Now the spirit of the Lord had gone from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord was troubling him.

The Philistines were stationed on the mountain on one side and Israel on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

And a fighter came out from the tents of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath; he was more than six cubits tall.

And he had a head-dress of brass on his head, and he was dressed in a coat of metal, the weight of which was five thousand shekels of brass.

His legs were covered with plates of brass and hanging on his back was a javelin of brass.

The stem of his spear was as long as a cloth-worker's rod, and its head was made of six hundred shekels' weight of iron: and one went before him with his body-cover.

Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah named Jesse, who had eight sons; and he was an old man in Saul's day, and far on in years.

And David was the youngest: and the three oldest were with Saul's army.

And David got up early in the morning, and, giving the sheep into the care of a keeper, took the things and went as Jesse had said; and he came to the lines where the carts were, when the army was going out to the fight giving their war-cry.

And while he was talking to them, the fighter, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came out from the Philistines' lines and said the same words, in David's hearing.

And Eliab, his oldest brother, hearing what David said to the men, was moved to wrath against David, and said, Why have you come here? Into whose care have you given that little flock of sheep in the waste land? I have knowledge of your pride and the evil of your heart, you have come down to see the fight.

And David said, What have I done now? was it not only a word?

And David took Saul's sword and put the band round him over the metal coat, and was unable to go forward; for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, It is not possible for me to go out with these, for I am not used to them. So David took them off.

Then he took his stick in his hand, and got five smooth stones from the bed of the stream and put them in a bag such as is used by sheep-keepers; and in his hand was a leather band used for sending stones: and so he went in the direction of the Philistine.

And when the Philistine, taking note, saw David, he had a poor opinion of him: for he was only a boy, red-haired and good-looking.

So running up to the Philistine and putting his foot on him, David took his sword out of its cover, and put him to death, cutting off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their fighter was dead, they went in flight.

And when David was coming back after the destruction of the Philistine, Abner took him to Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

Now after David's talk with Saul was ended, the soul of Jonathan was joined with the soul of David, and David became as dear to him as his very life.

And David went wherever Saul sent him, and did wisely: and Saul put him at the head of his men of war, and this was pleasing to all the people as well as to Saul's servants.

And Saul was very angry and this saying was unpleasing to him; and he said, They have given David credit for tens of thousands, and to me for only thousands: what more is there for him but the kingdom?

And from that day Saul was looking with envy on David.

Now on the day after, an evil spirit from God came on Saul with great force and he was acting like a prophet among the men of his house, while David was making music for him, as he did day by day: and Saul had his spear in his hand.

And Saul went in fear of David, because the Lord was with David and had gone away from Saul.

And in all his undertakings David did wisely; and the Lord was with him.

And when Saul saw how wisely he did, he was in fear of him.

But David was loved by all Israel and Judah, for he went out and came in before them.

But when the time came to give Merab, Saul's daughter, to David, she was given to Adriel of Meholath.

And Saul's daughter Michal was in love with David: and Saul had word of it and was pleased.

And Saul said, Then say to David, The king has no desire for any bride-price, but only for the private parts of a hundred Philistines so that the king may get the better of his haters. But it was in Saul's mind that David might come to his end by the hands of the Philistines.

And when his servants said these words to David, he was well pleased to be the son-in-law of the king. And the days were still not past.

And it was clear to Saul that the Lord was with David; and he was loved by all Israel.

And there was war again: and David went out fighting the Philistines, causing great destruction among them; and they went in flight before him.

And an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul, when he was seated in his house with his spear in his hand; and David made music for him.

And when the men came in, there was the image in the bed, with the cushion of goat's hair at its head

And word was given to Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah.

And he took off his clothing, acting like a prophet before Samuel, and falling down he was stretched out, without his clothing, all that day and all that night. This is the reason for the saying, Is even Saul among the prophets?

And Jonathan said, Do not have such a thought: for if I saw that my father was designing evil against you, would I not give you word of it?

And Jonathan again took an oath to David, because of his love for him: for David was as dear to him as his very soul.

And on the third day it will be specially noted, and you will go to the place where you took cover when the other business was in hand, waiting by the hill over there.

And the king took his seat, as at other times, by the wall: and Jonathan was in front, and Abner was seated by Saul's side, but there was no one in David's seat.

But Saul said nothing that day, for his thought was, Something has taken place making him unclean; it is clear that he is not clean.

And on the day after the new moon, that is, the second day, there was still no one in David's seat: and Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast yesterday or today?

Then Saul was moved to wrath against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of an evil and uncontrolled woman, have I not seen how you have given your love to the son of Jesse, to your shame and the shame of your mother?

And Saul, pointing his spear at him, made an attempt to give him a wound: from which it was clear to Jonathan that his father's purpose was to put David to death.

And he said to the boy, Go and get the arrow I let loose from my bow. And while the boy was running, he sent an arrow past him.

And when the boy came to the place where the arrow was, Jonathan, crying out after the boy, said, Has it not gone past you?

But the boy had no idea what was going on; only Jonathan and David had knowledge of it.

And when the boy had gone, David came from his secret place by the hill, and falling to the earth went down on his face three times: and they gave one another a kiss, weeping together, till David's grief was the greater.

Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was full of fear at meeting David, and said to him, Why are you by yourself, having no man with you?

And David in answer said to the priest, Certainly women have been kept from us; and as has been done before when I have gone out the arms of the young men were made holy, even though it was a common journey; how much more today will their arms be made holy.

So the priest gave him the holy bread: there was no other, only the holy bread which had been taken from before the Lord, so that new bread might be put in its place on the day when it was taken away.

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, kept back before the Lord; his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the strongest of Saul's runners.

So changing his behaviour before them, he made it seem as if he was off his head, hammering on the doors of the town, and letting the water from his mouth go down his chin.

