovah, the God of Israel, thy servant hath surely heard thatSaul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.

¹¹ Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? willSaul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Jehovah, the God ofIsrael, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And Jehovah said, Hewill come down.

¹² Then said David, Will the men of Keilahdeliver up to me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovahsaid, They will deliver thee up.

¹³ Then David and his men,who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah,and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul thatDavid was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.

¹⁴ And David abode in the wilderness in the strongholds,and remained in the hill-country in the wilderness of Ziph. AndSaul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into hishand.

¹⁵ And David saw that Saul was come out to seek hislife: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the wood.

¹⁶ And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose, and went to David intothe wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

¹⁷ And he saidunto him, Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father shall notfind thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall benext unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.

¹⁸ And they two made a covenant before Jehovah: and David abode inthe wood, and Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹ Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying,Doth not David hide himself with us in the strongholds in thewood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of thedesert?

²⁰ Now therefore, O king, come down, according toall the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall beto deliver him up into the king's hand.

²¹ And Saul said,Blessed be ye of Jehovah; for ye have had compassion on me.

²² Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see hisplace where his haunt is, [and] who hath seen him there; for itis told me that he dealeth very subtly.

²³ See therefore,and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hidethhimself, and come ye again to me of a certainty, and I will gowith you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, thatI will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.

²⁴ And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: butDavid and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabahon the south of the desert.

²⁵ And Saul and his men went toseek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down to therock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard[that], he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

²⁶ And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and Davidand his men on that side of the mountain: and David made hasteto get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassedDavid and his men round about to take them.

²⁷ But therecame a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; forthe Philistines have made a raid upon the land.

²⁸ So Saulreturned from pursuing after David, and went against thePhilistines: therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.

²⁹ And David went up from thence, and dwelt in thestrongholds of En-gedi.

¹ And it came to pass, when Saul was returned fromfollowing the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold,David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.

² Then Saul tookthree thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seekDavid and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.

³ Andhe came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saulwent in to cover his feet. Now David and his men were abiding inthe innermost parts of the cave.

⁴ And the men of Davidsaid unto him, Behold, the day of which Jehovah said unto thee,Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thy hand, and thou shaltdo to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, andcut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily.

⁵ And it came topass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cutoff Saul's skirt.

⁶ And he said unto his men, Jehovahforbid that I should do this thing unto my lord, Jehovah'sanointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he isJehovah's anointed.

⁷ So David checked his men with thesewords, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. And Saul roseup out of the cave, and went on his way.

⁸ David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave,and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saullooked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, anddid obeisance.

⁹ And David said to Saul, Whereforehearkenest thou to men's words, saying, Behold, David seekeththy hurt?

¹⁰ Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how thatJehovah had delivered thee to-day into my hand in the cave: andsome bade me kill thee; but [mine eye] spared thee; and I said,I will not put forth my hand against my lord; for he isJehovah's anointed.

¹¹ Moreover, my father, see, yea, seethe skirt of thy robe in my hand; for in that I cut off theskirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see thatthere is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I havenot sinned against thee, though thou huntest after my life totake it.

¹² Jehovah judge between me and thee, and Jehovahavenge me of thee; but my hand shall not be upon thee.

¹³ As saith the proverb of the ancients, Out of the wicked comethforth wickedness; but my hand shall not be upon thee.

¹⁴ After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thoupursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.

¹⁵ Jehovahtherefore be judge, and give sentence between me and thee, andsee, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thy hand.

¹⁶ And it came to pass, when David had made an end ofspeaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thyvoice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.

¹⁷ And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I;for thou hast rendered unto me good, whereas I have renderedunto thee evil.

¹⁸ And thou hast declared this day how thatthou hast dealt well with me, forasmuch as when Jehovah haddelivered me up into thy hand, thou killedst me not.

¹⁹ Forif a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? whereforeJehovah reward thee good for that which thou hast done unto methis day.

²⁰ And now, behold, I know that thou shalt surelybe king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established inthy hand.

²¹ Swear now therefore unto me by Jehovah, thatthou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt notdestroy my name out of my father's house.

²² And Davidsware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gatthem up unto the stronghold.

¹ And Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselvestogether, and lamented him, and buried him in his house atRamah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

² And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were inCarmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousandsheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep inCarmel.

³ Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the nameof his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding,and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish andevil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

⁴ AndDavid heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

⁵ And David sent ten young men, and David said unto theyoung men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet himin my name:

⁶ and thus shall ye say to him that liveth [inprosperity], Peace be unto thee, and peace be to thy house, andpeace be unto all that thou hast.

⁷ And now I have heardthat thou hast shearers: thy shepherds have now been with us,and we did them no hurt, neither was there aught missing untothem, all the while they were in Carmel.

⁸ Ask thy youngmen, and they will tell thee: wherefore let the young men findfavor in thine eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I praythee, whatsoever cometh to thy hand, unto thy servants, and tothy son David.

⁹ And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabalaccording to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.

¹⁰ And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who isDavid? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servantsnow-a-days that break away every man from his master.

¹¹ Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that Ihave killed for my shearers, and give it unto men of whom I knownot whence they are?

¹² So David's young men turned ontheir way, and went back, and came and told him according to allthese words.

¹³ And David said unto his men, Gird ye onevery man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; andDavid also girded on his sword: and there went up after Davidabout four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the baggage.

¹⁴ But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife,saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness tosalute our master; and he railed at them.

¹⁵ But the menwere very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed weanything, as long as we went with them, when we were in thefields:

¹⁶ they were a wall unto us both by night and byday, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

¹⁷ Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil isdetermined against our master, and against all his house: for heis such a worthless fellow, that one cannot speak to him.

¹⁸ Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves,and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and fivemeasures of parched grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins,and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.

¹⁹ And she said unto her young men, Go on before me; behold, I comeafter you. But she told not her husband Nabal.

²⁰ And itwas so, as she rode on her ass, and came down by the covert ofthe mountain, that, behold, David and his men came down towardher; and she met them.

²¹ Now David had said, Surely invain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, sothat nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and hehath returned me evil for good.

²² God do so unto theenemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that pertainto him by the morning light so much as one man-child.

²³ And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and alightedfrom her ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowedherself to the ground.

²⁴ And she fell at his feet, andsaid, Upon me, my lord, upon me be the iniquity; and let thyhandmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear thou thewords of thy handmaid.

²⁵ Let not my lord, I pray thee,regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, sois he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thyhandmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

²⁶ Now therefore, my lord, as Jehovah liveth, and as thysoul liveth, seeing Jehovah hath withholden thee frombloodguiltiness, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand,now therefore let thine enemies, and them that seek evil to mylord, be as Nabal.

²⁷ And now this present which thyservant hath brought unto my lord, let it be given unto theyoung men that follow my lord.

²⁸ Forgive, I pray thee, thetrespass of thy handmaid: for Jehovah will certainly make mylord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles ofJehovah; and evil shall not be found in thee all thy days.

²⁹ And though men be risen up to pursue thee, and to seekthy soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundleof life with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies,them shall he sling out, as from the hollow of a sling.

³⁰ And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall have done to mylord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerningthee, and shall have appointed thee prince over Israel,

³¹ that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart untomy lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or thatmy lord hath avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall have dealtwell with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.

³² And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, theGod of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me:

³³ andblessed be thy discretion, and blessed be thou, that hast keptme this day from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging myself withmine own hand.

³⁴ For in very deed, as Jehovah, the God ofIsrael, liveth, who hath withholden me from hurting thee, exceptthou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not beenleft unto Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child.

³⁵ So David received of her hand that which she had broughthim: and he said unto her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, Ihave hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

³⁶ And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held afeast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heartwas merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore shetold him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

³⁷ And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone outof Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heartdied within him, and he became as a stone.

³⁸ And it cameto pass about ten days after, that Jehovah smote Nabal, so thathe died.

³⁹ And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said,Blessed be Jehovah, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproachfrom the hand of Nabal, and hath kept back his servant fromevil: and the evil-doing of Nabal hath Jehovah returned upon hisown head. And David sent and spake concerning Abigail, to takeher to him to wife.

⁴⁰ And when the servants of David werecome to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, Davidhath sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.

⁴¹ Andshe arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, andsaid, Behold, thy handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of theservants of my lord.

⁴² And Abigail hasted, and arose, androde upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that followed her;and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.

⁴³ David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they becameboth of them his wives.

