And Jonathan said, Far be it from you: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon you, then would not I tell it to you?

Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if your father answers you roughly?

And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded out my father tomorrow about this time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto you, and show it to you;

The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will show it to you, and send you away, that you may go in peace: and the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father.

And you shall not only while yet I live show me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not:

But also you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever: no, not when the LORD has cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.

And as for the matter which you and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between you and me forever.

And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:

And he said, Let me go, I pray you; for our family has a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he has commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away, I pray you, and see my brethren. Therefore he comes not unto the king's table.

For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the ground, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Therefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.

And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, since as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king has charged me with a business, and has said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you: and I have directed my young men to such and such a place.

Now therefore what is there on hand? give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or what there is present.

And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here on hand a spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.

And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you slew in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if you will take that, take it: for there is no other except that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it to me.

Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, you see the man is mad: why then have you brought him to me?

Have I need of mad men, that you have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.

That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that shows me that my son has made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or shows unto me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

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

And Saul said unto him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for your servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.

And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not show it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.

Abide you with me, fear not: for he that seeks my life seeks your life: but with me you shall be safe.

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

Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.

Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech you, tell your servant. And the LORD said, He will come down.

Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver you up.

And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; and you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto you; and that also Saul my father knows.

And Saul said, Blessed be you of the LORD; for you have compassion on me.

Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there: for it is told me that he deals very craftily.

See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself, and come you again to me with certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.

And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it shall seem good unto you. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe stealthily.

And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.

David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself.

Behold, this day your eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered you today into my hand in the cave: and some bade me kill you: but my eye spared you; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord; for he is the LORD'S anointed.

Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of your robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and killed you not, know you and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against you; yet you hunt my soul to take it.

The LORD judge between me and you, and the LORD avenge me of you: but my hand shall not be upon you.

As says the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceeds from the wicked: but my hand shall not be upon you.

The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand.

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

And he said to David, you are more righteous than I: for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil.

And you have shown this day how that you have dealt well with me: for when the LORD had delivered me into your hand, you killed me not.

For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? therefore the LORD reward you with good for what you have done unto me this day.

Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house.

And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:

Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not from where they be?

And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.

Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he has repaid me evil for good.

And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let your handmaid, I pray you, speak in your audience, and hear the words of your handmaid.

Let not my lord, I pray you, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I your handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom you did send.

Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, seeing the LORD has held you back from coming to shed blood, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now let your enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

And now this blessing which your handmaid has brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.

I pray you, forgive the trespass of your handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord an enduring house; because my lord fights the battles of the LORD, and evil has not been found in you all your days.

Yet a man has risen to pursue you, and to seek your soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; and the souls of your enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.

And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you ruler over Israel;

That this shall be no grief unto you, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid.

And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me:

And blessed be your advice, and blessed be you, who has kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with my own hand.

For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hastened and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any remaining males.

And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept his servant from evil: for the LORD has returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and talked with Abigail, to take her to be his wife.

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

Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with you.

Then said Abishai to David, God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day: now therefore let me strike him, I pray you, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not strike him the second time.

The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the LORD'S anointed: but, I pray you, take you now the spear that is at his head, and the jar of water, and let us go.

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

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

Now therefore, I pray you, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods.

Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when one does hunt a partridge in the mountains.

Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do you harm, because my soul was precious in your eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.

The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the LORD delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch forth my hand against the LORD'S anointed.

And, behold, as your life was precious this day in my eyes, so let my life be precious in the eyes of the LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.

Then Saul said to David, Blessed be you, my son David: you shall both do great things, and also shall still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

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 shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any border of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.

And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?

And Achish believed David, saying, He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant forever.

And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know you assuredly, that you shall go out with me to battle, you and your men.

And David said to Achish, Surely you shall know what your servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make you my guardian forever.

Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that is a medium at Endor.

And Saul disguised himself, and put on other clothing, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray you, divine unto me as a medium, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto you.

And the woman said unto him, Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those that are mediums, and the wizards, out of the land: why then lay you a snare for my life, to cause me to die?

Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto you? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? for you are Saul.

And Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disturbed me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am much distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me, and answers me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called you, that you may make known unto me what I shall do.

Then said Samuel, Why then do you ask of me, seeing the LORD has departed from you, and has become your enemy?

And the LORD has done to you, as he spoke by me: for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to your neighbor, even to David:

Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines: and tomorrow shall you and your sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was greatly troubled, and said unto him, Behold, your handmaid has obeyed your voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto your words which you spoke unto me.

Now therefore, I pray you, hearken also unto the voice of your handmaid, and let me set a piece of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength, when you go on your way.

Then said the princes of the Philistines, What are these Hebrews doing here? And Achish said unto 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 no fault in him since he deserted unto me unto this day?

And the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which you have appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for with what should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?

Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the LORD lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favor you not.

And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what have you found in your servant so long as I have been with you unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

And Achish answered and said to David, I know that you are good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray you, bring me here the ephod. And Abiathar brought there the ephod to David.

And David said unto him, To whom do you belong? and from where are you? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.

And David said to him, Can you bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that you will neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this company.

Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.

Then said David, you shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD has given us, who has preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.

Then said Saul unto his armorbearer, Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.