The First Book of Samuel

1

1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite of the hill-country of Ephraim, named Elkanah; he was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite: 2 And he had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah: and Peninnah was the mother of children, but Hannah had no children. 3 Now this man went up from his town every year to give worship and to make offerings to the Lord of armies in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. 4 And when the day came for Elkanah to make his offering, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, their part of the feast: 5 But to Hannah he gave one part, though Hannah was very dear to him, but the Lord had not let her have children. 6 And the other wife did everything possible to make her unhappy, because the Lord had not let her have children; 7 And year by year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, she kept on attacking her, so that Hannah gave herself up to weeping and would take no food. 8 Then her husband Elkanah said to her, Hannah, why are you weeping? and why are you taking no food? why is your heart troubled? am I not more to you than ten sons? 9 So after they had taken food and wine in the guest room, Hannah got up. Now Eli the priest was seated by the pillars of the doorway of the Temple of the Lord. 10 And with grief in her soul, weeping bitterly, she made her prayer to the Lord. 11 And she made an oath, and said, O Lord of armies, if you will truly take note of the sorrow of your servant, not turning away from me but keeping me in mind, and will give me a man-child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut. 12 Now while she was a long time in prayer before the Lord, Eli was watching her mouth. 13 For Hannah’s prayer came from her heart, and though her lips were moving she made no sound: so it seemed to Eli that she was overcome with wine. 14 And Eli said to her, How long are you going to be the worse for drink? Put away the effects of your wine from you. 15 And Hannah, answering him, said, No, my lord, I am a woman whose spirit is broken with sorrow: I have not taken wine or strong drink, but I have been opening my heart before the Lord. 16 Do not take your servant to be a good-for-nothing woman: for my words have come from my stored-up sorrow and pain. 17 Then Eli said to her, Go in peace: and may the God of Israel give you an answer to the prayer you have made to him. 18 And she said, May your servant have grace in your eyes. So the woman went away, and took part in the feast, and her face was no longer sad. 19 And early in the morning they got up, and after worshipping before the Lord they went back to Ramah, to their house: and Elkanah had connection with his wife; and the Lord kept her in mind. 20 Now the time came when Hannah, being with child, gave birth to a son; and she gave him the name Samuel, Because, she said, I made a prayer to the Lord for him. 21 And the man Elkanah with all his family went up to make the year’s offering to the Lord, and to give effect to his oath. 22 But Hannah did not go, for she said to her husband, I will not go till the child has been taken from the breast, and then I will take him with me and put him before the Lord, where he may be for ever. 23 And her husband Elkanah said to her, Do whatever seems right to you, but not till you have taken him from the breast; only may the Lord do as he has said. So the woman, waiting there, gave her son milk till he was old enough to be taken from the breast. 24 Then when she had done so, she took him with her, with a three-year old ox and an ephah of meal and a skin full of wine, and took him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh: now the child was still very young. 25 And when they had made an offering of the ox, they took the child to Eli. 26 And she said, O my lord, as your soul is living, my lord, I am that woman who was making a prayer to the Lord here by your side: 27 My prayer was for this child; and the Lord has given him to me in answer to my request: 28 So I have given him to the Lord; for all his life he is the Lord’s. Then he gave the Lord worship there.

2

1 And Hannah, in prayer before the Lord, said, My heart is glad in the Lord, my horn is lifted up in the Lord: my mouth is open wide over my haters; because my joy is in your salvation. 2 No other is holy as the Lord, for there is no other God but you: there is no Rock like our God. 3 Say no more words of pride; let not uncontrolled sayings come out of your mouths: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, by him acts are judged. 4 The bows of the men of war are broken, and the feeble are clothed with strength. 5 Those who were full are offering themselves as servants for bread; those who were in need are at rest; truly, she who had no children has become the mother of seven; and she who had a family is wasted with sorrow. 6 The Lord is the giver of death and life: sending men down to the underworld and lifting them up. 7 The Lord gives wealth and takes a man’s goods from him: crushing men down and again lifting them up; 8 Lifting the poor out of the dust, and him who is in need out of the lowest place, to give them their place among rulers, and for their heritage the seat of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s and he has made them the base of the world. 9 He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the evil-doers will come to their end in the dark night, for by strength no man will overcome. 10 Those who make war against the Lord will be broken; against them he will send his thunder from heaven: the Lord will be judge of the ends of the earth, he will give strength to his king, lifting up the horn of him on whom the holy oil has been put. 11 Then Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child became the servant of the Lord under the direction of Eli the priest. 12 Now the sons of Eli were evil and good-for-nothing men, having no knowledge of the Lord. 13 And the priests’ way with the people was this: when any man made an offering, the priest’s servant came while the flesh was being cooked, having in his hand a meat-hook with three teeth; 14 This he put into the pot, and everything which came up on the hook the priest took for himself. This they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 And more than this, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was making the offering, Give me some of the flesh to be cooked for the priest; he has no taste for meat cooked in water, but would have you give it uncooked. 16 And if the man said to him, First let the fat be burned, then take as much as you will; then the servant would say, No, you are to give it to me now, or I will take it by force. 17 And the sin of these young men was very great before the Lord; for they gave no honour to the Lord’s offerings. 18 But Samuel did the work of the Lord’s house, while he was a child, dressed in a linen ephod. 19 And his mother made him a little robe and took it to him every year when she came with her husband for the year’s offering. 20 And every year Eli gave Elkanah and his wife a blessing, saying, May the Lord give you offspring by this woman in exchange for the child you have given to the Lord. And they went back to their house. 21 And the Lord had mercy on Hannah and she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the young Samuel became older before the Lord. 22 Now Eli was very old; and he had news from time to time of what his sons were doing to all Israel. 23 And he said to them, Why are you doing such things? for from all this people I get accounts of your evil ways. 24 No, my sons, the account which is given me, which the Lord’s people are sending about, is not good. 25 If one man does wrong to another, God will be his judge: but if a man’s sin is against the Lord, who will take up his cause? But they gave no attention to the voice of their father, for it was the Lord’s purpose to send destruction on them. 26 And the young Samuel, becoming older, had the approval of the Lord and of men. 27 And a man of God came to Eli and said to him, The Lord says, Did I let myself be seen by your father’s people when they were in Egypt, servants in Pharaoh’s house? 28 Did I take him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest and to go up to my altar to make the smoke of the offerings go up and to take up the ephod? Did I give to your father’s family all the offerings made by fire by the children of Israel? 29 Why then are you looking with envy on my offerings of meat and of meal which were ordered by my word, honouring your sons before me, and making yourselves fat with all the best of the offerings of Israel, my people? 30 For this reason the Lord God of Israel has said, Truly I did say that your family and your father’s people would have their place before me for ever: but now the Lord says, Let it not be so; I will give honour to those by whom I am honoured, and those who have no respect for me will be of small value in my eyes. 31 See, the days are coming when your arm and the arm of your father’s people will be cut off; 32 And never again will there be an old man in your family. 33 But one man of your family will not be cut off by my hand, and his eyes will be made dark, and grief will be in his heart: and all the offspring of your family will come to their end by the sword of men. 34 And this will be the sign to you, which will come on Hophni and Phinehas, your sons; death will overtake them on the same day. 35 And I will make a true priest for myself, one who will do what is in my heart and in my mind: and I will make for him a family which will not come to an end; and his place will be before my holy one for ever. 36 Then it will be that the rest of your family, anyone who has not been cut off, will go down on his knees to him for a bit of silver or a bit of bread, and say, Be pleased to put me into one of the priest’s places so that I may have a little food.

3

1 Now the young Samuel was the servant of the Lord before Eli. In those days the Lord kept his word secret from men; there was no open vision. 2 And at that time, when Eli was resting in his place, (now his eyes were becoming clouded so that he was not able to see,) 3 And the light of God was still burning, while Samuel was sleeping in the Temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, 4 The voice of the Lord said Samuel’s name; and he said, Here am I. 5 And running to Eli he said, Here am I, for you said my name. And Eli said, I did not say your name; go to your rest again. So he went back to his bed. 6 And again the Lord said, Samuel. And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, Here am I; for you certainly said my name. But he said in answer, I said nothing, my son; go to your rest again. 7 Now at that time Samuel had no knowledge of the Lord, and the revelation of the word of the Lord had not come to him. 8 And for the third time the Lord said Samuel’s name. And he got up and went to Eli and said, Here am I; for you certainly said my name. Then it was clear to Eli that the voice which had said the child’s name was the Lord’s. 9 So Eli said to Samuel, Go back: and if the voice comes again, let your answer be, Say on, Lord; for the ears of your servant are open. So Samuel went back to his bed. 10 Then the Lord came and said as before, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel made answer, Say on, Lord; for the ears of your servant are open. 11 And the Lord said to Samuel, See, I will do a thing in Israel at which the ears of everyone hearing of it will be burning. 12 In that day I will do to Eli everything which I have said about his family, from first to last. 13 And you are to say to him that I will send punishment on his family for ever, for the sin which he had knowledge of; because his sons have been cursing God and he had no control over them. 14 So I have made an oath to the family of Eli that no offering of meat or of meal which they may make will ever take away the sin of his family. 15 And Samuel kept where he was, not moving till the time came for opening the doors of the house of God in the morning. And fear kept him from giving Eli an account of his vision. 16 Then Eli said, Samuel, my son. And Samuel answering said, Here am I. 17 And he said, What did the Lord say to you? Do not keep it from me: may God’s punishment be on you if you keep from me anything he said to you. 18 Then Samuel gave him an account of everything, keeping nothing back. And he said, It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him. 19 And Samuel became older, and the Lord was with him and let not one of his words be without effect. 20 And it was clear to all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba that Samuel had been made a prophet of the Lord. 21 And the Lord was seen again in Shiloh; for the Lord gave to Samuel in Shiloh the revelation of his word.

4

1 Now at that time the Philistines came together to make war against Israel, and the men of Israel went out to war against the Philistines and took up their position at the side of Eben-ezer: and the Philistines put their forces in position in Aphek. 2 And the Philistines put their forces in order against Israel, and the fighting was hard, and Israel was overcome by the Philistines, who put to the sword about four thousand of their army in the field. 3 And when the people came back to their tents, the responsible men of Israel said, Why has the Lord let the Philistines overcome us today? Let us get the ark of the Lord’s agreement here from Shiloh, so that it may be with us and give us salvation from the hands of those who are against us. 4 So the people sent to Shiloh and got the ark of the agreement of the Lord of armies whose resting-place is between the winged ones; and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were there with the ark of God’s agreement. 5 And when the ark of the Lord’s agreement came into the tent-circle, all Israel gave a great cry, so that the earth was sounding with it. 6 And the Philistines, hearing the noise of their cry, said, What is this great cry among the tents of the Hebrews? Then it became clear to them that the ark of the Lord had come to the tent-circle. 7 And the Philistines, full of fear, said, God has come into their tents. And they said, Trouble is ours! for never before has such a thing been seen. 8 Trouble is ours! Who will give us salvation from the hands of these great gods? These are the gods who sent all sorts of blows on the Egyptians in the waste land. 9 Be strong, O Philistines, be men! Do not be servants to the Hebrews as they have been to you: go forward to the fight without fear. 10 So the Philistines went to the fight, and Israel was overcome, and every man went in flight to his tent: and great was the destruction, for thirty thousand footmen of Israel were put to the sword. 11 And the ark of God was taken; and Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli, were put to the sword. 12 And a man of Benjamin went running from the fight and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothing out of order and earth on his head. 13 And when he came, Eli was seated by the wayside watching: and in his heart was fear for the ark of God. And when the man came into the town and gave the news, there was a great outcry. 14 And Eli, hearing the noise and the cries, said, What is the reason of this outcry? And the man came quickly and gave the news to Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were fixed so that he was not able to see. 16 And the man said to Eli, I have come from the army and have come in flight today from the fight. And he said, How did it go, my son? 17 And the man said, Israel went in flight from the Philistines, and there has been great destruction among the people, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been taken. 18 And at these words about the ark of God, Eli, falling back off his seat by the side of the doorway into the town, came down on the earth so that his neck was broken and death overtook him, for he was an old man and of great weight. He had been judging Israel for forty years. 19 And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child and near the time when she would give birth; and when she had the news that the ark of God had been taken and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, her pains came on her suddenly and she gave birth. 20 And when she was very near death the women who were with her said, Have no fear, for you have given birth to a son. But she made no answer and gave no attention to it. 21 And she gave the child the name of Ichabod, saying, The glory has gone from Israel: because the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, The glory is gone from Israel, for the ark of God has been taken.

