21 And David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech trembled at meeting David, and said to him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

² And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has commanded me a business, and has said to me, Let no man know anything of the business whereon I send thee, and what I have commanded thee; and I have directed the young men to such and such a place.

³ And now what is under thy hand? give me five loaves in my hand, or what may be found.

⁴ And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

⁵ And David answered the priest and said to him, Yes indeed, women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the [bread] is in a manner common, and the more so, because to-day [new] is hallowed in the vessels.

⁶ And the priest gave him holy [bread]; for there was no bread there but the shew-loaves that were taken from before Jehovah, to put on hot bread in the day when they were taken away.

⁷ (Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Jehovah; and his name was Doeg, the Edomite, chief of the shepherds that [belonged] to Saul.)

⁸ And David said to Ahimelech, And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, for the king's business was urgent.

⁹ And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of terebinths, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if thou wilt take that, take it; for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that: give it me.

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

¹¹ And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul has smitten his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

¹² And David took to heart these words, and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

¹³ And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down on his beard.

¹⁴ And Achish said to his servants, Behold, ye see the man is mad: why did ye bring him to me?

¹⁵ have I lack of madmen, that ye have brought this one to rave in my presence? shall this [man] come into my house?

22 And David departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And his brethren and all his father's house heard [it], and they went down thither to him.

² And every one in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one of embittered spirit collected round him; and he became a captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men.

³ And David went thence to Mizpeh in Moab, and said to the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth amongst you, till I know what God will do for me.

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

⁵ And the prophet Gad said to David, Abide not in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth.

⁶ And Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah under the tamarisk upon the height, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing by him.

⁷ Then Saul said to his servants that stood by him, Hear now, ye Benjaminites: will the son of Jesse give every one of you also fields and vineyards? Will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds,

⁸ that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that informs me when my son has made [a covenant] with the son of Jesse; and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or informs me that my son has stirred up my servant as a lier-in-wait against me, as at this day?

⁹ Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.

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

¹¹ Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob; and they came all of them to the king.

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

¹³ And Saul said to him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me as a lier-in-wait, as at this day?

¹⁴ And Ahimelech answered the king and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and has access to thy secret council, and is honourable in thy house?

¹⁵ Was it to-day that I began to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king charge anything to his servant, [nor] to all the house of my father; for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.

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

¹⁷ And the king said to the couriers that stood about him, Turn and put the priests of Jehovah to death; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not inform me. But the servants of the king were not willing to put forth their hand to fall on the priests of Jehovah.

¹⁸ And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall on the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and fell on the priests, and put to death that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod.

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

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

²¹ And Abiathar informed David that Saul had slain Jehovah's priests.

²² And David said to Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would certainly tell Saul: I am accountable for all the lives of thy father's house.

²³ Abide with me, fear not; for he that seeks my life seeks thy life; for with me thou art in safe keeping.

23 And they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshing-floors.

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

³ But David's men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?

⁴ And David inquired of Jehovah yet again. And Jehovah answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will give the Philistines into thy hand.

⁵ And David and his men went to Keilah, and fought against the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

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

⁷ And it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. Then Saul said, God has cast him off into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a city that has gates and bars.

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

⁹ And when David knew that Saul devised mischief against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring the ephod.

¹⁰ Then said David, Jehovah, God of Israel, thy servant hath heard for certain that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.

¹¹ Will the citizens of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? Jehovah, God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And Jehovah said, He will come down.

¹² And David said, Will the citizens of Keilah deliver up me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will deliver [thee] up.

¹³ Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, and he forbore to go forth.

¹⁴ And David abode in the wilderness in strongholds, and abode in the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

¹⁵ And David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life; and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.

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

¹⁷ And he said to him, Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father will not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; and that also Saul my father knows.

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

¹⁹ And the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the wood, on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the waste?

²⁰ And now, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and it will be for us to deliver him up into the king's hand.

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

²² Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his track is, who has seen him there; for it is told me that he deals very subtilly.

²³ And see, and ascertain all the lurking-places where he hides himself, and come ye again to me with sure information, that I may go with you; and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout the thousands of Judah.

²⁴ And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul; but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of the waste.

²⁵ And Saul and his men went to seek [him]. And they told David; and he came down from the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul heard [that], and he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

²⁶ And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain; and David made haste to get away from Saul; and Saul and his men sought to surround David and his men to take them.

²⁷ But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, Haste thee and come; for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.

²⁸ And Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines; therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.

²⁹ And David went up from thence, and abode in the strongholds of Engedi.

