BibleWare/BibWare.bin/bibtrans/darby.exe/1SA.DBY

Text File | 1996-06-12 | 135KB | 2,485 lines

1:1 And there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount
 Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son
 of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite.
1:2 And he had two wives: the name of the one was Hannah, and
 the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but
 Hannah had no children.
1:3 And this man went up out of his city from year to year to
 worship and to sacrifice to Jehovah of hosts in Shiloh. And the
 two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of Jehovah,
 were there.
1:4 And it came to pass on the day that Elkanah sacrificed, he
 gave to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters
 portions;
1:5 but to Hannah he used to give a double portion, for he loved
 Hannah; but Jehovah had shut up her womb.
1:6 And her adversary provoked her much also, to make her fret,
 because Jehovah had shut up her womb.
1:7 And [as] he did so year by year, as often as she went up to
 the house of Jehovah, she provoked her thus; and she wept and
 did not eat.
1:8 And Elkanah her husband said to her, Hannah, why weepest
 thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? Am
 not I better to thee than ten sons?
1:9 And Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after
 they had drunk; (now Eli the priest sat upon the seat by the
 door-post of the temple of Jehovah;)
1:10 and she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Jehovah,
 and wept much.
1:11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if thou
 wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and
 remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto
 thy handmaid a man child, then I will give him to Jehovah all
 the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his
 head.
1:12 And it came to pass as she continued praying before
 Jehovah, that Eli marked her mouth.
1:13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her
 voice was not heard; and Eli thought she was drunken.
1:14 And Eli said to her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put
 away thy wine from thee.
1:15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of
 a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink,
 but have poured out my soul before Jehovah.
1:16 Take not thy handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of
 the abundance of my grief and provocation have I spoken
 hitherto.
1:17 And Eli answered and said, Go in peace; and the God of
 Israel grant thee thy petition which thou hast asked of him.
1:18 And she said, Let thy bondwoman find grace in thy sight.
 And the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance
 was no more [as before].
1:19 And they rose up early in the morning and worshipped before
 Jehovah, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And
 Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and Jehovah remembered her.
1:20 And it came to pass when the time was come about after
 Hannah had conceived, that she bore a son, and called his name
 Samuel, [saying,] Because I have asked him of Jehovah.
1:21 And Elkanah her husband, and all his house, went up to
 sacrifice to Jehovah the yearly sacrifice and his vow.
1:22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, [I
 will wait] until the child is weaned; then will I bring him,
 that he may appear before Jehovah, and there abide for ever.
1:23 And Elkanah her husband said to her, Do what is good in thy
 sight: abide until thou hast weaned him; only, may Jehovah
 fulfil his word. And the woman abode, and gave her son suck
 until she weaned him.
1:24 And she took him up with her when she had weaned him, with
 three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a flask of wine,
 and brought him to the house of Jehovah to Shiloh; and the boy
 was young.
1:25 And they slaughtered the bullock, and brought the boy to
 Eli.
1:26 And she said, Oh my lord, [as] thy soul liveth, my lord, I
 am the woman that stood by thee here to pray to Jehovah.
1:27 For this boy I prayed; and Jehovah has granted me my
 petition which I asked of him.
1:28 And also I have lent him to Jehovah: all the days that he
 lives, he is lent to Jehovah. And he worshipped Jehovah there.
2:1 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart exulteth in Jehovah,
 my horn is lifted up in Jehovah; my mouth is opened wide over
 mine enemies; for I rejoice in thy salvation.
2:2 There is none holy as Jehovah, for there is none beside
 thee, neither is there any rock like our God.
2:3 Do not multiply your words of pride, let not vain-glory come
 out of your mouth; For Jehovah is a ∙God of knowledge, and by
 him actions are weighed.
2:4 The bow of the mighty is broken, and they that stumbled are
 girded with strength.
2:5 They that were full have hired themselves out for bread; and
 the hungry are [so] no more: Even the barren beareth seven, and
 she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
2:6 Jehovah killeth, and maketh alive; he bringeth down to
 Sheol, and bringeth up.
2:7 Jehovah maketh poor, and maketh rich, he bringeth low, also
 he lifteth up:
2:8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust; from the dung-hill
 he lifteth up the needy, To set [him] among nobles; and he
 maketh them inherit a throne of glory; For the pillars of the
 earth are Jehovah's, and he hath set the world upon them.
2:9 He keepeth the feet of his saints, but the wicked are
 silenced in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
2:10 They that strive with Jehovah shall be broken to pieces; in
 the heavens will he thunder upon them. Jehovah will judge the
 ends of the earth; and he will give strength unto his king, and
 exalt the horn of his anointed.
2:11 And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the boy
 ministered to Jehovah in the presence of Eli the priest.
2:12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not
 Jehovah.
2:13 And the priests' custom with the people was, when any man
 sacrificed a sacrifice, the priest's servant came, when the
 flesh was cooked, with a flesh-hook of three prongs in his
 hand;
2:14 and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or
 pot; the priest took of it all that the flesh-hook brought up.
 So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites that came there.
2:15 Even before they burned the fat, the priest's servant came,
 and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for
 the priest, and he will not accept sodden flesh of thee, but
 raw.
2:16 If the man said to him, They will immediately burn the fat
 entire, then take as thy soul desires; he would say [to him],
 No, but thou shalt give [it] now; and if not, I will take [it]
 by force.
2:17 And the sin of the young men was very great before Jehovah,
 for men despised the offering of Jehovah.
2:18 And Samuel ministered before Jehovah, a boy girded with a
 linen ephod.
2:19 And his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to
 him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to
 sacrifice the yearly sacrifice.
2:20 And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, Jehovah
 give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to
 Jehovah. And they went to their own home.
2:21 So Jehovah visited Hannah, and she conceived, and bore
 three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before
 Jehovah.
2:22 And Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons were
 doing to all Israel, and that they lay with the women that
 served at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
2:23 And he said to them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of
 your evil deeds from all this people.
2:24 No, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear: ye make
 Jehovah's people transgress.
2:25 If one man sin against another, God will judge him; but if
 a man sin against Jehovah, who shall intreat for him? But they
 hearkened not to the voice of their father, for Jehovah was
 minded to slay them.
2:26 And the boy Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with
 Jehovah and also with men.
2:27 And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, Thus
 saith Jehovah: Did I plainly reveal myself to the house of thy
 father when they were in Egypt, in Pharaoh's house,
2:28 and choose him out of all the tribes of Israel, to be my
 priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear the
 ephod before me? and I gave unto the house of thy father all
 the offerings by fire of the children of Israel.
2:29 Wherefore do ye trample upon my sacrifice and upon mine
 oblation which I have commanded [in my] habitation? And thou
 honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the
 primest of all the oblations of Israel my people.
2:30 Wherefore Jehovah the God of Israel saith, I said indeed,
 Thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me for
 ever. But now Jehovah saith, Be it far from me; for them that
 honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be
 lightly esteemed.
2:31 Behold, days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the
 arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man
 in thy house.
2:32 And thou shalt see an oppressor [in my] habitation, amidst
 all the good that shall be done to Israel; and there shall not
 be an old man in thy house for ever.
2:33 And the man of thine [whom] I shall not cut off from mine
 altar, shall be to cause thine eyes to fail and to grieve thy
 soul; and all the increase of thy house shall die in their
 vigour.
2:34 And this shall be the sign to thee, which shall come upon
 thy two sons, upon Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall
 die, both of them.
2:35 And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, [who]
 shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind; and I
 will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine
 anointed continually.
2:36 And it shall come to pass [that] every one that is left of
 thy house shall come to crouch to him for a small piece of
 silver and for a cake of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray
 thee, into one of the priestly offices, that I may eat a morsel
 of bread.
3:1 And the boy Samuel ministered to Jehovah before Eli. And the
 word of Jehovah was rare in those days; a vision was not
 frequent.
3:2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli lay in his place
 (now his eyes began to grow dim, he could not see),
3:3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel lay in
 the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was,
3:4 that Jehovah called to Samuel. And he said, Here am I.
3:5 And he ran to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst
 me. And he said, I did not call: lie down again. And he went
 and lay down.
3:6 And Jehovah called again, Samuel! And Samuel arose and went
 to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said,
 I did not call, my son: lie down again.
3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know Jehovah, neither had the word of
 Jehovah yet been revealed to him.
3:8 And Jehovah called again the third time, Samuel! And he
 arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst
 me. And Eli perceived that Jehovah was calling the boy.
3:9 And Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down; and it shall be, if he
 call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Jehovah, for thy servant
 heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
3:10 And Jehovah came, and stood, and called as at the other
 times, Samuel, Samuel! And Samuel said, Speak, for thy servant
 heareth.
3:11 And Jehovah said to Samuel, Behold, I do a thing in Israel,
 at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall
 tingle.
3:12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have
 spoken concerning his house; I will begin and make an end.
3:13 For I have declared to him that I will judge his house for
 ever, for the iniquity which he hath known: because his sons
 made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
3:14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the
 iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated with sacrifice or
 oblation for ever.
3:15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of
 the house of Jehovah. And Samuel feared to declare the vision
 to Eli.
3:16 And Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he
 said, Here am I.
3:17 And he said, What is the word that he has spoken to thee? I
 pray thee, keep it not back from me: God do so to thee, and
 more also, if thou keep back anything from me of all the word
 that he spoke to thee.
3:18 And Samuel told him all the words, and kept nothing back
 from him. And he said, It is Jehovah: let him do what is good
 in his sight.
3:19 And Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and let none of
 his words fall to the ground.
3:20 And all Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, knew that
 Samuel was established a prophet of Jehovah.
3:21 And Jehovah appeared again at Shiloh; for Jehovah revealed
 himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of Jehovah.
4:1 And what Samuel had said happened to all Israel. And Israel
 went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside
 Eben-ezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek.
4:2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel;
 and the battle spread, and Israel was routed before the
 Philistines; and they slew in battle array in the field about
 four thousand men.
4:3 And the people came into the camp; and the elders of Israel
 said, Why has Jehovah smitten us to-day before the Philistines?
 Let us fetch ourselves the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out
 of Shiloh, that it may come among us, and save us out of the
 hand of our enemies.
4:4 So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from thence
 the ark of the covenant of Jehovah of hosts, who sitteth
 between the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and
 Phinehas, were there by the ark of the covenant of God.
4:5 And it came to pass when the ark of the covenant of Jehovah
 came into the camp, that all Israel shouted with a great shout,
 so that the earth shook.
4:6 And the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, and said,
 What is the noise of this great shout in the camp of the
 Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of Jehovah had come
 into the camp.
4:7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come
 into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there has not
 been such a thing heretofore.
4:8 Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these
 mighty gods? these are the gods that smote the Egyptians with
 every plague in the wilderness.
4:9 Shew yourselves valiant and be men, ye Philistines, that ye
 may not have to be servants to the Hebrews, as they have been
 servants to you: be men, and fight.
4:10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was routed, and they
 fled every man to his tent; and there was a very great
 slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
4:11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli,
 Hophni and Phinehas, died.
4:12 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the battle, and came
 to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes rent and with earth
 upon his head.
4:13 And when he came, behold, Eli was sitting upon the seat by
 the way-side watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of
 God. And the man came to tell it in the city, and all the city
 cried out.
4:14 And Eli heard the noise of the crying, and said, What is
 the noise of this tumult? And the man came hastily, and told
 Eli.
4:15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set,
 that he could not see.
4:16 And the man said to Eli, I am he that came out of the
 battle, and I have fled to-day out of the battle. And he said,
 What has taken place, my son?