5

1 Now the Philistines, having taken the ark of God, took it with them from Eben-ezer to Ashdod. 2 They took the ark of God into the house of Dagon and put it by the side of Dagon. 3 And when the people of Ashdod got up early on the morning after, they saw that Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon up and put him in his place again. 4 And when they got up early on the morning after, Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord; and his head and his hands were broken off on the doorstep; only the base was in its place. 5 So to this day no priest of Dagon, or any who come into Dagon’s house, will put his foot on the doorstep of the house of Dagon in Ashdod. 6 But the hand of the Lord was hard on the people of Ashdod and he sent disease on them through all the country of Ashdod. 7 And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, Let not the ark of the God of Israel be with us, for his hand is hard on us and on Dagon our god. 8 So they sent for all the lords of the Philistines to come together there, and said, What are we to do with the ark of the God of Israel? And their answer was, Let the ark of the God of Israel be taken away to Gath. So they took the ark of the God of Israel away. 9 But after they had taken it away, the hand of the Lord was stretched out against the town for its destruction: and the signs of disease came out on all the men of the town, small and great. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the people of the town made an outcry, saying, They have sent the ark of the God of Israel to us for the destruction of us and of our people. 11 So they sent and got together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its place, so that it may not be the cause of death to us and to our people: for there was a great fear of death through all the town; the hand of God was very hard on them there. 12 And those men who were not overtaken by death were cruelly diseased: and the cry of the town went up to heaven.

6

1 Now the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines for seven months. 2 And the Philistines sent for the priests and those who were wise in secret arts, and said to them, What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? How are we to send it away to its place? 3 And they said, If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it without an offering, but send him a sin-offering with it: then you will have peace again, and it will be clear to you why the weight of his hand has not been lifted from you. 4 Then they said, What sin-offering are we to send to him? And they said, Five gold images of the growths caused by your disease and five gold mice, one for every lord of the Philistines: for the same disease came on you and on your lords. 5 So make images of the growths caused by your disease and of the mice which are damaging your land; and give glory to the God of Israel: it may be that the weight of his hand will be lifted from you and from your gods and from your land. 6 Why do you make your hearts hard, like the hearts of Pharaoh and the Egyptians? When he had made sport of them, did they not let the people go, and they went away? 7 So now, take and make ready a new cart, and two cows which have never come under the yoke, and have the cows yoked to the cart, and take their young ones away from them: 8 And put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the gold images which you are sending as a sin-offering in a chest by its side; and send it away so that it may go. 9 If it goes by the land of Israel to Beth-shemesh, then this great evil is his work; but if not, then we may be certain that the evil was not his doing, but was the working of chance. 10 And the men did so; they took two cows, yoking them to the cart and shutting up their young ones in their living-place: 11 And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the chest with the gold images. 12 And the cows took the straight way, by the road to Beth-shemesh; they went by the highway, not turning to the right or to the left, and the sound of their voices was clear on the road; and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the edge of Beth-shemesh. 13 And the people of Beth-shemesh were cutting their grain in the valley, and lifting up their eyes they saw the ark and were full of joy when they saw it. 14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and came to a stop there by a great stone: and cutting up the wood of the cart they made a burned offering of the cows to the Lord. 15 Then the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest in which were the gold images, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh made burned offerings and gave worship that day before the Lord. 16 And the five lords of the Philistines, having seen it, went back to Ekron the same day. 17 Now these are the gold images which the Philistines sent as a sin-offering to the Lord; one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; 18 And the gold mice, one for every town of the Philistines, the property of the five lords, walled towns as well as country places: and the great stone where they put the ark of the Lord is still in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite to this day. 19 But the Lord sent destruction on seventy men of the people of Beth-shemesh for looking into the ark of the Lord; and great was the sorrow of the people for the destruction which the Lord had sent on them. 20 And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to keep his place before the Lord, this holy God? and to whom may he go from us? 21 And they sent men to the people living in Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have sent back the ark of the Lord; come and take it up to your country.

7

1 So the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord to the house of Abinadab in Gibeah, and they made his son Eleazar holy and put the ark in his care. 2 And the ark was in Kiriath-jearim for a long time, as much as twenty years: and all Israel was searching after the Lord with weeping. 3 Then Samuel said to all Israel, If with all your hearts you would come back to the Lord, then put away all the strange gods and the Astartes from among you, and let your hearts be turned to the Lord, and be servants to him only: and he will make you safe from the hands of the Philistines. 4 So the children of Israel gave up the worship of Baal and Astarte, and became worshippers of the Lord only. 5 Then Samuel said, Let all Israel come to Mizpah and I will make prayer to the Lord for you. 6 So they came together to Mizpah, and got water, draining it out before the Lord, and they took no food that day, and they said, We have done evil against the Lord. And Samuel was judge of the children of Israel in Mizpah. 7 Now when the Philistines had news that the children of Israel had come together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And the children of Israel, hearing of it, were full of fear. 8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Go on crying to the Lord our God for us to make us safe from the hands of the Philistines. 9 And Samuel took a young lamb, offering all of it as a burned offering to the Lord; and Samuel made prayers to the Lord for Israel and the Lord gave him an answer. 10 And while Samuel was offering the burned offering, the Philistines came near for the attack on Israel; but at the thunder of the Lord’s voice that day the Philistines were overcome with fear, and they gave way before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and went after the Philistines, attacking them till they came under Beth-car. 12 Then Samuel took a stone and put it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, naming it Eben-ezer, and saying, Up to now the Lord has been our help. 13 So the Philistines were overcome, and did not come into the country of Israel again: and all the days of Samuel the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. 14 And the towns which the Philistines had taken were given back to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and all the country round them Israel made free from the power of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites. 15 And Samuel was judge of Israel all the days of his life. 16 From year to year he went in turn to Beth-el and Gilgal and Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. 17 And his base was at Ramah, where his house was; there he was judge of Israel and there he made an altar to the Lord.

8

1 Now when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his first son was Joel and the name of his second Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. 3 And his sons did not go in his ways, but moved by the love of money took rewards, and were not upright in judging. 4 Then all the responsible men of Israel got together and went to Samuel at Ramah, 5 And said to him, See now, you are old, and your sons do not go in your ways: give us a king now to be our judge, so that we may be like the other nations. 6 But Samuel was not pleased when they said to him, Give us a king to be our judge. And Samuel made prayer to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to the voice of the people and what they say to you: they have not been turned away from you, but they have been turned away from me, not desiring me to be king over them. 8 As they have done from the first, from the day when I took them out of Egypt till this day, turning away from me and worshipping other gods, so now they are acting in the same way to you. 9 Give ear now to their voice: but make a serious protest to them, and give them a picture of the sort of king who will be their ruler. 10 And Samuel said all these words of the Lord to the people who were desiring a king. 11 And he said, This is the sort of king who will be your ruler: he will take your sons and make them his servants, his horsemen, and drivers of his war-carriages, and they will go running before his war-carriages; 12 And he will make them captains of thousands and of fifties; some he will put to work ploughing and cutting his grain and making his instruments of war and building his war-carriages. 13 Your daughters he will take to be makers of perfumes and cooks and bread-makers. 14 He will take your fields and your vine-gardens and your olive-gardens, all the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your seed and of the fruit of your vines and give it to his servants. 16 He will take your men-servants and your servant-girls, and the best of your oxen and your asses and put them to his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your sheep: and you will be his servants. 18 Then you will be crying out because of your king whom you have taken for yourselves; but the Lord will not give you an answer in that day. 19 But the people gave no attention to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but we will have a king over us, 20 So that we may be like the other nations, and so that our king may be our judge and go out before us to war. 21 Then Samuel, after hearing all the people had to say, went and gave an account of it to the Lord. 22 And the Lord said to Samuel, Give ear to their voice and make a king for them. Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, Let every man go back to his town.

9

1 Now there was a man of Benjamin named Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a man of wealth. 2 He had a son named Saul, a specially good-looking young man; there was no one better-looking among the children of Israel: he was taller by a head than any other of the people. 3 Now the asses of Saul’s father Kish had gone wandering away. And Kish said to his son Saul, Take one of the servants with you, and get up and go in search of the asses. 4 So they went through the hill-country of Ephraim and through the land of Shalishah, but they saw no sign of them: then they went through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there: and they went through the land of the Benjamites, but they did not come across them. 5 And when they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, Come, let us go back, or my father may give up caring about the asses and be troubled about us. 6 But the servant said to him, See now, in this town there is a man of God, who is highly honoured, and everything he says comes true: let us go there now; it may be that he will give us directions about our journey. 7 Then Saul said to his servant, But if we go, what are we to take the man? all our bread is gone, and we have no offering to take to the man of God: what are we to do? 8 But the servant said in answer, I have here a fourth part of a shekel of silver: I will give that to the man of God, and he will give us directions about our way. 9 (In the past in Israel, when a man went to get directions from God, he said, Come let us go to the Seer, for he who now is named Prophet was in those days given the name of Seer.) 10 Then Saul said to his servant, You have said well; come, let us go. So they went to the town where the man of God was. 11 And when they were on the way up to the town, they saw some young girls going out to get water and said to them, Is the seer here? 12 And they said, He is; in fact he is before you: go quickly now, for he has come into the town today, for the people are making an offering in the high place today: 13 When you come into the town you will see him straight away, before he goes up to the high place for the feast: the people are waiting for his blessing before starting the feast, and after that the guests will take part in it. So go up now and you will see him. 14 So they went up to the town, and when they came inside the town, Samuel came face to face with them on his way to the high place. 15 Now the day before Saul came, the word of God had come to Samuel, saying, 16 Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and on him you are to put the holy oil, making him ruler over my people Israel, and he will make my people safe from the hands of the Philistines: for I have seen the sorrow of my people, whose cry has come up to me. 17 And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, This is the man of whom I gave you word! he it is who is to have authority over my people. 18 Then Saul came up to Samuel in the doorway of the town and said, Give me directions, if you will be so good, to the house of the seer. 19 Then Samuel said to Saul, I am the seer; go up before me to the high place and take food with me today: and in the morning I will let you go, after opening to you all the secrets of your heart. 20 As for your asses which have been wandering for three days, give no thought to them, for they have come back. And for whom are all the desired things in Israel? are they not for you and your father’s family? 21 And Saul said, Am I not a man of Benjamin, the smallest of all the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of the families of Benjamin? why then do you say these words to me? 22 Then Samuel took Saul and his servant into the guest room, and made them take the chief place among all the guests who were there, about thirty persons. 23 And Samuel said to the cook, Give me that part which I gave you orders to keep by you. 24 And the cook took up the leg with the fat tail on it, and put it before Saul. And Samuel said, This is the part which has been kept for you: take it as your part of the feast; because it has been kept for you till the right time came and till the guests were present. So that day Saul took food with Samuel. 25 And when they had come down from the high place into the town, where a bed was made ready for Saul, he went to rest. 26 And about dawn Samuel said to Saul on the roof, Get up so that I may send you away. So Saul got up, and he and Samuel went out together. 27 And on their way down to the end of the town, Samuel said to Saul, Give your servant orders to go on in front of us, (so he went on,) but you keep here, so that I may give you the word of God.

