1There was a man from Ramathaim Zophim from Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, in Nasib of Ephraim. 2 And this man had two wives; the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the second, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, and Hannah had no child. 3 And the man regularly went up from time to time from his town, from Ramah, to worship and sacrifice to the Lord God Sabaoth to Shiloh. And there Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. 4 And it was on that day, Elkanah sacrificed and gave to Peninnah, his wife, and her sons a portion; 5 and to Hannah he gave one portion because she had no child; except that Elkanah loved Hannah more than his other wife, and the Lord kept her womb closed, 6 because the Lord did not give her a child despite her anguish and despite the hopelessness of her anguish. She lost heart because of this: that the Lord kept her womb closed by not giving her a child. 7 This is how she behaved year after year when she would go up to the house of the Lord: She was disheartened and wept and did not eat. 8 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Hannah.” And she said to him, “Here I am, lord.”a And he said to her, “What is it to you that you are weeping? And why are you not eating, and why do you beat your heart? Am I not good to you beyond ten children?” 9 And she rose after they ate in Shiloh and stood before the Lord, and Eli the priest was on a chair at the entryway of the shrine of the Lord. 10 And she was grieved in her soul and prayed to the Lord and wept. 11 And she prayed in her prayer to the Lord, saying, “Adonai, Lord Eloai Sabaoth, if you are looking, you are looking upon the humiliated state of your slave. Remember me and give your slave seed of men, and I will give him to you as a devoted one until the day of his death. And he will not drink wine and intoxicating drink, and a razor will not go over his head.” 12 And it happened that while she multiplied her prayers before the Lord, Eli the priest watched her mouth. 13 She was speaking in her heart and her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. 14 And Eli’s young servant said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Get rid of your wine and go out from the Lord’s face!” 15 And Hannah answered and said, “No, sir! I am a woman who has had a hard day. And I have not drank wine and intoxicating drink, and I am pouring out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not regard your slave as a pestilent daughter because I have been stretching out my great number of words until now.” 17 And Eli answered and said to her, “Go in peace. May the God of Israel give you your entire request that you requested from him.” 18 And she said, “May your slave find favor in your eyes.” And the woman went on her way and entered into her lodging and ate with her husband and drank. And her face no longer fell. 19 And they rose early and worshiped the Lord and went on their way. Elkanah entered his house at Ramah and knew Hannah, his wife, and the Lord remembered her. 20 And she conceived, and it happened at the time of the days she bore a son and called his name Samuel. She said, “Because from the Lord God Sabaoth I asked for him.” 21 And the man, Elkanah, and his entire house went up to sacrifice at Shiloh for the annual sacrifice and his vow and the entire tithe from his land. 22 Hannah did not go up with him because she said to her husband, “Until the child goes up, I will wean him, and then he will be seen by the face of the Lord, and he will live there until eternity.” 23 And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, “Do what you view as right. Stay until you might wean him, but may the Lord establish the words that come out of your mouth.” And the woman stayed and suckled her son until she might wean him. 24 And she went up with him to Shiloh with a three-yearold calf and bread and an ephaha of wheat flour and a jar of wine. And she entered the house of the Lord at Shiloh, and the child was with them. They brought him before the Lord, and his father killed the sacrifice, which he did from year to year to the Lord, and brought the child. [1] 25 And he slaughtered the calf, and Hannah, the mother of the child, brought him to Eli. 26 And she said, “By me, Lord, as your soul lives, I am the woman who stood before you with you in prayer to the Lord. 27 For this is the child I prayed for, and the Lord gave my request that I asked from him.
2And I have given him to the Lord all the days that he lives to be used by the Lord.” Hannah’s Prayer 2 And she said, “My heart was made firm in the Lord; my horn was lifted high in my God; my mouth was widened against my enemies. I was glad in your deliverance, 2 because no one is holy like the Lord, and no one is righteous like my God; there is no one holy except you. 3 Do not boast, and do not speak lofty words nor allow big talk to come out of your mouth, because the Lord is a God of knowledge and a God who prepares his own business. 4 The bows of the mighty have become weak, and those who were weak have been clothed with might. 5 Full of bread, they suffer loss, and being weak, they neglect the land. For the barren woman bore seven, and the woman who is many in children has become weak. 6 The Lord puts to death and brings to life; he leads down to the grave and leads up. 7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he humbles and exalts. 8 He lifts up the poor from the earth, and from the dung pile he raises the beggar to sit him with the princes of the people and makes them to inherit the throne of glory. Giving to the one who truly prays, he blesses also the years of the righteous. 9 Because a man is not mighty in strength, [2] 10 the Lord will make his adversary weak. The Lord is holy. The wise must not boast in his wisdom, and the strong must not boast in his strength, and the wealthy must not boast in his wealth. Rather the one who boasts should boast in this: to understand and to know the Lord and to practice justice and righteousness in the midst of the land. The Lord went up into the heavens and thundered. He will judge the heights of the earth and give strength to our kings, and he will lift high the horn of his anointed.” 11 And she left him there before the Lord and departed to Ramah, and the child was ministering to the face of the Lord before Eli the priest. 12 And the sons of Eli the priest were pestilent sons who did not know the Lord and the duty of the priest from all the people who were sacrificing. 13 And the servant of the priest regularly came as the meat might be boiling and, with a three pronged meat hook in his hand, 14 he would thrust it into the large cauldron or into the kettle or into the pot; everything that might come up on the meat hook the priest took for himself. According to this, they did to all Israel when they came to sacrifice to the Lord at Shiloh. 15 And before the fat was burnt, the servant of the priest regularly came and said to the one who was sacrificing, “Give the meat to roast to the priest, and I will not receive anything boiled from you from the caldron.” 16 And each time the man who was sacrificing said, “Let the fat burn first like it is supposed to, and then take out for yourself all that your soul desires.” And he would say, “No, because you will give it to me now. Otherwise, I will take it by force.” 17 And the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord because they refused to recognize the sacrifice of the Lord. 18 And Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a young boy wearing a cloth ephod. 19 And his mother used to make for him a small double cloak and brought it to him from days to days when she went up with her husband to offer the sacrifice of the days. 20 And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the Lord extend to you seed from this wife because of the loan that you lent to the Lord.” And the man went back to his home. 21 And the Lord came to the aid of Hannah, and she gave birth to three sons and two daughters; and the child Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord. 22 And Eli became a very old man, and he heard what his sons were doing to the sons of Israel, 23 and he said to them, “Why are you acting in the way that I am hearing from the mouth of all the people of the Lord? 24 No, children, for it is not good, the report that I am hearing. Do not behave in this way because they are not good, the reports that I am hearing, so that the people do not serve God. 25 If when he sins, a man sins against another man, then they will pray to the Lord for him. But if it is against the Lord that he sins, who will pray for him?” And they did not listen to the voice of their father because the Lord intentionally wanted to destroy them. 26 And the child Samuel continued to grow and was honorable both with the Lord and with people. 27 And a man of God came to Eli and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In revealing, I revealed myself to your father’s house when they were in the land of Egypt, slaves to the house of Pharaoh. 28 And I chose your father’s house out of all the tribes of Israel for myself to be priests and to ascend to my altar and to burn incense and to take up the ephod, and I gave to the house of your father all the offerings of fire from the sons of Israel for food. 29 And why did you look at my incense and at my sacrifice with shameless eyes and honor your sons before me to bless them with the firstfruits of all the sacrifices of Israel in front of me?’ 30 On account of this, thus said the Lord the God of Israel: ‘I previously said that your house and your father’s house will go in and out before me for eternity.’ And the Lord now says, ‘Far be it from me!a But only the ones who honor me will I honor, and the ones who treat me with disdain I will dishonor. 31 Look, days are coming, and I will completely destroy your seed and the seed of your father’s house. 32 Your elderly will not be in my house all the days. 33 And I will not completely destroy a man for you from my altar, that his eyes may fail and his soul flow away. But all that abounds of your house will fall upon a man’s scimitar. 34 And this will be a sign for you that will come upon your two sons: These, Hophni and Phinehas, in a single day, both of them will die. 35 And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who will do everything in my heart and in my soul, and I will build for him a faithful house, and he will go in and out before my anointed all his days. 36 And it will be that the one who remains in the house will come to bow down to him for a silver coin, saying, “Put me in one of your priestly positions so that I can eat a piece of bread.” ’ ”
3And the child Samuel was ministering for the Lord before Eli the priest. And messages from the Lord were rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 2 And it happened on that day that Eli was seated in his home, and his eyes had begun to grow heavy, and he could not see. 3 And before the lamp of God was prepared, Samuel was lying down in the shrine where the ark of God was. 4 And the Lord called, “Samuel, Samuel!” And he said, “Here I am.”b 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” And he said, “I did not call you. Return to bed.” And Samuel returned and went to bed. 6 And the Lord continued and called, “Samuel, Samuel!” And he went to Eli a second time and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” And he said, “I did not call you. Return; go back to bed.” 7 And this was before Samuel knew God or the word of the Lord was revealed to him. 8 And the Lord again called Samuel for a third time, and he rose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, because you called me.” And Eli realized that the Lord had been calling the child. 9 And he said, “Return; go back to bed, child. And it will be that if he calls you, then you should say, ‘Speak, because your slave is listening.’ ” And Samuel went and fell asleep in his bed. 10 And the Lord came and stood, and he called him as once and once. And Samuel said, “Speak, because your servant is listening.” 11 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Look, I am producing my words in Israel. They will ring in both their ears of all who listen. 12 In that day, I will stir up against Eli everything, as much as I spoke to his house. I will begin, and I will finish. 13 And I have declared to him that I am avenging his house for eternity for the injustice of his sons, because his sons were abusing God, and he did not admonish them—and not even in any way. [3] 14 I swear this to the house of Eli, even if the injustice of the house of Eli will be appeased with incense or with sacrifice for eternity!” 15 And Samuel slept until morning, and he rose early in the morning and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to share his vision with Eli. 16 And Eli said to Samuel, “Samuel, child.” And he said, “Here I am.” [4] 17 And he said, “What was the word spoken to you? Now do not hide from me, so that God might do to you if you hide from me even a word from the entire message that he spoke to you in your ear.” 18 And Samuel reported every word and did not hide anything from him, and Eli said, “He is the Lord. He will do the good before him.” 19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and nothing from any of his words fell to the earth. 20 And all Israel from Dan even as far as Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was faithful to the Lord as a prophet. 21 And the Lord continued to appear at Shiloh because the Lord had revealed himself to Samuel. And Samuel was believed to be a prophet for the Lord in all Israel, from one end of the land even as far as the other end. And Eli was very elderly, and proceeding, his sons proceeded, and their way was evil before the Lord.
4And it happened in those days that foreigners assembled for battle against Israel, and Israel came out to meet them in battle, and they camped at Ebenezer, and the foreigners camped at Aphek. [5] 2 And the foreigners lined up for battle against Israel, and the battle turned, and a man of Israel fell before the foreigners, and they struck down in battle in the field four thousand men. 3 And the people came into the camp, and the elders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord allow us to be defeated today before the foreigners? We should bring the ark of our God from Shiloh and let him come from our midst, and he will deliver you from our enemies’ hand.” 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and took from that place the ark of the Lord, who is enthroned with cherubim. And both sons of Eli were with the ark, Hophni and Phinehas. 5 And this is what happened as the ark of the Lord came into the camp: All of Israel shouted with a great voice, and the earth resounded. 6 And the foreigners heard the shouting, and the foreigners said, “What is this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?” And they learned that the ark of the Lord was arriving in the camp. 7 And the foreigners were terrified and said, “These gods have come to them in the camp! Woe to us! Rescue us, Lord, today because such a thing has not happened yesterday or the third day! 8 Woe to us! Who will rescue us from the hand of these solid gods? These are the gods who struck Egypt with every plague and in the desert. [6] 9 Strengthen yourselves, and be like a man, and make war against them.” 10 And they fought them and defeated the men of Israel, and each fled to his tent. It was a very great defeat. Thirty thousand soldiers fell from Israel. 11 And the ark of God was taken, and both sons of Eli died, Hophni and Phinehas. 12 And a man from Benjamin ran from the battle and went to Shiloh on that day. His clothing was torn, and there was dirt on his head. 13 And he came, and look, Eli was on his chair beside the gate watching the road closely because his heart was concerned for the ark of God. And the man entered into the city to report, and the city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the sound of shouting, he said, “What is this shouting sound?” And the man, hurrying, came and reported to Eli. 15 And Eli was a son of ninety years, and his eyes were swollen, and he could not see. Eli said to the man standing before him, “What is this shouting sound?” 16 And the man who was hurrying came to Eli and said to him, “I am the one who arrived from the camp, and I fled from the battle today.” And he replied, “What is the news that has happened, child?” 17 And the servant answered and said, “The men of Israel fled from the face of the foreigners, and there has been a great defeat among the people. And both your sons died, and the ark of God was taken.” 18 And it happened that as he was informed of the ark of God, he fell backward from his chair beside the gate, and his neck broke, and he died because the man was elderly and overweight. He judged Israel for twenty years. 19 And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant with a child, and she heard the news that the ark of God was taken and that her father-in-law died as well as her husband. She wept and gave birth because her labor pains came upon her. 20 And during childbirth, she was dying, and the women surrounding her said to her, “Do not be afraid, because you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond, and her heart was not paying attention. 21 And she named the child Woe-Barchaboth because of the ark of God and her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And they said, “The glory of Israel has been removed in the taking of the ark of the Lord.”