4:17 And the messenger answered and said, Israel has fled before
 the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter
 among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas,
 are dead, and the ark of God is taken.
4:18 And it came to pass, when he mentioned the ark of God, that
 he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and
 his neck broke, and he died; for the man was old, and heavy.
 And he had judged Israel forty years.
4:19 And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was with child,
 near to be delivered; and when she heard the tidings that the
 ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her
 husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her
 pains came upon her.
4:20 And as she was dying, the women that stood by her said,
 Fear not; for thou hast borne a son. But she did not answer,
 neither did she take it to heart.
4:21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is
 departed from Israel; because the ark of God was taken, and
 because of her father-in-law and her husband.
4:22 And she said, The glory is departed from Israel, for the
 ark of God is taken.
5:1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from
 Eben-ezer to Ashdod.
5:2 And the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into
 the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
5:3 And when they of Ashdod arose early the next day, behold,
 Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of
 Jehovah. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
5:4 And when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon
 had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah;
 and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut
 off upon the threshold; only the fish-stump was left to him.
5:5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any that come
 into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to
 this day.
5:6 And the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and
 he laid them waste, and smote them with hemorrhoids, -- Ashdod
 and its borders.
5:7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said,
 The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for his
 hand is severe upon us, and upon Dagon our god.
5:8 And they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines
 unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God
 of Israel? And they said, Let the ark of the God of Israel be
 carried about to Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of
 Israel about [thither].
5:9 And it came to pass that, after they had carried it about,
 the hand of Jehovah was against the city with very great panic;
 and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and
 hemorrhoids broke out upon them.
5:10 And they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass,
 when the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried
 out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of
 Israel to us, to kill us and our people.
5:11 And they sent and gathered all the lords of the
 Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel,
 and let it go again to its own place, that it kill us not, and
 our people. For there was deadly alarm throughout the city: the
 hand of God was very heavy there;
5:12 and the men that died not were smitten with the
 hemorrhoids; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
6:1 And the ark of Jehovah was in the country of the Philistines
 seven months.
6:2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners,
 saying, What shall we do with the ark of Jehovah? tell us
 wherewith we shall send it to its place.
6:3 And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel,
 send it not empty; ye must at any rate return him a
 trespass-offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be
 known to you why his hand is not removed from you.
6:4 Then they said, What is the trespass-offering which we shall
 return to him? And they said, Five golden hemorrhoids, and five
 golden mice, the number of the lords of the Philistines; for
 one plague is upon them all, and upon your lords.
6:5 And ye shall make images of your hemorrhoids, and images of
 your mice that destroy the land, and give glory to the God of
 Israel: perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you, and from
 off your gods, and from off your land.
6:6 And why will ye harden your heart, as the Egyptians and
 Pharaoh hardened their heart? When he had wrought mightily
 among them, did they not let them go, and they departed?
6:7 And now make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which
 there has come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring
 their calves home from them;
6:8 and take the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart, and
 the golden jewels, which ye return him as a trespass-offering,
 put in the coffer by the side thereof; and send it away that it
 may go.
6:9 And see, if it go up by the way of its own border to
 Beth-shemesh, it is he who has done us this great evil; if not,
 then we shall know that it is not his hand that touched us; it
 was a chance [that] happened to us.
6:10 And the men did so, and took two milch kine, and tied them
 to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.
6:11 And they laid the ark of Jehovah upon the cart, and the
 coffer with the golden mice and the images of their sores.
6:12 And the kine went straight forward on the way to
 Beth-shemesh; they went by the one high way, lowing as they
 went; and they turned not aside to the right hand or to the
 left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far
 as the border of Beth-shemesh.
6:13 And [they of] Beth-shemesh were reaping the wheat-harvest
 in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark,
 and rejoiced to see it.
6:14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua the
 Beth-shemeshite, and stood there; and a great stone was there.
 And they clave the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine as
 a burnt-offering to Jehovah.
6:15 And the Levites took down the ark of Jehovah, and the
 coffer that was with it, in which were the golden jewels, and
 put them on the great stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh
 offered up burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same
 day to Jehovah.
6:16 And the five lords of the Philistines saw [it], and
 returned to Ekron the same day.
6:17 And these are the golden sores which the Philistines
 returned as a trespass-offering to Jehovah: for Ashdod one, for
 Gazah one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;
6:18 and the golden mice, [according to] the number of all the
 cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both
 fortified cities and villages of the peasantry; [and they
 brought them] as far as the great [stone of] Abel, whereon they
 set down the ark of Jehovah, [which] is to this day in the
 field of Joshua the Beth-shemeshite.
6:19 And he smote among the men of Beth-shemesh, because they
 had looked into the ark of Jehovah, and smote of the people
 seventy men; and the people lamented, because Jehovah had
 smitten the people with a great slaughter.
6:20 And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand
 before Jehovah, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from
 us?
6:21 And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of
 Kirjath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the
 ark of Jehovah; come down, fetch it up to you.
7:1 And the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark
 of Jehovah, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the
 hill, and hallowed Eleazar his son to keep the ark of Jehovah.
7:2 And it came to pass, from the day that the ark abode in
 Kirjath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty
 years. And all the house of Israel lamented after Jehovah.
7:3 And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If ye
 return to Jehovah with all your heart, put away the strange
 gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and apply your hearts
 unto Jehovah, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out
 of the hand of the Philistines.
7:4 And the children of Israel put away the Baals and the
 Ashtoreths and served Jehovah only.
7:5 And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will
 pray Jehovah for you.
7:6 And they gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and
 poured it out before Jehovah, and fasted on that day, and said
 there, We have sinned against Jehovah. And Samuel judged the
 children of Israel in Mizpah.
7:7 And the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were
 gathered together at Mizpah; and the lords of the Philistines
 went up against Israel; and the children of Israel heard [it],
 and were afraid of the Philistines.
7:8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry
 to Jehovah our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand
 of the Philistines.
7:9 And Samuel took a sucking-lamb, and offered it as a whole
 burnt-offering to Jehovah; and Samuel cried to Jehovah for
 Israel, and Jehovah answered him.
7:10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt-offering, the
 Philistines advanced to battle against Israel. And Jehovah
 thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the
 Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were routed before
 Israel.
7:11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the
 Philistines, and smote them, as far as below Beth-car.
7:12 And Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen,
 and called the name of it Eben-ezer, and said, Hitherto Jehovah
 has helped us.
7:13 And the Philistines were subdued, and came no more into the
 borders of Israel; and the hand of Jehovah was against the
 Philistines all the days of Samuel.
7:14 And the cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel
 were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and their
 territory did Israel deliver out of the hand of the
 Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the
 Amorite.
7:15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
7:16 And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and
 Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places.
7:17 And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house, and
 there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar to Jehovah.
8:1 And it came to pass when Samuel was old, that he made his
 sons judges over Israel.
8:2 And the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his
 second, Abijah; they judged in Beer-sheba.
8:3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after
 lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.
8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together,
 and came to Samuel to Ramah,
8:5 and said to him, Behold, thou art become old, and thy sons
 walk not in thy ways: now appoint us a king to judge us, like
 all the nations.
8:6 And the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a
 king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to Jehovah.
8:7 And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the
 people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not
 rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not
 reign over them.
8:8 According to all the deeds that they have done since the day
 that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that
 they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also
 unto thee.
8:9 And now hearken unto their voice; only, testify solemnly
 unto them, and declare unto them the manner of the king that
 shall reign over them.
8:10 And Samuel spoke all the words of Jehovah to the people
 that asked of him a king.
8:11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall
 reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them for
 himself, on his chariot and among his horsemen, and they shall
 run before his chariots;
8:12 and [he will take them] that he may appoint for himself
 captains over thousands, and captains over fifties, and that
 they may plough his ground, and reap his harvest, and make his
 instruments of war and instruments of his chariots.
8:13 And he will take your daughters for perfumers, and cooks,
 and bakers.
8:14 And your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards,
 the best, will he take and give to his servants.
8:15 And he will take the tenth of your seed and of your
 vineyards, and give to his chamberlains and to his servants.
8:16 And he will take your bondmen, and your bondwomen, and your
 comeliest young men, and your asses, and use them for his work.
8:17 He will take the tenth of your sheep. And ye shall be his
 servants.
8:18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom
 ye have chosen; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day.
8:19 And the people refused to hearken to the voice of Samuel;
 and they said, No, but there shall be a king over us,
8:20 that we also may be like all the nations; and our king
 shall judge us, and go out before us, and conduct our wars.
8:21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he
 repeated them in the ears of Jehovah.
8:22 And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and
 make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Go ye
 every man to his city.
9:1 And there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son
 of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of
 Aphiah, the son of a Benjaminite, a mighty man of wealth.
9:2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, choice and comely; and
 there was not among the children of Israel a comelier person
 than he; from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any
 of the people.
9:3 And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost; and Kish said
 to Saul his son, Take, I pray, one of the young men with thee,
 and arise, go seek the asses.
9:4 And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the
 land of Shalishah, but they found [them] not; and they passed
 through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there; and they
 passed through the land of Benjamin, and they found [them] not.
9:5 They had come to the land of Zuph when Saul said to his
 servant that was with him, Come and let us return; lest my
 father give up the asses, and be anxious about us.
9:6 And he said to him, Behold now, a man of God is in this
 city, and the man is held in honour; all that he says comes
 surely to pass. Let us now go thither: perhaps he will shew us
 the way that we should go.
9:7 And Saul said to his servant, But if we go, what shall we
 bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and we
 have no present to give to the man of God: what have we?
9:8 And the servant answered Saul again and said, Behold, I have
 here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver; that will I
 give to the man of God, to tell us our way.
9:9 (In former time in Israel, when a man went to ask counsel of
 God, he said, Come and let us go to the seer; for he that is
 now called a Prophet was in former time called a Seer.)
9:10 And Saul said to his servant, Well said: come, let us go.
 So they went to the city where the man of God was.
9:11 As they went up the ascent to the city, they met maidens
 going forth to draw water; and they said to them, Is the seer
 here?
9:12 And they answered them and said, He is; behold, he is
 before thee: make haste now, for he came to-day to the city;
 for the people have a sacrifice to-day in the high place.
9:13 As soon as ye come into the city, ye shall straightway find
 him, before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people
 eat not until he has come, because he blesses the sacrifice;
 afterwards they eat that are invited. And now go up; for this
 very day shall ye find him.
9:14 And they went up into the city. As they were coming into
 the midst of the city, behold, Samuel was coming out towards
 them, to go up to the high place.
9:15 Now Jehovah had apprised Samuel one day before Saul came,
 saying,
9:16 To-morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the
 land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him prince over my
 people Israel; and he will save my people out of the hand of
 the Philistines; for I have looked upon my people, because
 their cry is come unto me.
9:17 And as Samuel saw Saul, Jehovah answered him, Behold the
 man of whom I spoke to thee! this man shall rule over my
 people.
9:18 And Saul drew near to Samuel in the midst of the gate, and
 said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is.
9:19 And Samuel answered Saul and said, I am the seer: go up
 before me to the high place, and ye shall eat with me to-day;
 and to-morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that
 is in thy heart.
9:20 And as for the asses that thou didst lose three days ago,
 set not thy heart on them; for they are found. And on whom is
 all the desire of Israel [set]? Is it not on thee, and on all
 thy father's house?
9:21 And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjaminite, of the
 smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of
 all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? and why dost thou
 speak such words to me?
9:22 And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into
 the chamber, and gave them a place at the head of them that
 were invited; and they were about thirty persons.