⁴⁴ Now Saul had given Michal hisdaughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was ofGallim.

¹ And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying,Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which isbefore the desert?

² Then Saul arose, and went down to thewilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israelwith him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.

³ AndSaul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before thedesert, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and hesaw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.

⁴ Davidtherefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come of acertainty.

⁵ And David arose, and came to the place whereSaul had encamped; and David beheld the place where Saul lay,and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul laywithin the place of the wagons, and the people were encampedround about him.

⁶ Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite,and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Whowill go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, Iwill go down with thee.

⁷ So David and Abishai came to thepeople by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the placeof the wagons, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head;and Abner and the people lay round about him.

⁸ Then saidAbishai to David, God hath delivered up thine enemy into thyhand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, withthe spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not smite himthe second time.

⁹ And David said to Abishai, Destroy himnot; for who can put forth his hand against Jehovah's anointed,and be guiltless?

¹⁰ And David said, As Jehovah liveth,Jehovah will smite him; or his day shall come to die; or heshall go down into battle and perish.

¹¹ Jehovah forbidthat I should put forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed: butnow take, I pray thee, the spear that is at his head, and thecruse of water, and let us go.

¹² So David took the spearand the cruse of water from Saul's head; and they gat them away:and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither did any awake; for theywere all asleep, because a deep sleep from Jehovah was fallenupon them.

¹³ Then David went over to the other side, and stood onthe top of the mountain afar off; a great space being betweenthem;

¹⁴ and David cried to the people, and to Abner theson of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abneranswered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?

¹⁵ And David said to Abner, Art not thou a [valiant] man? and whois like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not keptwatch over thy lord the king? for there came one of the peoplein to destroy the king thy lord.

¹⁶ This thing is not goodthat thou hast done. As Jehovah liveth, ye are worthy to die,because ye have not kept watch over your lord, Jehovah'sanointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruseof water that was at his head.

¹⁷ And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thyvoice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, Oking.

¹⁸ And he said, Wherefore doth my lord pursue afterhis servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in my hand?

¹⁹ Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hearthe words of his servant. If it be Jehovah that hath stirredthee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if it be thechildren of men, cursed be they before Jehovah: for they havedriven me out this day that I should not cleave unto theinheritance of Jehovah, saying, Go, serve other gods.

²⁰ Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from thepresence of Jehovah: for the king of Israel is come out to seeka flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.

²¹ Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David;for I will no more do thee harm, because my life was precious inthine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and haveerred exceedingly.

²² And David answered and said, Beholdthe spear, O king! let then one of the young men come over andfetch it.

²³ And Jehovah will render to every man hisrighteousness and his faithfulness; forasmuch as Jehovahdelivered thee into my hand to-day, and I would not put forth myhand against Jehovah's anointed.

²⁴ And, behold, as thylife was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life bemuch set by in the eyes of Jehovah, and let him deliver me outof all tribulation.

²⁵ Then Saul said to David, Blessed bethou, my son David: thou shalt both do mightily, and shaltsurely prevail. So David went his way, and Saul returned to hisplace.

¹ And David said in his heart, I shall now perish oneday by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me thanthat I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saulwill despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders ofIsrael: so shall I escape out of his hand.

² And Davidarose, and passed over, he and the six hundred men that werewith him, unto Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

³ AndDavid dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man withhis household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam theJezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.

⁴ And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he soughtno more again for him.

⁵ And David said unto Achish, If now I have found favorin thine eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities inthe country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servantdwell in the royal city with thee?

⁶ Then Achish gave himZiklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings ofJudah unto this day.

⁷ And the number of the days thatDavid dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full yearand four months.

⁸ And David and his men went up, and made a raid uponthe Geshurites, and the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for those[nations] were the inhabitants of the land, who were of old, asthou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.

⁹ AndDavid smote the land, and saved neither man nor woman alive, andtook away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and thecamels, and the apparel; and he returned, and came to Achish.

¹⁰ And Achish said, Against whom have ye made a raidto-day? And David said, Against the South of Judah, and againstthe South of the Jerahmeelites, and against the South of theKenites.

¹¹ And David saved neither man nor woman alive, tobring them to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell of us, saying,So did David, and so hath been his manner all the while he hathdwelt in the country of the Philistines.