5And the foreigners took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 And the foreigners took the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Dagon and placed it beside Dagon. 3 And the people of Ashdod rose and entered into the house of Dagon and saw, and look, Dagon was fallen on his face before the ark of God. So they took hold of Dagon and set him in his place. The hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and he tortured them and struck them in their homes, both Ashdod and its borders. 4 And it happened that when they rose in the morning and look, Dagon was fallen on his face before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both prints of his hands taken away onto the front amapheth, each of them, and both fruits of his hands fallen onto the doorway. Only the torso of Dagon remained. 5 Because of this, the priests of Dagon and all who enter into the house of Dagon do not step on the step into the house of Dagon in Ashdod until this day, because when they go in, they step over it. 6 And the hand of the Lord was heavy on Ashdod, and he brought trouble against them, and he broke out against them in their ships, and mice grew in the midst of its territory. There was great confusion of death in the city. 7 And the men of Ashdod saw that it was so and said, “The ark of God cannot stay with us because his hand is hard upon us and upon Dagon, our god.” 8 So they sent for and gathered the leaders of the foreigners to them and said, “What should we do about the ark of the God of Israel?” And the people of Gath said, “Let the ark of God be brought over to us.” So the ark of God went over to Gath. 9 And it happened with its transfer to Gath that the hand of the Lord came against the city with very great trouble, and he struck the men of the city, from small to great. He struck them in their homes, and the people of Gath built homes for themselves. 10 So they sent away the ark of God to Ekron, and it happened that as the ark of God entered Ekron the people of Ekron cried out saying, “Why do you return the ark of God of Israel to us to kill us and our people?” 11 So they sent and gathered the leaders of the foreigners and said, “Send the ark of the God of Israel away, and let it stay in her place, and may it not kill us and our people.” For there was a very severe confusion in the entire city as the ark of the God of Israel entered there. 12 And those who lived and did not die were stricken in their homes, and a shriek from the city went up to the heavens.
6And the ark was in the country of the foreigners seven months, and their land broke out with mice. 2 And the foreigners called the priests and the prophets and their diviners, saying, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us. How should we send it home?” 3 And they said, “If you send away the ark of the covenant of the Lord God of Israel, you must not indeed send it away empty. Instead, when you return it, return the torment with it, and then you will be healed, and it will atone for you. Otherwise, his hand will not withdraw from you.” 4 And they replied, “What thing of the torment should we return with it?” And he said, “According to the number of the leaders of the foreigners, five golden seats, because there was a single misfortune for all of you and your rulers and people, 5 and golden mice, an image of your mice that destroyed the land. And you will worship the Lord so that he might lighten his hand from you and from your gods and from your land. 6 And why do you weigh down your hearts as Egypt and Pharaoh weighed down their hearts? Was it not so when he mocked them, they sent them away and they departed? 7 So now take what you need, and make a new wagon, and two cows who have borne their first calf without their young, and harness the cows to the wagon, and lead away the young from behind them toward home. 8 And you will take the ark and set it on the wagon and return the golden vessels with it for the plague, and do not set the box in a deposit on its side, and send it away and drive it away, and you shall go. 9 And watch: If it goes away to the road of its own border by Beth-shemesh, he has done to us this great, terrible act; and if not, then we will know that his hand did not strike us, and this was by chance for us.” 10 And the foreigners did just that. They took two cows that had borne their first calf and harnessed them to the wagon and locked up their young at home. 11 So they set the ark on the wagon and the deposit box and the golden mice. 12 The cows kept straight on the road to the road of Beth-shemesh, on a single path they went and labored, and they turned away neither to the right nor to the left. And the leaders of the foreigners went after them until the border at Beth-shemesh. 13 And the people in Beth-shemesh were reaping the wheat harvest in the valley, and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark of the Lord and celebrated to meet it. 14 And the wagon entered the field of Joshua of Bethshemesh, and it stopped there beside a great stone. So they split the wood from the wagon, and they offered up the cows to be a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 And the Levites brought up the ark of the Lord and the deposit box with it and the golden vessels on it, and they set it on the large stone. And the men from Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrifices on that day to the Lord. 16 And the five leaders of the foreigners were watching and returned to Ekron on that day. 17 And these are the golden seats that the foreigners returned for their torment from the Lord: 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 the foreigner cities of the five leaders, from the fortified city as far as the village of the Perizzites and as far as the large stone on which they set the ark of the covenant of the Lord, in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh. 19 And the sons of Jechonias were not pleased with the men of Beth-shemesh because they saw the ark of the Lord, and he struck among them fifty thousand and seventy men, and the people mourned because the Lord struck with a very great plague among the people. [7] 20 And the men from Bethshemesh said, “Who is able to pass through before this holy Lord, and to whom shall go up the ark of the Lord from us?” 21 So they sent messengers to those dwelling at Kiriathjearim, saying, “The foreigners returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and retrieve it for yourselves.”
7And the men from Kiriath-jearim came, and they brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord and brought it into the house of Amminadab on the hill; and Eleazar, his son, they consecrated him to keep watch over the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Samuel Defeats the Philistines at Mizpah 2 And it was from that day the ark was in Kiriath-jearim. The days multiplied, and it was twenty years, and all the house of Israel looked attentively after the Lord. 3 And Samuel said to the entire house of Israel, saying, “If with your whole heart you are turning toward the Lord, then remove foreign gods and the groves from your midst, and then prepare your hearts for the Lord; and serve him alone, and he will rescue you from the hand of the foreigners.” 4 And the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtoreth groves and served the Lord alone. 5 And Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray for you to the Lord.” 6 So they gathered in Mizpah and fetched water and poured it out on the earth before the Lord. And they fasted on that day and said, “We have sinned before the Lord.” And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah. 7 And the foreigners heard that all the sons of Israel had assembled at Mizpah, and leaders of the foreigners went up against Israel. And the sons of Israel heard and were afraid of the face of the foreigners. 8 And the sons of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not keep silent about us so that you do not cry loudly to the Lord your God, and he will deliver us from the hand of the foreigners.” 9 And Samuel took one young lamb and offered it as a burnt offering with all the people to the Lord. Samuel cried loudly to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him. 10 And while Samuel was offering the burnt offering, the foreigners approached for battle against Israel. And the Lord thundered with a great voice against the foreigners on that day. He threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah, and they closely pursued the foreigners and struck them down as far away as by the Beth-car. 12 And Samuel took one stone and set it between Mizpah and the old city and called it Ebenezer, the Stone of the Helper, and said, “As far as this spot the Lord helped us.” 13 And the Lord humbled the foreigners, and they did not advance across the border of Israel. The hand of the Lord was against the foreigners during all the days of Samuel. 14 And the towns that the foreigners took from the sons of Israel were restored. And they returned them to Israel from Ashkelon, as far as Gath, and control of the border of Israel was taken away from the hand of the foreigners. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. 15 And Samuel presided as judge over Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he went year by year in a circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah. He judged Israel in all these consecrated places. 17 But he would return to Ramah because his home was there, and there he judged Israel and built an altar to the Lord.
8And it happened that as Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 2 And the name of his firstborn son was Joel. And the name of his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. 3 But his sons did not follow in his footsteps but turned aside to bribery and accepted gifts and twisted duties. 4 And the men of Israel assembled and gathered in Ramah to Samuel. 5 They said to him, “Look, you have grown old, and your sons do not follow in your way. So now appoint over us a king to rule us, just as the other nations also have.” 6 But it was a wicked statement in Samuel’s eye when they said, “Give us a king to rule us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people, just as they would speak to you, because it is not you they have rejected, but it is me they reject as king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they did to me from that day I led them up from Egypt until this day, they abandoned me and served other gods in the same way they do these things also to you. 9 And now listen to their voice, except that by warning, you might warn them and explain to them the duties of the king who will rule over them.” 10 And Samuel said all the words of the Lord to the people who had asked for a king from him. 11 And he said, “This is the duty of a king who will reign over you. He will take your sons and put them in his chariots and his cavalry, and they will run before his chariots. 12 He will appoint them for himself as commanders of thousands and leaders of hundreds. They will reap his harvest and gather in his harvest and make weapons for his wars and equipment for his chariots. 13 And he will take your daughters as perfumers and as cooks and as bakers. 14 And he will take your fields and your vineyards and your good olive orchard, and give them to his servants. 15 And he will take a tenth from your seeds and your vineyards, and give it to his eunuchs and his servants. 16 Your male slaves and your female slaves and your good cattle and your donkeys, he will take them all and will take a tenth for his works. 17 He will also take a tenth of your flocks. You will be slaves to him. 18 And you will cry loudly on that day from the face of your king whom you chose for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you on that day because you chose a king for yourselves.” 19 And the people were unwilling to listen to Samuel, and they said to him, “No! But a king will be over us. 20 And we also will be like all the nations, and our king will rule us, and he will go out on behalf of us and fight our battles.” 21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people and spoke them to the ear of the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and crown a king for them.” And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Hurry away, each to his own city.”
9And there was a man from the sons of Benjamin, and his name was Kish son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjamite man, a man of wealth. 2 And this man had a son, and his name was Saul. He was a tall, handsome man. And there was no one among the sons of Israel more handsome than he. He was head and upward high above everyone in the land. 3 Now the donkeys of Kish, the father of Saul, strayed, so Kish said to Saul, his son, “Take one of the servants with you and rise and go and search for the donkeys.” 4 They passed through the mountains of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalisha but did not find them. And they passed through the land of Shaalim, but there was nothing; and they passed through the land of Benjamin but did not find them. 5 When they came into Ziph, Saul said to his servant, the one with him, “Come! Let us return, otherwise my father, after letting go of the donkeys, will worry about us.” 6 But the servant said to him, “Look, there is a man of God in this city. The man is held in honor; everything he says, when it comes, it will happen. So now let us go so that he might tell us about our journey on which we have traveled.” 7 And Saul said to his servant, the one with him, “Look, let us go, but what shall we bring to the man of God? Because the bread from our vessels has come to an end, and no more is with us to bring to the man of God that belongs to us.” 8 And the servant replied in answer to Saul and said, “Here, see in my hand a fourth of a shekel of silver, and you will give it to the man of God, and he will tell us our way.” 9 Formerly in Israel, everyone said this, when they were going to inquire of God: “Come, let us go to the seer.” For the people formerly called the prophet the seer. 10 And Saul said to his servant, “Well spoken; come, let us go.” So they went into the city where the man of God was. 11 As they were going up the ascent to the city, they came upon some young girls coming out to draw water and asked them whether the seer was here. 12 The young girls answered them and said to them, “He is, look, opposite your face. Now on account of the day, he has come into the city because the people have a sacrifice today at Bama. [8] 13 As you enter the city in this way, you will find him in the city before he goes up to Bama to eat; for the people will not eat until he enters because this man blesses the sacrifice, and after these things the guests eat. Now go up, for because of the day, you will find him.” 14 So they went up to their city, entering the middle of the city. And behold, Samuel came into their meeting in order to go up to Bama. 15 And the Lord revealed Samuel’s ear, one day before Saul came to him, saying, 16 “About this time tomorrow, I will send to you a man from Benjamin. You will anoint him as ruler over my people Israel, and he will save my people from the hand of foreigners; for I looked upon the humiliation of my people because their cry came to me.” [9] 17 Samuel saw Saul, and the Lord spoke to him, “Here is the man whom I spoke to you. This man will rule among my people.” 18 And Saul approached Samuel in the middle of the city and said, “Tell me, now, which is the house of the seer?” 19 And Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am he. Go up before me to Bama and eat with me today, and I will send you out in the morning, and I will tell you all the things in your heart. 20 As for your donkeys that had been lost three days ago, do not set your heart on them because they have been found. And whose is the beauty of Israel? Is it not yours and the house of your father?” 21 Saul answered and said, “Am I not the son of a Benjamite man, the small staff of a tribe of Israel, and of the smallest tribe of the whole staff of Benjamin? Why do you speak to me according to this word?” 22 Then Samuel took Saul and his servant and led them into the lodging and set for them there a place among the first of those who had been invited, about seventy men. 23 And Samuel said to the cook, “Give me the portion that I gave to you, the one that I told you to put to the side.” 24 The cook boiled the thigh and set it before Saul, and Samuel said to Saul, “Here is what is left. Set it before you and eat, for it has been set before you for a testimony beside the others; tear off.” And Saul ate with Samuel on that day. [10] 25 He went down from Bama into the city, and they spread a bed for Saul on the roof, and he fell asleep. 26 And it happened as dawn arose that Samuel called Saul on the roof, saying, “Stand up, and I will send you out.” Saul got up, and then he and Samuel went outside. Samuel Anoints Saul 27 As they were going into part of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Speak to your young servant; he should go before us. And you, stand up as today and hear a message from God.”