9:23 And Samuel said to the cook, Bring the portion that I gave
 thee, of which I said to thee, Set it by thee.
9:24 And the cook took up the shoulder, and what was on it, and
 set [it] before Saul. And he said, Behold that which has been
 reserved! set it before thee, eat; for against the set time has
 it been kept for thee, since I said, I will invite the people.
 So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
9:25 And they came down from the high place into the city, and
 he spoke with Saul upon the roof.
9:26 And they arose early; and when it was about the dawning of
 the day, Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, Arise, that
 I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of
 them, he and Samuel, into the street.
9:27 As they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said
 to Saul, Tell the servant to pass on before us (and he passed
 on), but stand thou still now, that I may cause thee to hear
 the word of God.
10:1 Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it upon his
 head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because Jehovah has
 anointed thee prince over his inheritance?
10:2 When thou goest from me to-day, thou shalt meet two men by
 Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and
 they will say to thee, The asses are found which thou wentest
 to seek, and behold, thy father has dismissed the matter of the
 asses, and is anxious about you, saying, What shall I do for my
 son?
10:3 And thou shalt go on forward from thence, and shalt come to
 the oak of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up
 to God, to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another
 carrying three cakes of bread, and another carrying a flask of
 wine.
10:4 And they will ask after thy welfare, and give thee two
 loaves, which thou shalt receive of their hands.
10:5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where are
 the outposts of the Philistines; and it shall come to pass,
 when thou comest thither, into the city, that thou shalt meet a
 company of prophets coming down from the high place with lute
 and tambour and pipe and harp before them; and they themselves
 prophesying.
10:6 And the Spirit of Jehovah will come upon thee, and thou
 shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.
10:7 And it shall be, when these signs shall come to thee, thou
 shalt do as thy hand shall find; for God is with thee.
10:8 And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I
 will come down to thee, to offer up burnt-offerings, [and] to
 sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings: seven days shalt thou
 wait, until I come to thee and inform thee what thou shalt do.
10:9 And it was [so] that when he turned his back to go away
 from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs
 came to pass that day.
10:10 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company
 of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and
 he prophesied among them.
10:11 And it came to pass, when all that knew him before saw
 that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people
 said one to another, What is this that has happened to the son
 of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?
10:12 And a man of that place answered and said, But who is
 their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among
 the prophets?
10:13 And when he had ended prophesying, he came to the high
 place.
10:14 And Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, Whither
 went ye? And he said, To seek the asses; and when we saw that
 they were nowhere, we went to Samuel.
10:15 And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel
 said to you.
10:16 And Saul said to his uncle, He told us for certain that
 the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, of
 which Samuel had spoken, he told him not.
10:17 And Samuel called the people together to Jehovah to
 Mizpah.
10:18 And he said to the children of Israel, Thus saith Jehovah,
 the God of Israel, *I* brought up Israel out of Egypt, and
 delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the
 hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you;
10:19 but *ye* have this day rejected your God, who himself
 saved you out of all your adversities and your troubles, and
 have said unto him, [Nay,] but a king shalt thou set over us.
 Now therefore present yourselves before Jehovah by your tribes,
 and by your thousands.
10:20 And Samuel caused all the tribes of Israel to come near,
 and the tribe of Benjamin was taken.
10:21 And he caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their
 families, and the family of Matri was taken; and Saul the son
 of Kish was taken. And they sought him, but he was not to be
 found.
10:22 Therefore they inquired of Jehovah further, Will the man
 yet come hither? And Jehovah answered, Behold, he hath hid
 himself among the baggage.
10:23 And they ran and fetched him thence; and when he stood
 among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his
 shoulders and upward.
10:24 And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom Jehovah
 has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people?
 And all the people shouted and said, May the king live.
10:25 And Samuel told the people the right of the kingdom, and
 wrote it in the book, and laid it before Jehovah. And Samuel
 sent all the people away, every man to his house.
10:26 And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and with him went the
 band, whose hearts God had touched.
10:27 But the children of Belial said, How should this man save
 us? And they despised him, and brought him no gifts. But he was
 as one deaf.
11:1 And Nahash the Ammonite came up and encamped against
 Jabesh-Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a
 covenant with us, and we will serve thee.
11:2 And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, On this [condition]
 will I treat with you, that I thrust out all your right eyes,
 and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.
11:3 And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Allow us seven days,
 and we will send messengers into all the districts of Israel;
 and if there be no man to deliver us, we will come out to thee.
11:4 And the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and told these
 words in the ears of the people. And all the people lifted up
 their voice and wept.
11:5 And behold, Saul came after the oxen from the field; and
 Saul said, What [aileth] the people that they weep? And they
 related to him the words of the men of Jabesh.
11:6 And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those
 words, and his anger was kindled greatly.
11:7 And he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent
 throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers,
 saying, Whoever comes not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so
 shall it be done to his oxen! And the fear of Jehovah fell on
 the people, and they came out as one man.
11:8 And he numbered them in Bezek, and the children of Israel
 were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty
 thousand.
11:9 And they said to the messengers that had come, Thus shall
 ye say to the men of Jabesh-Gilead: To-morrow ye shall have
 deliverance when the sun is hot. And the messengers came and
 informed the men of Jabesh-Gilead; and they were glad.
11:10 And the men of Jabesh said, To-morrow we will come out to
 you, and ye may do with us according to all that is good in
 your sight.
11:11 And it came to pass the next day that Saul set the people
 in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in
 the morning watch, and smote Ammon until the heat of the day:
 and it came to pass that they who remained were scattered, and
 not two of them were left together.
11:12 And the people said to Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall
 Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to
 death.
11:13 But Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this
 day; for to-day Jehovah has wrought deliverance in Israel.
11:14 And Samuel said to the people, Come and let us go to
 Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.
11:15 And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made
 Saul king before Jehovah in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed
 peace-offerings before Jehovah. And there Saul and all the men
 of Israel rejoiced exceedingly.
12:1 And Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened to
 your voice in all that ye said to me, and have made a king over
 you.
12:2 And now behold, the king walks before you; and I am old and
 grey-headed; and behold, my sons are with you; and I have
 walked before you from my youth up to this day.
12:3 Here I am: testify against me before Jehovah, and before
 his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken?
 or whom have I defrauded? whom have I injured? or of whose hand
 have I received any ransom and blinded mine eyes therewith? and
 I will restore it to you.
12:4 And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, and thou hast
 not injured us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's
 hand.
12:5 And he said to them, Jehovah is witness against you, and
 his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught
 in my hand! And [the people] said, [He is] witness!
12:6 And Samuel said to the people, [It is] Jehovah who
 appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your fathers up out
 of the land of Egypt.
12:7 And now stand still, that I may plead with you before
 Jehovah of all the righteous acts of Jehovah which he did to
 you and to your fathers.
12:8 When Jacob had come into Egypt, and your fathers cried to
 Jehovah, then Jehovah sent Moses and Aaron, and they brought
 your fathers forth out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this
 place.
12:9 And they forgot Jehovah their God, and he sold them into
 the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the
 hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab,
 and they fought against them.
12:10 And they cried to Jehovah and said, We have sinned,
 because we have forsaken Jehovah, and have served the Baals and
 the Ashtoreths; and now deliver us out of the hand of our
 enemies, and we will serve thee.
12:11 And Jehovah sent Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah and
 Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies round
 about, so that ye dwelt in safety.
12:12 But when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of
 Ammon came against you, ye said to me, Nay, but a king shall
 reign over us; when Jehovah your God was your king.
12:13 And now behold, the king whom ye have chosen, whom ye have
 asked for! and behold, Jehovah has set a king over you.
12:14 If ye fear Jehovah, and serve him, and hearken to his
 voice, and rebel not against the commandment of Jehovah, then
 both ye and the king also that reigns over you shall continue
 following Jehovah your God.
12:15 But if ye will not hearken to the voice of Jehovah, and if
 ye rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, then will the hand
 of Jehovah be against you, as against your fathers.
12:16 Now therefore stand and see this great thing which Jehovah
 will do before your eyes.
12:17 Is it not wheat-harvest to-day? I will call unto Jehovah,
 and he will send thunder and rain; and ye shall perceive and
 see that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the
 sight of Jehovah in asking for yourselves a king.
12:18 And Samuel called to Jehovah; and Jehovah sent thunder and
 rain that day. And all the people greatly feared Jehovah and
 Samuel.
12:19 And all the people said to Samuel, Pray to Jehovah thy God
 for thy servants, that we die not; for we have added to all our
 sins the wickedness to ask for ourselves a king.
12:20 And Samuel said to the people, Fear not: *ye* have done
 all this wickedness; yet turn not aside from following Jehovah,
 and serve Jehovah with all your heart;
12:21 and turn ye not aside; for [it would be] after vain things
 which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
12:22 For Jehovah will not cast away his people for his great
 name's sake; because it has pleased Jehovah to make you his
 people.
12:23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin
 against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you; and I will teach
 you the good and right way.
12:24 Only, fear Jehovah, and serve him in truth, with all your
 heart; for see how great things he has done for you.
12:25 But if ye do wickedly, ye shall perish, both ye and your
 king.
13:1 Saul was ... years old when he became king; and he reigned
 two years over Israel.
13:2 And Saul chose him three thousand men out of Israel: there
 were with Saul two thousand in Michmash and in mount Bethel,
 and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin; and
 the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.
13:3 And Jonathan smote the outpost of the Philistines that was
 in Geba, and the Philistines heard [of it]. And Saul blew the
 trumpet throughout the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.
13:4 And all Israel heard say, Saul has smitten the garrison of
 the Philistines, and Israel also has become odious to the
 Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to
 Gilgal.
13:5 And the Philistines were assembled together to fight with
 Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen,
 and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude;
 and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastward from
 Beth-Aven.
13:6 And the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for
 the people were distressed); and the people hid themselves in
 caves, and in thickets, and in cliffs, and in strongholds, and
 in pits.
13:7 And the Hebrews went over the Jordan into the land of Gad
 and Gilead. And Saul was yet in Gilgal, and all the people
 followed him trembling.
13:8 And he waited seven days, according to the set time that
 Samuel [had appointed]; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and
 the people were scattered from him.
13:9 And Saul said, Bring hither to me the burnt-offering and
 the peace-offerings. And he offered up the burnt-offering.
13:10 And it came to pass, as soon as he had ended offering up
 the burnt-offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to
 meet him, that he might salute him.
13:11 And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said,
 Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that
 thou didst not come within the days appointed, and that the
 Philistines were assembled at Michmash,
13:12 I said, The Philistines will come down now upon me to
 Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to Jehovah; and I
 forced myself, and offered up the burnt-offering.
13:13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou
 hast not kept the commandment of Jehovah thy God which he
 commanded thee; for now would Jehovah have established thy
 kingdom over Israel for ever.
13:14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: Jehovah has sought
 him a man after his own heart, and Jehovah has appointed him
 ruler over his people; for thou hast not kept what Jehovah
 commanded thee.
13:15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of
 Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were found with
 him, about six hundred men.
13:16 And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were
 found with them, abode in Geba of Benjamin; and the Philistines
 encamped in Michmash.
13:17 And the ravagers came out of the camp of the Philistines
 in three companies: one company turned the way of Ophrah, into
 the land of Shual;
13:18 and another company turned the way to Beth-horon; and the
 other company turned the way to the district that looks over
 the ravine of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
13:19 Now there was no smith found throughout the land of
 Israel; for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them
 swords or spears.
13:20 And all Israel went down to the Philistines, every man to
 get his ploughshare, and his hoe, and his axe, and his sickle
 sharpened,
13:21 when the edges of the sickles, and the hoes, and the
 forks, and the axes were blunted; and to set the goads.