10

1 Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on his head and gave him a kiss and said, Is not the Lord with the holy oil making you ruler over Israel, his people? and you will have authority over the people of the Lord, and you will make them safe from the hands of their attackers round about them, and this will be the sign for you: 2 When you have gone away from me today, you will see two men by the resting-place of Rachel’s body, in the land of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, The asses which you went in search of have come back, and now your father, caring no longer for the asses, is troubled about you, saying, What am I to do about my son? 3 Then you are to go on from there, and when you come to the oak-tree of Tabor, you will see three men going up to God to Beth-el, one having with him three young goats and another three cakes of bread and another a skin full of wine: 4 They will say, Peace be with you, and will give you two cakes of bread, which you are to take from them. 5 After that you will come to Gibeah, the hill of God, where an armed force of the Philistines is stationed: and when you come to the town, you will see a band of prophets coming down from the high place with instruments of music before them; and they will be acting like prophets: 6 And the spirit of the Lord will come on you with power, and you will be acting like a prophet with them, and will be changed into another man. 7 And when these signs come to you, see that you take the chance which is offered you; for God is with you. 8 Then you are to go down before me to Gilgal, where I will come to you, for the offering of burned offerings and peace-offerings: go on waiting there for seven days till I come to you and make clear to you what you have to do. 9 And it came about, that when he went away from Samuel, God gave him a changed heart: and all those signs took place that day. 10 And when they came to Gibeah, a band of prophets came face to face with him; and the spirit of God came on him with power and he took his place among them as a prophet. 11 Now when Saul’s old friends saw him among the band of prophets, the people said to one another, What has come to Saul, the son of Kish? Is even Saul among the prophets? 12 And one of the people of that place said in answer, And who is their father? So it became a common saying, Is even Saul among the prophets? 13 Then going away from the prophets, he came to the house. 14 And Saul’s father’s brother said to him and his servant, Where have you been? And he said, Searching for the asses: and when we saw no sign of them, we came to Samuel. 15 Then he said, And what did Samuel say to you? 16 And Saul, answering him, said, He gave us word that the asses had come back. But he said nothing to him of Samuel’s words about the kingdom. 17 Then Samuel sent for the people to come together before the Lord at Mizpah; 18 And he said to the children of Israel, The Lord, the God of Israel, has said, I took Israel out of Egypt, and made you free from the hands of the Egyptians and from all the kingdoms which kept you down: 19 But today you are turned away from your God, who himself has been your saviour from all your troubles and sorrows; and you have said to him, Put a king over us. So now, take your places before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands. 20 So Samuel made all the tribes of Israel come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken. 21 Then he made the tribe of Benjamin come near by families, and the family of the Matrites was taken: and from them, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken: but when they went in search of him he was nowhere to be seen. 22 So they put another question to the Lord, Is the man present here? And the answer of the Lord was, He is keeping himself from view among the goods. 23 So they went quickly and made him come out; and when he took his place among the people, he was taller by a head than any of the people. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, Do you see the man of the Lord’s selection, how there is no other like him among all the people? And all the people with loud cries said, Long life to the king! 25 Then Samuel gave the people the laws of the kingdom, writing them in a book which he put in a safe place before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 26 And Saul went to Gibeah, to his house; and with him went the men of war whose hearts had been touched by God. 27 But certain good-for-nothing persons said, How is this man to be our saviour? And having no respect for him, they gave him no offering.

11

1 Then about a month after this, Nahash the Ammonite came up and put his forces in position for attacking Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make an agreement with us and we will be your servants. 2 And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, I will make an agreement with you on this condition, that all your right eyes are put out; so that I may make it a cause of shame to all Israel. 3 Then the responsible men of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days, so that we may send men to every part of Israel: and then, if no one comes to our help, we will come out to you. 4 So they sent representatives to Saul’s town Gibeah, and these gave the news to the people: and all the people gave themselves to weeping. 5 Now Saul came from the field, driving the oxen before him; and he said, Why are the people weeping? And they gave him word of what the men of Jabesh had said. 6 And at their words, the spirit of God came on Saul with power, and he became very angry. 7 And he took two oxen and, cutting them up, sent them through all the land of Israel by the hand of runners, saying, If any man does not come out after Saul and Samuel, this will be done to his oxen. And the fear of the Lord came on the people and they came out like one man. 8 And he had them numbered in Bezek: the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. 9 Then he said to the representatives who had come, Say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is high, you will be made safe. And the representatives came and gave the news to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. 10 So the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you. 11 Now on the day after, Saul put the people into three bands, and in the morning watch they came to the tents of the Ammonites, and they went on attacking them till the heat of the day: and those who were not put to death were put to flight in every direction, so that no two of them were together. 12 And the people said to Samuel, Who was it who said, Is Saul to be our king? give the men up, so that we may put them to death. 13 And Saul said, Not a man is to be put to death today: for today the Lord has made Israel safe. 14 Then Samuel said to the people, Come, let us go to Gilgal and there make the kingdom strong in the hands of Saul. 15 So all the people went to Gilgal; and there in Gilgal they made Saul king before the Lord; and peace-offerings were offered before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel were glad with great joy.

12

1 And Samuel said to all Israel, You see that I have given ear to everything you said to me, and have made a king over you. 2 And now, see, the king is before you: and I am old and grey-headed, and my sons are with you: I have been living before your eyes from my early days till now. 3 Here I am: give witness against me before the Lord and before the man on whom he has put the holy oil: whose ox or ass have I taken? to whom have I been untrue? who has been crushed down by me? from whose hand have I taken a price for the blinding of my eyes? I will give it all back to you. 4 And they said, You have never been untrue to us or cruel to us; you have taken nothing from any man. 5 Then he said, The Lord is witness against you, and the man on whom he has put the holy oil is witness this day that you have seen no wrong in me. And they said, He is witness. 6 And Samuel said to the people, The Lord is witness, who gave authority to Moses and Aaron, and who took your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Keep your places now, while I take up the argument with you before the Lord, and give you the story of the righteousness of the Lord, which he has made clear by his acts to you and to your fathers. 8 When Jacob and his sons had come into Egypt, and were crushed by the Egyptians, the prayers of your fathers came up to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who took your fathers out of Egypt, and he put them into this place. 9 But they were false to the Lord their God, and he gave them up into the hands of Sisera, captain of the army of Jabin, king of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the king of Moab, who made war against them. 10 Then crying out to the Lord, they said, We have done evil, because we have been turned away from the Lord, worshipping the Baals and the Astartes: but now, make us safe from those who are against us and we will be your servants. 11 So the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and took you out of the power of those who were fighting against you on every side, and made you safe. 12 And when you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, was coming against you, you said to me, No more of this; we will have a king for our ruler: when the Lord your God was your king. 13 Here, then, is the king marked out by you: the Lord has put a king over you. 14 If in the fear of the Lord you are his servants, hearing his voice and not going against the orders of the Lord, but being true to the Lord your God, you and the king ruling over you, then all will be well: 15 But if you do not give ear to the voice of the Lord, but go against his orders, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and against your king for your destruction, as it was against your fathers. 16 Now keep where you are and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not now the time of the grain cutting? My cry will go up to the Lord and he will send thunder and rain: so that you may see and be conscious of your great sin which you have done in the eyes of the Lord in desiring a king for yourselves. 18 So Samuel made prayer to the Lord; and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people were in fear of the Lord and of Samuel. 19 And all the people said to Samuel, Make prayer for us to the Lord your God so that death may not overtake us: for in addition to all our sins we have done this evil, in desiring a king. 20 Then Samuel said to the people, Have no fear: truly you have done evil, but do not be turned away from the Lord; be his servants with all your heart; 21 And do not go from the right way turning to those false gods in which there is no profit and no salvation, for they are false. 22 For the Lord will not give his people up, because of the honour of his name; for it was the Lord’s pleasure to make of you a people for himself. 23 And as for me, never will I go against the orders of the Lord by giving up my prayers for you: but I will go on teaching you the good and right way. 24 Only go in the fear of the Lord, and be his true servants with all your heart, keeping in mind what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do evil, destruction will overtake you and your king.

13

1 *** 2 And Saul took for himself three thousand men of Israel, of whom he kept two thousand with him in Michmash and in the mountain of Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah in the land of Benjamin: the rest of the people he sent back to their tents. 3 And Jonathan made an attack on the armed force of the Philistines stationed at Gibeah; and news was given to the Philistines that the Hebrews were turned against them. And Saul had a horn sounded through all the land, 4 And all Israel had the news that Saul had made an attack on the Philistines, and that Israel was bitterly hated by the Philistines. And the people came together after Saul to Gilgal. 5 And the Philistines came together to make war on Israel, three thousand war-carriages and six thousand horsemen and an army of people like the sands of the sea in number: they came up and took up their position in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw the danger they were in, (for the people were troubled,) they took cover in cracks in the hillsides and in the woods and in rocks and holes and hollows. 7 And a great number of the people had gone over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but Saul was still in Gilgal, and all the people went after him shaking in fear. 8 And he went on waiting there for seven days, the time fixed by Samuel: but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were starting to go away from him. 9 Then Saul said, Come here and give me the burned offering and the peace-offerings. And he made a burned offering to the Lord. 10 And when the burned offering was ended, Samuel came; and Saul went out to see him and to give him a blessing. 11 And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were going away from me, and you had not come at the time which had been fixed, and the Philistines had come together at Michmash; 12 I said, Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal, and I have made no prayer for help to the Lord: and so, forcing myself to do it, I made a burned offering. 13 And Samuel said to Saul, You have done a foolish thing: you have not kept the rules which the Lord your God gave you; it was the purpose of the Lord to make your authority over Israel safe for ever. 14 But now, your authority will not go on: the Lord, searching for a man who is pleasing to him in every way, has given him the place of ruler over his people, because you have not done what the Lord gave you orders to do. 15 Then Samuel went up from Gilgal and the rest of the people went up after Saul against the men of war, and they came from Gilgal to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin: and Saul took the number of the people who were with him, about six hundred men. 16 And Saul, with Jonathan his son and the people who were with them, was waiting in Geba in the land of Benjamin: but the tents of the Philistines were in Michmash. 17 And three bands of men came out from the Philistines to make an attack; one band went by the road which goes to Ophrah, into the land of Shual: 18 And another went in the direction of Beth-horon: and another went by the hill looking down on the valley of Zeboiim, in the direction of the waste land. 19 Now there was no iron-worker in all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, For fear the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears: 20 But all the Israelites had to go to the Philistines to get their ploughs and blades and axes and hooks made sharp; 21 For they had instruments for putting an edge on their ploughs and blades and forks and axes, and for putting iron points on their ox-driving rods. 22 So on the day of the fight at Michmash, not a sword or a spear was to be seen in the hands of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan: only Saul and his son Jonathan had them. 23 And the armed force of the Philistines went out to the narrow way of Michmash.