10And Samuel took the flask of oil and poured it over his head and kissed him and said to him, “Hasn’t the Lord anointed you as ruler over his people, over Israel? You will rule among the Lord’s people, and you will deliver them from his enemy’s hand all around. 2 This will be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you over his possession as their ruler: When you are departing today from me, you will find two men at the tomb of Rachel on the mount of Benjamin jumping greatly, and they will say to you, ‘The donkey that you went to seek has been found. And look, your father has discarded the matter of the donkey, and he has begun worrying for you, saying, “What should I do for my son?” ’ 3 And you should depart from there, and farther on you will have come as far as the oak tree of Tabor and find there three men going up to God in Bethel, one carrying three young goats and another carrying three containers of bread and another carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will greet you in peace and give you two firstfruits of bread, and you will accept them from their hand. 5 And after these events, you will go onto the hill of God where there is an encampment of foreigners. Nasib the foreigner is also there. There, as you enter the city, you will encounter a company of prophets going down from the high place, and in front of them will be a harp and tambourine and flute and lyre. And they will be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the Lord will come over you, and you will prophesy with them and turn into a different man. 7 And it will be that when these signs have come upon you, you must do everything that your hand would find to do because God is with you. 8 And you will go down in front of Gilgal. And look, I am going down to you to offer up a burnt sacrifice and a peace offering. Seven days you will wait until I come to you, and I will show you what you will do.” Saul Prophesies 9 And it happened that as he was turning with his shoulder to depart from Samuel, God changed another heart in him, and all the signs took place that day. 10 And he went from there to the hill and, look, the company of prophets was coming from opposite of him. And the Spirit of God leapt upon him, and he prophesied in the midst of them. 11 And all the ones who knew him yesterday and the third day came and saw and look, he was in the middle of the prophets. And the people said, each to his neighbor, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Or is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And someone of them answered and said, “And who is his father?” Because of this, it turned into a saying: “Is also Saul among the prophets?” 13 And he finished prophesying and went to the hill. 14 And his relative said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And they replied, “To search for the donkeys, and we realized that they were not there, and so we went to Samuel.” 15 And the relative said to Saul, “Tell me now what Samuel said to you.” 16 And Saul said to his relative, “He announced, informing me that the donkeys had been found.” But the subject of the kingship he did not share with him. Saul Proclaimed King 17 And Samuel summoned all the people to the Lord in Mizpah 18 and said to the sons of Israel, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I led the sons of Israel out from Egypt and rescued you from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and from all the kings who oppressed you. 19 And you, today, have rejected God, who himself was your deliverer from all your troubles and your oppression, and you all said, “No! Instead, you should appoint a king over us.” ’ So now, assemble before the Lord according to your tribes and according to your clans.” 20 And Samuel brought near all the tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 And he brought near the tribe of Benjamin by clan, and the clan of Matrites was chosen. And they brought near the clan of Matri by men, and Saul son of Kish was chosen. And he sought him, and he was not found. 22 And Samuel inquired again with the Lord whether the man came here. And the Lord said, “Look, he has been hiding in the equipment.” 23 And he ran and took him from there, and he stood in the middle of the people, and he rose over all the people from the head and above. 24 And Samuel asked to all the people, “Have you seen whom the Lord had chosen for himself, because there is none like him among all of you?” And all the people recognized this and said, “Let the king live!” 25 And Samuel spoke to the people about the duty of the king and wrote them in a document and laid it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people, and each one departed to his home. 26 And Saul departed to his house, to Gibeah, and mighty sons whose hearts the Lord touched went with Saul. 27 And some pestilent sons said, “How will this man deliver us?” And they dishonored him and did not bring him gifts.
11And this is what happened about a month later: Nahash the Ammonite went up and surrounded Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash the Ammonite, “Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.” 2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “This is how I will make a covenant with you: by gouging out the right eye of all of you. And I will put disgrace upon Israel.” 3 The men of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days, and we will send messengers to every border of Israel; if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.” 4 The messengers came to Gibeah to Saul, and they spoke the words to the ears of the people, and all the people lifted up their voice and wept. 5 And behold, Saul was beginning to come after the early morning from the field, and Saul said, “Why is it that the people weep?” So they told him the words of the sons of Jabesh. 6 And the Spirit of the Lord leapt upon Saul as he heard these words, and his anger became very wrathful against them. 7 He took two oxen and cut them into pieces and sent them to every border of Israel in the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, like this they will do to his oxen.” And the astonishment of the Lord came over the people of Israel, and they cried out as one man. 8 And he inspected them at Bezek in Bama, every man of Israel, six hundred thousand, and the men of Judah, seventy thousand. 9 He said to the messengers who came, “This you will say to the men of Jabesh: ‘Tomorrow, there will be deliverance for you by the time the sun grows hot.’ ” And the messengers came to the city and told the men of Jabesh, and they rejoiced. 10 The men of Jabesh said to Nahash the Ammonite, “Tomorrow we will come to you, and you will do to us what seems good in your eyes.” 11 It happened the following day that Saul put the people into three companies, and they went into the middle of the camp during the morning watch and beat down the sons of Ammon until the day grew hot. The ones who were left were scattered, and no two were left next to the other among them. 12 The people said to Samuel, “Who is the one who said that Saul will not rule us? Hand over the men, and we will kill them.” 13 Samuel said, “Not a single person shall die on this day, for today the Lord brought deliverance to Israel.” 14 Samuel said to the people, saying, “Let us go into Gilgal, and let us renew there the kingship.” 15 So all the people went into Gilgal, and Samuel anointed Saul in that place as king before the Lord in Gilgal. And there he sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord and Samuel. And all Israel celebrated greatly.
12And Samuel said to every one of Israel, “Look, I heard your voice in all that you said to me, and I appointed a king over you. 2 And now, look, the king walks before you, and I am old and will sit down; but my sons, look, they are among you, and look, I have walked before you from youth until this day. 3 Here I am; answer against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose calf have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom did I exploit among you? Or whom did I oppress? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe, even a shoe? Answer against me, and I will give it back to you.” 4 And they said to Samuel, “You have not wronged us or oppressed us nor crushed us nor taken anything from the hand of anyone.” 5 Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is witness among you, and his anointed is a witness today on this day that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is a witness.” 6 Samuel said to the people, saying, “The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron, who brought our ancestors out of Egypt. 7 And now stand up, and I will judge you before the Lord, and I will report to you all the righteousness of the Lord that he performed among you and among your ancestors: 8 how Jacob and his sons went to Egypt, and Egypt humbled them, and your ancestors cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron and led your ancestors out of Egypt, and he settled them in this place. 9 But they forgot the Lord their God, and he sold them into the hands of Sisera, commander of King Jabin of Hazor, and into the hands of the foreigners and into the hands of the king of Moab and made war with them. 10 And they cried out to the Lord and were saying, ‘We have sinned because we forsook the Lord, and we served the Baals and the sacred groves. And now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ 11 And he sent Jerubbaal, Beden, Jephthah, and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hand of your enemies from all around, and you lived in confidence. 12 But you saw that Nahash, king of the sons of Ammon, came against you, and you said, ‘No, we instead want a king to rule over us.’ 13 But now look, the king whom you chose, look, the Lord has placed a king over you. 14 If you fear the Lord and serve him and listen to his voice and do not quarrel with the words of the Lord, and if you—both you and the king who rules over youare walking behind the Lord, 15 but if you do not listen to the voice of the Lord and you quarrel with the words of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and against your king. 16 And now stand and see this great matter that the Lord will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will invoke the Lord, and he will send thunder and rain; and know and see that your wickedness is great, that which you did before the Lord, asking for a king for yourselves.” 18 So Samuel invoked the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain during that day; and all the people feared the Lord and Samuel very much. 19 All the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins wickedness by asking for a king for ourselves.” 20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid. You have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, and serve the Lord with your whole heart. 21 Do not go aside after things that are worthless, that do not accomplish anything, and that do not deliver because they are worthless. 22 For the Lord will not cast away his people because of his great name, because the Lord mercifully took you for himself to be his people. 23 As for me, by no means will I sin against the Lord by abandoning praying for you, and I will serve the Lord, and I will show you the good and straight way. 24 But fear the Lord and serve him in truth and with your whole heart because you saw what things he made great among you. 25 And if you act with wickedness, both you and your king will be handed over.”
13 2 And Saul chose three thousand men for himself from the men of Israel. There were also two thousand with Saul at Michmash. And in the mountainous region of Bethel, there were one thousand with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. And as for the rest of the people, Saul sent them away, each to his own tent. 3 And Jonathan struck Nasib the foreigner from the hill country. But the foreigners found out, so Saul sounded a trumpet to the entire land, saying, “The slaves have rebelled!” [11] 4 And all Israel heard them saying that Saul has fought Nasib the foreigner, and Israel was disgraced among the foreigners. So the sons of Israel went up following Saul in Gilgal. 5 And the foreigners gathered for battle against Israel and went up against Israel. There were thirty thousand chariots and six thousand cavalry and a people like the sand of the sea in its abundance; and they went up and camped at Michmash opposite Beth-aven down the rear. 6 And a man of Israel saw that he was in dire straits so he could not proceed. So the people hid in the caves and in holes and in rocks and in pits and in wells. 7 And there were some who crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still in Gilgal, and all the people were bewildered after him. 8 And he waited seven days for the testimony as Samuel said. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and his people scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring what I need so that I can perform the burnt offering and peace offering.” And he offered up the burnt offering. 10 And it happened that as he finished offering up the burnt offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to meet him to welcome him. 11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw how the people scattered from me, and you had not arrived as you appointed for the testimony for the day, and the foreigners were gathering to Michmash, 12 and I said, ‘Now the foreigners will go down against me to Gilgal, and I have not petitioned the face of the Lord.’ So I took charge and offered up the burnt offering.” 13 And Samuel said to Saul, “That was a foolish move you made because you did not keep my command that the Lord commanded to you. As now the Lord had prepared your kingdom for eternity over Israel, 14 but now your kingdom will not stand, and the Lord will seek for himself a person according to his own heart; and the Lord will command him as ruler over his people because you did not keep what the Lord commanded you.” 15 And Samuel stood and departed from Gilgal to go on his way, and the remnant of the people went up after Saul to meet behind the people of his army coming from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul counted the people, finding that there were with him about six hundred men. 16 And Saul and Jonathan, his son, and the people and those who were found with them stayed at Geba of Benjamin, and they wept. And the foreigners camped at Michmash. 17 And there came out a raider from the field of the foreigners with three companies. One company looked over the road of Ophrah over Shual, 18 and another company closely watched the road of Bethhoron, and another company closely watched the road of Gibeah, which overlooks the Zeboim Ai. 19 And there was no iron smith to be found in all the land of Israel because the foreigners said, “Otherwise, the Hebrews might make swords and spears.” 20 And so all the Israelites were going down into the land of the foreigners, each one, to forge his sickle and tool and each his axe head and his pruning hook. 21 And the harvest was ready to reap. But the tools were three shekels for the plowshare and for the axe head and the pruning hook, the amount was the same. 22 And it happened that on the day of the battle of Michmash, no swords or spears could be found in the hand of anyone among the people with Saul and with Jonathan. But one was found for Saul and for Jonathan, his son. 23 And some went out from the substance of the foreigners beyond Michmash; and his father did not report the news.