13:22 And it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was
 neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people
 that were with Saul and Jonathan; but with Saul and with
 Jonathan his son there was found.
13:23 And a garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage
 of Michmash.
14:1 Now it came to pass one day that Jonathan the son of Saul
 said to the young man that bore his armour, Come and let us go
 over to the Philistines' garrison which is on the other side.
 But he did not tell his father.
14:2 And Saul abode at the extreme end of Gibeah under the
 pomegranate-tree which [was] in Migron; and the people that
 were with him were about six hundred men.
14:3 (And Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son
 of Phinehas, the son of Eli, Jehovah's priest in Shiloh, wore
 the ephod.) And the people did not know that Jonathan was gone.
14:4 Now between the passes by which Jonathan sought to go over
 to the Philistines' garrison there was a sharp rock on the one
 side and a sharp rock on the other side; and the name of the
 one [was] Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
14:5 The one crag [formed] a pillar on the north opposite to
 Michmash, and the other on the south opposite to Geba.
14:6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armour,
 Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these
 uncircumcised: perhaps Jehovah will work for us; for there is
 no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few.
14:7 And his armour-bearer said to him, Do all that is in thy
 heart; turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy
 heart.
14:8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over to the men,
 and we will shew ourselves to them.
14:9 If they say thus to us, Stand still until we come to you,
 then we will stay in our place, and will not go up to them.
14:10 And if they say thus, Come up to us, then we will go up;
 for Jehovah has given them into our hand; and this shall be the
 sign to us.
14:11 And both of them shewed themselves to the garrison of the
 Philistines; and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come
 forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.
14:12 And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his
 armour-bearer and said, Come up to us, and we will shew you
 something. And Jonathan said to his armour-bearer, Come up
 after me; for Jehovah has delivered them into the hand of
 Israel.
14:13 And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet,
 and his armour-bearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan;
 and his armour-bearer slew after him.
14:14 And that first slaughter which Jonathan and his
 armour-bearer wrought was about twenty men, as it were on the
 half-furrow of an acre of land.
14:15 And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and
 among all the people; the garrison, and the ravagers, they also
 trembled, and the earth quaked; for it was a trembling [from]
 God.
14:16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and
 behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on slaying one
 another.
14:17 Then said Saul to the people that were with him, Muster
 now, and see who is gone from us. And they mustered, and
 behold, Jonathan and his armour-bearer were not there.
14:18 And Saul said to Ahijah, Bring hither the ark of God. For
 the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel.
14:19 And it came to pass while Saul talked to the priest, that
 the noise which was in the camp of the Philistines went on and
 increased; and Saul said to the priest, Withdraw thy hand.
14:20 And Saul and all the people that were with him were called
 together, and they came to the battle; and behold, every man's
 sword was against his fellow, a very great confusion.
14:21 And there were Hebrews with the Philistines before that
 time, who had gone up with them into the camp round about; and
 they also [turned] to be with the Israelites who were with Saul
 and Jonathan.
14:22 And all the men of Israel who had hid themselves in mount
 Ephraim heard that the Philistines fled, and they also followed
 hard after them in the battle.
14:23 And Jehovah saved Israel that day; and the battle passed
 over beyond Beth-Aven.
14:24 But the men of Israel were distressed that day. Now Saul
 had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth
 food until evening, and [until] I am avenged on mine enemies.
 So none of the people tasted food.
14:25 And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was
 honey on the ground.
14:26 And the people had come into the wood, and behold, the
 honey flowed; but no man put his hand to his mouth, for the
 people feared the oath.
14:27 But Jonathan had not heard when his father adjured the
 people; and he put forth the end of his staff which was in his
 hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his
 mouth, and his eyes became bright.
14:28 Then answered one of the people and said, Thy father
 strictly adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that
 eateth food this day; and the people are faint.
14:29 And Jonathan said, My father has troubled the land: see, I
 pray you, that mine eyes are bright, because I tasted a little
 of this honey.
14:30 How much more, if the people had eaten freely to-day of
 the spoil of their enemies which they found? for would there
 not now have been a much greater slaughter among the
 Philistines?
14:31 And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to
 Ajalon; and the people were very faint.
14:32 And the people fell on the spoil, and took sheep, and
 oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and the
 people ate [them] with the blood.
14:33 And they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against
 Jehovah, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have
 acted perversely: roll me now a great stone.
14:34 And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and
 say to them, Bring near to me every man his ox, and every man
 his sheep, and slaughter them here, and eat; and sin not
 against Jehovah in eating with the blood. And all the people
 brought every man his ox with him that night, and slaughtered
 [them] there.
14:35 And Saul built an altar to Jehovah: this was the first
 altar he built to Jehovah.
14:36 And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by
 night, and plunder them until the morning light, and let us not
 leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever is good in
 thy sight. Then said the priest, Let us come near hither to
 God.
14:37 And Saul inquired of God, Shall I go down after the
 Philistines? wilt thou give them into the hand of Israel? But
 he did not answer him that day.
14:38 And Saul said, Draw ye near hither, all the heads of the
 people; and know and see wherein this sin has been this day.
14:39 For, [as] Jehovah liveth, who has saved Israel, though it
 be in Jonathan my son, he shall certainly die. And no one
 answered him among all the people.
14:40 Then said he to all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and
 Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said
 to Saul, Do what is good in thy sight.
14:41 And Saul said to Jehovah the God of Israel, Give a perfect
 [testimony]! And Jonathan and Saul were taken, and the people
 escaped.
14:42 And Saul said, Cast [lots] between me and Jonathan my son.
 And Jonathan was taken.
14:43 And Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done.
 And Jonathan told him and said, With the end of the staff which
 is in my hand I tasted a little honey, [and] behold, I must
 die!
14:44 And Saul said, God do so [to me] and more also; thou shalt
 certainly die, Jonathan.
14:45 And the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has
 wrought this great salvation in Israel? Far be it! [as] Jehovah
 liveth, there shall not a hair of his head fall to the ground;
 for he has wrought with God this day. So the people delivered
 Jonathan, that he died not.
14:46 And Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the
 Philistines went to their own place.
14:47 And Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against
 all his enemies round about, against Moab, and against the
 children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of
 Zobah, and against the Philistines; and whithersoever he turned
 himself, he discomfited [them].
14:48 And he did valiantly, and smote the Amalekites, and
 delivered Israel out of the hands of their spoilers.
14:49 And the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Jishvi, and
 Malchi-shua. And the names of his two daughters: the name of
 the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal.
14:50 And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of
 Ahimaaz; and the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the
 son of Ner, Saul's uncle.
14:51 And Kish the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner
 were sons of Abiel.
14:52 And there was sore war against the Philistines all the
 days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man, or any valiant
 man, he took him to himself.
15:1 And Samuel said to Saul, Jehovah sent *me* to anoint thee
 king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken to the
 voice of the words of Jehovah.
15:2 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I have considered what Amalek
 did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when
 he came up from Egypt.
15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and destroy utterly all that they
 have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant
 and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
15:4 And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim,
 two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
15:5 And Saul came to the city of the Amalekites, and set an
 ambush in the valley.
15:6 And Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, and go down from
 among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye
 shewed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up
 out of Egypt. And the Kenites departed from among the
 Amalekites.
15:7 And Saul smote Amalek from Havilah as thou comest to Shur,
 which is opposite to Egypt.
15:8 And he took Agag the king of Amalek alive, and utterly
 destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
15:9 And Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the
 sheep and oxen, and beasts of the second bearing, and the
 lambs, and all that was good, and would not devote them to
 destruction; but everything that was mean and weak, that they
 destroyed utterly.
15:10 And the word of Jehovah came to Samuel, saying,
15:11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he
 is turned away from following me, and hath not fulfilled my
 words. And Samuel was much grieved; and he cried to Jehovah all
 night.
15:12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it
 was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he
 set him up a monument, and has turned about, and passed on, and
 gone down to Gilgal.
15:13 And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed art
 thou of Jehovah: I have fulfilled the word of Jehovah.
15:14 And Samuel said, What [means] then this bleating of sheep
 in mine ears, and the lowing of oxen which I hear?
15:15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites,
 because the people spared the best of the sheep and of the
 oxen, to sacrifice to Jehovah thy God; and the rest we have
 utterly destroyed.
15:16 And Samuel said to Saul, Stay, that I may tell thee what
 Jehovah has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on.
15:17 And Samuel said, Was it not when thou wast little in thine
 eyes that thou [becamest] the head of the tribes of Israel, and
 Jehovah anointed thee king over Israel?
15:18 And Jehovah sent thee on a way and said, Go and utterly
 destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them
 until they be consumed.
15:19 Why then didst thou not hearken to the voice of Jehovah,
 but didst fall upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of
 Jehovah?
15:20 And Saul said to Samuel, I have indeed hearkened to the
 voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way which Jehovah sent me,
 and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly
 destroyed the Amalekites.
15:21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the
 choicest of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Jehovah thy God
 in Gilgal.
15:22 And Samuel said, Has Jehovah delight in burnt-offerings
 and sacrifices, As in hearkening to the voice of Jehovah?
 Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, Attention than the
 fat of rams.
15:23 For rebellion is [as] the sin of divination, And selfwill
 is [as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the
 word of Jehovah, He hath also rejected thee from being king.
15:24 And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have
 transgressed the commandment of Jehovah, and thy words; for I
 feared the people, and hearkened to their voice.
15:25 And now, I pray thee, forgive my sin, and turn again with
 me, that I may worship Jehovah.
15:26 And Samuel said to Saul, I will not turn again with thee;
 for thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, and Jehovah has
 rejected thee from being king over Israel.
15:27 And as Samuel turned to go away, [Saul] laid hold upon the
 skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
15:28 Then Samuel said to him, Jehovah has rent the kingdom of
 Israel from thee to-day, and has given it to thy neighbour, who
 is better than thou.
15:29 And also the Hope of Israel will not lie nor repent; for
 he is not a man, that he should repent.
15:30 And he said, I have sinned; honour me now, I pray thee,
 before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn
 again with me, that I may worship Jehovah thy God.
15:31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped
 Jehovah.
15:32 And Samuel said, Bring ye near to me Agag the king of
 Amalek. And Agag came to him gaily. And Agag said, Surely the
 bitterness of death is past.
15:33 And Samuel said, As thy sword has made women childless, so
 shall thy mother be childless above women. And Samuel hewed
 Agag in pieces before Jehovah in Gilgal.
15:34 And Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to
 Gibeah of Saul.
15:35 And Samuel saw Saul no more until the day of his death;
 for Samuel mourned over Saul; and Jehovah repented that he had
 made Saul king over Israel.
16:1 And Jehovah said to Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for
 Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?
 fill thy horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the
 Bethlehemite; for I have provided me a king among his sons.
16:2 And Samuel said, How shall I go? if Saul hear [it], he will
 kill me. And Jehovah said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I
 am come to sacrifice to Jehovah.
16:3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will tell thee what
 thou shalt do; and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name
 unto thee.
16:4 And Samuel did what Jehovah said, and came to Bethlehem.
 And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him, and
 said, Dost thou come peaceably?
16:5 And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice to Jehovah.
 Hallow yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he
 hallowed Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
16:6 And it came to pass when they were come, that he looked on
 Eliab, and said, Surely Jehovah's anointed is before him.
16:7 But Jehovah said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or
 on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him; for
 it is not as man seeth; for man looketh upon the outward
 appearance, but Jehovah looketh upon the heart.
16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before
 Samuel. And he said, Neither has Jehovah chosen this one.