24 And it came to pass when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.

² And Saul took three thousand men, chosen out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.

³ And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet; and David and his men were abiding in the recesses of the cave.

⁴ And David's men said to him, Behold the day of which Jehovah said to thee, Behold, I will give thine enemy into thy hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good to thee. And David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe secretly.

⁵ And it came to pass afterwards that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt.

⁶ And he said to his men, Jehovah forbid that I should do this thing to my master, Jehovah's anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him, for he is the anointed of Jehovah.

⁷ And David checked his men with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. And Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on [his] way.

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

⁹ And David said to Saul, Why dost thou listen to words of men, saying, Behold, David seeks thy hurt?

¹⁰ Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that Jehovah had given thee this day into my hand in the cave; and they bade me kill thee; but [mine eye] spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord, for he is the anointed of Jehovah.

¹¹ And see, my father, yes, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand. For in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou liest in wait for my life to take it.

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

¹³ As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked; but my hand shall not be upon thee.

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

¹⁵ Jehovah therefore shall be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and do me justice [in delivering me] out of thy hand.

¹⁶ And as soon as David had ended speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

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

¹⁸ And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me, forasmuch as when Jehovah had delivered me up into thy hand, thou didst not kill me.

¹⁹ For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore Jehovah reward thee good for that thou hast done to me this day.

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

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

²² And David swore to Saul. And Saul went home; and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

25 And Samuel died; and all Israel were gathered together, and lamented him; and they buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

² And there was a man at Maon, whose business was at Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep at Carmel.

³ And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance; but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was a Calebite.

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

⁵ Then David sent out ten young men; and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name.

⁶ And thus shall ye say: Long life [to thee]! and peace be to thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be to all that thou hast!

⁷ And now I have heard that thou hast shearers; now thy shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missed by them, all the while they were in Carmel.

⁸ Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee. Therefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, what thy hand may find to thy servants, and to thy son David.

⁹ And David's young men came, and spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.

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

¹¹ And shall I take my bread, and my water, and my flesh which I have killed for my shearers, and give [it] to men whom I know not whence they are?

¹² And David's young men turned their way, and went back, and came and reported to him according to all those words.

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

¹⁴ And one of [Nabal's] young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our master; and he has insulted them.

¹⁵ And the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we companied with them, when we were in the fields.

¹⁶ They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the while we were with them feeding the sheep.

¹⁷ And now know and consider what thou wilt do, for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household; and he is such a son of Belial, that one cannot speak to him.

¹⁸ And Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skin-bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched [corn], and a hundred raisin-cakes, and two hundred fig-cakes, and laid them on asses.

¹⁹ And she said to her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰ And as she was riding on the ass, and coming down by the covert of the hill, behold, David and his men came down opposite to her; and she met them.

²¹ Now David had said, Surely, in vain have I kept all that this [man] had in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that was his; and he has requited me evil for good.

²² So and more also do God to the enemies of David, if I leave of all that is his by the morning light any male.

²³ And when Abigail saw David, she hasted and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,

²⁴ and fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, [upon] me let the iniquity be; but let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear the words of thy handmaid.

²⁵ Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; and I thy handmaid did not see the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

²⁶ And now, my lord, [as] Jehovah liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, seeing Jehovah has restrained thee from coming with bloodshed, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

²⁷ And now this blessing which thy bondmaid has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men that follow my lord.

²⁸ I pray thee, forgive the transgression of thy handmaid: for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a lasting house; because my lord fights the battles of Jehovah, and evil has not been found in thee all thy days.

²⁹ And if a man is risen up to pursue thee and to seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out from the hollow of the sling.

³⁰ And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall do to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee, and shall appoint thee ruler over Israel,

³¹ that this shall be no stumbling-block to thee, nor offence of heart for my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall deal well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.

³² And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me.

³³ And blessed be thy discernment, and blessed be thou, who hast kept me this day from coming with bloodshed, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.

³⁴ But indeed, as Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, who has restrained me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light any male.

³⁵ So David received of her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

³⁶ And Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was drunken to excess; so she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

³⁷ And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things; and his heart died within him, and he became [as] a stone.

³⁸ And it came to pass in about ten days that Jehovah smote Nabal, and he died.

³⁹ And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Jehovah, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil; but Jehovah has returned Nabal's evil upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her as his wife.

⁴⁰ And the servants of David came to Abigail to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to thee, to take thee as his wife.

⁴¹ And she arose and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thy handmaid be a bondwoman to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

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

⁴³ David had also taken Ahinoam of Jizreel; and they became, even both of them, his wives.