14And day came, and Jonathan son of Saul said to his servant who carries his equipment, “Come over here! We should cross over to the garrison of the foreigners at that pass.” And he did not report to his father. 2 And Saul stayed at the top of the hill by the pomegranate tree, the one from Migron, and there were about six hundred men with him. 3 And Ahijah the son of Ahitub, the brother of Ichabod, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of God at Shiloh, was carrying the ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had left. 4 It was in the middle of the passage where Jonathan sought to cross through to the garrison of the foreigners. There was a rocky peak on one side and a rocky peak on the other side, and a tooth of rock out of this. The name for one was Bozez, and the name for the other was Seneh; 5 the one way from the north for the peak pointing toward Michmash, and the other way from the south for the peak pointing toward Geba. 6 And Jonathan said to the servant carrying his equipment, “Come over here! We should cross through to the garrison of these uncircumcised, if the Lord were to act for us, because nothing is confining to the Lord to deliver by many or by few.” 7 And his equipment carrier said to him, “Do everything as your heart is inclined. Look, I am with you. Where your heart is, so is my heart.” 8 And Jonathan said, “Look, we can cross through to those men, and we will quickly come down to them. 9 If those ones say to us, ‘Withdraw there until we tell would you,’ then we will stand by ourselves, and we will not go up against them. 10 But if these ones were to say to us, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up because the Lord has given over them to our hands. This will be the sign for us.” 11 And both of them entered the garrison of the foreigners, and the foreigners said, “Look! The Hebrews are coming out from their holes that hid them there!” 12 And the men of the garrison responded to Jonathan and to his equipment carrier and said, “Come up to us! We will show you something.” And Jonathan said to his equipment carrier, “Come up behind me, because the Lord has given them into Israel’s hands.” 13 And Jonathan went up on his hands and on his feet, and his equipment carrier was with him. They looked at the face of Jonathan, and he struck them down, and his equipment carrier was bringing supplies behind him. 14 And it happened that the first slaughter that Jonathan and his equipment carrier struck was about twenty men with arrows and pebbles from the plain. 15 And terror came into the camp and in the field and among all the people. Those in the garrison and the raiders were shocked; they did not want to respond. And the earth was astounded, and terror came from the Lord. 16 And Saul’s watchmen saw in Gibeah of Benjamin, and look, the camp was in commotion from here and there. 17 And Saul said to the people with him, “Count, right now, and see who has gone from you.” And they counted, and look, Jonathan and his equipment carrier could not be found. 18 And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ephod,” for he carried the ephod in that day before Israel. [12] 19 And it happened that as Saul spoke to the priest, and the noise in the camp of the foreigners continued to increase. So Saul said to the priest, “Put your hands together.” 20 And Saul came up and all the people with him, and they went to the battle; and look, a man’s sword was against his neighbor, and the confusion was very great. 21 And the slaves who were captured by the foreigners previously, the ones who went up to the camp, were returned to be with Israel, with Saul and Jonathan. 22 And all the Israelites, the ones who were hiding in the mountainous region of Ephraim, and they heard that the foreigners had fled, and they joined together, even them, to go after them in battle. 23 And the Lord delivered Israel on that day. The battle passed though Beth-aven, and all the people with Saul were about ten thousand men. The fighting was scattering to the whole region in the hill country in Ephraim. Saul’s Foolish Oath 24 Now Saul lacked discernment with great ignorance in that day. He placed an oath on the people, saying, “Greatly cursed is the person who eats bread before evening, so I will avenge my enemy.” Thus, none of the people tasted breadeven when the whole land was having dinner. 25 And Iaal, a wood thicket, there was with a beehive on the face of the field. 26 And the people arrived at the beehive, and look, they went on speaking, and look, there was no one raising their hand to their mouth because the people feared the curse of the Lord. 27 But Jonathan had not heard about the commanded oath of his father to the people, so he stretched out the tip of his staff in his hand and dipped it into the honey on the honeycomb and raised his hand to his mouth; and his eyes regained their strength. 28 And someone from the people responded and said, “Making us swear, your father made the people swear an oath, saying, ‘The person who would eat bread today is greatly cursed.’ And now the people are fainting.” 29 And Jonathan understood and said, “My father has put away the land. Look, my eyes see because I tasted this honey even briefly. 30 But that the people ate an eating today from the spoils of their enemies which they found, now the slaughter would have been greater among the foreigners.” 31 And on that day he struck some of the foreigners at Michmash, and the people grew very weary. 32 So the people turned to the spoils, and the people took flocks and cattle and calves of cows and slaughtered them on the earth. Then the people ate them along with the blood. 33 And this was reported to Saul, saying, “The people have sinned against the Lord, eating the meat together with the blood.” And Saul said in Avith, “Roll for me a large stone here.” 34 And Saul said, “Spread out among the people, and tell them to bring here each his calf, and each one bring his cattle to slaughter it on this. And do not allow them to sin against the Lord by eating the meat together with the blood.” So all the people each brought what was in his hand, and they slaughtered it there. 35 Saul built an altar to the Lord there. Saul began to build this altar to the Lord. 36 And Saul said, “We should go down after the foreigners during the night and plunder among them until day dawns so that no man remains among them.” And they said, “Do all that is good before you.” And the priest said, “We should appeal to God here.” 37 And Saul asked God, “Should I go down after the foreigners? Will you give them into Israel’s hand?” And he did not respond to him on that day. 38 And Saul said, “Bring here all the leaders of Israel. You must determine and see who among you has sinned this day. 39 Because as the Lord the Deliverer of Israel lives, if he answers against Jonathan, my son, he will die by death!” And there was no response from any of the people. 40 So he said to all Israel, “You will be in slavery, and I and Jonathan, my son, we will be in slavery.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what is good before you.” 41 So Saul said, “Lord, God of Israel, why is it that you do not answer your servant today? Is the wrongdoing in me or in Jonathan, my son? Lord God of Israel, give evidence. And if the lot should say these things, give, I pray, to your people Israel. Give, I pray, holiness.” And Jonathan and Saul were chosen by the lots, and the people were cleared. 42 And Saul said, “Place between me and Jonathan, my son. Whoever the Lord will choose must die.” And the people said to Saul, “This decision should not be.” But Saul prevailed over the people, and they placed him in the middle and Jonathan, his son, in the middle. And Jonathan was chosen. 43 Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him and said, “Tasting, I tasted a little honey with the staff in my hand. Look, I am dying.” 44 And Saul said to him, “This, God should do to me and this, even more because by death you should die today!” 45 And the people said to Saul, “Today, should the one who caused this great deliverance in Israel be put to death? May the Lord live! Should a hair from his head fall on the earth because of what the people of God did this day?” So the people prayed for Jonathan on that day, and he did not die. 46 And Saul went up from behind the foreigners, and the foreigners departed to their home. Constant Warfare under Saul 47 And Saul received the kingship, and he was chosen for the work over Israel, and he fought all around all his enemies, against Moab and against the sons of Ammon and against the sons of Edom and against Betheor and against the king of Zobah and against the foreigners. Wherever he turned, he was victorious. 48 And he made an army and struck the Amalekites and rescued Israel from the hand of those who trampled them. 49 And the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi and Malchishua, and as for his two daughters, the name for the firstborn was Merab, and the name for the second was Michal. 50 And his wife’s name was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz, and his commander’s name was Abner son of Ner, son of a relative of Saul. 51 And Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, was the son of Jamin the son of Abiel. 52 And there was difficult fighting against the foreigners all the days of Saul. And so when Saul saw any capable man and any man who was a son of strength, he gathered them for himself.
15And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you to be king over Israel. So now listen to the voice of the Lord. 2 This is what the Lord Sabaoth says: ‘Now I will avenge what the Amalekites did to Israel when they encountered them on the way of their coming up from Egypt. [13] 3 And now go, and you will strike down Amalek and Jerim and all that is his, and none should be allowed to live from him. You must completely destroy him, and you will commit him to destruction and all that is his, and you must not spare anything from him. You will kill everything, from men even to women, and from the young child to the suckling baby, and from the calf to the cattle, and from the camel to the donkey.’ ” 4 And Saul summoned the people, and he counted them in Gilgal. There were four hundred thousand soldiers as well as thirty thousand soldiers from Judah. 5 Saul went as far as the city of the Amalekites and set an ambush in the wadi. 6 And Saul said to the Kenites, “Get out of here and withdraw from among the Amalekites, otherwise I will have to destroy you with them even though you acted compassionately with the sons of Israel during their coming up from Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among Amalek. 7 And Saul struck down the Amalekites from Havilah to Shur on the face of Egypt. 8 And he captured Agag, king of the Amalekites, alive, but all the people of Jerim, he killed with the edge of the sword. 9 And Saul and all the people allowed Agag to live in addition to the best of the sheep and cattle and meat and the vineyards and everything of value. They were not willing to completely destroy those things. But everything that was dishonorable and disdained they completely destroyed. 10 And a message from the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11 “I have regret that I crowned Saul king because he turned back from following me. He did not obey my word.” And Samuel was dejected and cried loudly to the Lord through the whole night. 12 So Samuel rose early and went to meet Israel in the morning. It was reported to Saul, saying, “Samuel has come to Carmel and raised up a hand for himself, and his chariot returned.” And Samuel went down to Gilgal 13 to Saul, and look, he himself offered up a burnt offering to the Lord, the first from the spoils that were taken from Amalek. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you to the Lord. I completed what the Lord commanded.” 14 And Samuel said, “Then what is the sound of this flock in my ear and the sound of cattle that I hear?” 15 And Saul answered, “From Amalek I brought those things that the people kept, the best of the flock and the cattle, so that I might offer them to the Lord your God, but the rest we completely destroyed.” 16 And Samuel said to Saul, “Stop. I will tell you what the Lord said to me during the night.” And he said to him, “Tell me.” 17 So Samuel said to Saul, “Are you not small before him, a leader of a scepter of a clan of Israel? And the Lord anointed you as king over Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on your way and said to you, ‘Go and completely destroy them; slaughter those who sin against me, the Amalekites, and fight them until you finish them.’ 19 And to that end, why did you not listen to the voice of the Lord? Instead you rushed to set upon the spoils and did evil before the Lord!” 20 And Saul replied to Samuel, “Because my listening to the voice of the people, I went the way that the Lord sent me, and I brought Agag, king of Amalek; but Amalek, I completely destroyed. 21 And the people took from the spoils flock and cattle, the best from the destruction, to place before the Lord our God in Gilgal.” 22 And Samuel asked, “Are burnt offerings as desirable to the Lord as even the sacrifice of obeying the voice of the Lord? Look, listening is better than a good sacrifice, and obedience is better than the fat of rams. 23 Because divination is sin, service to the gods brings grief and suffering. Because you rejected the word of the Lord, so also the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel.” 24 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned because I disobeyed the word of the Lord and your word because I feared the people and listened to their voice. 25 So now please forgive my sin and return with me, and I will worship the Lord your God.” 26 And Samuel replied to Saul, “I am not returning with you because you rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel.” 27 And Samuel turned his face to leave, and Saul grabbed the flap of his cloak and it ripped. 28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn your kingdom from Israel out of your hand today, and he will give it to your neighbor, someone who is better than you. 29 And Israel will be divided in two, and he will neither turn back nor change his mind, because he is not like humanity that he should change his mind.” 30 And Saul said, “I have sinned, but honor me now before the elders of Israel and before my people, and return with me, and I might worship the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel returned with Saul and worshiped the Lord. 32 And Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, king of Amalek.” And Agag approached toward him, trembling, and Agag said, “Is this the bitterness that will be death?” 33 And Samuel said to Agag, “In the manner your sword made women childless, likewise your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel executed Agag before the Lord at Gilgal. 34 And Samuel departed to Ramah, and Saul went up to his home in Gibeah. 35 And Samuel made no attempt still to see Saul until the day of his death because Samuel mourned over Saul, and the Lord regretted that he crowned Saul over Israel.