16:9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, Neither has
 Jehovah chosen this one.
16:10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And
 Samuel said to Jesse, Jehovah has not chosen these.
16:11 And Samuel said to Jesse, Are these all the young men? And
 he said, There is yet the youngest remaining, and behold, he is
 feeding the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and fetch
 him; for we will not sit at table till he come hither.
16:12 And he sent and brought him in. And he was ruddy, and
 besides of a lovely countenance and beautiful appearance. And
 Jehovah said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he.
16:13 And Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the
 midst of his brethren. And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon
 David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up, and went to
 Ramah.
16:14 And the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil
 spirit from Jehovah troubled him.
16:15 And Saul's servants said to him, Behold now, an evil
 spirit from God troubles thee.
16:16 Let our lord now speak; thy servants are before thee: they
 shall seek out a man, a skilful player on a harp; and it shall
 come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that
 he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.
16:17 And Saul said to his servants, Provide me now a man that
 can play well, and bring him to me.
16:18 And one of the young men answered and said, Behold, I have
 seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilled in
 playing, and he is a valiant man and a man of war, and skilled
 in speech, and of good presence, and Jehovah is with him.
16:19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me David
 thy son, who is with the sheep.
16:20 And Jesse took an ass with bread, and a flask of wine, and
 a kid, and sent [them] by David his son to Saul.
16:21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved
 him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer.
16:22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee,
 stand before me; for he has found favour in my sight.
16:23 And it came to pass, when the [evil] spirit from God was
 upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand;
 and Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit
 departed from him.
17:1 And the Philistines assembled their armies to battle, and
 were gathered together at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah, and
 encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim.
17:2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and
 encamped in the valley of terebinths, and set the battle in
 array against the Philistines.
17:3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side,
 and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side; and the
 ravine was between them.
17:4 And there went out a champion from the camp of the
 Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six
 cubits and a span.
17:5 And he had a helmet of bronze upon his head, and he was
 clothed with a corselet of scales; and the weight of the
 corselet was five thousand shekels of bronze.
17:6 And he had greaves of bronze upon his legs, and a javelin
 of bronze between his shoulders.
17:7 And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and
 his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and the
 shield-bearer went before him.
17:8 And he stood and cried to the ranks of Israel, and said to
 them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I
 the Philistine, and ye servants of Saul? choose for yourselves
 a man, and let him come down to me.
17:9 If he be able to fight with me, and to smite me, then will
 we be your servants; but if I overcome and smite him, then
 shall ye be our servants and serve us.
17:10 And the Philistine said, I have defied the ranks of Israel
 this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
17:11 And Saul and all Israel heard these words of the
 Philistine, and they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
17:12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of
 Bethlehem-Judah whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons;
 and the man was old in the days of Saul, advanced [in years]
 among men.
17:13 And the three eldest of the sons of Jesse had gone and
 followed Saul to the battle; and the names of his three sons
 that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and the
 second to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
17:14 And David was the youngest; and the three eldest had
 followed Saul.
17:15 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's
 sheep at Bethlehem.
17:16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and
 presented himself forty days.
17:17 And Jesse said to David his son, Take, I pray, for thy
 brethren, this ephah of parched [corn] and these ten loaves,
 and carry them quickly to the camp to thy brethren;
17:18 and carry these ten cheeses to the captain of the
 thousand, and visit thy brethren to see how they are, and take
 a pledge of them.
17:19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel [were] in
 the valley of terebinths, fighting against the Philistines.
17:20 And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep
 with a keeper, and took his charge and went, as Jesse had
 commanded him. And he came to the wagon-defence; and the host
 which was going forth to the battle-array shouted for the
 fight.
17:21 And Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array,
 rank against rank.
17:22 And David left the things he was carrying in the hand of
 the keeper of the baggage, and ran into the ranks, and came and
 saluted his brethren.
17:23 And as he talked with them, behold there came up the
 champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the
 ranks of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same
 words; and David heard [them].
17:24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled
 from him and were greatly afraid.
17:25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that
 comes up? for to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be,
 that the man who smites him, him will the king enrich with
 great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his
 father's house free in Israel.
17:26 And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, What
 shall be done to the man that smites this Philistine, and takes
 away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised
 Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
17:27 And the people told him after this manner, saying, So
 shall it be done to the man that smites him.
17:28 And Eliab, his eldest brother, heard while he spoke to the
 men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said,
 Why art thou come down? and with whom hast thou left those few
 sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness
 of thy heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the
 battle.
17:29 And David said, What have I now done? Was it not laid upon
 me?
17:30 And he turned from him to another, and spoke after the
 same manner; and the people answered him again after the former
 manner.
17:31 And the words were heard which David spoke, and they
 rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him.
17:32 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of
 him: thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
17:33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against
 this Philistine to fight with him; for thou art but a youth,
 and he a man of war from his youth.
17:34 And David said to Saul, Thy servant fed his father's
 sheep, and there came a lion, and also a bear, and took a lamb
 out of the flock.
17:35 And I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out
 of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I seized him by his
 beard, and smote him, and slew him.
17:36 Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear; and this
 uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, because he
 has defied the armies of the living God.
17:37 And David said, Jehovah who delivered me out of the paw of
 the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out
 of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and
 Jehovah be with thee.
17:38 And Saul clothed David with his dress, and put a helmet of
 bronze upon his head, and clothed him with a corselet.
17:39 And David girded his sword upon his dress, and endeavoured
 to go; for he had not yet tried [it]. And David said to Saul, I
 cannot go in these; for I have never tried [them]. And David
 put them off him.
17:40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five
 smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's
 bag that he had, into the pocket; and his sling was in his
 hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.
17:41 And the Philistine came on and approached David; and the
 man that bore the shield was before him.
17:42 And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he
 disdained him; for he was a youth, and ruddy, and besides of a
 beautiful countenance.
17:43 And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that thou
 comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by
 his gods.
17:44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will
 give thy flesh to the fowls of the heavens and to the beasts of
 the field.
17:45 And David said to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with
 sword, and with spear, and with javelin; but I come to thee in
 the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel,
 whom thou hast defied.
17:46 This day will Jehovah deliver thee up into my hand; and I
 will smite thee, and take thy head from thee; and I will give
 the carcases of the camp of the Philistines this day to the
 fowl of the heavens and to the wild beasts of the earth. And
 all the earth shall know that Israel has a God;
17:47 and all this congregation shall know that Jehovah saves
 not with sword and spear; for the battle is Jehovah's, and he
 will give you into our hands.
17:48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came
 and advanced to meet David, that David hasted, and ran towards
 the ranks to meet the Philistine.
17:49 And David put his hand into the bag, and took thence a
 stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead,
 and the stone sank into his forehead; and he fell on his face
 to the earth.
17:50 So David overcame the Philistine with a sling and a stone,
 and smote the Philistine and killed him; and there was no sword
 in the hand of David.
17:51 And David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his
 sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and killed him
 completely, and cut off his head with it. And when the
 Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled.
17:52 And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and
 pursued the Philistines, until thou comest to the ravine and to
 the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell
 down on the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron.
17:53 And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the
 Philistines, and they pillaged their camps.
17:54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it
 to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.
17:55 And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine,
 he said to Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is
 this young man? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I
 cannot tell.
17:56 And the king said, Inquire thou whose son this youth is.
17:57 And as David returned from the slaughter of the
 Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with
 the head of the Philistine in his hand.
17:58 And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, young man? And
 David said, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the
 Beth-lehemite.
18:1 And it came to pass, when he had ended speaking to Saul,
 that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and
 Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
18:2 And Saul took him that day, and would not let him return to
 his father's house.
18:3 And Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved
 him as his own soul.
18:4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon
 him, and gave it to David, and his dress, even to his sword,
 and to his bow, and to his girdle.
18:5 And David went forth; whithersoever Saul sent him he
 prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was
 accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight
 of Saul's servants.
18:6 And it came to pass as they came, when David returned from
 the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all
 the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul,
 with tambours, with joy, and with triangles.
18:7 And the women answered [one another] as they played, and
 said, Saul hath smitten his thousands, And David his ten
 thousands.
18:8 And Saul was very wroth, and that saying was evil in his
 sight; and he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands,
 but to me they have ascribed the thousands; and [what] is there
 more for him but the kingdom?
18:9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.
18:10 And it came to pass the next day that an evil spirit from
 God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the
 house, but David played with his hand, as on other days; and
 the spear was in Saul's hand.
18:11 And Saul cast the spear, and thought, I will smite David
 and the wall. But David turned away from him twice.
18:12 And Saul was afraid of David, because Jehovah was with
 him, and had departed from Saul.
18:13 And Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain
 over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.
18:14 And David prospered in all his ways; and Jehovah was with
 him.
18:15 And Saul saw that he prospered well, and he stood in awe
 of him.
18:16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and
 came in before them.
18:17 And Saul said to David, Behold my eldest daughter Merab,
 her will I give thee to wife; only be thou valiant for me, and
 fight Jehovah's battles. But Saul thought, My hand shall not be
 upon him, but the hand of the Philistines shall be upon him.
18:18 And David said to Saul, Who am I? and what is my life,
 [or] my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law
 to the king?
18:19 And it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter
 should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel
 the Meholathite as wife.
18:20 And Michal Saul's daughter loved David; and they told
 Saul, and the thing was right in his sight.
18:21 And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a
 snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be upon
 him. And Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my
 son-in-law a second time.
18:22 And Saul commanded his servants, Speak with David
 secretly, saying, Behold, the king has delight in thee, and all
 his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son-in-law.
18:23 And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of
 David. And David said, Is it a light thing in your eyes to be
 the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly
 esteemed?
18:24 And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner
 did David speak.
18:25 And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David: The king does
 not desire any dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the
 Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul
 thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
18:26 And his servants told David these words; and the thing was
 right in David's sight to be the king's son-in-law. And the
 days were not expired,
18:27 when David arose and went, he and his men, and smote of
 the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their
 foreskins, and they delivered them in full to the king, that he
 might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his
 daughter as wife.
18:28 And Saul saw and knew that Jehovah was with David; and
 Michal Saul's daughter loved him.
18:29 And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul was
 David's enemy continually.
18:30 And the princes of the Philistines went forth; and it came
 to pass, whenever they went forth, that David succeeded better
 than all the servants of Saul; and his name was much esteemed.
19:1 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his
 servants, that they should slay David.
19:2 But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David. And
 Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeks to kill thee;
 and now, I pray thee, take heed to thyself in the morning, and
 abide in a secret place and hide thyself;
19:3 and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field
 where thou art, and will speak of thee with my father: and see
 what it is, and tell thee.
19:4 And Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and
 said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against
 David, because he has not sinned against thee; for also what he
 did was very advantageous to thee;
19:5 for he put his life in hand, and smote the Philistine, and
 Jehovah wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou didst
 see [it], and didst rejoice; why then wilt thou sin against
 innocent blood, in slaying David without cause?
19:6 And Saul hearkened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul
 swore, [As] Jehovah liveth, he shall not be put to death!
19:7 Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan declared to him
 all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he
 was in his presence as previously.
19:8 And there was war again; and David went forth and fought
 with the Philistines, and smote them with a great slaughter;
 and they fled before him.
19:9 And an evil spirit from Jehovah was upon Saul. And he sat
 in his house with his spear in his hand; and David played with
 his hand.
19:10 And Saul sought to smite David and the wall with the
 spear; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote
 the spear into the wall. And David fled, and escaped that
 night.