14

1 Now one day Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was with him, looking after his arms, Come, let us go over to the Philistine force over there. But he said nothing to his father. 2 And Saul was still waiting in the farthest part of Geba, under the fruit-tree in Migron: there were about six hundred men with him; 3 And Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, brother of Ichabod, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, who had the ephod. And the people had no idea that Jonathan had gone. 4 Now between the narrow roads over the mountains by which Jonathan was making his way to the Philistines’ forces, there was a sharp overhanging rock on one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: one was named Bozez and the other Seneh. 5 The one rock went up on the north in front of Michmash and the other on the south in front of Geba. 6 And Jonathan said to his young servant who had his arms, Come, let us go over to the armies of these men who have no circumcision: it may be that the Lord will give us help, for there is no limit to his power; the Lord is able to give salvation by a great army or by a small band. 7 And his servant said to him, Do whatever is in your mind: see, I am with you in every impulse of your heart. 8 Then Jonathan said, Now we will go over to these men and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, Keep quiet where you are till we come to you; then we will keep our places and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, Come up to us; then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hands: and this will be the sign to us. 11 And they let the Philistine force see the two of them: and the Philistines said, Look! the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have taken cover. 12 And the armed men of the force gave Jonathan and his servant their answer, saying, Come up here to us, and we will let you see something. Then Jonathan said to his servant, Come up after me: for the Lord has given them up into the hands of Israel. 13 And Jonathan went up, gripping with his hands and his feet, his servant going up after him; and the Philistines gave way before Jonathan when he made an attack on them, and his servant put them to death after him. 14 And at their first attack, Jonathan and his servant put to the sword about twenty men, all inside the space of half an acre of land. 15 And there was great fear in the tents and in the field and among all the men of the armed force, and the attackers were shaking with fear; even the earth was moved with a great shaking and there was a fear as from God. 16 And the watchmen of Saul, looking out from Geba in the land of Benjamin, saw all the army flowing away and running here and there. 17 Then Saul said to the people who were with him, Let everyone be numbered and let us see who has gone from us. And when they had been numbered, it was seen that Jonathan and his servant were not there. 18 And Saul said to Ahijah, Let the ephod come here. For he went before Israel with the ephod at that time. 19 Now while Saul was talking to the priest, the noise in the tents of the Philistines became louder and louder; and Saul said to the priest, Take back your hand. 20 And Saul and all the people with him came together and went forward to the fight: and every man’s sword was turned against the man at his side, and there was a very great noise. 21 Then the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines for some time, and had gone up with them to their tents, turning round were joined to those who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 And all the men of Israel who had taken cover in the hill-country of Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines had been put to flight, went after them, attacking them. 23 So the Lord made Israel safe that day: and the fight went over to Beth-aven. 24 And all the people were with Saul, about twenty thousand men, and the fight was general through all the hill-country of Ephraim; but Saul made a great error that day, by putting the people under an oath, saying, Let that man be cursed who takes food before evening comes and I have given punishment to those who are against me. So the people had not a taste of food. 25 And there was honey on the face of the field, and all the people came to the honey, the bees having gone from it; 26 But not a man put his hand to his mouth for fear of the curse. 27 But Jonathan, having no knowledge of the oath his father had put on the people, stretching out the rod which was in his hand, put the end of it in the honey, and put it to his mouth; then his eyes were made bright. 28 Then one of the people said to him, Your father put the people under an oath, saying, Let that man be cursed who takes any food this day. And the people were feeble, needing food. 29 Then Jonathan said, My father has made trouble come on the land: now see how bright my eyes have become because I have taken a little of this honey. 30 How much more if the people had freely taken their food from the goods of those who were fighting against them! would there not have been much greater destruction among the Philistines? 31 That day they overcame the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were feeble from need of food. 32 And rushing at the goods taken in the fight, the people took oxen and sheep and young oxen, and put them to death there on the earth, and had a meal, taking the flesh with the blood in it. 33 Then it was said to Saul, See, the people are sinning against the Lord, taking the blood with the flesh. And he said to those who gave him the news, Now let a great stone be rolled to me here. 34 And Saul said, Go about among the people and say to them, Let every man come here to me with his ox and his sheep, and put them to death here, and take his meal: do no sin against the Lord by taking the blood with the flesh. So all the people took their oxen with them that night and put them to death there. 35 And Saul put up an altar to the Lord: this was the first altar which he put up to the Lord. 36 And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, attacking them till the morning, till there is not a man of them living. And they said, Do whatever seems right to you. Then the priest said, Let us come near to God. 37 And Saul, desiring directions from God, said, Am I to go down after the Philistines? will you give them up into the hands of Israel? But he gave him no answer that day. 38 And Saul said, Come near, all you chiefs of the people, and let us get word from God and see in whom is this sin today. 39 For, by the living Lord, the saviour of Israel, even if the sinner is Jonathan, my son, death will certainly be his fate. But not a man among all the people gave him any answer. 40 Then he said to all Israel, You be on one side, and I with Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, Do whatever seems good to you. 41 Then Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel, Why have you not given me an answer today? If the sin is in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord God of Israel, give Urim, and if it is in your people Israel, give Thummim. And by the decision of the Lord, Saul and Jonathan were marked out, and the people went free. 42 And Saul said, Give your decision between my son Jonathan and me. And Jonathan was taken. 43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, Give me an account of what you have done. And Jonathan gave him the story and said, Certainly I took a little honey on the end of my rod; and now death is to be my fate. 44 And Saul said, May God’s punishment be on me if death is not your fate, Jonathan. 45 And the people said to Saul, Is death to come to Jonathan, the worker of this great salvation for Israel? Let it not be so: by the living Lord, not one hair of his head is to be touched, for he has been working with God today. So the people kept Jonathan from death. 46 Then Saul, turning back, went after the Philistines no longer: and the Philistines went back to their place. 47 Now when Saul had taken his place as ruler of Israel, he made war on those who were against him on every side, Moab and the Ammonites and Edom and the kings of Zobah and the Philistines: and whichever way he went, he overcame them. 48 And he did great things, and overcame the Amalekites, and made Israel safe from the hands of their attackers. 49 Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi and Malchi-shua; and these are the names of his daughters: the older was named Merab and the younger Michal; 50 The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz; the captain of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, brother of Saul’s father. 51 Kish, the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, were sons of Abiel. 52 All through the life of Saul there was bitter war against the Philistines; and whenever Saul saw any strong man or any good fighting man, he kept him near himself.

15

1 And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to put the holy oil on you and to make you king over his people, over Israel: so give ear now to the words of the Lord. 2 The Lord of armies says, I will give punishment to Amalek for what he did to Israel, fighting against him on the way when Israel came out of Egypt. 3 Go now and put Amalek to the sword, putting to the curse all they have, without mercy: put to death every man and woman, every child and baby at the breast, every ox and sheep, camel and ass. 4 And Saul sent for the people and had them numbered in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to the town of Amalek, and took up his position in the valley secretly. 6 And Saul said to the Kenites, Go away, take yourselves out from among the Amalekites, or destruction will overtake you with them: for you were kind to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. So the Kenites went away from among the Amalekites. 7 And Saul made an attack on the Amalekites from Havilah on the road to Shur, which is before Egypt. 8 He took Agag, king of the Amalekites, prisoner, and put all the people to the sword without mercy. 9 But Saul and the people did not put Agag to death, and they kept the best of the sheep and the oxen and the fat beasts and the lambs, and whatever was good, not desiring to put them to the curse: but everything which was bad and of no use they put to the curse. 10 Then the Lord said to Samuel, 11 It is no longer my pleasure for Saul to be king; for he is turned back from going in my ways, and has not done my orders. And Samuel was very sad, crying to the Lord in prayer all night. 12 And early in the morning he got up and went to Saul; and word was given to Samuel that Saul had come to Carmel and put up a pillar, and had gone from there down to Gilgal. 13 And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, May the blessing of the Lord be with you: I have done what was ordered by the Lord. 14 And Samuel said, What then is this sound of the crying of sheep and the noise of oxen which comes to my ears? 15 And Saul said, They have taken them from the Amalekites: for the people have kept the best of the sheep and of the oxen as an offering to the Lord your God; all the rest we have given up to destruction. 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, Say no more! Let me give you word of what the Lord has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on. 17 And Samuel said, Though you may seem little to yourself, are you not head of the tribes of Israel? for the Lord with the holy oil made you king over Israel, 18 And the Lord sent you on a journey and said, Go and put to the curse those sinners, the Amalekites, fighting against them till every one is dead. 19 Why then did you not do the orders of the Lord, but by violently taking their goods did evil in the eyes of the Lord? 20 And Saul said, Truly, I have done the orders of the Lord and have gone the way the Lord sent me; I have taken Agag, the king of Amalek, and have given the Amalekites up to destruction. 21 But the people took some of their goods, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which were put to the curse, to make an offering of them to the Lord your God in Gilgal. 22 And Samuel said, Has the Lord as much delight in offerings and burned offerings as in the doing of his orders? Truly, to do his pleasure is better than to make offerings, and to give ear to him than the fat of sheep. 23 For to go against his orders is like the sin of those who make use of secret arts, and pride is like giving worship to images. Because you have put away from you the word of the Lord, he has put you from your place as king. 24 And Saul said to Samuel, Great is my sin: for I have gone against the orders of the Lord and against your words: because, fearing the people, I did what they said. 25 So now, let my sin have forgiveness, and go back with me to give worship to the Lord. 26 And Samuel said to Saul, I will not go back with you: for you have put away from you the word of the Lord, and the Lord has put you from your place as king over Israel. 27 And when Samuel was turning round to go away, Saul took the skirt of his robe in his hand, and the cloth came away. 28 And Samuel said to him, The Lord has taken away the kingdom of Israel from you this day by force, and has given it to a neighbour of yours who is better than you. 29 And further, the Glory of Israel will not say what is false, and his purpose may not be changed: for he is not a man, whose purpose may be changed. 30 Then he said, Great is my sin: but still, give me honour now before the heads of my people and before Israel, and come back with me so that I may give worship to the Lord your God. 31 So Samuel went back after Saul, and Saul gave worship to the Lord. 32 Then Samuel said, Make Agag, the king of the Amalekites, come here to me. And Agag came to him shaking with fear. And Agag said, Truly the pain of death is past. 33 And Samuel said, As your sword has made women without children, so now your mother will be without children among women. And Agag was cut up by Samuel, bone from bone, before the Lord in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah, in the land of Saul. 35 And Samuel never saw Saul again till the day of his death; but Samuel was sorrowing for Saul: and it was no longer the Lord’s pleasure for Saul to be king over Israel.

16

1 And the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you go on sorrowing for Saul, seeing that I have put him from his place as king over Israel? Take oil in your vessel and go; I will send you to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite: for I have got a king for myself among his sons. 2 And Samuel said, How is it possible for me to go? If Saul gets news of it he will put me to death. And the Lord said, Take a young cow with you and say, I have come to make an offering to the Lord. 3 And send for Jesse to be present at the offering, and I will make clear to you what you are to do: and you are to put the holy oil on him whose name I give you. 4 And Samuel did as the Lord said and came to Beth-lehem. And the responsible men of the town came out to him in fear and said, Do you come in peace? 5 And he said, In peace: I have come to make an offering to the Lord: make yourselves clean and come with me to make the offering. And he made Jesse and his sons clean, and sent for them to be present at the offering. 6 Now when they came, looking at Eliab, he said, Clearly the man of the Lord’s selection is before him. 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not take note of his face or how tall he is, because I will not have him: for the Lord’s view is not man’s; man takes note of the outer form, but the Lord sees the heart. 8 Then Jesse sent for Abinadab and made him come before Samuel. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one. 9 Then Jesse made Shammah come before him. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one. 10 And Jesse made his seven sons come before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not taken any of these. 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your children here? And he said, There is still the youngest, and he is looking after the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and make him come here: for we will not take our seats till he is here. 12 So he sent and made him come in. Now he had red hair and beautiful eyes and pleasing looks. And the Lord said, Come, put the oil on him, for this is he. 13 Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on him there among his brothers: and from that day the spirit of the Lord came on David with power. So Samuel went back to Ramah. 14 Now the spirit of the Lord had gone from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord was troubling him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, See now, an evil spirit from God is troubling you. 16 Now give orders to your servants who are here before you to go in search of a man who is an expert player on a corded instrument: and it will be that when the evil spirit from God is on you, he will make music for you on his instrument, and you will get well. 17 And Saul said to his servants, Then get me a man who is an expert player, and make him come to me. 18 Then one of the servants in answer said, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Beth-lehemite, who is expert at playing, and a strong man and a man of war; and he is wise in his words, and pleasing in looks, and the Lord is with him. 19 So Saul sent his servants to Jesse and said, Send me your son David who is with the sheep. 20 And Jesse took five cakes of bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David. 21 And David came to Saul, waiting before him: and he became very dear to Saul, who made him his servant, giving him the care of his arms. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse saying, Let David be with me, for he is pleasing to me. 23 And whenever the evil spirit from God came on Saul, David took his instrument and made music: so new life came to Saul, and he got well, and the evil spirit went away from him.