16And the Lord said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn over Saul, even when I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and I will send you over to Jesse near Bethlehem because I have seen among his sons someone to be my king.” 2 And Samuel said, “How can I go there? Saul will find out and kill me!” But the Lord said, “Take a heifer from the oxen in your hand and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 And you should invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. And you must anoint whomever I tell you.” 4 So Samuel did everything that the Lord told him. And so he went to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city expressed surprise because of his coming and said, “Is your coming peaceful, seer?” [14] 5 And he said, “It is peaceful. I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. You should consecrate yourselves and celebrate with me today.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 And it happened when he came, he saw Eliab and said, “Surely, before the Lord, this is his anointed!” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look too closely at his physical appearance or his great size, because I have rejected him; because God will not see as a human, because a human will look at the face, but God will look at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and he came opposite the face of Samuel, and he said, “Neither has God chosen this one.” 9 And Jesse brought forward Shammah, and he said, “And regarding this one, the Lord has not made a choice.” 10 And Jesse brought forward his seven sons before Samuel. And Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen from these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are any of the children left out?” And he said, “There is still the small one. Look, he is shepherding among the flock.” So, Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and fetch him, because I will not sit until he has come.” 12 And so he sent and brought him in. And he was ruddy with attractiveness for the eyes and appealing to look at to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Rise; anoint David, because this one is good.” 13 And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day and onward. And then Samuel rose and departed to Ramah. 14 And the Spirit of the Lord withdrew from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And the servants of Saul said to him, “Look, now an evil spirit from the Lord is tormenting you. 16 Now allow your slaves to speak before you and seek for our master a man who knows how to play on the lyre. And it will be that when the evil spirit comes upon you, then he will play on his lyre, and it will be good for you, and it will calm you.” 17 And Saul said to his servants, “Now look for a man for me who plays rightly and bring him to me.” 18 And one of his servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse, a Bethlehemite. He knows music, and the man is wise, and the man is a warrior and is wise in his speech and a man good in his appearance, and the Lord is with him.” 19 And Saul sent messengers to Jesse, saying, “Send your son, David, to me, the one with your flock.” 20 And Jesse took a homer of bread and a skin of wine and one kid from the goats and he sent them by the hand of David, his son, to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul and stood before him, and Saul loved him very much. So David became an armor bearer for him. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Now let David stand before me, because he found favor in my sight.” 23 And it happened that when the evil spirit would come upon Saul, David would take out his lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would recover. And it was good for him, and the evil spirit consistently withdrew from him.
17Now the foreigners gathered their army for battle, and they were gathered in Socoh of Edom, and they camped between Socoh and between Azekah Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the valley. They formed ranks for battle opposite the foreigners. 3 And the foreigners stood on the hill on one side, and Israel stood on the hill on the other side, with the circle between them. 4 And a strong man came out from the foreigners’ camp. His name was Goliath from Gath. His height was four arm lengths and a span. [15] 5 And there was a helmet on his head, and he was wearing a coat of chainmail, and the weight of his coat was five thousand shekels of bronze and iron. 6 And he had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze shield between his shoulders. 7 And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spearhead was six hundred shekels of iron, and the carrier for his weapons went before him. 8 And he stood up and shouted to the camp of Israel and said to them, “Why have you come out to prepare for battle opposite of us? Am I not a foreigner, and are you Hebrews of Saul? Choose for yourselves a man and let him come down to me. 9 And if he is able to fight against me, and if he can strike me down, then we will be your slaves. But if I am able and I can strike him down, then you will be our slaves, and you will serve us.” 10 And the foreigner said, “Look! I scorn the camp of Israel today, on this day! Give me a man, and both of us will fight together one on one!” 11 And Saul and all Israel heard these words from the foreigner, and they were shocked and very afraid. 32 And David said to Saul, “Surely the heart of my lord should not be dejected because of him. Your slave will go and fight with this foreigner.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You cannot go up against the foreigner to fight him because you are a boy and he is a man, a warrior from his youth.” 34 And David said to Saul, “Your servant was shepherding for his father with the flock. And when the lion or the bear was coming and tried to take sheep from the flock, 35 I would go out after it and strike it and draw out from its mouth. And if it rose against me, then I held its throat and struck and killed it. [16] 36 And your servant has beat down the bear and the lion, and the uncircumcised foreigner will be like one of these. Will I not go and strike him down and remove today the disgrace from Israel? Because who is this uncircumcised one who scorns the camp of the living God? [17] 37 The Lord who rescued me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, he will rescue me from the hand of this uncircumcised foreigner.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.” 38 And Saul put on David a wool cloak and bronze helmet on his head. [18] 39 And he strapped his sword onto David around his wool cloak. But he grew weary walking around once and twice. So David said to Saul, “I would not be able to go on in this because I have no experience.” So they removed them from him. 40 And he took his staff in hand and chose five perfect stones for himself from the wadi and put them in the shepherd bag that was with him for storage. And with his sling in his hand, he approached the foreign man. 42 And Goliath saw David and had dishonored him because he was a boy and he was ruddy, with attractive eyes. [19] 43 So the foreigner said to David, “Am I like a dog that you would come against me with a rod and stones?” But David answered, “No, rather, you are worse than a dog!” And the foreigner swore at David by his gods. [20] 44 And the foreigner said to David, “Come over here to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the heavens and to the livestock of the earth.” 45 And David said to the foreigner, “You come against me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield, but I come to you with the name of the Lord God Sabaoth of the army of Israel whom you scorned today. 46 And the Lord will shut you up today into my hand, and I will kill you and remove your head from you and give your limbs and the limbs of the army of the foreigners on this day to the birds of the heavens and the wild animals of the earth. And the whole earth will know that God is in Israel. 47 And this entire assembly will know that the Lord does not deliver by the sword or spear, because the battle is the Lord’s, and the Lord will hand you over into my hand.” 48 And the foreigner rose and went to meet David. 49 And David reached his hand into his bag and took a single stone from there and launched it. He struck the foreigner on his forehead, and the stone penetrated through his helmet into his forehead, and he fell on his face on the ground. 51 And David ran and stood over him and took his sword and executed him and removed his head. And the foreigners saw that their strongest had died, and they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose and raised the war cry. And they pursued them closely as far as the entrance of Gath and as far as the gate of Ekron, and corpses of the foreigners fell on the road to the gate even as far as Gath and as far as Ekron. [21] 53 Then the men of Israel returned, turning around after the foreigners, and trampled their camp. 54 And David took the head of the foreigner and brought it to Jerusalem, and his weapons he put in his tent.
18And the dancers came out to meet David from every town in Israel with tambourines and with celebration and with cymbals. 7 And the women began and sang, “Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands.” 8 And the statement was viewed as evil in Saul’s eyes. And this is what he said about these words: “To David they give the tens of thousands, and to me they give thousands.” 9 And Saul began watching David with suspicion from that day and onward.a 12 And Saul was afraid of the face of David. 13 And he removed him from before himself and appointed him as his commander of a thousand, and he went out and came in before the people. 14 And David was prudent in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. 15 And Saul saw how he was very prudent, and he was annoyed by his face. 16 And all Israel and Judah loved David because he came in and went out before the face of the people.b 20 And Michal, the daughter of Saul, loved David, and she told Saul, and it was good in his eyes. 21 So Saul said, “I will give her to him, and she will be a snare for him.” And the hand of the foreigners was against Saul. 22 And Saul commanded his servants, saying, “Speak, all of you, covertly with David, saying, ‘Look, the king wants for you, and all his servants love you, so you must become an inlaw to the king.’ ” 23 So the servants of Saul spoke into the ear of David these words, and David said, “Is it simple in your eyes to become an in-law to the king? And I am a humble man and do not have honor.” 24 And the servants of Saul reported to him about these words that David spoke. 25 And Saul said, “This is what you should say to David: ‘The king has no desire for a bride gift but rather for a hundred foreskins from the foreigners to avenge against the enemies of the king.” And Saul was counting on him being thrown into the hands of the foreigners. 26 And the servants of Saul explained to David these words. And the issue seemed fair in David’s eyes to become an in-law to the king. 27 So David rose, and he and his men went, and he struck against the foreigners one hundred men and brought their foreskins to the king, and he became a son-in-law to the king. And he gave to him Michal, his daughter, to him as his wife. 28 And Saul saw that the Lord was with David and all Israel loved him. 29 And he grew in his wary suspicion of David even more.