19:11 And Saul sent messengers to David's house, to watch him,
 and to slay him in the morning; and Michal David's wife told
 him, saying, If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou
 wilt be put to death.
19:12 And Michal let David down through a window; and he went,
 and fled and escaped.
19:13 And Michal took the image, and laid it in the bed, and put
 the net of goats' [hair] at its head, and covered it with the
 coverlet.
19:14 And Saul sent messengers to take David, and she said, He
 is sick.
19:15 And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring
 him up to me in the bed, that I may put him to death.
19:16 And the messengers came in, and behold, the image was in
 the bed, and the net of goats' [hair] at its head.
19:17 Then Saul said to Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so,
 and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal said
 to Saul, He said to me, Let me go; why should I slay thee?
19:18 And David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah,
 and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel
 went and dwelt in Naioth.
19:19 And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth
 by Ramah.
19:20 Then Saul sent messengers to take David; and they saw a
 company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as
 president over them; and the Spirit of God came upon the
 messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
19:21 And it was told Saul, and he sent other messengers, and
 they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third
 time, and they also prophesied.
19:22 Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great well
 that is in Sechu; and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and
 David? And one said, Behold, at Naioth by Ramah.
19:23 And he went thither to Naioth by Ramah; and the Spirit of
 God came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until
 he came to Naioth by Ramah.
19:24 And he himself also stripped off his clothes, and
 prophesied, himself also, before Samuel, and lay down naked all
 that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also
 among the prophets?
20:1 And David fled from Naioth by Ramah, and came and said
 before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity, and
 what is my sin before thy father, that he seeks my life?
20:2 And he said to him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold,
 my father will do nothing either great or small, and not
 apprise me; and why should my father hide this thing from me?
 it is not so.
20:3 And David swore again and again, and said, Thy father
 certainly knows that I have found favour in thy sight: and he
 has thought, Jonathan shall not know this, lest he be grieved;
 but truly [as] Jehovah liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, there
 is but a step between me and death.
20:4 And Jonathan said to David, What thy soul may say, I will
 even do it for thee.
20:5 And David said to Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is new moon,
 and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat; but let me
 go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third
 evening.
20:6 If thy father should actually miss me, then say, David
 earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his
 city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.
20:7 If he say thus, It is well, -- thy servant shall have
 peace; but if he be very wroth, be sure that evil is determined
 by him.
20:8 Deal kindly then with thy servant; for thou hast brought
 thy servant into a covenant of Jehovah with thee; but if there
 be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou
 bring me to thy father?
20:9 And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee; for, if I knew with
 certainty that evil were determined by my father to come upon
 thee, would I not tell it thee?
20:10 Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if
 thy father answer thee roughly?
20:11 And Jonathan said to David, Come and let us go out into
 the field. And they went out both of them into the field.
20:12 And Jonathan said to David, Jehovah, God of Israel, when I
 sound my father about this time to-morrow, [or] the next day,
 and behold, there be good toward David, and I then send not to
 thee, and apprise thee of it,
20:13 Jehovah do so and much more to Jonathan. Should it please
 my father [to do] thee evil, then I will apprise thee of it,
 and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace; and Jehovah
 be with thee, as he has been with my father.
20:14 And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the
 kindness of Jehovah, that I die not,
20:15 but thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for
 ever, no, not when Jehovah cuts off the enemies of David, every
 one from the face of the earth.
20:16 And Jonathan made [a covenant] with the house of David,
 [saying,] Let Jehovah even require [it] at the hand of David's
 enemies!
20:17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, by the love he
 had for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
20:18 And Jonathan said to him, To-morrow is the new moon; and
 thou wilt be missed, for thy seat will be empty;
20:19 but on the third day thou shalt go down quickly, and come
 to the place where thou didst hide thyself on the day of the
 business, and abide by the stone Ezel.
20:20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side of it, as though
 I shot at a mark.
20:21 And behold, I will send the lad, [saying,] Go, find the
 arrows. If I expressly say to the lad, Behold, the arrows are
 on this side of thee, take them; then come, for there is peace
 for thee, and it is nothing; [as] Jehovah liveth.
20:22 But if I say thus to the youth: Behold, the arrows are
 beyond thee, -- go thy way; for Jehovah sends thee away.
20:23 And as to the matter which thou and I have spoken of,
 behold, Jehovah is between me and thee for ever.
20:24 And David hid himself in the field; and it was the new
 moon, and the king sat at table to eat.
20:25 And the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the
 seat by the wall; and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's
 side, and David's place was empty.
20:26 And Saul said nothing that day; for he thought, Something
 has befallen [him], that he is not clean: surely he is not
 clean.
20:27 And it came to pass the next day after the new moon, the
 second [day of the month], as David's place was empty, that
 Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has not the son of Jesse
 come to table, neither yesterday nor to-day?
20:28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of
 me [to go] to Bethlehem,
20:29 and said, Let me go, I pray thee; for we have a family
 sacrifice in the city; and my brother himself has commanded me
 [to be there]; and now, if I have found favour in thy sight,
 let me go away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. He has
 therefore not come to the king's table.
20:30 And Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said
 to him, Son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know
 that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame and
 to the shame of thy mother's nakedness?
20:31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon earth, thou
 shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. And now send and
 fetch him to me, for he must die.
20:32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him,
 Why should he be put to death? what has he done?
20:33 Then Saul cast the spear at him to smite him; and Jonathan
 knew that it was determined by his father to put David to
 death.
20:34 And Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate
 no meat the second day of the new moon; for he was grieved for
 David, because his father had done him shame.
20:35 And it came to pass in the morning that Jonathan went out
 into the field, to the place agreed on with David, and a little
 lad with him.
20:36 And he said to his lad, Run, find now the arrows which I
 shoot. The lad ran, and he shot the arrow beyond him.
20:37 And when the lad came to the place of the arrow which
 Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad and said, Is
 not the arrow away beyond thee?
20:38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay
 not! And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his
 master.
20:39 And the lad knew nothing: only Jonathan and David knew the
 matter.
20:40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him,
 Go, carry them to the city.
20:41 The lad went, and David arose from the side of the south,
 and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three
 times; and they kissed one another, and wept one with another,
 until David exceeded.
20:42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we
 have both of us sworn in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah
 be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for
 ever! And he arose and departed; and Jonathan went into the
 city.
21:1 And David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest; and
 Ahimelech trembled at meeting David, and said to him, Why art
 thou alone, and no man with thee?
21:2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has
 commanded me a business, and has said to me, Let no man know
 anything of the business whereon I send thee, and what I have
 commanded thee; and I have directed the young men to such and
 such a place.
21:3 And now what is under thy hand? give me five loaves in my
 hand, or what may be found.
21:4 And the priest answered David and said, There is no common
 bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the young men
 have kept themselves at least from women.
21:5 And David answered the priest and said to him, Yes indeed,
 women have been kept from us about these three days, since I
 came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the
 [bread] is in a manner common, and the more so, because to-day
 [new] is hallowed in the vessels.
21:6 And the priest gave him holy [bread]; for there was no
 bread there but the shew-loaves that were taken from before
 Jehovah, to put on hot bread in the day when they were taken
 away.
21:7 (Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that
 day, detained before Jehovah; and his name was Doeg, the
 Edomite, chief of the shepherds that [belonged] to Saul.)
21:8 And David said to Ahimelech, And is there not here under
 thy hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword
 nor my weapons with me, for the king's business was urgent.
21:9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine,
 whom thou slewest in the valley of terebinths, behold, it is
 here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if thou wilt take
 that, take it; for there is no other save that here. And David
 said, There is none like that: give it me.
21:10 And David arose, and fled that day from before Saul, and
 went to Achish the king of Gath.
21:11 And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David
 the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him
 in dances, saying, Saul has smitten his thousands, and David
 his ten thousands?
21:12 And David took to heart these words, and was much afraid
 of Achish the king of Gath.
21:13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned
 himself mad in their hands, and scratched on the doors of the
 gate, and let his spittle fall down on his beard.
21:14 And Achish said to his servants, Behold, ye see the man is
 mad: why did ye bring him to me?
21:15 have I lack of madmen, that ye have brought this one to
 rave in my presence? shall this [man] come into my house?
22:1 And David departed thence, and escaped to the cave of
 Adullam. And his brethren and all his father's house heard
 [it], and they went down thither to him.
22:2 And every one in distress, and every one that was in debt,
 and every one of embittered spirit collected round him; and he
 became a captain over them; and there were with him about four
 hundred men.
22:3 And David went thence to Mizpeh in Moab, and said to the
 king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come
 forth amongst you, till I know what God will do for me.
22:4 And he brought them before the king of Moab; and they abode
 with him all the while that David was in the stronghold.
22:5 And the prophet Gad said to David, Abide not in the
 stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah. Then David
 departed, and came into the forest of Hareth.
22:6 And Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that
 were with him. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah under the
 tamarisk upon the height, having his spear in his hand, and all
 his servants were standing by him.
22:7 Then Saul said to his servants that stood by him, Hear now,
 ye Benjaminites: will the son of Jesse give every one of you
 also fields and vineyards? Will he make you all captains of
 thousands and captains of hundreds,
22:8 that all of you have conspired against me, and there is
 none that informs me when my son has made [a covenant] with the
 son of Jesse; and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or
 informs me that my son has stirred up my servant as a
 lier-in-wait against me, as at this day?
22:9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the
 servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to
 Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.
22:10 And he inquired of Jehovah for him, and gave him victuals,
 and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
22:11 Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son
 of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in
 Nob; and they came all of them to the king.
22:12 And Saul said, Hear now, son of Ahitub. And he answered,
 Here I am, my lord.
22:13 And Saul said to him, Why have ye conspired against me,
 thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread,
 and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should
 rise against me as a lier-in-wait, as at this day?
22:14 And Ahimelech answered the king and said, And who is so
 faithful among all thy servants as David, who is the king's
 son-in-law, and has access to thy secret council, and is
 honourable in thy house?
22:15 Was it to-day that I began to inquire of God for him? be
 it far from me: let not the king charge anything to his
 servant, [nor] to all the house of my father; for thy servant
 knew nothing of all this, less or more.
22:16 And the king said, Thou shalt certainly die, Ahimelech,
 thou, and all thy father's house.
22:17 And the king said to the couriers that stood about him,
 Turn and put the priests of Jehovah to death; because their
 hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled,
 and did not inform me. But the servants of the king were not
 willing to put forth their hand to fall on the priests of
 Jehovah.
22:18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall on the
 priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and fell on the priests,
 and put to death that day eighty-five persons who wore the
 linen ephod.
22:19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he smote with the edge
 of the sword, both men and women, infants and sucklings, and
 oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.
22:20 And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named
 Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.
22:21 And Abiathar informed David that Saul had slain Jehovah's
 priests.
22:22 And David said to Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg
 the Edomite was there, that he would certainly tell Saul: I am
 accountable for all the lives of thy father's house.
22:23 Abide with me, fear not; for he that seeks my life seeks
 thy life; for with me thou art in safe keeping.
23:1 And they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight
 against Keilah, and they rob the threshing-floors.
23:2 And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go and smite
 these Philistines? And Jehovah said to David, Go and smite the
 Philistines, and save Keilah.
23:3 But David's men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in
 Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies
 of the Philistines?
23:4 And David inquired of Jehovah yet again. And Jehovah
 answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will
 give the Philistines into thy hand.
23:5 And David and his men went to Keilah, and fought against
 the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them
 with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of
 Keilah.
23:6 And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech
 fled to David to Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his
 hand.
23:7 And it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. Then
 Saul said, God has cast him off into my hand; for he is shut
 in, by entering into a city that has gates and bars.
