And the prophet Gad said unto David, "Abide not in castles, but depart and go to the land of Judah." Then David departed and came into the forest of Hereth.

But Saul found out the whereabouts of David and the men who were with him. Now Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree at an elevated location with his spear in hand and all his servants stationed around him.

But all of you have conspired against me, and none of you was revealing in my ear when my son cut a covenant with the son of Jesse? And not one of you is sorry for me, even to reveal in my ear that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as today.

But Doeg the Edomite, who [was] stationed among the servants of Saul, answered and said, "I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.

But Ahimelech answered the king and said, "And who among all your servants [is] as faithful as David? He [is] the son-in-law of the king who moves [quickly] to safeguard you and is honored in your house.

But the king said, "You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's house!

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.

But, one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, whose name was Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.

Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.

But David's men said to him, "Look, we [are] afraid here in Judah. {How much more} [if] we go [to] Keilah to the battle lines of [the] Philistines?"

So David asked the Lord once again. But again the Lord replied, "Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand."

But David had knowledge that Saul imagined mischief against him, and said therefore to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod."

And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.

and said unto him, - Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee, but, thou, shalt become king over Israel, and, I, shall be, next, unto thee, yea and, Saul my father, knoweth this.

When the two of them had made a covenant before the Lord, David stayed on at Horesh, but Jonathan went to his house.

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 Jeshimon.

Saul and his men went to look for him. But David was informed and went down to the rock and stayed in the desert of Maon. When Saul heard about it, he pursued David in the desert of Maon.

Saul went on one side of the mountain, while David and his men went on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, but Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men so they could capture them.

But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land.

Then Saul took three thousand men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men in the rocks, where nothing haunted but wild goats.

So David restrained his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose out of the cave, and went on his way.

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

Now, my father, see, yes, see, the hem of your robe in my hand! For {when I cut} the hem of your robe I did not kill you. Know and {realize} that there is no evil or rebellion in my hand. I did not sin against you, but you [are] hunting down my life to take it.

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

As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but my hand shall not be upon thee.

Then he said to David, "You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me the good, but I have repaid you the evil.

You have explained to me today that you have dealt well with me, how Yahweh delivered me into your hand but you did not kill me.

For a man has found his enemy but sent him on [his] way safely. Now may Yahweh reward you with good in return for this day, for what you have done for me.

And David swore to Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men repaired to the hold.

Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

But Nabal answered David's servants and said, "Who [is] David? And who [is] the son of Jesse? Today, [there] are many servants breaking away from the presence of their masters.

But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed at them.

But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields:

But they were a wall of defense unto us both by night and also by day, all the while we were with them keeping sheep.

Now, therefore, know thou, and see, what thou canst do, for mischief is determined against our lord, and against all his household, - but, he, is such an abandoned man, that one cannot speak unto him.

And she said to 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} I guarded all that this fellow had in the desert. And nothing was missed of all that [was] his, but he returned evil against me in place of good!

Falling at his feet, she said, "My lord, I accept all the guilt! But please let your female servant speak with my lord! Please listen to the words of your servant!

Let not my lord, I pray thee, 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 thy handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

Yet a man hath risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thy enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the middle of a sling.

That this will be no grief to thee, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.

But {as Yahweh lives}, the God of Israel who has prevented me from harming you, if you had not hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been {one male} left alive for Nabal by the light of morning!"

But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine had left Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, "Blessed be Yahweh who has vindicated the case of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and he has kept back his servant from evil; but Yahweh has returned the evil of Nabal on his [own] head." Then David sent and spoke with Abigail to take her for his wife.

But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.

And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.

So David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay about him.

But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him! For who has stretched out his hand against Yahweh's anointed one and remained blameless?"

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

So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul’s head, and they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a sound sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.

And David said to Abner, Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? But why have you not watched over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy your lord the king.

Not good is this thing which thou hast done; Jehovah liveth, but ye are sons of death, in that ye have not watched over your lord, over the anointed of Jehovah; and now, see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water which is at his bolster.'

Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD hath stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they are 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.

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

Then Saul said to David, "Blessed are you, my son David; {you will not only do many things, but also will always succeed}!" Then David went on his way and Saul returned to his place.

Then David {thought to himself}, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me but [that] I must certainly escape to the land of [the] Philistines. Then Saul will desist from searching for me further in all of the territories of Israel, and so I will escape from his hand."

Whenever David attacked the land, he did not leave a single person alive, either man or woman, but he took flocks, herds, donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he came back to Achish,

But, neither man nor woman, used David to save alive, to bring into Gath, for he said, Lest they tell of us, saying, - So, hath David done, and, such, his manner, all the days that he hath dwelt in the country of the Philistines.

And Saul inquired of Yahweh, but Yahweh did not answer him, not by dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets.

But the woman said to him, "Look, you know what Saul did, how he exterminated the mediums and the soothsayers from the land! Why [are] you setting a trap for my life to kill me?"

But Saul swore an oath to her by the Lord, "As surely as the Lord lives, you will not incur guilt in this matter!"

But the king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?”

“I see a spirit form coming up out of the earth,” the woman answered.

Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul said, "{I am in distress}! For [the] Philistines [are about] to make war against me, but God has turned away from me, and he does not answer me any more, not {by the prophets} or by the dreams. So I called to you to let me know what I should do."

But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened to their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.

And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rear with Achish.

But the commanders of [the] Philistines were angry with him and they said to him, "Send the man back so that he might return to his place where you have assigned him! But he will not go down with us into the battle, so that he does not become an adversary to us in the battle. By what could this fellow make himself favorable to his lord? Is it not with the heads of these men?

[Is] this not David about whom they sing in the dances, saying, 'Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands'?"

So Achish called David and said to him, "{As Yahweh lives}, certainly you were honest, and {I am pleased to have you marching with me} in the campaign. For I have not found any wrong in you from the day you came to me until this day, but in the eyes of the rulers, you [are] not good.

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 may not go and 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, like an angel of God. But the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

So get up early in the morning, with the servants of your lord who are with you, and go to the place I have given you, and have no evil design in your heart, for you are good in my eyes; but when there is light enough in the morning, go away.

So David set out early, he and his men, to leave in the morning to return to the land of [the] Philistines, but [the] Philistines went up [to] Jezreel.

But yer David and his men were come to Ziklag the third day, the Amalekites had run in a running upon the south and upon Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag and burnt it with fire,

And had taken the women captives that were in it, they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

And David was greatly distressed: for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons, and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

But David took a good courage to him in the LORD his God and said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, "Bring me the ephod." And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the Wadi Besor, but the rest remained.

But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, who were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

Then David said to him, "{To whom do you belong}, and from where [are] you? The young man said, "I am an Egyptian young man, a servant of an Amalekite man, but my master abandoned me because I became ill three days ago.

But David struck them down from twilight until the following evening. None of them escaped, with the exception of four hundred young men who got away on camels.

But nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that they had taken for themselves; David brought it all back.

And David came to the two hundred men, who because of weariness had not gone with him, but were waiting at the stream Besor: and they went out, meeting David and the people who were with him; and when they came near them, they said, How are you?

But all the evil and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, "Since they didn't go with us, we won't give them any of the loot we retrieved! They may take only their wives and children. Let them lead them away and be gone!"

But David said to them, "You should not do so, my brothers, with what Yahweh has given to us! He has preserved us and has given the [raiding] band that came against us into our hand.

For who will hearken to you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the goods: they shall part alike.

Then said Saul to his armor-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised should come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armor-bearer would not; for he was exceedingly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

And they hanged up his harness in the house of Ashtaroth, but they hanged up his carcass on the walls of Bet-Shean.