19And Saul spoke to Jonathan, his son, and to all his servants about killing David. 2 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, cared very much for David. So Jonathan explained to David, saying, “Saul is seeking to kill you. Watch, therefore, tomorrow morning, and hide and stay hidden. 3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you would be there. And I will speak about you to my father and will find out if there is anything wrong, and I will report to you.” 4 And Jonathan spoke well about David to Saul, his father, and said to him, “The king should not sin against your servant David because he has not sinned against you, and his actions are very good. 5 And he put his life in his hand and struck down the foreigner, and the Lord made a great deliverance. And all Israel saw and celebrated, and so why do you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?” 6 And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, saying, “As the Lord lives, he will not be killed.” 7 And Jonathan called David and reported to him all these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul. And he was in the presence of him as he was yesterday and the day before. 8 And the war continued to be against David, but David was victorious, and he fought the foreigners and struck down a very great slaughter among them, and so they fled from his face. 9 And an evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he was in his house lying down, and a spear was in his hand, and David was playing a stringed instrument with his hands. 10 And Saul tried to strike David with a spear, but David moved from the face of Saul, and the spear struck the wall, and David escaped and was safe. 11 And it happened in that night, Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him in order to kill him in the morning, and Michal, his wife, reported this to David, saying, “If you do not protect your own life this night, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 And Michal lowered David through the window, and he departed and fled and was saved. 13 And Michal took the household idol and put it on the bed, and a goat liver she put on its head, and she covered it with clothing. 14 And Saul sent messengers to take David, and they replied that he was unwell. 15 And he sent for David, saying, “Bring him on his bed to me so that I might kill him.” 16 And the messengers came, and look, the household idol was on the bed and a goat liver on its head. 17 And Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and sent away my enemy and saved him?” And Michal said to Saul, “He said, ‘Send me away, otherwise, I will kill you.’ ” David Meets Samuel at Ramah 18 So David fled and was safe and went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him; and David and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth in Ramah. 19 And it was reported to Saul, saying, “Look! David is in Naioth in Ramah.” 20 And Saul sent messengers to capture David, and they saw the assembly of the prophets, and Samuel was standing, presiding over them. And the Spirit of God came over the messengers of Saul, and they began prophesying. 21 And it was reported to Saul, and he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul continued to send messengers a third time, and they also prophesied. 22 And Saul grew wrathful with anger. So he also went to Ramah, and he went as far as the cistern of the threshing floor in Secu. And there he asked and said, “Where are Samuel and David?” And they said, “Look, they are in Naioth at Ramah.” 23 And he went from there into Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God also came upon him, and he went prophesying as far as his journey to Naioth in Ramah. 24 And he took off his clothing and prophesied before them and fell naked that entire day and the entire night. Because of this, they said, “Is also Saul among the prophets?”[22]
20And David fled from Naioth in Ramah and went to Jonathan and said, “What have I done, and what is my crime, and how have I sinned before your father that he seeks after my life?” 2 And Jonathan said to him, “By no means to you! You will not die! Look, my father would not do even a small thing and not disclose it to my ear, so why would my father hide this matter? This cannot be!” 3 And David answered to Jonathan and said, “Knowing this, your father has recognized that I have found favor in your eyes and said to himself, ‘Jonathan does not know this. He would not want it.’ But as the Lord lives and as your life lives, because just as he said, it has been filled up between me and death.” 4 And Jonathan said to David, “What does your life desire, and what can I do for you?” 5 And David said to Jonathan, “Look, now there is a new moon tomorrow, and I, staying, will not stay to eat. Instead, you will send me away, and I will hide in the plain until evening. 6 If when he observes, your father observes that I am gone, and you will say, ‘Being excused, David was excused from me to run as far as to Bethlehem, his city, because there is a sacrifice of the day there for the entire clan.’ 7 If he says this, “Good,’ then there is peace for your servant; but if he answers you harshly, then you can be sure that evil has been determined by him. 8 So act compassionately with your servant, because you brought your slave into a covenant of the Lord. And if there is wrongdoing in your servant, kill me yourself. Why should you bring me to your father?” 9 And Jonathan said, “By no means, if I learn that evil has been determined by my father to come upon you, will I kill you. And if not, it shall be to your cities. I am telling you this.” 10 And David said to Jonathan, “Who should report to me if your father answers harshly?” 11 And Jonathan said to David, “Come, and remain in the field.” And both of them went out into the field. 12 And Jonathan said to David, “The Lord God of Israel knows that I will closely examine my father threefold as the time would come. And look, if it is good concerning David, then I will not send for you in the field. 13 God will do this to Jonathan, and he will add this because I will report the evils upon you and make known to your ear and send you away. And you will depart in peace, and the Lord will be with you, just as he was with my father. 14 And indeed, if I am still living, then you will act compassionately with me. And if in death, I should die, 15 you must never remove your compassion from my house. And if not, when the Lord removes each of David’s enemies from the face of the earth, that the name of Jonathan should be found from the house of David, then may the Lord seek out enemies for David.”a 17 And Jonathan also swore to David that he loved the soul of the one who loved him. 18 And Jonathan said, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will see that your seat will be taken into account. 19 And you will wait three days. So watch and go to your place where you can hide on the workday, and you must stay near that ergab.b 20 And I will act three times with arrows, shooting, sending them out to the target. 21 And look, I will send my servant, saying, ‘Over here, find for me the arrow.’ If I should say, saying, to the servant, ‘Here, the arrow is far away from you, and here, take it,’ then you should come back, because there is peace for you and there is no word of the Lord, as the Lord lives. 22 But if I should say this to the youth, ‘Here, the arrow is away from you and beyond,’ then you must leave, because the Lord has sent you away. 23 And the word that I and you have spoken, look, the Lord is a witness between me and you until eternity.” 24 And David hid in the field, and the month arrived, and the king came to the table to eat. 25 And he sat at his seat as he had before, at the seat near the wall, and Jonathan came near and Abner sat beside Saul and the place of David was noticeable. 26 And Saul did not speak on that day, for he said, “Perhaps he appears unclean because he did not cleanse himself.” 27 And it happened on the next day of the month, the second day, and the place of David was noticed. And Saul said to Jonathan, his son, “Why is it that the son of Jesse is not here at the table both yesterday and today?” 28 And Jonathan answered Saul and said to him, “David asked to be excused from me as far as to go to Bethlehem, his city. 29 He had said, ‘Send me away now because there is a sacrifice of the clan for us in the city, and my brothers have commanded to me. And so now, if I have found favor in your eyes, I will get away now and see my brothers.’ Because of this he is not with us at the table of the king.” 30 And Saul became very wrathful with anger against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a whore! Don’t I know that you are friends with the son of Jesse, to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 Because all the days that the son of Jesse should be alive on the earth, your kingdom will not be prepared. Now therefore, sending, bring the young man because this man is a son of death.” 32 And Jonathan answered Saul, “Why should he die? What has he done?” 33 And Saul raised his spear against Jonathan to kill him, and Jonathan knew that this evil had been determined by his father to kill David. 34 And Jonathan sprang up from the table in wrathful anger, and he did not eat food on the second day of the month because his father had decided against him. 35 And morning came, and Jonathan went out into the field just as he arranged for the evidence for David, and a small servant was with him. 36 And he said to the servant, “Run, find the arrow for me that I am shooting.” And the servant ran, and he shot the arrow and sent it beyond him. 37 And the servant went as far as the location of the arrow that Jonathan shot. 38 But Jonathan shouted after the young man and said, “There, the arrow is away from you and beyond.” And Jonathan shouted after his servant, saying, “Hurry quickly and do not stand still!” And so, the servant of Jonathan gathered up the arrows for his master. 39 And the servant did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew. 40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his servant and said to his servant, “Go, head into the city.” 41 And as the servant went, David rose from the ergaba and fell on his face and honored him three times, and each of them embraced his friend, and each of them wept for his friend until the great end.b 42 And Jonathan said, “Go in peace, and as we both have sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘the Lord will be a witness between me and you and your seed for eternity.’ ” 43 cAnd David rose and left, and Jonathan went into the city.
21And David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, and Ahimelech was surprised by his visit and said to him, “Why are you alone and no one is with you?” 2 And David said to the priest, “The king has commanded me in a matter today and said to me, ‘Nobody must learn of the matter about which I am sending you and concerning what I have commanded you.’ And to my servants I have affirmed at the place the one called ‘Faithfulness of God,’ Phellani Maemonei. 3 And now, there are from your hand five bread loaves, so give to my hand whatever you find.” 4 And the priest responded to David and said, “There is no common bread from my hand, for instead consecrated bread is here. If the servants are kept from a woman, then they will eat.” 5 And David answered the priest and said to him, “We have abstained from women since yesterday and the previous day on my journey. On the road all the servants became purified, and this road is common; for that reason, I will sanctify them today with my instruments.” 6 So Ahimelech the priest gave them the bread of presentation, because there was no bread except the bread of the face that had been removed from the face of the Lord so that warm bread could replace it, that on the day he took them. 7 And there was a servant of Saul on that day confined, detained before the Lord, and his name was Doeg the Syrian, who tended the mules of Saul. 8 And David said to Abimelech, “See if there is from your hand a spear or sword, because my sword and equipment I had not taken in my hand because the mission of the king was in haste.” 9 And the priest said, “Here is the sword of Goliath the foreigner whom you struck down in the valley of Elah, and it has been wrapped in cloth. If you would take this for yourself, take it, because there is no other, only this one here.” And David said, “Look, there is none like it. Give it to me.” 10 So he gave it to him. And David rose and fled in that day from the face of Saul. David went to Achish, the king of Gath. 11 And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did not the dancers take the lead, saying about this one, ‘Saul struck down in his thousands and David in his tens of thousands?’ ” 12 And David set the words in his heart, and he was very frightened by the face of Achish, the king of Gath. 13 And so he changed his face before him and pretended on that day, and he drummed on the doors of the city and gestured madly with his hands, and he fell against the door of the gate, and he let his saliva run down on his beard. 14 And Achish said to his servants, “Look, see a disabled man; that why did you bring him to me? 15 Do I lack mad men that you bring him to have a fit for me? This man will not come into the house.”
22And David departed from there and escaped, and he went to the cave that is in Adullam; and his brothers and the house of his father heard, and they went down to him there. 2 And people were constantly gathering to him, everyone in distress and everyone indebted and everyone afflicted in spirit, and he was over them as a leader; and there were with him about four hundred men. 3 And David departed from there to Mizpah of Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Now let my father and my mother stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” 4 And he persuaded the face of the king of Moab, and they settled with him all the days David was in the stronghold. 5 And Gad the prophet said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold. Go and stay in the land of Judah.” So David went, and he came and stayed in the city of Sarich. Saul Slaughters the Priests of Nob 6 And Saul heard that David and the men with him had been found. So Saul sat on the hill before the field in Ramah, and his spear was in his hand, and all his servants were sitting beside him. 7 And Saul said to his servants standing beside him and said to them, “Listen, now, sons of Benjamin. If truly the son of Jesse will give to all of you fields and vineyards and will appoint all of you as leaders of a hundred and commanders of a thousand, 8 is that why you are conspiring, all of you, against me, and no one informs my ear about my son’s arranging of a covenant with the son of Jesse, and there is no one feeling sorry for me from among you and informing my ear that my son gathered my slaves against me as enemies today?” 9 And Doeg the Syrian in charge over Saul’s mules answered and said, “I have seen the son of Jesse staying in Nob with Ahimelech son of Ahitub the priest. 10 And he inquired for him of God, and provisions he gave him, and the sword of Goliath the foreigner he gave him.” 11 And the king sent to call for Ahimelech son of Ahitub and all his father’s sons, the priests in Nob, and all came to the king. 12 And Saul said, “Listen, now, son of Ahitub.” And he said, “Here I am. Speak, lord.” 13 And Saul said to him, “Why did you conspire against me, you and the son of Jesse, by giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him to set him against me as my enemy this day?” 14 And he answered the king and said, “And who among all your slaves is like David? He is faithful and the in-law of the king and ruler of your every command and is honored in your house. 15 Or did I begin today to inquire for him of God? By no means! Do not let the king give any word against his servant or against the entire house of his father, because your slave did not know in all this matter, small or great.” 16 And King Saul said, “In death, you will die, Ahimelech, you and the entire house of your father.” 17 And the king said to the runners standing with them, “Approach and put to death the priests of the Lord because their hand is with David and because they knew that he fled and did not disclose it to my ear.” But the servants of the king did not want to lay their hands to attend with the priests of the Lord. 18 So the king said to Doeg, “Turn, you, and deal with the priests.” And Doeg the Syrian turned and put to death the priests of the Lord on that day, three hundred and five men, all carrying the ephod. 19 And he struck Nob, the city of the priests, with the edge of the sword, from man to woman, from child to the suckling baby, and the calf and donkey and sheep. 20 And he escaped, one son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub. His name was Abiathar, and he fled after David. 21 And Abiathar reported to David that Saul executed all the priests of the Lord. 22 And David said to Abiathar, “I had known on that day that Doeg the Syrian, that when he reported, he would report to Saul. I am responsible for the lives of your father’s house. 23 Remain with me. Do not fear, because wherever I seek a place to live, I will also seek one for you because you are protected with me.”
23And it was reported to David, saying, “Look, the foreigners are attacking at Keilah, and they are plundering it; they are trampling the threshing floor.” 2 And David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Should I go and strike these foreigners?” And the Lord said, “Go, and you will strike down these foreigners, and you shall strike Keilah.” 3 And the men of David said to him, “Look! We, here in Judah, are afraid. What will happen if we go to Keilah and join the spoils of the foreigners?” 4 And so David set to inquire yet again of the Lord, and the Lord answered him and said to him, “Rise and go down to Keilah because I have given the foreigners into your hand.” 5 And so David and the men with him went to Keilah and fought with the foreigners, and they fled from their face, and he led away their livestock, and he struck a great blow against them. And David saved the people who dwell in Keilah. 6 And it happened that with the fleeing of Abiathar son of Ahimelech to David, and he went down with David to Keilah with the ephod in his hand. 7 And it was reported to Saul that David was in Keilah, and Saul said, “God sold him into my hands since he has trapped himself by going into a city with doors and bars.” 8 So Saul summoned all the people for battle to go down to Keilah, to confine David and the men with him. 9 And David learned that Saul was not quietly ignoring the evil against him. And so David said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod of the Lord.” 10 And David said, “Lord, God of Israel, with my ears, your servant has heard that Saul seeks to come against Keilah, to destroy the city because of me. 11 Will it be a trap?a And now will Saul come down just as your servant heard? Lord God of Israel, tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “It will be a trap.” 13 And David rose, and there were about four hundred men with him. And they departed from Keilah and went wherever they went. And to Saul, it was reported that David escaped from Keilah, and he stopped the expedition. David Hides in the Wilderness 14 And he stayed in the wilderness at Maserem, in the narrow pass, and stayed in the wilderness in the hill country of Ziph, in the arid land. And Saul sought him every day, and the Lord did not hand him over to him. 15 And David saw that Saul had come out to seek after David, and David was in the arid hill country at New Ziph. 16 And Jonathan son of Saul rose and went to David at New Ziph and strengthened his hand in the Lord. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be with you as second. Saul, my father, knows this much.” 18 And they reestablished together a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in New Ziph, and Jonathan departed to his home. 19 And the Ziphites went up from the arid region to Saul on the hill, saying, “Look, isn’t David hiding by us in Messara, in the narrow pass in the New Ziph in the hill country of Hachilah beside Jeshimon? 20 And now, regarding everything to the soul of the king for coming down, let him come down to us; they have trapped him in the hands of the king.” 21 And Saul said to them, “May you be honored by the Lord because you felt sorry for me. 22 You should go now and prepare again and confirm his location, where his foot will be in haste, there where you said; otherwise, he might act cunningly. 23 And look and determine, and we will go with you. And it will be if he is on the earth, then I will search him out in all the thousands of Judah!” 24 And the Ziphites rose, and they went in front of Saul. And David and his men were in the wilderness at Maon by evening from the right of Jeshimon. 25 Saul and his men went to seek him, and they reported to David, and he went down to the rock in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul heard about it, and he chased closely after David into the wilderness of Maon. 26 And Saul and his men went from one side of this mountain, and David and his men were from the other side of this mountain. And David was hiding to get away from the face of Saul, and Saul and his men camped against David and his men so that they could catch them. 27 And a messenger for Saul came, saying. “Hurry! And come on! For the foreigners have attacked the land!” 28 And so Saul turned back and did not closely pursue after David. And he went to meet the foreigners. Because of this, that place was called the Divided Rock.