23:8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to
 Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
23:9 And when David knew that Saul devised mischief against him,
 he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring the ephod.
23:10 Then said David, Jehovah, God of Israel, thy servant hath
 heard for certain that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to
 destroy the city for my sake.
23:11 Will the citizens of Keilah deliver me up into his hand?
 will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? Jehovah, God of
 Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And Jehovah said, He
 will come down.
23:12 And David said, Will the citizens of Keilah deliver up me
 and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will
 deliver [thee] up.
23:13 Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and
 departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go.
 And it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, and he
 forbore to go forth.
23:14 And David abode in the wilderness in strongholds, and
 abode in the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul
 sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.
23:15 And David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life; and
 David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.
23:16 And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the
 wood, and strengthened his hand in God.
23:17 And he said to him, Fear not; for the hand of Saul my
 father will not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel,
 and I shall be next to thee; and that also Saul my father
 knows.
23:18 And they two made a covenant before Jehovah; and David
 abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.
23:19 And the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does
 not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the wood, on
 the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the waste?
23:20 And now, O king, come down according to all the desire of
 thy soul to come down; and it will be for us to deliver him up
 into the king's hand.
23:21 And Saul said, Blessed be ye of Jehovah; for ye have
 compassion upon me.
23:22 Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his
 place where his track is, who has seen him there; for it is
 told me that he deals very subtilly.
23:23 And see, and ascertain all the lurking-places where he
 hides himself, and come ye again to me with sure information,
 that I may go with you; and it shall come to pass, if he be in
 the land, that I will search him out throughout the thousands
 of Judah.
23:24 And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul; but David and
 his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the
 south of the waste.
23:25 And Saul and his men went to seek [him]. And they told
 David; and he came down from the rock, and abode in the
 wilderness of Maon. And Saul heard [that], and he pursued after
 David in the wilderness of Maon.
23:26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and
 his men on that side of the mountain; and David made haste to
 get away from Saul; and Saul and his men sought to surround
 David and his men to take them.
23:27 But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, Haste thee and
 come; for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.
23:28 And Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went
 against the Philistines; therefore they called that place
 Sela-hammahlekoth.
23:29 And David went up from thence, and abode in the
 strongholds of Engedi.
24:1 And it came to pass when Saul had returned from following
 the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is
 in the wilderness of Engedi.
24:2 And Saul took three thousand men, chosen out of all Israel,
 and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild
 goats.
24:3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where was a cave;
 and Saul went in to cover his feet; and David and his men were
 abiding in the recesses of the cave.
24:4 And David's men said to him, Behold the day of which
 Jehovah said to thee, Behold, I will give thine enemy into thy
 hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good to thee.
 And David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe secretly.
24:5 And it came to pass afterwards that David's heart smote
 him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt.
24:6 And he said to his men, Jehovah forbid that I should do
 this thing to my master, Jehovah's anointed, to stretch forth
 my hand against him, for he is the anointed of Jehovah.
24:7 And David checked his men with these words, and suffered
 them not to rise against Saul. And Saul rose up out of the
 cave, and went on [his] way.
24:8 David also arose afterwards, and went out of the cave, and
 cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king! And when Saul
 looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and
 did obeisance.
24:9 And David said to Saul, Why dost thou listen to words of
 men, saying, Behold, David seeks thy hurt?
24:10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that Jehovah had
 given thee this day into my hand in the cave; and they bade me
 kill thee; but [mine eye] spared thee; and I said, I will not
 put forth my hand against my lord, for he is the anointed of
 Jehovah.
24:11 And see, my father, yes, see the skirt of thy robe in my
 hand. For in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed
 thee not, know and see that there is neither evil nor
 transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee;
 yet thou liest in wait for my life to take it.
24:12 Jehovah judge between me and thee, and Jehovah avenge me
 of thee; but my hand shall not be upon thee.
24:13 As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness
 proceedeth from the wicked; but my hand shall not be upon thee.
24:14 After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost
 thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a single flea.
24:15 Jehovah therefore shall be judge, and judge between me and
 thee, and see, and plead my cause, and do me justice [in
 delivering me] out of thy hand.
24:16 And as soon as David had ended speaking these words to
 Saul, Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul
 lifted up his voice and wept.
24:17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I; for
 thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.
24:18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt
 well with me, forasmuch as when Jehovah had delivered me up
 into thy hand, thou didst not kill me.
24:19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away?
 wherefore Jehovah reward thee good for that thou hast done to
 me this day.
24:20 And now behold, I know that thou shalt certainly be king,
 and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thy
 hand.
24:21 Swear now therefore to me by Jehovah, that thou wilt not
 cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my
 name out of my father's house.
24:22 And David swore to Saul. And Saul went home; and David and
 his men went up to the stronghold.
25:1 And Samuel died; and all Israel were gathered together, and
 lamented him; and they buried him in his house at Ramah. And
 David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
25:2 And there was a man at Maon, whose business was at Carmel;
 and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and
 a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep at Carmel.
25:3 And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife
 Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a
 beautiful countenance; but the man was churlish and evil in his
 doings; and he was a Calebite.
25:4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing
 his sheep.
25:5 Then David sent out ten young men; and David said to the
 young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in
 my name.
25:6 And thus shall ye say: Long life [to thee]! and peace be to
 thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be to all that thou
 hast!
25:7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers; now thy
 shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there
 aught missed by them, all the while they were in Carmel.
25:8 Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee. Therefore let
 the young men find favour in thine eyes; for we come in a good
 day: give, I pray thee, what thy hand may find to thy servants,
 and to thy son David.
25:9 And David's young men came, and spoke to Nabal according to
 all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
25:10 And Nabal answered David's servants and said, Who is
 David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants
 now-a-days that break away every man from his master.
25:11 And shall I take my bread, and my water, and my flesh
 which I have killed for my shearers, and give [it] to men whom
 I know not whence they are?
25:12 And David's young men turned their way, and went back, and
 came and reported to him according to all those words.
25:13 And David said to his men, Gird ye on every man his sword.
 And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded
 on his sword; and there went up after David about four hundred
 men; and two hundred abode by the baggage.
25:14 And one of [Nabal's] young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife,
 saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to
 bless our master; and he has insulted them.
25:15 And the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt,
 neither missed we anything, as long as we companied with them,
 when we were in the fields.
25:16 They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the
 while we were with them feeding the sheep.
25:17 And now know and consider what thou wilt do, for evil is
 determined against our master, and against all his household;
 and he is such a son of Belial, that one cannot speak to him.
25:18 And Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and
 two skin-bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and
 five measures of parched [corn], and a hundred raisin-cakes,
 and two hundred fig-cakes, and laid them on asses.
25:19 And she said to her young men, Go on before me; behold, I
 come after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
25:20 And as she was riding on the ass, and coming down by the
 covert of the hill, behold, David and his men came down
 opposite to her; and she met them.
25:21 Now David had said, Surely, in vain have I kept all that
 this [man] had in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of
 all that was his; and he has requited me evil for good.
25:22 So and more also do God to the enemies of David, if I
 leave of all that is his by the morning light any male.
25:23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted and lighted off the
 ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to
 the ground,
25:24 and fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, [upon]
 me let the iniquity be; but let thy handmaid, I pray thee,
 speak in thine ears, and hear the words of thy handmaid.
25:25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial,
 Nabal; for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and
 folly is with him; and I thy handmaid did not see the young men
 of my lord, whom thou didst send.
25:26 And now, my lord, [as] Jehovah liveth, and [as] thy soul
 liveth, seeing Jehovah has restrained thee from coming with
 bloodshed, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now
 let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as
 Nabal.
25:27 And now this blessing which thy bondmaid has brought to my
 lord, let it be given to the young men that follow my lord.
25:28 I pray thee, forgive the transgression of thy handmaid:
 for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a lasting house;
 because my lord fights the battles of Jehovah, and evil has not
 been found in thee all thy days.
25:29 And if a man is risen up to pursue thee and to seek thy
 life, the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the
 living with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies,
 them shall he sling out from the hollow of the sling.
25:30 And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall do to my
 lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning
 thee, and shall appoint thee ruler over Israel,
25:31 that this shall be no stumbling-block to thee, nor offence
 of heart for my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without
 cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. And when Jehovah
 shall deal well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.
25:32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of
 Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me.
25:33 And blessed be thy discernment, and blessed be thou, who
 hast kept me this day from coming with bloodshed, and from
 avenging myself with mine own hand.
25:34 But indeed, as Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, who has
 restrained me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and
 come to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the
 morning light any male.
25:35 So David received of her hand what she had brought him,
 and said to her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have
 hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
25:36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in
 his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was
 merry within him, for he was drunken to excess; so she told him
 nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
25:37 And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone
 out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things; and his
 heart died within him, and he became [as] a stone.
25:38 And it came to pass in about ten days that Jehovah smote
 Nabal, and he died.
25:39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed
 be Jehovah, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the
 hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil; but
 Jehovah has returned Nabal's evil upon his own head. And David
 sent and communed with Abigail, to take her as his wife.
25:40 And the servants of David came to Abigail to Carmel, and
 spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to thee, to take thee
 as his wife.
25:41 And she arose and bowed herself on her face to the earth,
 and said, Behold, let thy handmaid be a bondwoman to wash the
 feet of the servants of my lord.
25:42 And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with
 five damsels of hers that followed her; and she went after the
 messengers of David, and became his wife.
25:43 David had also taken Ahinoam of Jizreel; and they became,
 even both of them, his wives.
25:44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to
 Phalti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
26:1 And the Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not
 David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, facing the waste?
26:2 And Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph,
 having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek
 David in the wilderness of Ziph.
26:3 And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which faces the
 waste, by the way side. And David abode in the wilderness; and
 when he saw that Saul had come after him into the wilderness,
26:4 David sent out spies, and learned that Saul was certainly
 come.
26:5 And David arose and came to the place where Saul had
 encamped; and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner
 the son of Ner, the captain of his host; and Saul lay within
 the wagon-defence, and the people were encamped round about
 him.
26:6 And David spake and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to
 Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, saying, Who will go
 down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go
 down with thee.
26:7 And David and Abishai came to the people by night, and
 behold, Saul lay sleeping within the wagon-defence, and his
 spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people
 lay round about him.
26:8 And Abishai said to David, God has delivered thine enemy
 into thy hand this day; and now let me smite him, I pray thee,
 with the spear, even to the ground once, and I will not do it
 the second time.
26:9 And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not; for who can
 stretch forth his hand against Jehovah's anointed, and be
 guiltless?
26:10 And David said, [As] Jehovah liveth, Jehovah will surely
 smite him; either his day shall come to die, or he shall
 descend into battle and perish.
26:11 Jehovah forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against
 Jehovah's anointed! But now take, I pray thee, the spear that
 is at his head, and the cruse of water, and let us go.
26:12 And David took the spear and the cruse of water from
 Saul's head; and they went away, and no man saw [it], and none
 knew [it], and none awaked, for they were all asleep; for a
 deep sleep from Jehovah had fallen upon them.
26:13 And David went over to the other side, and stood on the
 top of a hill afar off; a great space [being] between them.
26:14 And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of
 Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and
 said, Who art thou that criest to the king?
26:15 And David said to Abner, Art not thou a man? and who is
 like to thee in Israel? and why hast thou not guarded thy lord
 the king? for one of the people came in to destroy the king thy
 lord.
26:16 This thing is not good which thou hast done. As Jehovah
 liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not guarded your
 master, Jehovah's anointed. And now see where the king's spear
 is, and the cruse of water that was at his head.