⁴⁴ But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

26 And the Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, facing the waste?

² And Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.

³ And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which faces the waste, by the way side. And David abode in the wilderness; and when he saw that Saul had come after him into the wilderness,

⁴ David sent out spies, and learned that Saul was certainly come.

⁵ And David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped; and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host; and Saul lay within the wagon-defence, and the people were encamped round about him.

⁶ And David spake and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.

⁷ And David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping within the wagon-defence, and his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people lay round about him.

⁸ And Abishai said to David, God has delivered thine enemy into thy hand this day; and now let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear, even to the ground once, and I will not do it the second time.

⁹ And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not; for who can stretch forth his hand against Jehovah's anointed, and be guiltless?

¹⁰ And David said, [As] Jehovah liveth, Jehovah will surely smite him; either his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle and perish.

¹¹ Jehovah forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed! But now take, I pray thee, the spear that is at his head, and the cruse of water, and let us go.

¹² And David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's head; and they went away, and no man saw [it], and none knew [it], and none awaked, for they were all asleep; for a deep sleep from Jehovah had fallen upon them.

¹³ And David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of a hill afar off; a great space [being] between them.

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

¹⁵ And David said to Abner, Art not thou a man? and who is like to thee in Israel? and why hast thou not guarded thy lord the king? for one of the people came in to destroy the king thy lord.

¹⁶ This thing is not good which thou hast done. As Jehovah liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not guarded your master, Jehovah's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his head.

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

¹⁸ And he said, Why does my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in my hand?

¹⁹ And now, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If Jehovah have moved thee against me, let him accept an oblation; but if the sons of men, cursed be they before Jehovah; for they have driven me out this day from adhering to the inheritance of Jehovah, saying, Go, serve other gods.

²⁰ And now, let not my blood fall to the earth far from the face of Jehovah; for the king of Israel is come out to seek a single flea, as when they hunt a partridge on the mountains.

²¹ And Saul said, I have sinned: return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my life was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have acted foolishly, and have erred exceedingly.

²² And David answered and said, Behold the king's spear, and let one of the young men come over and fetch it.

²³ And Jehovah will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; for Jehovah gave thee into [my] hand this day, and I would not stretch forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed.

²⁴ And behold, as thy life was highly esteemed this day in mine eyes, so let my life be highly esteemed in the eyes of Jehovah, that he may deliver me out of all distress.

²⁵ And Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt certainly do [great things], and shalt certainly prevail. And David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

27 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me to seek me any more within all the limits of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.

² And David arose and passed over, he and the six hundred men that were with him, to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

³ And David abode with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household; David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.

⁴ And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; and he sought no more for him.

⁵ And David said to Achish, If now I have found favour in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some country-town, that I may abide there; for why should thy servant abide in the royal city with thee?

⁶ And Achish gave him Ziklag that day; therefore Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.

⁷ And the time that David abode in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.

⁸ And David and his men went up and made a raid upon the Geshurites, and the Gerzites, and the Amalekites: for those were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, and as far as the land of Egypt.

⁹ And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.

¹⁰ So Achish said, Have ye not made a raid to-day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.

¹¹ And David left neither man nor woman alive, to bring [them] to Gath, for he said, Lest they should tell of us, saying, So did David. And such was his custom as long as he abode in the country of the Philistines.

¹² And Achish trusted David, saying, He has made himself utterly odious among his people Israel; and he shall be my servant for ever.

28 And it came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered together their armies for warfare to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, Know thou assuredly that thou shalt go out with me to the camp, thou and thy men.

² And David said to Achish, Thereby thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of my person for ever.

³ (Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and they had buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away the necromancers and the soothsayers out of the land.)

⁴ And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and encamped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped in Gilboa.

⁵ And when Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.

⁶ And Saul inquired of Jehovah; but Jehovah did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.

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

⁸ And Saul disguised himself, and put on other garments, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, I pray thee, divine to me by the spirit of Python, and bring me [him] up whom I shall name to thee.

⁹ And the woman said to him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul has done, how he has cut off the necromancers and the soothsayers out of the land; and why layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?

¹⁰ And Saul swore unto her by Jehovah, saying, [As] Jehovah liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

¹¹ Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

¹² And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? Even thou art Saul.

¹³ And the king said to her, Be not afraid; but what didst thou see? And the woman said to Saul, I saw a god ascending out of the earth.

¹⁴ And he said to her, What is his form? And she said, An old man comes up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.

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

¹⁶ And Samuel said, Why then dost thou inquire of me, seeing Jehovah is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?

