And they said to the messengers that came, thus shall ye say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, To-morrow by the time the sun is hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and showed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.

And it was so on the morrow, that Saul disposed the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning-watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they who remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.

Then said the people to Samuel, "What are they that said, 'Shall Saul reign over us? Bring them that we may slay them.'"

And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal: and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

Now, therefore, lo! the king going to and fro before you, But, I, am old and grey-headed, and, my sons, lo! they are with you, - But, I, have gone to and fro before you from my youth until this day.

And they said thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught from any man's hand.

And he said to them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.

"When Jacob came to Egypt, your ancestors cried out to Yahweh, so he sent Moses and Aaron, and they brought your ancestors out from Egypt and settled them in this place.

And when they forgot the LORD their God, 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.

And they cried to the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.

They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants, so we won’t die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of requesting a king for ourselves.”

And turn ye not aside: for then would ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.

And Jonathan slew the Philistines in a hold they had in Gibeah, and it came to the Philistines' ears. And Saul caused the trumpet to be blown throughout all the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear."

And the Philistines assembled 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.

When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed) then the people hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.

And Samuel arose and departed from Gilgal, and the rest of the people went up after Saul to meet him after the men of war, when they had come up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.

Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the colters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads.

So 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 they were found.

If they say thus to us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them.

But if they say thus, Come up to us; then we will go up: for the LORD hath delivered them into our hand; and this shall be a sign to us.

And both of them discovered 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.

The men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armor-bearer. “Come on up, and we’ll teach you a lesson!” they said.

“Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the Lord has handed them over to Israel.”

And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armor-bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor-bearer slew after him.

And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling.

And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another.

Then said Saul to the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there.

And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.

Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from the country around, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.

Likewise all the men of Israel who had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle.

And so God helped Israel that day. And the battle continued until they came unto Bethaven.

And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground.

When the troops entered the forest, they saw the flow of honey, but none of them ate any of it because they feared the oath.

How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to-day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?

And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Ajalon: and the people were very faint.

Then the troops took the plunder: they took sheep and cattle and {calves} and slaughtered [them] on the ground and the troops ate [them all] with the blood.

Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone to me this day.

Then Saul said, "Disperse yourselves among the soldiers and say to them, "Let each man bring his ox and his sheep to me, and you are to slaughter them here and eat. But don't sin against the LORD by eating meat with the blood.'" So every soldier brought his ox with him that night, and they slaughtered them there.

And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatever seemeth good to thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither to God.

And Saul said, ?Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. Whomever the LORD shall indicate to be taken by lot, let him die.? And the people said to Saul, ?This thing is not to be done.? And Saul prevailed over the people, and they cast lots between him and Jonathan his son. And Jonathan was selected.

Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

This is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them along the way as they were coming out of Egypt.

Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

And Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, withdraw yourselves from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up from Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

And Samuel will say to Saul, Desist, and I will announce to thee what Jehovah spake to me by night. And they will say to him, Speak.

And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.

And Saul said to Samuel, Great is my sin: for I have gone against the orders of the Lord and against your words: because, fearing the people, I did what they said.

So Samuel did what Yahweh said. He came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city came trembling to meet him. They said, "{Have you come in peace}?"

And it came to pass when they had come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD'S anointed is before him.

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.

[The] Philistines gathered their camps for battle and they were gathered [at] Socoh which [belongs] to Judah. They camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes Dammim.

And Saul and the men of Israel were assembled and encamped by the valley of Elah, and they set the battle in array against the Philistines.

When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

and the three eldest sons of Jesse go, they have gone after Saul to battle; and the name of his three sons who have gone into battle are Eliab the first-born, and his second Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

Also take these ten portions of cheese to their commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back their pledge that they received the goods.

Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and he took [the provisions] and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment while the troops [were] going to the battle line, and they raised the war cry.

David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were.

As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words again; and David heard him.

And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were exceedingly afraid.

Then he turned from those who were nearby to someone else and asked the same question, but they gave him the same answer as before.

And when the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.

Therefore David ran and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward, shouting a battle cry. They chased the Philistines to the valley and to the very gates of Ekron. The Philistine corpses lay fallen along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

And the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents.

And it came to pass as they came, when David had 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 tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music.

And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands; and what can he have more but the kingdom?

And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.

Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter for a wife.

Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass after they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much esteemed.

And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.

And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.

Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him so they could kill him in the morning. David's wife, Michal, told him, "If you don't escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you'll be put to death."

When the messengers came, they found only the idol on the bed and the quilt made of goat's hair at its head.

And David hath fled, and is escaped, and cometh in unto Samuel to Ramath, and declareth to him all that Saul hath done to him, and he goeth, he and Samuel, and they dwell in Naioth.

And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.

Then he went also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.

Someone replied, "They're at Naioth in Ramah." Saul went to Naioth in Ramah, and the Spirit of God came on him also. He continued in prophetic ecstasy until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?

And Jonathan said to David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.

And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place towards 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.

The priest told him, “There is no ordinary bread on hand. However, there is consecrated bread, but the young men may eat it only if they have kept themselves from women.”

David said to the priest, "Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers' equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!"

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.

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 hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

David thought about what they said and was very afraid of King Achish of Gath.

David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him.

And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.

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.

And the king said to 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.

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

So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with [the] Philistines. They drove off their livestock and {dealt them a heavy blow}. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

And now, is it true, as they have said to me, that Saul is coming? O Lord, the God of Israel, give ear to your servant, and say if these things are so. And the Lord said, He is coming down.

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 thee up.

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

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

Go, please, make certain again! Find out and see {exactly where he is} and who has seen him there! For they have said to me, 'He [is] very cunning.'