24And David rose up from there and stayed in the narrow pass of En-gedi. 2 And it happened, as Saul turned back from following the foreigners, and it was reported to him, saying that David was in the wilderness of En-gedi. 3 And he took with himself three thousand chosen men from all of Israel and went to seek David and his men at the face of Eddaiem. 4 And he came to the flocks of sheep beside the road, and there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself.a And David and his men were staying in the far back of the cave. 5 And the men of David said to him, “Look, this is the day about which the Lord told you, to deliver your enemy into your hand; and you will do to him as it is good in your eyes.” So, David rose and cut a flap from Saul’s cloak secretly. 6 And it happened after this David’s heart struck him because he cut off the flap of his cloak. 7 And David said to his men, “In no way is it for me from the Lord that I should do this to the anointed one of the Lord, to lay my hand upon him, because he is the Lord’s anointed.” 8 And David persuaded his men with words and forbid them from rising to slay Saul. And Saul rose and went down the road. 9 And David rose after him from the cave, and David called after Saul, saying, “Lord, king!” And Saul attentively looked to what was behind him. And David bowed on his face on the earth and honored him. 10 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of the people who say, ‘Look, David is seeking your life.’ 11 Behold, on this day your eyes have seen how the Lord handed you over today into my hand in the cave, and I was quite unwilling to kill you, and so I spared you and said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my master because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 12 And look, a flap of your cloak is in my hand. I cut the flap and did not kill you. You must understand and see this day, because evil is not in my hand nor ungodliness or betrayal, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you are trying to capture me to take my life. 13 May the Lord be judge between me and you, and may the Lord avenge me from you, and my hand will not be against you. 14 Just as the ancient proverb says, ‘From the lawless, error comes out,’ and my hand will not be against you. 15 And now, after whom do you go out, O king of Israel? After what do you closely pursue? After a dead dog, and after a single flea? 16 May the Lord be as judge and jury between me and you. May the Lord see and judge my judgment and acquit me from your hand.” 17 And this is what happened when David finished speaking these words to Saul. Saul said, “Is this your voice, my child David?” And Saul lifted his voice and wept. 18 And Saul said to David, “You are righteous before me because you repaid me with good, but I repaid you with evil. 19 And you have told me today what good you have done to me, as the Lord delivered me today into your hands, and you did not kill me. 20 And if someone were to find his enemy in distress and sent him on a good path, then the Lord will repay him with good, just as you have done today. 21 And now, look, I know that when being king, you will be king, and the kingdom of Israel will be placed in your hands. 22 So now swear to me by the Lord that you will not completely destroy my seed after me nor will you remove my name from my father’s house.” 23 And David swore to Saul. Then Saul departed to his home, and David and his men went up to the Messaraa narrow pass.
25And Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned him, and they buried him at his home in Ramah. And David rose and went down to the wilderness of Maon. David, Nabal, and Abigail 2 And there was a man in Maon, and his sheep were at Carmel, and the man was very great, and to him were three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was in the midst of shearing his flocks at Carmel. 3 And the man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. And his wife was very intelligent and had a very good appearance. But her husband was stubborn and evil in his habits, and the man was like a dog. 4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal the Carmelite was shearing his flock. 5 And David sent ten servants and said to the servants, “Go up to Carmel and head toward Nabal and greet him on behalf of my name in peace. 6 And you will say this: ‘For the season, may you be healthy, your house and all the ones with you be healthy. 7 And now, look, I have heard that they are shearing for you now, your shepherds who were with us in the wilderness. And we did not hinder them, and we did not demand from them anything the entire time they were at Carmel. 8 Ask your servants, and they will tell you; and let your servants find your favor in your eyes because on a good day we have come. Give, now, whatever your hand might find for your son David.’ ” 9 And the servants went and spoke these words to Nabal, and all these words in the name of David. And he jumped up 10 and Nabal answered the servants of David and said, “Who is David, and who is this son of Jesse? These days slaves are multiplying, each leaving from their master’s face. 11 Should I take my bread and my wine and my meat that I have sacrificed for my sheep shearers, as well as the sheep, and will I give them to men whom I do not know from where they came?” 12 And David’s servants turned back on their way and returned and went and reported to David concerning these words. 13 And so David said to his men, “Everyone strap on his sword!” And they went up, following David—about four hundred men. And two hundred stayed with the supplies. 14 And one of the servants reported to Abigail, the wife of Nabal, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to honor our master, and he turned aside from them. 15 And the men were very kind to us. They did not hinder us or demand anything from us every day that we were with them. 16 And while we were in the field, they were like a wall around us, and through the night and the day, every day that we were with them herding the flock. 17 And now, know and see what you will do, because evil has been determined against our master and against his house. And this man is a pestilent son, and no one can to speak to him.” 18 So Abigail hurried and took two hundred bread loaves and two containers of wine and five prepared sheep and five ephahs of grain and one homer of raisins and two hundred fruit cakes and put them on a donkey. 19 And she said to her servants, “Go in front of me and look, I am coming after you.” And she did not tell her husband. 20 And it happened, when she was riding on the donkey and going down into the shelter of the mountain, and look, David and his men were coming down to meet her, and she met them. 21 And David had said, “I have protected presumptuously for an unjust man all his possessions in the wilderness, and we have not demanded to take anything from all his possessions. And now he repays us with evil instead of good. 22 This God should do to David, and this he will add if by morning I let one who urinates against a wall remain, of all those belonging to Nabal.” 23 And Abigail saw David, and she hurried and jumped down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and honored him on the ground 24 at his feet. And she said, “On me, my master, is my wrongdoing. Now your slave must speak into your ears, and you must hear your slave’s word. 25 Now my master must not set his heart against this pestilent man because according to his name, so is he. Nabal is his name, and foolishness is with him. And I, your servant, did not see your servants whom you sent. 26 And now, lord, as the Lord lives, and your soul lives, just as the Lord prevented you from shedding innocent blood and saved your hand for yourself, and now, may your enemies become as Nabal is as well as those who seek to do evil to my master. 27 And now, receive the gift that your servant has brought to my master, and you will give it to the servants who follow my master. 28 Forgive, now, the transgression of your slave because the Lord will build for my master a faithful house because my master is fighting battles for the Lord, and evil will not be found in you ever. 29 And a person might rise chasing after you and seeking your life. But the life of my master will be bound with a bond of life beside the Lord God, and the life of your enemy will be thrown in the midst of a sling. 30 And it will be that the Lord will do to my master every good thing that he has spoken about you. He will charge you to be the ruler over Israel. 31 And this will not be an abomination for you and an offense to my master to shed innocent blood for no reason. And to save my lord’s hand for himself, the Lord does good to my master, and you will remember your servant, to do good to her.” 32 And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who sent you to meet me! 33 And blessed is your character, and blessed be you, the one who has prevented me today from seeking blood and to save my hand for myself! 34 Surely because the Lord the God of Israel lives, who prevented me today from injuring you, because if you had not hurried and arrived to meet me, then I had said, ‘If I allow any to remain from Nabal by the light of morning one who urinates against the wall!’ ” 35 And David received from her hand everything that she brought for him and said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have listened to your voice and have chosen your face.” 36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and look, and he had a banquet of a king. And Nabal’s heart was pleased with himself, and he was drunk to a point of excess, and she did not tell him a word, small or great, until the light of morning. 37 And it happened in the morning as Nabal became sober from the wine, his wife told him these words, and his heart died inside him, and he became like stone. [23] 38 And it happened about ten days later the Lord struck down Nabal, and he died. 39 And David heard and said, “Blessed is the Lord, who judged the judgment of my insult from Nabal’s hand and held his servant back from the hand of evils, and the Lord returned the evil of Nabal against his own head.” And so, David sent and asked for Abigail to take her for himself as his wife. 40 And David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel and spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you for himself as his wife.” 41 And she rose and bowed down on the earth on her face and said, “Look, your servant is like a servant girl to wash the feet of your servants.” 42 And Abigail rose and rode on the donkey, and five girls followed her, and she followed the servants of David, and she became his wife. 43 And David took Ahinoam from Israel, and both of them were wives to him. 44 And Saul gave Michal, his daughter, the wife of David, to Palti son of Laish from Gallim.
26And the Ziphites came from the arid country to Saul in the hill country, saying, “Look, David is hiding with us in the hills in Hachilah opposite the face of Jeshimon.” 2 So Saul rose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, and with him there were three thousand choice men from Israel looking for David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 And Saul camped on the hill of Hachilah facing Jeshimon, by the road. And David stayed in the wilderness. David saw that Saul arrived after him in the wilderness. 4 And so David sent spies and confirmed that Saul was arriving readily from Keilah. 5 And David rose secretly and went to the place where Saul was sleeping there; and there was Abner son of Ner, his commander, and Saul was sleeping in a covered chariot, and the people were camping in a circle around him. 6 And David responded and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, saying, “Who will go with me to Saul into the camp?” And Abishai said, “I will go in with you.” 7 And David and Abishai went to the people at night and look, Saul, was lying down sleeping in a covered chariot, and his spear was planted in the earth beside his head, and Abner and his people slept in a circle around him. 8 And Abishai said to David, “Today the Lord has trapped your enemy in your hand, and now I can strike him with the spear in the earth once, and I should not need to do it again to him.” 9 And David said to Abishai, “Do not humble him, for who can lay his hand on the Lord’s anointed one and remain guiltless?” 10 And David said, “As the Lord lives, if the Lord should not discipline him, either his day shall come and he will die, or in battle he will fall and be added. 11 It is certainly not for me from the Lord to lay my hand on the Lord’s anointed one. And now, take the spear from here beside his head and the flask of water, and then we should leave by ourselves.” 12 And so David took the spear and the flask of water from beside his head, and they left by themselves, and there was no one who saw, and there was no one who knew, and there was no one who woke up; everyone slept because a stupor from the Lord fell over them. 13 And David crossed through into the pass and stood on the top of the mountain at a distance, and wide was the distance between them. 14 And David called to the people and spoke to Abner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” And Abner said, “Who are you? Who calls?” 15 And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? And why don’t you take care of your master, the king? For someone came in from the people to destroy the king, your master. 16 It is not good, this thing that you have done. As the Lord lives, for you are sons of execution, who guard the king, your master, the anointed one of the Lord. And now, here is the spear of the king and his flask of water. Were they not at the place by his head?” 17 And Saul recognized the voice of David and said, “Is this your voice, child, David?” And David said, “It is your servant, master, king.” 18 And he said, “What is this, the master closely pursues after his servant, for how have I sinned, and what crime does he find in me? 19 And now listen, my master, the king to the word of his servant. If God has stirred you against me, may he catch the scent of your sacrifice. And if it is from the sons of humans, may they be greatly cursed before the Lord because they have driven me out today, so that I cannot settle in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 And now may my blood never fall upon the earth opposite the face of the Lord because the king of Israel has come out to seek my life, just as the horned owl hunts in the mountains.” 21 And Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, child David, because I will not injure you. For what honor is my life in your eyes? And on this day, I have acted foolishly and lacked discernment in great abundance.” 22 And David answered and said, “Look, the spear of the king, let one of the servants come and take it. 23 And the Lord will return each one of his righteous acts and his faith, as the Lord handed you over today into my hand, and I did not want to place my hand on the anointed one of the Lord. 24 And look, just as your life was extended in this day in my eyes, in the same way, may my life be extended before the Lord, and that he might protect me and rescue me from all distress.” 25 And Saul said to David, “Bless you, child, and in doing, you will do, and in being able, you will be capable.” And then David departed to his place. And Saul returned to his way.