17

1 Now the Philistines got their armies together for war, and came together at Socoh in the land of Judah, and took up their position between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel came together and took up their position in the valley of Elah, and put their forces in order against the Philistines. 3 The Philistines were stationed on the mountain on one side and Israel on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 4 And a fighter came out from the tents of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath; he was more than six cubits tall. 5 And he had a head-dress of brass on his head, and he was dressed in a coat of metal, the weight of which was five thousand shekels of brass. 6 His legs were covered with plates of brass and hanging on his back was a javelin of brass. 7 The stem of his spear was as long as a cloth-worker’s rod, and its head was made of six hundred shekels’ weight of iron: and one went before him with his body-cover. 8 He took up his position and in a loud voice said to the armies of Israel, Why have you come out to make war? Am I not a Philistine and you servants of Saul? Send out a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to have a fight with me and overcome me, then we will be your servants: but if I am able to overcome him, then you will be our servants and do work for us. 10 And the Philistine said, I have put to shame the armies of Israel this day; give me a man so that we may have a fight together. 11 And Saul and all Israel, hearing those words of the Philistine, were troubled and full of fear. 12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah named Jesse, who had eight sons; and he was an old man in Saul’s day, and far on in years. 13 And the three oldest sons of Jesse had gone with Saul to the fight: the names of the three who went to the fight were Eliab, the oldest, and Abinadab the second, and Shammah the third. 14 And David was the youngest: and the three oldest were with Saul’s army. 15 Now David went to and from Saul, looking after his father’s sheep at Beth-lehem. 16 And the Philistine came near every morning and evening for forty days. 17 And Jesse said to his son David, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dry grain and these ten cakes of bread, and go quickly with them to the tents to your brothers; 18 And take these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers are and come back with a sign to say how they are. 19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David got up early in the morning, and, giving the sheep into the care of a keeper, took the things and went as Jesse had said; and he came to the lines where the carts were, when the army was going out to the fight giving their war-cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines had put their forces in position, army against army. 22 And David gave his parcels into the hands of the keeper of the army stores, and went running to the army and came to his brothers to get knowledge about them. 23 And while he was talking to them, the fighter, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came out from the Philistines’ lines and said the same words, in David’s hearing. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw him, went in flight, overcome with fear. 25 And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man? Clearly he has come out to put shame on Israel: and it is certain that if any man overcomes him, the king will give that man great wealth, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s family free in Israel. 26 And David said to the men near him, What will be done to the man who overcomes this Philistine and takes away the shame from Israel? for who is this Philistine, a man without circumcision, that he has put shame on the armies of the living God? 27 And the people gave him this answer, So it will be done to the man who overcomes him. 28 And Eliab, his oldest brother, hearing what David said to the men, was moved to wrath against David, and said, Why have you come here? Into whose care have you given that little flock of sheep in the waste land? I have knowledge of your pride and the evil of your heart, you have come down to see the fight. 29 And David said, What have I done now? was it not only a word? 30 And turning away from him to one of the other men, he said the same words: and the people gave him the same answer. 31 And, hearing what David said, they gave Saul word of it: and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart become feeble because of him; I, your servant, will go out and have a fight with this Philistine. 33 And Saul said to David, You are not able to go out against this Philistine and have a fight with him: for you are only a boy, and he has been a man of war from his earliest days. 34 And David said to Saul, Your servant has been keeper of his father’s sheep; and if a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went out after him, and overcame him, and took it out of his mouth: and if, turning on me, he came at me, I took him by the hair and overcame him and put him to death. 36 Your servant has overcome lion and bear: and the fate of this Philistine, who is without circumcision, will be like theirs, seeing that he has put shame on the armies of the living God. 37 And David said, The Lord, who kept me safe from the grip of the lion and the bear, will be my saviour from the hands of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go! and may the Lord be with you. 38 Then Saul gave David his clothing of war, and put a head-dress of brass on his head and had him clothed with a coat of metal. 39 And David took Saul’s sword and put the band round him over the metal coat, and was unable to go forward; for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, It is not possible for me to go out with these, for I am not used to them. So David took them off. 40 Then he took his stick in his hand, and got five smooth stones from the bed of the stream and put them in a bag such as is used by sheep-keepers; and in his hand was a leather band used for sending stones: and so he went in the direction of the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine came nearer to David; and the man who had his body-cover went before him. 42 And when the Philistine, taking note, saw David, he had a poor opinion of him: for he was only a boy, red-haired and good-looking. 43 And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come out to me with sticks? And the Philistine put curses on David by all his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, Come here to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. 45 Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the armies of Israel on which you have put shame. 46 This day the Lord will give you up into my hands, and I will overcome you, and take your head off you; and I will give the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth today, so that all the earth may see that Israel has a God; 47 And all these people who are here today may see that the Lord does not give salvation by sword and spear: for the fight is the Lord’s, and he will give you up into our hands. 48 Now when the Philistine made a move and came near to David, David quickly went at a run in the direction of the army, meeting the Philistine face to face. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and sent it from his leather band straight at the Philistine, and the stone went deep into his brow, and he went down to the earth, falling on his face. 50 So David overcame the Philistine with his leather band and a stone, wounding the Philistine and causing his death: but David had no sword in his hand. 51 So running up to the Philistine and putting his foot on him, David took his sword out of its cover, and put him to death, cutting off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their fighter was dead, they went in flight. 52 And the men of Israel and of Judah got up, and gave a cry, and went after the Philistines as far as Gath and the town doors of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines were falling down by the road from Shaaraim all the way to Gath and Ekron. 53 Then the children of Israel came back from going after the Philistines, and took their goods from the tents. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine to Jerusalem, but the metal war-dress and the arms he put in his tent. 55 And when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, Abner, whose son is this young man? And Abner said, On your life, O king, I have no idea. 56 And the king said, Make search and see whose son this young man is. 57 And when David was coming back after the destruction of the Philistine, Abner took him to Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, Young man, whose son are you? And David in answer said, I am the son of your servant Jesse of Beth-lehem.

18

1 Now after David’s talk with Saul was ended, the soul of Jonathan was joined with the soul of David, and David became as dear to him as his very life. 2 And that day Saul took David and would not let him go back to his father’s house. 3 Then Jonathan and David made an agreement together, because of Jonathan’s love for David. 4 And Jonathan took off the robe he had on and gave it to David, with all his military dress, even to his sword and his bow and the band round his body. 5 And David went wherever Saul sent him, and did wisely: and Saul put him at the head of his men of war, and this was pleasing to all the people as well as to Saul’s servants. 6 Now on their way, when David came back after the destruction of the Philistine, the women came out of all the towns of Israel, with songs and dances, meeting David with melody and joy and instruments of music. 7 And the women, answering one another in their song, said, Saul has put to death his thousands and David his tens of thousands. 8 And Saul was very angry and this saying was unpleasing to him; and he said, They have given David credit for tens of thousands, and to me for only thousands: what more is there for him but the kingdom? 9 And from that day Saul was looking with envy on David. 10 Now on the day after, an evil spirit from God came on Saul with great force and he was acting like a prophet among the men of his house, while David was making music for him, as he did day by day: and Saul had his spear in his hand. 11 And Saul, balancing the spear in his hand, said, I will give David a blow, pinning him to the wall. And David got away from him twice. 12 And Saul went in fear of David, because the Lord was with David and had gone away from Saul. 13 So Saul sent him away, and made him a captain over a thousand; and he went about his business before the people. 14 And in all his undertakings David did wisely; and the Lord was with him. 15 And when Saul saw how wisely he did, he was in fear of him. 16 But David was loved by all Israel and Judah, for he went out and came in before them. 17 And Saul said to David, Here is my oldest daughter Merab, whom I will give you for your wife: only be strong for me, fighting in the Lord’s wars. For Saul said, Let it not be through me that his fate comes to him, but through the Philistines. 18 And David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my father’s family in Israel, that I am to be son-in-law to the king? 19 But when the time came to give Merab, Saul’s daughter, to David, she was given to Adriel of Meholath. 20 And Saul’s daughter Michal was in love with David: and Saul had word of it and was pleased. 21 And Saul said, I will give her to him, so that she may be a cause of danger to him, and so that the hands of the Philistines may be against him. So Saul said to David, Today you are to become my son-in-law for the second time. 22 And Saul gave his servants orders saying, Have talk with David secretly and say to him, See how the king has delight in you, and how you are loved by all his servants: then be the king’s son-in-law. 23 And Saul’s servants said these things to David. And David said, Does it seem to you a small thing to be the king’s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, of no great name? 24 And the servants of Saul gave him an account of what David had said. 25 And Saul said, Then say to David, The king has no desire for any bride-price, but only for the private parts of a hundred Philistines so that the king may get the better of his haters. But it was in Saul’s mind that David might come to his end by the hands of the Philistines. 26 And when his servants said these words to David, he was well pleased to be the son-in-law of the king. And the days were still not past. 27 So David and his men got up and went, and put to death two hundred of the Philistines; and David took their private parts and gave the full number of them to the king, so that he might be the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife. 28 And it was clear to Saul that the Lord was with David; and he was loved by all Israel. 29 And Saul’s fear of David became all the greater, and he went on hating him, day by day. 30 Then the rulers of the Philistines went out to war: and whenever they went out, David did more wisely than all the other servants of Saul, so that his name became greatly honoured.

19

1 And Saul gave orders to his son Jonathan and to all his servants to put David to death. But Saul’s son Jonathan had great delight in David. 2 And Jonathan said to David, Saul, my father, is purposing your death: so now, take care in the morning, and keep yourself safe in a secret place: 3 And I will go out and take my place by my father’s side in the field near where you are; and I will get into talk with my father about you, and when I see how things are, I will give you word. 4 And Jonathan gave his father Saul a good account of David, and said to him, Let not the king do wrong against his servant, against David; because he has done you no wrong, and all his acts have had a good outcome for you: 5 For he put his life in danger and overcame the Philistine, and the Lord gave all Israel salvation: you saw it and were glad: why then are you sinning against him who has done no wrong, desiring the death of David without cause? 6 And Saul gave ear to the voice of Jonathan, and said with an oath, By the living Lord, he is not to be put to death. 7 Then Jonathan sent for David and gave him word of all these things. And Jonathan took David to Saul, who kept him by his side as in the past. 8 And there was war again: and David went out fighting the Philistines, causing great destruction among them; and they went in flight before him. 9 And an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul, when he was seated in his house with his spear in his hand; and David made music for him. 10 And Saul would have sent his spear through him, pinning him to the wall, but he got away and the spear went into the wall: and that night David went in flight and got away. 11 Then in that night Saul sent men to David’s house to keep watch on him so as to put him to death in the morning: and David’s wife Michal said to him, If you do not go away to a safe place tonight you will be put to death in the morning. 12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he went in flight and got away. 13 Then Michal took the image and put it in the bed, with a cushion of goat’s hair at its head, and she put clothing over it. 14 And when Saul sent men to take David, she said, He is ill. 15 And Saul sent his men to see David, saying, Do not come back without him, take him in his bed, so that I may put him to death. 16 And when the men came in, there was the image in the bed, with the cushion of goat’s hair at its head 17 And Saul said to Michal, why have you been false to me, letting my hater go and get safely away? And in answer Michal said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go, or I will put you to death. 18 So David went in flight and got away and came to Ramah, to Samuel, and gave him an account of all Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and were living in Naioth. 19 And word was given to Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah. 20 And Saul sent men to take David; and when they saw the band of prophets at work, with Samuel in his place at their head, the spirit of God came on Saul’s men, and they became like prophets. 21 And Saul, having news of this, sent other men, who in the same way became like prophets. And a third time Saul sent men, and they like the others became like prophets. 22 Then he himself went to Ramah, and came to the great water-spring in Secu; and questioning the people he said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, They are at Naioth in Ramah. 23 And he went on from there to Naioth in Ramah: and the spirit of God came on him, and he went on, acting like a prophet, till he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 And he took off his clothing, acting like a prophet before Samuel, and falling down he was stretched out, without his clothing, all that day and all that night. This is the reason for the saying, Is even Saul among the prophets?