¹⁷ And Jehovah has done for himself as he spoke by me; and Jehovah has rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbour, to David.

¹⁸ Because thou didst not hearken to the voice of Jehovah, and didst not execute his fierce anger upon Amalek, therefore has Jehovah done this thing to thee this day.

¹⁹ And Jehovah will also give Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines; and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me; the army of Israel also will Jehovah give into the hand of the Philistines.

²⁰ And Saul fell straightway his full length on the earth, and was sore afraid because of the words of Samuel; and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all the day nor all the night.

²¹ And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said to him, Behold, thy bondmaid has hearkened to thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened to thy words which thou spokest to me.

²² And now, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy bondmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength when thou goest on thy way.

²³ But he refused and said, I will not eat. Then his servants, and the woman also, compelled him, and he hearkened to their voice; and he arose from the earth and sat on the bed.

²⁴ And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread thereof;

²⁵ and she brought it near before Saul, and before his servants, and they ate. And they rose up and went away that night.

29 And the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek; and Israel encamped by the spring that is in Jizreel.

² And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands; and David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish.

³ And the princes of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews? And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years, and I have found nothing in him since the day of his falling away [to me] to this day?

⁴ But the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he may go again to his place where thou hast appointed him, that he go not down with us to the battle, that in the battle he be not an adversary to us; for wherewith should this [fellow] reconcile himself to his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?

⁵ Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul smote his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

⁶ And Achish called David, and said to him, [As] Jehovah liveth, thou art upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the camp is acceptable to me; for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming to me to this day; but thou art not acceptable to the lords.

⁷ And now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.

⁸ And David said to Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee to this day, that I should not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

⁹ And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art acceptable to me, as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

¹⁰ And now rise up early in the morning with thy master's servants that are come with thee; and rise ye early in the morning, and when ye have daylight, depart.

¹¹ And David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jizreel.

30 And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the south, and upon Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire;

² and had taken the women captives that were in it; both great and small: they had put none to death, but had carried them off, and went on their way.

³ And David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were taken captives.

⁴ Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

⁵ And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

⁶ And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him; for the soul of all the people was embittered, every man because of his sons and because of his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.

⁷ And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, Bring near to me, I pray thee, the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod near to David.

⁸ And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he said to him, Pursue; for thou shalt assuredly overtake [them] and shalt certainly recover.

⁹ So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor; and those that were left stayed behind.

¹⁰ And David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to go over the torrent Besor.

¹¹ And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he ate; and they gave him water to drink,

¹² and gave him a piece of fig-cake and two raisin-cakes, and he ate, and his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, for three days and three nights.

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

¹⁴ We made a raid against the south of the Cherethites, and against what [belongs] to Judah, and against the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.

¹⁵ And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear to me by God, that thou wilt neither put me to death nor deliver me up into the hand of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.

¹⁶ And he brought him down, and behold, they were spread over the whole land, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.

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

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

¹⁹ And there was nothing missed by them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil nor anything that they had taken: David brought all back.

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

²¹ And David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and whom they had left behind at the torrent Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him; and David drew near to the people and saluted them.

²² And all the wicked men, and [men] of Belial, of those that had gone with David, answered and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them [aught] of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead [them] away and depart.

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

²⁴ And who will hearken to you in this matter? For as his share is that goes down to the battle, so shall his share be that abides by the baggage: they shall share alike.

²⁵ And it was [so] from that day forward; and he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

²⁶ And David came to Ziklag, and he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah:

²⁷ to those in Bethel, and to those in south Ramoth, and to those in Jattir,

²⁸ and to those in Aroer, and to those in Siphmoth, and to those in Eshtemoa,

²⁹ and to those in Rachal, and to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those in the cities of the Kenites,

³⁰ and to those in Hormah, and to those in Chor-ashan, and to those in Athach,

³¹ and to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men went about.

31 And the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on mount Gilboa.

² And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines smote Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons.

³ And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers came up with him; and he was much terrified by the archers.

⁴ Then said Saul to his armour-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not; for he was much afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.

⁵ And when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on his sword, and died with him.

⁶ So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer, and all his men, that same day together.

⁷ And when the men of Israel that were on this side of the valley, and [they] that were on this side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

⁸ And it came to pass the next day, that the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa.

⁹ And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent [them] into the land of the Philistines round about, to announce the glad tidings in the houses of their idols, and to the people.

¹⁰ And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

¹¹ And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹² all the valiant men arose and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burned them there.

¹³ And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.