27And David spoke in his heart, saying, “Now I will be added on some day to Saul’s hand, and it is not good for me unless I am delivered in the land of the foreigners. And Saul will go on seeking me in every boundary of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.” 2 So David rose, and the four hundred men with him, to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 And David stayed with Achish, he and each of his men and his house, and David and both his wives, Ahinoam the Israelite and Abigail the wife of Nabal from Carmel. 4 And it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, and he stopped seeking him. 5 And David said to Achish, “If indeed your servant has found favor in your eyes, then give me a place in one of the cities by fields, and I will live there. And why should your servant stay in the royal city with you?” 6 And he gave him in that day Ziklag. This is why Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this day. 7 And the number of days that David stayed in the way of the foreigners was four months. 8 And David and his men regularly went up and fought against all the Geshurites and against the Amalekites. And look, the land was being settled as far north up to the region by Telam, which is walled, and as far south as Egypt. 9 And he beat the land and did not leave alive any man or woman. He took flocks and cattle and donkeys and camels and clothing and returned and went to Achish. 10 And Achish would say to David, “Against whom did you attack today?” And David would say to Achish, “Against the south of Judah and against the south of the Jerahmeelites and against the south of the Kenites. 11 And no man or woman did he keep alive to bring to Gath, saying, “They must not report to Gath about us, saying, ‘This is what David does, and this is his duty.’ ” All the days David stayed in the field of the foreigners 12 David was trusted by Achish very much, saying, “He has dishonored himself with shame among his people in Israel, and he will be a servant for me for eternity.”
28And it happened in those days, the foreigners assembled in their camp to come out to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “Knowing, I know that you will come out to battle with me, you and the men with you.” 2 And David said to Achish, “Thus now, you will know what your servant will do.” And Achish said to David, “Thus, as chief body guard, I will appoint you all of my days.” 3 And Samuel died, and all Israel mourned for him. And they buried him in Ramah, in his city. And Saul removed the mediums and those with special knowledge from the land. 4 And the foreigners assembled and came and camped at Shunem, and Saul assembled all the men of Israel and camped at Gilboa. 5 And Saul saw the camp of the foreigners, and he was afraid, and his heart was very bewildered. 6 So Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him in dreams or in the symbols of revelation or in the prophets. 7 So Saul said to his servants, “Look for a woman medium for me, and I will go to her and seek in her.” And his servants said to him, “Look, there is a woman medium in Endor.” 8 And Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman during the night and said to her, “Perform divinations now for me by witchcraft, and raise up for me whoever I tell you.” 9 And the woman said to him, “Look now, you know everything that Saul has done, about how he cut off the mediums and those with special knowledge from the land. So why are you laying a trap for my life to have me executed?” 10 And Saul swore to her, saying, “As the Lord lives, if injustice meets you in this matter.” 11 And the woman said, “Who should I raise up for you?” And he said, “Raise up Samuel for me.” 12 And the woman saw Samuel and cried out a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” 13 And the king said to her, “Do not fear; say who you see.” And she said to him, “A god I see, coming up from the earth.” 14 And he said to her, “What do you perceive?” And she said to him, “A man, upright, coming up from the earth and wrapped in this cloak.” And Saul knew that this was Samuel. And so, he bowed on his face on the earth and honored him. 15 And Samuel said, “Why have you disturbed me by raising me?” And Saul said, “I am very distressed, and the foreigners are fighting against me, and God has gone from me and has stopped listening to me both by hand of the prophets and in dreams. So now I have called you to reveal to me what I should do.” 16 And Samuel said, “Why do you inquire of me? The Lord has gone from you and is with your neighbor. [24] 17 And the Lord has done to you just as the Lord had said by my hand. And the Lord will tear your kingdom from your hand and will give it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not listen to the voice of the Lord and did not execute his angry wrath on the Amalekites, because of this, the Lord did these things to you on this day. 19 And the Lord will hand Israel over with you into the hands of the foreigners. Tomorrow you and your sons with you will fall. And the Lord will place the camp of Israel into the hands of the foreigners.” 20 And Saul hurried. And as he stood, he fell on the earth. And he was made very afraid from the words of Samuel, and the strength was no longer in him, since he had not eaten bread during the entire day and that entire night. 21 And the woman came in to Saul, and she saw that he was very hurried, and she said to him, “Look now, your servant has listened to your voice, and I have put my life in my hand and have listened to the words that you spoke to me. 22 And now you must listen indeed to the voice of your servant, and I will set before you a morsel of bread, and you should eat, and strength will be in you that you might go on your way.” 23 And he did not want to eat. But his servants and the woman urged him, and he listened to their voice. And he rose from the earth and sat on a chair. 24 And the woman had a grazing heifer in the building, and she hurried and slaughtered it and took wheat flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread. 25 And she brought it before Saul and before his servants, and they ate. And they rose and departed that night.
29And the foreigners assembled their entire camp at Aphek. And Israel camped at Aeddon in Israel. 2 And the satraps of the foreigners were passing by in hundreds and thousands, and David and his men were passing by in the last group with Achish. 3 And the satraps of the foreigners said, “Who are these who pass by?” And Achish said to the commanders of the foreigners, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel? He has been with us many days. This is the second year, and I have not found in him anything from that day he fell in to me until this day.” 4 And the commanders of the foreigners were frustrated about him. And they said to him, “Turn the man back to his place where you appointed him there, and do not let him come with us into battle, and do not let him to begin plotting against the camp. And how will this man be reconciled with his master? Would it not be on the heads of those men? 5 Is this not David, of whom they sang in the choir, saying, ‘Saul has struck down in the number of his thousands, and David in his tens of thousands’?” 6 And so Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have been righteous and good in my eyes, as well as your goings and your comings with me in the camp, and I have not found evil against you from that day you came to me until today. But in the eyes of the satraps, you are good. 7 So now you must turn back and go in peace, and you must definitely not do evil in the eyes of the satraps of the foreigners.” 8 And David said to Achish, “What have I done to you, and what have you found in your servant from that day I was before you even until this day, that I should not go to fight the enemies of my master the king?” 9 And Achish answered to David, “I know that you are good in my eyes, but the satraps of the foreigners are saying, ‘He must not be present with us in battle.’ 10 And now rise early in the morning, you and the servants of your master who arrived with you, and go to the place where I appointed you there. And this sinister report, do not set it in your heart, because you are good before me. So rise early on the road and let there be light for you and go.” 11 And so David rose early, he and his men, to depart and guard the land of the foreigners. And the foreigners went up to fight against Israel.
30And it happened when David and his men came to Keilah on the third day, Amalek made an attack against the south and against Ziklag, and they struck Ziklag and burned it with fire. 2 And the women and everyone in it, from young to old, they did not kill, whether male or female, but they took them prisoners and departed on their way. 3 And David and his men came to the city, and look, it was burnt with fire; their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken prisoner. 4 So David and his men raised their voice and wept until there was no strength in them to continue weeping. 5 And both wives of David were taken prisoner—Ahinoam, the Israelite, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal from Carmel. 6 And David was very distressed because the people were saying that they should stone him, for the soul of all the people was grieved, each for his son and for his daughters. But David was strengthened by the Lord his God. 7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, “Bring the ephod.” 8 And David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Should we closely pursue after this company? Will we seize them?” And he said to him, “Pursue them closely because when seizing, you will seize them, and when rescuing, you will rescue them.” 9 So David went, both him and the four hundred men with him, and they came to Wadi Besor, and the reserves stayed there. 10 And everyone else pursued with four hundred men—two hundred men had stayed behind, who stayed past the Wadi Besor. 11 And they found an Egyptian man in a field, and they took him and brought him to David in the field, and they gave him bread, and he ate, and they gave him water to drink. 12 And they gave him a piece of fruitcake, and he ate, and it restored his spirit in him because he had not eaten bread and had not drank water for three days and three nights. 13 And David said to him, “Whose are you, and where are you from?” And the Egyptian slave said, “I am the slave of a man from the Amalekites. And my master left me behind because I was sick for three days, as of today. 14 And we attacked against the south of the Kerethites and against the side of Judah and against Gilboa. And Ziklag, we burned it with fire.” 15 And David said to him, “Will you lead me down against this company?” And he said, “Swear, indeed, to me by God that you will not kill me or give me over to the hands of my master, and I will lead down you against this company.” 16 And he led him there and look, they were spread over the entire face of the earth, eating and drinking and celebrating in all the great spoils that they took from the land of the foreigners and from the land of Judah. 17 And David came upon them and struck them from morning until evening and the next day, and no man escaped from them except four hundred boys who were riding on camels and fled. 18 And David took back everything that the Amalekites took. And he rescued both his wives. 19 Nothing was missing with them, whether small or great, and from the spoils, even to sons and daughters and to all that they took from them. David brought back everything. 20 And he took all the flocks and cattle and led them away in front of the spoils, and about those spoils it was said, “These are David’s spoils.” 21 And David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to go after David, and he caused them to stay at Wadi Besor. And they went out for a meeting with David and a meeting with the people with him. And David came near to the people, and they greeted him in peace. 22 And every sinister and wicked man of the men, the warriors who went with David, responded and said, “Because they did not pursue closely with us, we will not give them anything from the spoils that we recovered except each one, his wife and his children, they may lead away and turn back home.” 23 And David said, “You should not act in this way with regard to the Lord’s handing them over to us and protecting us. The Lord put the company who came upon us into our hands. 24 And who will listen to you on this subject? Because they are not weaker than you; for on the basis of the share of the people who went down into battle, likewise will be the share of the people who stayed at the equipment. By this it will be divided.” 25 And it continued from that day and onward, and it became a command and a duty for Israel until today. 26 And David came to Ziklag, and he sent the spoils of Judah to the elders and his neighbors, saying, “Here are the spoils of the Lord’s enemies.” 27 They were for those in Bethel and those in Ramah in the south and for those in Jattir, 28 and for those in Aroer and for those of Ammadi and for those in Siphmoth and for those in Eshtemoa 29 and for those in Gath and for those in Kinan and for those in Saphek and for those in Thimath, and for those in Racal and for those in the cities of Israel and for those in the cities of the Kenites, 30 and for those in Hormah and for those in Borashan, and for those in Athach, 31 and for those in Hebron and all the places that David traveled, he and his men.
31And the foreigners fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the face of the foreigners, and the bodies fell on the Mount Gilboa. 2 And the foreigners engaged Saul and his sons, and the foreigners beat down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua son of Saul. 3 And the battle pressed against Saul, and the archers, the bowmen, found him, and he was wounded in the stomach. 4 And so Saul said to his armor carrier, “Draw your sword and run through me with it. Otherwise, these uncircumcised will come and run through me and mock me.” And his armor carrier did not want to do it because he was very afraid. So, Saul took the sword and fell upon it. 5 And his armor carrier saw that Saul had died and fell. And so he fell upon his own sword and died with him. 6 And Saul died along with his three sons and his armor carrier on that day in the same way. 7 The men of Israel in the valley pass and those in the Jordan pass saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons had died. And so they left their cities and fled, and the foreigners came and lived in them. 8 And it happened the next day the foreigners came to strip the dead, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they returned to him and took his armor and sent it to the land of the foreigners, bringing the good news to their idols and people all around. 10 And they put his armor in the temple of Astarte and his body, fastened firmly on the wall of Beth-shan. 11 And the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the foreigners did to Saul. 12 And all the strong men rose and traveled the entire night, and they took the body of Saul and the body of Jonathan, his son, from the wall of Beth-shan, and they brought them to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 And they took their bones and buried them in the field at Jabesh, and then they fasted seven days. And it came to pass after Saul died that David returned from destroying Amalekites.