20

1 And David went in flight from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and said, What have I done? What is my crime and my sin against your father that he is attempting to take my life? 2 And he said to him, Far be the thought: you will not be put to death: see, my father does nothing, great or small, without giving me word of it: would he keep this secret from me? It is not so. 3 But David took his oath again and said, Your father sees that I am dear to you; so he says to himself, Let Jonathan have no idea of this, for it will be a grief to him; but as the Lord is living, and as your soul is living, there is only a step between me and death. 4 Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever your desire is, I will do it for you. 5 And David said to Jonathan, Tomorrow is the new moon, and I will not be seated with the king at his table: but let me go to a safe place in the country till the evening. 6 And if your father takes note of the fact that I am away, say, David made a request to me for himself that he might go to Beth-lehem, to his town: for it is the time when his family make their offering year by year. 7 If he says, It is well, your servant will be at peace: but if he is angry, then it will be clear to you that he has an evil purpose in mind against me. 8 So, then, be kind to your servant; for you have been united with your servant in an agreement made before the Lord: but if there is any wrongdoing in me, put me to death yourself; why take me to your father? 9 And Jonathan said, Do not have such a thought: for if I saw that my father was designing evil against you, would I not give you word of it? 10 Then David said to Jonathan, Who will give me word if your father gives you a rough answer? 11 And Jonathan said to David, Come, let us go out into the country. And the two of them went out together into the open country. 12 And Jonathan said to David, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be witness; when I have had a chance of talking to my father, about this time tomorrow, if his feelings to David are good, will I not send and give you the news? 13 May the Lord’s punishment be on Jonathan, if it is my father’s pleasure to do you evil and I do not give you word of it and send you away so that you may go in peace: and may the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. 14 And may you, while I am still living, O may you be kind to me, as the Lord is kind, and keep me from death! 15 And let not your mercy ever be cut off from my family, even when the Lord has sent destruction on all David’s haters, cutting them off from the face of the earth. 16 And if it comes about that the name of Jonathan is cut off from the family of David, the Lord will make David responsible. 17 And Jonathan again took an oath to David, because of his love for him: for David was as dear to him as his very soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and it will be seen that you are not present, for there will be no one in your seat. 19 And on the third day it will be specially noted, and you will go to the place where you took cover when the other business was in hand, waiting by the hill over there. 20 And on the third day I will send arrows from my bow against its side as if at a mark. 21 And I will send my boy to have a look for the arrow. And if I say to him, See, the arrow is on this side of you; take it up! then you may come; for there is peace for you and no evil, by the living Lord. 22 But if I say to the boy, See, the arrow has gone past you: then go on your way, for the Lord has sent you away. 23 As for what you and I were talking of, the Lord is between you and me for ever. 24 So David went to a secret place in the country: and when the new moon came, the king took his place at the feast. 25 And the king took his seat, as at other times, by the wall: and Jonathan was in front, and Abner was seated by Saul’s side, but there was no one in David’s seat. 26 But Saul said nothing that day, for his thought was, Something has taken place making him unclean; it is clear that he is not clean. 27 And on the day after the new moon, that is, the second day, there was still no one in David’s seat: and Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast yesterday or today? 28 And answering Saul, Jonathan said, He made a request to me that he might go to Beth-lehem, 29 Saying, Our family is making an offering in the town, and my brothers have given me orders to be there: so now, if I have grace in your eyes, let me go away and see my brothers. This is why he has not come to the king’s table. 30 Then Saul was moved to wrath against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of an evil and uncontrolled woman, have I not seen how you have given your love to the son of Jesse, to your shame and the shame of your mother? 31 For while the son of Jesse is living on the earth, your position is unsafe and your kingdom is in danger. So make him come here to me, for it is certainly right for him to be put to death. 32 And Jonathan, answering his father Saul, said to him, Why is he to be put to death? What has he done? 33 And Saul, pointing his spear at him, made an attempt to give him a wound: from which it was clear to Jonathan that his father’s purpose was to put David to death. 34 So Jonathan got up from the table, burning with wrath, and took no part in the feast the second day of the month, being full of grief for David because his father had put shame on him. 35 Now in the morning, Jonathan went out into the fields at the time he had said to David, and he had a little boy with him. 36 And he said to the boy, Go and get the arrow I let loose from my bow. And while the boy was running, he sent an arrow past him. 37 And when the boy came to the place where the arrow was, Jonathan, crying out after the boy, said, Has it not gone past you? 38 And Jonathan went on crying out after the boy, Be quick, do not keep waiting about, go quickly. And Jonathan’s boy got the arrow and came back to his master. 39 But the boy had no idea what was going on; only Jonathan and David had knowledge of it. 40 And Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy, and said to him, Take these and go back to the town. 41 And when the boy had gone, David came from his secret place by the hill, and falling to the earth went down on his face three times: and they gave one another a kiss, weeping together, till David’s grief was the greater. 42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, for we two have taken an oath, in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord will be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed for ever. Then David went away, and Jonathan went into the town.

21

1 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was full of fear at meeting David, and said to him, Why are you by yourself, having no man with you? 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has given me orders and has said to me, Say nothing to anyone about the business on which I am sending you and the orders I have given you: and a certain place has been fixed to which the young men are to go. 3 So now, if you have here five cakes of bread, give them into my hand, or whatever you have. 4 And the priest, answering David, said, I have no common bread here but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women. 5 And David in answer said to the priest, Certainly women have been kept from us; and as has been done before when I have gone out the arms of the young men were made holy, even though it was a common journey; how much more today will their arms be made holy. 6 So the priest gave him the holy bread: there was no other, only the holy bread which had been taken from before the Lord, so that new bread might be put in its place on the day when it was taken away. 7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, kept back before the Lord; his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the strongest of Saul’s runners. 8 And David said to Ahimelech, Have you no sword or spear with you here? for I have come without my sword and other arms, because the king’s business had to be done quickly. 9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you put to death in the valley of Elah, is here folded in a cloth at the back of the ephod: take that, if you will, for there is no other sword here. And David said, there is no other sword like that; give it to me. 10 Then David got up and went in flight that day for fear of 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 make songs about him in their dances, saying, Saul has put to death thousands, and David tens of thousands? 12 And David took these words to heart, fearing Achish, the king of Gath. 13 So changing his behaviour before them, he made it seem as if he was off his head, hammering on the doors of the town, and letting the water from his mouth go down his chin. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, Look! the man is clearly off his head; why have you let him come before me? 15 Are there not enough unbalanced men about me, that you have let this person come and do such tricks before me? is such a man to come into my house?

22

1 So David went away from there and took cover in a strong place at Adullam; and his brothers and all his father’s people, hearing of it, went down to him there. 2 And everyone who was in trouble, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, came together to him, and he became captain over them: about four hundred men were joined to him. 3 And from there David went to Mizpeh in the land of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab, Let my father and mother come and make their living-place with you till it is clear to me what God will do for me. 4 And he took them to the king of Moab and they went on living with him while David was in his safe place. 5 And the prophet Gad said to David, Do not go on living in this place but go into the land of Judah. Then David went away and came to the woodland of Hereth. 6 And news was given to Saul that David had been seen, and the men who were with him: now Saul was in Gibeah, seated under the tree in the high place, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were in their places before him. 7 Then Saul said to his servants who were there about him, Give ear now, you Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give to every one of you fields and vine-gardens, will he make you all captains of hundreds and captains of thousands; 8 That all of you have made designs against me, and not one of you gave me word when my son made an agreement with the son of Jesse, and not one of you has pity for me or has made my eyes open to the fact that my servant has been moved by my son against me, as at this day? 9 Then Doeg, the Edomite, who was by the side of the servants of Saul, in answer said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub. 10 And he got directions from the Lord for him, and gave him food, and put in his hand the sword of Goliath the Philistine. 11 Then the king sent for Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and for all the men of his father’s family who were priests in Nob: and they all came to the king. 12 And Saul said, Give ear now, O son of Ahitub. And answering he said, Here I am, my lord. 13 And Saul said to him, Why have you made designs against me with the son of Jesse, giving him food and a sword and getting directions from the Lord for him, and helping him to take up arms against me, and to be on the watch to make a secret attack on me as he is doing now? 14 Then Ahimelech answering said to the king, Who among all your servants is so true to you as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and is a captain of your armed men, and has a place of honour in your house? 15 Is this the first time I have got directions from God for him? Far be the thought! let the king make no such statement against his servant or my father’s family, for your servant has no knowledge, great or small, of this thing. 16 And the king said, You will certainly be put to death, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s family. 17 Then the king said to the runners who were waiting near him, Put the priests of the Lord to death; because they are on David’s side, and having knowledge of his flight, did not give me word of it. But the king’s servants would not put out their hands to make an attack on the Lord’s priests. 18 Then the king said to Doeg, You are to put the priests to death. And Doeg the Edomite, turning on the priests and attacking them, put to death that day eighty-five men who took up the ephod. 19 And Nob, the town of the priests, he put to the sword, all the men and women, children and babies at the breast, and oxen and asses and sheep. 20 And Abiathar, one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, got away and went in flight after David; 21 And gave him the news of how Saul had put to death the Lord’s priests. 22 And David said to Abiathar, I was certain that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would take the news to Saul: I am responsible for the lives of all your father’s family. 23 Keep here with me and have no fear; for he who has designs on my life has designs on yours: but with me you will be safe.