26:17 And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice,
 my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.
26:18 And he said, Why does my lord thus pursue after his
 servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in my hand?
26:19 And now, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words
 of his servant. If Jehovah have moved thee against me, let him
 accept an oblation; but if the sons of men, cursed be they
 before Jehovah; for they have driven me out this day from
 adhering to the inheritance of Jehovah, saying, Go, serve other
 gods.
26:20 And now, let not my blood fall to the earth far from the
 face of Jehovah; for the king of Israel is come out to seek a
 single flea, as when they hunt a partridge on the mountains.
26:21 And Saul said, I have sinned: return, my son David; for I
 will no more do thee harm, because my life was precious in
 thine eyes this day: behold, I have acted foolishly, and have
 erred exceedingly.
26:22 And David answered and said, Behold the king's spear, and
 let one of the young men come over and fetch it.
26:23 And Jehovah will render to every man his righteousness and
 his faithfulness; for Jehovah gave thee into [my] hand this
 day, and I would not stretch forth my hand against Jehovah's
 anointed.
26:24 And behold, as thy life was highly esteemed this day in
 mine eyes, so let my life be highly esteemed in the eyes of
 Jehovah, that he may deliver me out of all distress.
26:25 And Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David:
 thou shalt certainly do [great things], and shalt certainly
 prevail. And David went on his way, and Saul returned to his
 place.
27:1 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by
 the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I
 should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and
 Saul will despair of me to seek me any more within all the
 limits of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.
27:2 And David arose and passed over, he and the six hundred men
 that were with him, to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
27:3 And David abode with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every
 man with his household; David with his two wives, Ahinoam the
 Jizreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.
27:4 And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; and he
 sought no more for him.
27:5 And David said to Achish, If now I have found favour in
 thine eyes, let them give me a place in some country-town, that
 I may abide there; for why should thy servant abide in the
 royal city with thee?
27:6 And Achish gave him Ziklag that day; therefore Ziklag
 belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.
27:7 And the time that David abode in the country of the
 Philistines was a year and four months.
27:8 And David and his men went up and made a raid upon the
 Geshurites, and the Gerzites, and the Amalekites: for those
 were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur,
 and as far as the land of Egypt.
27:9 And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman
 alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses,
 and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to
 Achish.
27:10 So Achish said, Have ye not made a raid to-day? And David
 said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the
 Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.
27:11 And David left neither man nor woman alive, to bring
 [them] to Gath, for he said, Lest they should tell of us,
 saying, So did David. And such was his custom as long as he
 abode in the country of the Philistines.
27:12 And Achish trusted David, saying, He has made himself
 utterly odious among his people Israel; and he shall be my
 servant for ever.
28:1 And it came to pass in those days that the Philistines
 gathered together their armies for warfare to fight against
 Israel. And Achish said to David, Know thou assuredly that thou
 shalt go out with me to the camp, thou and thy men.
28:2 And David said to Achish, Thereby thou shalt know what thy
 servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make
 thee keeper of my person for ever.
28:3 (Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and
 they had buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul
 had put away the necromancers and the soothsayers out of the
 land.)
28:4 And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came
 and encamped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together,
 and they encamped in Gilboa.
28:5 And when Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was
 afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.
28:6 And Saul inquired of Jehovah; but Jehovah did not answer
 him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.
28:7 Then said Saul to his servants, Seek me a woman that has a
 spirit of Python, that I may go to her and inquire of her. And
 his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman who has a
 spirit of Python at En-dor.
28:8 And Saul disguised himself, and put on other garments, and
 he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by
 night; and he said, I pray thee, divine to me by the spirit of
 Python, and bring me [him] up whom I shall name to thee.
28:9 And the woman said to him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul
 has done, how he has cut off the necromancers and the
 soothsayers out of the land; and why layest thou a snare for my
 life, to cause me to die?
28:10 And Saul swore unto her by Jehovah, saying, [As] Jehovah
 liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this
 thing.
28:11 Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he
 said, Bring me up Samuel.
28:12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud
 voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why hast thou
 deceived me? Even thou art Saul.
28:13 And the king said to her, Be not afraid; but what didst
 thou see? And the woman said to Saul, I saw a god ascending out
 of the earth.
28:14 And he said to her, What is his form? And she said, An old
 man comes up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul knew
 that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground,
 and bowed himself.
28:15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to
 bring me up? And Saul said, I am sore distressed; for the
 Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me,
 and answers me no more, neither by prophets nor by dreams;
 therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known to me
 what I shall do.
28:16 And Samuel said, Why then dost thou inquire of me, seeing
 Jehovah is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?
28:17 And Jehovah has done for himself as he spoke by me; and
 Jehovah has rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to
 thy neighbour, to David.
28:18 Because thou didst not hearken to the voice of Jehovah,
 and didst not execute his fierce anger upon Amalek, therefore
 has Jehovah done this thing to thee this day.
28:19 And Jehovah will also give Israel with thee into the hand
 of the Philistines; and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be
 with me; the army of Israel also will Jehovah give into the
 hand of the Philistines.
28:20 And Saul fell straightway his full length on the earth,
 and was sore afraid because of the words of Samuel; and there
 was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all the day
 nor all the night.
28:21 And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was sore
 troubled, and said to him, Behold, thy bondmaid has hearkened
 to thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have
 hearkened to thy words which thou spokest to me.
28:22 And now, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of
 thy bondmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and
 eat, that thou mayest have strength when thou goest on thy way.
28:23 But he refused and said, I will not eat. Then his
 servants, and the woman also, compelled him, and he hearkened
 to their voice; and he arose from the earth and sat on the bed.
28:24 And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted
 and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and baked
 unleavened bread thereof;
28:25 and she brought it near before Saul, and before his
 servants, and they ate. And they rose up and went away that
 night.
29:1 And the Philistines gathered together all their armies to
 Aphek; and Israel encamped by the spring that is in Jizreel.
29:2 And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and
 by thousands; and David and his men passed on in the rearward
 with Achish.
29:3 And the princes of the Philistines said, What are these
 Hebrews? And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Is
 not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has
 been with me these days, or these years, and I have found
 nothing in him since the day of his falling away [to me] to
 this day?
29:4 But the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and
 the princes of the Philistines said to him, Make the man
 return, that he may go again to his place where thou hast
 appointed him, that he go not down with us to the battle, that
 in the battle he be not an adversary to us; for wherewith
 should this [fellow] reconcile himself to his master? should it
 not be with the heads of these men?
29:5 Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in
 dances, saying, Saul smote his thousands, and David his ten
 thousands?
29:6 And Achish called David, and said to him, [As] Jehovah
 liveth, thou art upright, and thy going out and thy coming in
 with me in the camp is acceptable to me; for I have not found
 evil in thee since the day of thy coming to me to this day; but
 thou art not acceptable to the lords.
29:7 And now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not
 the lords of the Philistines.
29:8 And David said to Achish, But what have I done? and what
 hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee
 to this day, that I should not go and fight against the enemies
 of my lord the king?
29:9 And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art
 acceptable to me, as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes
 of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the
 battle.
29:10 And now rise up early in the morning with thy master's
 servants that are come with thee; and rise ye early in the
 morning, and when ye have daylight, depart.
29:11 And David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the
 morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the
 Philistines went up to Jizreel.
30:1 And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag
 on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the
 south, and upon Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag and burned it with
 fire;
30:2 and had taken the women captives that were in it; both
 great and small: they had put none to death, but had carried
 them off, and went on their way.
30:3 And David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was
 burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their
 daughters were taken captives.
30:4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up
 their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
30:5 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the
 Jizreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
30:6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of
 stoning him; for the soul of all the people was embittered,
 every man because of his sons and because of his daughters; but
 David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.
30:7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son,
 Bring near to me, I pray thee, the ephod. And Abiathar brought
 the ephod near to David.
30:8 And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue after
 this troop? shall I overtake them? And he said to him, Pursue;
 for thou shalt assuredly overtake [them] and shalt certainly
 recover.
30:9 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with
 him, and they came to the torrent Besor; and those that were
 left stayed behind.
30:10 And David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two
 hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to go over the
 torrent Besor.
30:11 And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him
 to David, and gave him bread, and he ate; and they gave him
 water to drink,
30:12 and gave him a piece of fig-cake and two raisin-cakes, and
 he ate, and his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no
 bread, nor drunk any water, for three days and three nights.
30:13 And David said to him, To whom belongest thou? and whence
 art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant of an
 Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell
 sick.
30:14 We made a raid against the south of the Cherethites, and
 against what [belongs] to Judah, and against the south of
 Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.
30:15 And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this
 troop? And he said, Swear to me by God, that thou wilt neither
 put me to death nor deliver me up into the hand of my master,
 and I will bring thee down to this troop.
30:16 And he brought him down, and behold, they were spread over
 the whole land, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of
 all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the
 Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
30:17 And David smote them from the twilight even to the evening
 of the next day; and there escaped not a man of them, save four
 hundred young men, who rode upon camels, and fled.
30:18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken: and
 David recovered his two wives.
30:19 And there was nothing missed by them, neither small nor
 great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil nor anything
 that they had taken: David brought all back.
30:20 And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they
 drove before the other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.
30:21 And David came to the two hundred men who had been too
 exhausted to follow David, and whom they had left behind at the
 torrent Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet
 the people that were with him; and David drew near to the
 people and saluted them.
30:22 And all the wicked men, and [men] of Belial, of those that
 had gone with David, answered and said, Because they went not
 with us, we will not give them [aught] of the spoil that we
 have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children,
 that they may lead [them] away and depart.
30:23 Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with
 that which Jehovah has given us, who has preserved us, and
 given the troop that came against us into our hand.
30:24 And who will hearken to you in this matter? For as his
 share is that goes down to the battle, so shall his share be
 that abides by the baggage: they shall share alike.
30:25 And it was [so] from that day forward; and he made it a
 statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
30:26 And David came to Ziklag, and he sent of the spoil to the
 elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, Behold a present for
 you of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah:
30:27 to those in Bethel, and to those in south Ramoth, and to
 those in Jattir,
30:28 and to those in Aroer, and to those in Siphmoth, and to
 those in Eshtemoa,
30:29 and to those in Rachal, and to those in the cities of the
 Jerahmeelites, and to those in the cities of the Kenites,
30:30 and to those in Hormah, and to those in Chor-ashan, and to
 those in Athach,
30:31 and to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David
 himself and his men went about.
31:1 And the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of
 Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on
 mount Gilboa.
31:2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his
 sons; and the Philistines smote Jonathan, and Abinadab, and
 Malchishua, Saul's sons.
31:3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers came
 up with him; and he was much terrified by the archers.
31:4 Then said Saul to his armour-bearer, Draw thy sword, and
 thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and
 thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would
 not; for he was much afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on
 it.
31:5 And when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell
 likewise on his sword, and died with him.
31:6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer,
 and all his men, that same day together.
31:7 And when the men of Israel that were on this side of the
 valley, and [they] that were on this side of the Jordan, saw
 that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were
 dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines
 came and dwelt in them.
31:8 And it came to pass the next day, that the Philistines came
 to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons
 fallen on mount Gilboa.
31:9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and
 sent [them] into the land of the Philistines round about, to
 announce the glad tidings in the houses of their idols, and to
 the people.
31:10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth; and
 they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
31:11 And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead heard of what
 the Philistines had done to Saul,
31:12 all the valiant men arose and went all night, and took the
 body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of
 Beth-shan, and came to Jabesh, and burned them there.
31:13 And they took their bones, and buried them under the
 tamarisk at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.