And everyone who was in trouble, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, came together to him, and he became captain over them: about four hundred men were joined to him.

And he took them to the king of Moab and they went on living with him while David was in his safe place.

And news was given to Saul that David had been seen, and the men who were with him: now Saul was in Gibeah, seated under the tree in the high place, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were in their places before him.

Then Doeg, the Edomite, who was by the side of the servants of Saul, in answer said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub.

And David said to Abiathar, I was certain that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would take the news to Saul: I am responsible for the lives of all your father's family.

So David and his men went to Keilah, and had a fight with the Philistines, and took away their cattle, and put them to the sword with great destruction. So David was the saviour of the people of Keilah.

And news was given to Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, Now God has given him into my hands; for by going into a walled town with locked doors, he has let himself be shut in.

And it was clear to David that Saul had evil designs against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, Come here with the ephod.

And David kept in the waste land, in safe places, waiting in the hill-country in the waste land of Ziph. And Saul was searching for him every day, but God did not give him up into his hands

And David was full of fear, in the knowledge that Saul had come out to take his life; and David was in the waste land of Ziph, in Horesh.

And Saul and his men went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men went on the other: and David's purpose was to get away as quickly as possible, for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men were making a circle round David and his men in order to take them.

So turning back from going after David, Saul went against the Philistines: so that place was named Sela-hammah-lekoth.

Now when Saul came back from fighting the Philistines, news was given him that David was in the waste land of En-gedi.

And on the way he came to a place where sheep were kept, where there was a hollow in the rock; and Saul went in for a private purpose. Now David and his men were in the deepest part of the hollow.

And later, David was full of regret for cutting off Saul's skirt.

And David said to his men, Before the Lord, never let it be said that my hand was lifted up against my lord, the man of the Lord's selection, for the Lord's holy oil has been put on him.

Now when David had said these words to Saul, Saul said, Is this your voice, David, my son? And Saul was overcome with weeping.

Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; he was a great man and had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats: and he was cutting the wool of his sheep in Carmel.

Now this man was named Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail: she was a woman of good sense and pleasing looks: but the man was cruel and evil in his ways; he was of the family of Caleb.

And David had word in the waste land that Nabal was cutting the wool of his sheep.

But these men have been very good to us; they did us no wrong and nothing of ours was touched while we were with them in the fields:

Now while she was going down under cover of the mountain on her ass, David and his men came down against her, and suddenly she came face to face with them.

Now David had said, What was the use of my taking care of this man's goods in the waste land, so that there was no loss of anything which was his? he has only given me back evil for good.

And Abigail went back to Nabal; and he was feasting in his house like a king; and Nabal's heart was full of joy, for he had taken much wine; so she said nothing to him till dawn came.

And in the morning, when the effect of the wine was gone, Nabal's wife gave him an account of all these things, and all the heart went out of him, and he became like stone.

And David, hearing that Nabal was dead, said, May the Lord be praised, who has taken up my cause against Nabal for the shame which he put on me, and has kept back his servant from evil, and has sent on Nabal's head the reward of his evil-doing. And David sent word to Abigail, desiring to take her as his wife.

And Saul put up his tents on the hill of Hachilah, which is in front of the waste land on the road. But David was in the waste land, and he saw that Saul was coming after him.

And so David sent out watchers, and got word from them that Saul was certainly coming.

And David got up and came to the place where Saul's tents were: and David had a view of the place where Saul was sleeping with Abner, the son of Ner, the captain of his army: and Saul was sleeping inside the ring of carts, and the tents of the people were all round him.

So David and Abishai came down to the army by night: and Saul was sleeping inside the ring of carts with his spear planted in the earth by his head: and Abner and the people were sleeping round him.

What you have done is not good. By the living Lord, death is the right fate for you, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the man on whom the Lord has put the holy oil. Now see, where is the king's spear, and the vessel of water which was by his head?

And Saul, conscious that the voice was David's, said, Is that your voice, David, my son? And David said, It is my voice, O my lord king.

Then Saul said, I have done wrong: come back to me, David my son: I will do you no more wrong, because my life was dear to you today truly, I have been foolish and my error is very great.

And so, as your life was dear to me today, may my life be dear to the Lord, and may he make me free from all my troubles.

And David was living in the land of the Philistines for the space of a year and four months.

And David again and again made attacks on the land till not a man or a woman was still living; and he took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the clothing; and he came back to Achish.

Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel, after weeping for him, had put his body in its last resting-place in Ramah, his town. And Saul had put away from the land all those who had control of spirits and who made use of secret arts.

And when Saul saw the Philistine army he was troubled, and his heart was moved with fear.

And the woman saw that it was Saul, and she gave a loud cry, and said to Saul, Why have you made use of deceit? for you are Saul.

And he said to her, What is his form? And she said, It is an old man coming up covered with a robe. And Saul saw that it was Samuel, and with his face bent down to the earth he gave him honour.

Then Saul went down flat on the earth, and was full of fear because of Samuel's words: and there was no strength in him, for he had taken no food all that day or all that night.

And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was in great trouble, and said to him, See now, your servant has given ear to your words, and I have put my life in danger by doing what you said.

Is this not David, who was named in their songs, when in the dance they said to one another, Saul has put to death thousands, and David tens of thousands?

And David was greatly troubled; for the people were talking of stoning him, because their hearts were bitter, every man sorrowing for his sons and his daughters: but David made himself strong in the Lord his God.

There was no loss of anything, small or great, sons or daughters or goods or anything which they had taken away: David got it all back.

Who is going to give any attention to you in this question? for an equal part will be given to him who went to the fight and to him who was waiting by the goods: they are all to have the same.

And the fight was going badly for Saul, and the archers came across him, and he was wounded by the archers.