23

1 And they sent word to David, saying, The Philistines are fighting against Keilah and taking the grain from the grain-floors. 2 So David, questioning the Lord, said, Am I to go and make an attack on these Philistines? And the Lord said to David, Go and make an attack on the Philistines so that Keilah may be kept from falling into their hands. 3 And David’s men said to him, Even here in Judah we are full of fear: how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? 4 Then David put the question to the Lord again, and the Lord answering said, Up! go down to Keilah; for I will give the Philistines into your hands. 5 So David and his men went to Keilah, and had a fight with the Philistines, and took away their cattle, and put them to the sword with great destruction. So David was the saviour of the people of Keilah. 6 Now when Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, went in flight to David, he came down to Keilah with the ephod in his hand. 7 And news was given to Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, Now God has given him into my hands; for by going into a walled town with locked doors, he has let himself be shut in. 8 And Saul sent for all the people to come to the fight, and go down to Keilah to make an attack on David and his men. 9 And it was clear to David that Saul had evil designs against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, Come here with the ephod. 10 Then David said, O Lord, the God of Israel, news has been given to your servant that it is Saul’s purpose to come to Keilah and send destruction on the town because of me. 11 And now, is it true, as they have said to me, that Saul is coming? O Lord, the God of Israel, give ear to your servant, and say if these things are so. And the Lord said, He is coming down. 12 Then David said, Will the men of Keilah give me and my men up to Saul? and the Lord said, They will give you up. 13 Then David and his men, about six hundred of them, went out of Keilah, and got away wherever they were able to go. And Saul, hearing that David had got away from Keilah, did not go there. 14 And David kept in the waste land, in safe places, waiting in the hill-country in the waste land of Ziph. And Saul was searching for him every day, but God did not give him up into his hands. 15 And David was full of fear, in the knowledge that Saul had come out to take his life; and David was in the waste land of Ziph, in Horesh. 16 And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David in Horesh, and made his hands strong in God; 17 And said to him, Have no fear, for Saul my father will not get you into his power; and you will be king of Israel, and I will be by your side, and my father Saul is certain of this. 18 And the two of them made an agreement before the Lord: and David went on living in Horesh, and Jonathan went back to his house. 19 Then the Ziphites came up to Gibeah to see Saul, and said, Is not David living secretly among us in the strong places in Horesh, in the hill of Hachilah to the south of the waste land? 20 So now, O king, have your soul’s desire and come down, and we, for our part, will give him up into the king’s hands. 21 And Saul said, The Lord’s blessing will be yours, for you have had pity on me. 22 Go now, and take more steps, and see where he is living: for they say that he is expert in deceit. 23 So take care to get knowledge of all the secret places where he is taking cover, and be certain to come back to me, and I will go with you: and without doubt, if he is anywhere in the land, I will get him, among all the families of Judah. 24 And they went back and came to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the waste land of Maon, in the dry land south of the waste land. 25 And Saul and his men went in search of him. And David had word of it, so he came down to the rock in the waste land of Maon. And Saul, hearing of this, went after David into the waste land of Maon. 26 And Saul and his men went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men went on the other: and David’s purpose was to get away as quickly as possible, for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men were making a circle round David and his men in order to take them. 27 But a man came to Saul saying, Be quick and come; for the Philistines have made an attack on the land. 28 So turning back from going after David, Saul went against the Philistines: so that place was named Sela-hammah-lekoth. 29 And from there, David went up and took cover in the safe place of En-gedi.

24

1 Now when Saul came back from fighting the Philistines, news was given him that David was in the waste land of En-gedi. 2 Then Saul took three thousand of the best men out of all Israel, and went in search of David and his men on the rocks of the mountain goats. 3 And on the way he came to a place where sheep were kept, where there was a hollow in the rock; and Saul went in for a private purpose. Now David and his men were in the deepest part of the hollow. 4 And David’s men said to him, Now is the time when the Lord says to you, I will give up your hater into your hands to do with him whatever seems good to you. Then David, getting up, took the skirt of Saul’s robe in his hand, cutting off the end of it without his knowledge. 5 And later, David was full of regret for cutting off Saul’s skirt. 6 And David said to his men, Before the Lord, never let it be said that my hand was lifted up against my lord, the man of the Lord’s selection, for the Lord’s holy oil has been put on him. 7 So with these words David kept his servants back, and did not let them make an attack on Saul. And Saul got up and went on his way. 8 And after that David came out of the hollow rock, and crying after Saul said, My lord the king. And when Saul gave a look back, David went down on his face and gave him honour. 9 And David said to Saul, Why do you give any attention to those who say that it is my desire to do you wrong? 10 Look! you have seen today how the Lord gave you up into my hands even now in the hollow of the rocks: and some would have had me put you to death, but I had pity on you: for I said, Never will my hand be lifted up against my lord, who has been marked with the holy oil. 11 And see, my father, see the skirt of your robe in my hand: for the fact that I took off the skirt of your robe and did not put you to death is witness that I have no evil purpose, and I have done you no wrong, though you are waiting for my life to take it. 12 May the Lord be judge between me and you, and may the Lord give me my rights against you, but my hand will never be lifted up against you. 13 There is an old saying, From the evil-doer comes evil: but my hand will never be lifted up against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? for whom are you searching? for a dead dog, an insect. 15 So let the Lord be judge, and give a decision between me and you, and see and give support to my cause, and keep me from falling into your hands. 16 Now when David had said these words to Saul, Saul said, Is this your voice, David, my son? And Saul was overcome with weeping. 17 And he said to David, You are right and I am wrong: for you have given me back good, but I have given you evil. 18 And you have made clear to me how good you have been to me today: because, when the Lord gave me up into your hands, you did not put me to death. 19 If a man comes across his hater, will he let him get away safe? so may you be rewarded by the Lord for what you have done for me today. 20 And now I am certain that you will be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be made strong under your authority. 21 So give me your oath by the Lord, that you will not put an end to my seed after me or let my name be cut off from my father’s family. 22 And David gave Saul his oath. And Saul went back to his house; but David and his men went up to their safe place.

25

1 And death came to Samuel; and all Israel came together, weeping for him, and put his body in its resting-place in his house at Ramah. Then David went down to the waste land of Maon. 2 Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; he was a great man and had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats: and he was cutting the wool of his sheep in Carmel. 3 Now this man was named Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail: she was a woman of good sense and pleasing looks: but the man was cruel and evil in his ways; he was of the family of Caleb. 4 And David had word in the waste land that Nabal was cutting the wool of his sheep. 5 And David sent ten young men, and said to them, Go up to Carmel and go to Nabal, and say kind words to him in my name; 6 And say this to my brother, May all be well for you: peace be to you and your house and all you have. 7 I have had word that you have wool-cutters: now the keepers of your sheep have been with us, and we have done them no evil, and taken nothing of theirs while they were in Carmel. 8 If your young men are questioned they will say the same thing. So now, let my young men have grace in your eyes, for we are come at a good time; please give anything you may have by you to your servants and to your son David. 9 And when David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal, in David’s name, and said nothing more. 10 And Nabal gave them his answer and said, Who is David? who is the son of Jesse? there are a number of servants in these days running away from their masters. 11 Am I to take my bread and my wine and the meat I have got ready for my wool-cutters and give it to men coming from I have no idea where? 12 So David’s young men, turning away, went back and gave him an account of everything he had said. 13 And David said to his men, Put on your swords, every one of you. And every man put on his sword; and David did the same; and about four hundred men went up with David, and two hundred kept watch over their goods. 14 But one of the young men said to Nabal’s wife Abigail, David sent men from the waste land to say kind words to our master, and he gave them a rough answer. 15 But these men have been very good to us; they did us no wrong and nothing of ours was touched while we were with them in the fields: 16 But day and night they were like a wall round us while we were with them, looking after the sheep. 17 So now, give thought to what you are going to do; for evil is in store for our master and all his house: for he is such a good-for-nothing person that it is not possible to say anything to him. 18 Then Abigail quickly took two hundred cakes of bread and two skins full of wine and five sheep ready for cooking and five measures of dry grain and a hundred parcels of dry grapes and two hundred cakes of figs, and put them on asses. 19 And she said to her young men, Go on in front of me and I will come after you. But she said nothing to her husband Nabal. 20 Now while she was going down under cover of the mountain on her ass, David and his men came down against her, and suddenly she came face to face with them. 21 Now David had said, What was the use of my taking care of this man’s goods in the waste land, so that there was no loss of anything which was his? he has only given me back evil for good. 22 May God’s punishment be on David, if when morning comes there is so much as one male of his people still living. 23 And when Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her ass, falling down on her face before him. 24 And falling at his feet she said, May the wrong be on me, my lord, on me: let your servant say a word to you, and give ear to the words of your servant. 25 Let my lord give no attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing: for as his name is, so is he, a man without sense: but I, your servant, did not see the young men whom my lord sent. 26 So now, my lord, by the living God and by your living soul, seeing that the Lord has kept you from the crime of blood and from taking into your hands the punishment for your wrongs, may all your haters, and those who would do evil to my lord, be like Nabal. 27 And let this offering, which your servant gives to my lord, be given to the young men who are with my lord. 28 And may the sin of your servant have forgiveness: for the Lord will certainly make your family strong, because my lord is fighting in the Lord’s war; and no evil will be seen in you all your days. 29 And though a man has taken up arms against you, putting your life in danger, still the soul of my lord will be kept safe among the band of the living with the Lord your God; and the souls of those who are against you he will send violently away from him, like stones from a bag. 30 And when the Lord has done for my lord all those good things which he has said he will do for you, and has made you a ruler over Israel; 31 Then you will have no cause for grief, and my lord’s heart will not be troubled because you have taken life without cause and have yourself given punishment for your wrongs: and when the Lord has been good to you, then give a thought to your servant. 32 And David said to Abigail, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be praised, who sent you to me today: 33 A blessing on your good sense and on you, who have kept me today from the crime of blood and from taking into my hands the punishment for my wrongs. 34 For truly, by the living Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept me from doing you evil, if you had not been so quick in coming to me and meeting me, by dawn there would not have been in Nabal’s house so much as one male living. 35 Then David took from her hands her offering: and he said to her, Go back to your house in peace; see, I have given ear to your voice, and taken your offering with respect. 36 And Abigail went back to Nabal; and he was feasting in his house like a king; and Nabal’s heart was full of joy, for he had taken much wine; so she said nothing to him till dawn came. 37 And in the morning, when the effect of the wine was gone, Nabal’s wife gave him an account of all these things, and all the heart went out of him, and he became like stone. 38 And about ten days after, the Lord sent disease on Nabal and death came to him. 39 And David, hearing that Nabal was dead, said, May the Lord be praised, who has taken up my cause against Nabal for the shame which he put on me, and has kept back his servant from evil, and has sent on Nabal’s head the reward of his evil-doing. And David sent word to Abigail, desiring to take her as his wife. 40 And when David’s servants came to Carmel, to Abigail, they said to her, David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife. 41 And she got up, and going down on her face to the earth, said, See, I am ready to be a servant-girl, washing the feet of the servants of my lord. 42 Then Abigail got up quickly and went on her ass, with five of her young women, after the men whom David had sent; and she became David’s wife. 43 And David had taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, to be his wife; these two were his wives. 44 Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish of Gallim.

26

1 And the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, and said, Is not David waiting secretly near us in the hill of Hachilah, before the waste land? 2 Then Saul went down to the waste land of Ziph, taking with him three thousand of the best men of Israel, to make search for David in the waste land of Ziph. 3 And Saul put up his tents on the hill of Hachilah, which is in front of the waste land on the road. But David was in the waste land, and he saw that Saul was coming after him. 4 And so David sent out watchers, and got word from them that Saul was certainly coming. 5 And David got up and came to the place where Saul’s tents were: and David had a view of the place where Saul was sleeping with Abner, the son of Ner, the captain of his army: and Saul was sleeping inside the ring of carts, and the tents of the people were all round him. 6 Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, Who will go down with me to the tents of Saul? And Abishai said, I will go down with you. 7 So David and Abishai came down to the army by night: and Saul was sleeping inside the ring of carts with his spear planted in the earth by his head: and Abner and the people were sleeping round him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, God has given up your hater into your hands today; now let me give him one blow through to the earth with his spear, and there will be no need to give him a second. 9 And David said to Abishai Do not put him to death; for who, without sin, may put out his hand against the man on whom the Lord has put the holy oil? 10 And David said, By the living Lord, the Lord will send destruction on him; the natural day of his death will come, or he will go into the fight and come to his end. 11 Never will my hand be stretched out against the man marked with the holy oil; but take the spear which is by his head and the vessel of water, and let us go. 12 So David took the spear and the vessel of water from Saul’s head; and they got away without any man seeing them, or being conscious of their coming, or awaking; for they were all sleeping because a deep sleep from the Lord had come on them. 13 Then David went over to the other side, and took his place on the top of a mountain some distance away, with a great space between them; 14 And crying out to the people and to Abner, the son of Ner, David said, Have you no answer to give, Abner? Then Abner said, Who is that crying out to the king? 15 And David said to Abner, Are you not a man of war? is there any other like you in Israel? why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? for one of the people came in to put the king your lord to death. 16 What you have done is not good. By the living Lord, death is the right fate for you, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the man on whom the Lord has put the holy oil. Now see, where is the king’s spear, and the vessel of water which was by his head? 17 And Saul, conscious that the voice was David’s, said, Is that your voice, David, my son? And David said, It is my voice, O my lord king. 18 And he said, Why does my lord go armed against his servant? what have I done? or what evil is there in me? 19 Let my lord the king give ear now to the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who is moving you against me, let him take an offering: but if it is the children of men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for driving me out today and keeping me from my place in the heritage of the Lord, saying, Go, be the servant of other gods. 20 Then do not let my blood be drained out on the earth away from the face of the Lord: for the king of Israel has come out to take my life, like one going after birds in the mountains. 21 Then Saul said, I have done wrong: come back to me, David my son: I will do you no more wrong, because my life was dear to you today truly, I have been foolish and my error is very great. 22 Then David said, Here is the king’s spear! let one of the young men come over and get it. 23 And the Lord will give to every man the reward of his righteousness and his faith: because the Lord gave you into my hands today, and I would not put out my hand against the man who has been marked with the holy oil. 24 And so, as your life was dear to me today, may my life be dear to the Lord, and may he make me free from all my troubles. 25 Then Saul said to David, May a blessing be on you, David, my son; you will do great things and without doubt you will overcome. Then David went on his way, and Saul went back to his place.