¹² And Achishbelieved David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterlyto abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.

¹ And it came to pass in those days, that thePhilistines gathered their hosts together for warfare, to fightwith Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly,that thou shalt go out with me in the host, thou and thy men.

² And David said to Achish, Therefore thou shalt know whatthy servant will do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will Imake thee keeper of my head for ever.

³ Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him,and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had putaway those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out ofthe land.

⁴ And the Philistines gathered themselvestogether, and came and encamped in Shunem: and Saul gathered allIsrael together, and they encamped in Gilboa.

⁵ And whenSaul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and hisheart trembled greatly.

⁶ And when Saul inquired ofJehovah, Jehovah answered him not, neither by dreams, nor byUrim, nor by prophets.

⁷ Then said Saul unto his servants,Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go toher, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold,there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor.

⁸ And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment,and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman bynight: and he said, Divine unto me, I pray thee, by the familiarspirit, and bring me up whomsoever I shall name unto thee.

⁹ And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest whatSaul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiarspirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layestthou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?

¹⁰ And Saulsware to her by Jehovah, saying, As Jehovah liveth, there shallno punishment happen to thee for this thing.

¹¹ Then saidthe woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bringme up Samuel.

¹² And when the woman saw Samuel, she criedwith a loud voice; and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hastthou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

¹³ And the king saidunto her, Be not afraid: for what seest thou? And the woman saidunto Saul, I see a god coming up out of the earth.

¹⁴ Andhe said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old mancometh up; and he is covered with a robe. And Saul perceivedthat it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground,and did obeisance.

¹⁵ And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me,to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for thePhilistines make war against me, and God is departed from me,and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams:therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known untome what I shall do.

¹⁶ And Samuel said, Wherefore then dostthou ask of me, seeing Jehovah is departed from thee, and isbecome thine adversary?

¹⁷ And Jehovah hath done unto thee,as he spake by me: and Jehovah hath rent the kingdom out of thyhand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David.

¹⁸ Because thou obeyedst not the voice of Jehovah, and didst notexecute his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath Jehovahdone this thing unto thee this day.

¹⁹ Moreover Jehovahwill deliver Israel also with thee into the hand of thePhilistines; and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me:Jehovah will deliver the host of Israel also into the hand ofthe Philistines.

²⁰ Then Saul fell straightway his full length upon theearth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: andthere was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all theday, nor all the night.

²¹ And the woman came unto Saul,and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold,thy handmaid hath hearkened unto thy voice, and I have put mylife in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thouspakest unto me.

²² Now therefore, I pray thee, hearkenthou also unto the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set amorsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest havestrength, when thou goest on thy way.

²³ But he refused,and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with thewoman, constrained him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So hearose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.

²⁴ And thewoman had a fatted calf in the house; and she hasted, and killedit; and she took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavenedbread thereof:

²⁵ and she brought it before Saul, andbefore his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, andwent away that night.

¹ Now the Philistines gathered together all their hoststo Aphek: and the Israelites encamped by the fountain which isin Jezreel.

² And the lords of the Philistines passed on byhundreds, and by thousands; and David and his men passed on inthe rearward with Achish.

³ Then said the princes of thePhilistines, What [do] these Hebrews [here]? And Achish saidunto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, theservant of Saul the king of Israel, who hath been with me thesedays, or [rather] these years, and I have found no fault in himsince he fell away [unto me] unto this day?

⁴ But heprinces of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princesof the Philistines said unto him, Make the man return, that hemay go back to his place where thou hast appointed him, and lethim not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he becomean adversary to us: for wherewith should this [fellow] reconcilehimself unto his lord? should it not be with the heads of thesemen?

⁵ Is not this David, of whom they sang one to anotherin dances, saying,Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?

⁶ Then Achish called David, and said unto him, AsJehovah liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out andthy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight; for Ihave not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto meunto this day: nevertheless the lords favor thee not.

⁷ Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease notthe lords of the Philistines.

⁸ And David said unto Achish,But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant solong as I have been before thee unto this day, that I may not goand fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

⁹ AndAchish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good inmy sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of thePhilistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

¹⁰ Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with theservants of thy lord that are come with thee; and as soon as yeare up early in the morning, and have light, depart.

¹¹ SoDavid rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning,to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistineswent up to Jezreel.

¹ And it came to pass, when David and his men were cometo Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raidupon the South, and upon Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, andburned it with fire,

² and had taken captive the women [andall] that were therein, both small and great: they slew not any,but carried them off, and went their way.

³ And when Davidand his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire;and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were takencaptive.

⁴ Then David and the people that were with himlifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power toweep.

⁵ And David's two wives were taken captive, Ahinoamthe Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

⁶ And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake ofstoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved,every man for his sons and for his daughters: but Davidstrengthened himself in Jehovah his God.

⁷ And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son ofAhimelech, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiatharbrought thither the ephod to David.

⁸ And David inquired ofJehovah, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtakethem? And he answered him, Pursue; for thou shalt surelyovertake [them], and shalt without fail recover [all].

⁹ SoDavid went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, andcame to the brook Besor, where those that were left behindstayed.

¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men; fortwo hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they could notgo over the brook Besor.

¹¹ And they found an Egyptian in the field, and broughthim to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they gavehim water to drink.

¹² And they gave him a piece of a cakeof figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, hisspirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunkany water, three days and three nights.

¹³ And David saidunto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And hesaid, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and mymaster left me, because three days ago I fell sick.

¹⁴ Wemade a raid upon the South of the Cherethites, and upon thatwhich belongeth to Judah, and upon the South of Caleb; and weburned Ziklag with fire.

¹⁵ And David said to him, Wiltthou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear unto me byGod, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me up into thehands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.

¹⁶ And when he had brought him down, behold, they werespread abroad over all the ground, eating and drinking, anddancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken outof the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.

¹⁷ And David smote them from the twilight even unto theevening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them,save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels and fled.

¹⁸ And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken;and David rescued his two wives.

¹⁹ And there was nothinglacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nordaughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken tothem: David brought back all.

²⁰ And David took all theflocks and the herds, [which] they drove before those [other]cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

²¹ And David came to the two hundred men, who were sofaint that they could not follow David, whom also they had madeto abide at the brook Besor; and they went forth to meet David,and to meet the people that were with him: and when David camenear to the people, he saluted them.

²² Then answered allthe wicked men and base fellows, of those that went with David,and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give themaught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man hiswife and his children, that he may lead them away, and depart.

²³ Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, withthat which Jehovah hath given unto us, who hath preserved us,and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand.

²⁴ And who will hearken unto you in this matter? for as hisshare is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his share bethat tarrieth by the baggage: they shall share alike.

²⁵ And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statuteand an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

²⁶ And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoilunto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold, apresent for you of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah:

²⁷ To them that were in Beth-el, and to them that were in Ramoth ofthe South, and to them that were in Jattir,

²⁸ and to themthat were in Aroer, and to them that were in Siphmoth, and tothem that were in Eshtemoa,

²⁹ and to them that were inRacal, and to them that were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites,and to them that were in the cities of the Kenites,

³⁰ andto them that were in Hormah, and to them that were in Bor-ashan,and to them that were in Athach,

³¹ and to them that werein Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his menwere wont to haunt.

¹ Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the menof Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slainin mount Gilboa.

² And the Philistines followed hard uponSaul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, andAbinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.

³ And thebattle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; andhe was greatly distressed by reason of the archers.

⁴ Thensaid Saul to his armorbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust methrough therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust methrough, and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he wassore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.

⁵ And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, helikewise fell upon his sword, and died with him.

⁶ So Sauldied, and his three sons, and his armorbearer, and all his men,that same day together.

⁷ And when the men of Israel that were on the other sideof the valley, and they that were beyond the Jordan, saw thatthe men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead,they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came anddwelt in them.

⁸ And it came to pass on the morrow, whenthe Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Sauland his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.

⁹ And they cutoff his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the landof the Philistines round about, to carry the tidings unto thehouse of their idols, and to the people.

¹⁰ And they puthis armor in the house of the Ashtaroth; and they fastened hisbody to the wall of Beth-shan.

¹¹ And when the inhabitantsof Jabesh-gilead heard concerning him that which the Philistineshad done to Saul,

¹² all the valiant men arose, and wentall night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sonsfrom the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burntthem there.

¹³ And they took their bones, and buried themunder the tamarisk-tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

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