27

1 And David said to himself, Some day death will come to me by the hand of Saul: the only thing for me to do is to get away into the land of the Philistines; then Saul will give up hope of taking me in any part of the land of Israel: and so I may be able to get away from him. 2 So David and the six hundred men who were with him went over to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 And David and his men were living with Achish at Gath; every man had his family with him, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, who had been the wife of Nabal. 4 And Saul, hearing that David had gone to Gath, went after him no longer. 5 Then David said to Achish, If now I have grace in your eyes, let me have a place in one of the smaller towns of your land, to be my living-place; for it is not right for your servant to be living with you in the king’s town. 6 So Achish straight away gave him Ziklag: and for that reason Ziklag has been the property of the kings of Judah to this day. 7 And David was living in the land of the Philistines for the space of a year and four months. 8 And David and his men went up and made attacks on the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites; for these were the people who were living in the land from Telam on the way to Shur, as far as Egypt. 9 And David again and again made attacks on the land till not a man or a woman was still living; and he took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the clothing; and he came back to Achish. 10 And every time Achish said, Where have you been fighting today? David said, Against the South of Judah and the South of the Jerahmeelites and the South of the Kenites. 11 Not one living man or woman did David ever take back with him to Gath, fearing that they might give an account of what had taken place, and say, This is what David did, and so has he been doing all the time while he has been living in the land of the Philistines. 12 And Achish had belief in what David said, saying, He has made himself hated by all his people Israel, and so he will be my servant for ever.

28

1 Now in those days the Philistines got their forces together to make war on Israel. And Achish said to David, Certainly you and your men are to go out with me to the fight. 2 And David said to Achish, You will see now what your servant will do. And Achish said to David, Then I will make you keeper of my head for ever. 3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel, after weeping for him, had put his body in its last resting-place in Ramah, his town. And Saul had put away from the land all those who had control of spirits and who made use of secret arts. 4 And the Philistines came together and put their forces in position in Shunem; and Saul got all Israel together and they took up their positions in Gilboa. 5 And when Saul saw the Philistine army he was troubled, and his heart was moved with fear. 6 And when Saul went for directions to the Lord, the Lord gave him no answer, by a dream or by the Urim or by the prophets. 7 Then Saul said to his servants, Get me a woman who has control of a spirit so that I may go to her and get directions. And his servants said to him, There is such a woman at En-dor. 8 So Saul, putting on other clothing, so that he might not be seen to be the king, took two men with him and went to the woman by night; and he said, Now, with the help of the spirit which you have, make the person whose name I will give you come up. 9 And the woman said to him, But you have knowledge of what Saul has done, how he has put away out of the land those who have control of spirits and the users of secret arts: why would you, by a trick, put me in danger of death? 10 And Saul made an oath to her by the Lord, saying, By the living Lord, no punishment will come to you for this. 11 Then the woman said, Who am I to let you see? And he said, Make Samuel come up for me. 12 And the woman saw that it was Saul, and she gave a loud cry, and said to Saul, Why have you made use of deceit? for you are Saul. 13 And the king said to her, Have no fear: what do you see? And the woman said to Saul, I see a god coming up out of the earth. 14 And he said to her, What is his form? And she said, It is an old man coming up covered with a robe. And Saul saw that it was Samuel, and with his face bent down to the earth he gave him honour. 15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why have you made me come up, troubling my rest? And Saul in answer said, I am in great danger; for the Philistines are making war on me, and God has gone away from me and will no longer give me any answer, by the prophets or by dreams: so I have sent for you to make clear to me what I am to do. 16 And Samuel said, Why do you put your questions to me, seeing that God has gone away from you and is on the side of him who is against you? 17 And the Lord himself has done what I said: the Lord has taken the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbour David; 18 Because you did not do what the Lord said, and did not give effect to his burning wrath against Amalek. So the Lord has done this thing to you today. 19 And more than this, the Lord will give Israel up with you into the hands of the Philistines: and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me: and the Lord will give up the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines. 20 Then Saul went down flat on the earth, and was full of fear because of Samuel’s words: and there was no strength in him, for he had taken no food all that day or all that night. 21 And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was in great trouble, and said to him, See now, your servant has given ear to your words, and I have put my life in danger by doing what you said. 22 So now, give ear to the voice of your servant, and let me give you a little bread; and take some food to give you strength when you go on your way. 23 But he would not, saying, I have no desire for food. But his servants, together with the woman, made him take food, and he gave way to them. So he got up from the earth, and took his seat on the bed. 24 And the woman had in the house a young cow, made fat for food; and she put it to death straight away; and she took meal and got it mixed and made unleavened bread; 25 And she put it before Saul and his servants, and they had a meal. Then they got up and went away the same night.

29

1 Now the Philistines got all their army together at Aphek: and the Israelites put their forces in position by the fountain in Jezreel. 2 And the lords of the Philistines went on with their hundreds and their thousands, and David and his men came after with Achish. 3 Then the rulers of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews doing here? And Achish said to the rulers of the Philistines, Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me for a year or two, and I have never seen any wrong in him from the time when he came to me till now? 4 But the rulers of the Philistines were angry with him, and said to him, Make the man go back to the place you have given him; do not let him go down with us to the fight, or he may be turned against us and be false to us: for how will this man make peace with his lord? will it not be with the heads of these men? 5 Is this not David, who was named in their songs, when in the dance they said to one another, Saul has put to death thousands, and David tens of thousands? 6 Then Achish sent for David and said to him, By the living Lord, you are upright, and everything you have done with me in the army has been pleasing to me: I have seen no evil in you from the day when you came to me till now: but still, the lords are not pleased with you. 7 So now go back, and go in peace, so that you do not make the lords of the Philistines angry. 8 And David said to Achish, But what have I done? what have you seen in your servant while I have been with you till this day, that I may not go and take up arms against those who are now making war on my lord the king? 9 And Achish in answer said, It is true that in my eyes you are good, like an angel of God: but still, the rulers of the Philistines have said, He is not to go up with us to the fight. 10 So get up early in the morning, with the servants of your lord who are with you, and go to the place I have given you, and have no evil design in your heart, for you are good in my eyes; but when there is light enough in the morning, go away. 11 So David and his men got up early in the morning to go back to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

30

1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made an attack on the South and on Ziklag, and had overcome Ziklag and put it on fire; 2 And had made the women and all who were there, small and great, prisoners: they had not put any of them to death, but had taken them all away. 3 And when David and his men came to the town, they saw that it had been burned down, and their wives and their sons and daughters had been made prisoners. 4 Then David and the people who were with him gave themselves up to weeping till they were able to go on weeping no longer. 5 And David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel, had been made prisoners. 6 And David was greatly troubled; for the people were talking of stoning him, because their hearts were bitter, every man sorrowing for his sons and his daughters: but David made himself strong in the Lord his God. 7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, Come here to me with the ephod. And Abiathar took the ephod to David. 8 Then David, questioning the Lord, said, Am I to go after this band? will I be able to overtake them? And in answer he said, Go after them, for you will certainly overtake them, and get back everything. 9 So David went, and his six hundred men went with him, and they came to the stream Besor. 10 And David, with four hundred men, went on: but two hundred of them were overcome with weariness, and not able to go across the stream. 11 And in the fields they saw an Egyptian whom they took to David, and they gave him bread, and he had a meal, and they gave him water for drink; 12 And they gave him part of a cake of figs and some dry grapes; and after the food, his spirit came back to him, for he had had no food or drink for three days and nights. 13 And David said to him, Whose man are you and where do you come from? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master went on without me because three days back I became ill. 14 We made an attack on the south part of the country of the Cherethites, and on the land which is Judah’s, and on the south of Caleb; and we put Ziklag on fire. 15 And David said to him, Will you take me down to this band? And he said, If you give me your oath that you will not put me to death or give me up to my master, I will take you to them. 16 And when he had taken him down, they saw them all, seated about on all sides, feasting and drinking among all the mass of goods which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah. 17 And David went on fighting them from evening till the evening of the day after; and not one of them got away but only four hundred young men who went in flight on camels. 18 And David got back everything the Amalekites had taken; and he got back his two wives. 19 There was no loss of anything, small or great, sons or daughters or goods or anything which they had taken away: David got it all back. 20 And they took all the flocks and herds, and driving them in front of him, said, These are David’s. 21 And David came to the two hundred men, who because of weariness had not gone with him, but were waiting at the stream Besor: and they went out, meeting David and the people who were with him; and when they came near them, they said, How are you? 22 Then the bad and good-for-nothing men among those who went with David said, Because they did not go with us, we will give them nothing of the goods which we have got back, but only to every man his wife and children, so that he may take them and go. 23 Then David said, You are not to do this, my brothers, after what the Lord has given us, who has kept us safe and given up the band which came against us into our hands. 24 Who is going to give any attention to you in this question? for an equal part will be given to him who went to the fight and to him who was waiting by the goods: they are all to have the same. 25 And so he made it a rule and an order for Israel from that day till now. 26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the goods to the responsible men of Judah, and to his friends, saying, Here is an offering for you from the goods of those who were fighting against the Lord; 27 He sent to those who were in Beth-el, and in Ramah of the South, and in Jattir; 28 And to those in Arara and Eshtemoa 29 and Carmel and in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, and in the towns of the Kenites; 30 And to those who were in Hormah and in Bor-ashan and in Athach; 31 And in Hebron, and to all the places where David and his men had been living.

31

1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel: and the men of Israel went in flight before the Philistines, falling down wounded in Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and they put to death Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 And the fight was going badly for Saul, and the archers came across him, and he was wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to the servant who had the care of his arms, Take out your sword and put it through me, before these men without circumcision come and make sport of me. But his servant, full of fear, would not do so. Then Saul took out his sword, and falling on it, put an end to himself. 5 And when his servant saw that Saul was dead, he did the same, and was united with him in death. 6 So death overtook Saul and his three sons and his servant on the same day. 7 And when the men of Israel across the valley and on the other side of Jordan saw that the army of Israel was in flight and that Saul and his sons were dead, they came out of their towns and went in flight; and the Philistines came and took them for themselves. 8 Now on the day after, when the Philistines came to take their goods from the dead, they saw Saul and his three sons dead on the earth in Mount Gilboa. 9 And cutting off his head and taking away his war-dress, they sent word into the land of the Philistines round about, to take the news to their gods and to the people. 10 His war-dress they put in the house of Astarte; and his body was fixed on the wall of Beth-shan. 11 And when the people of Jabesh-gilead had news of what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 All the fighting men got up and, travelling all night, took Saul’s body and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh and had them burned there. 13 And their bones they put in the earth under a tree in Jabesh; and for seven days they took no food.