After that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed to the ground in homage.

David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of people who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’?

When David finished saying these things to him, Saul replied, “Is that your voice, David my son?” Then Saul wept aloud

So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

But Saul gave his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah saying, “David is hiding on the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon.”

So Saul, accompanied by 3,000 of the choice men of Israel, went to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there.

Saul camped beside the road at the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon. David was living in the wilderness and discovered Saul had come there after him.

So David sent out spies and knew for certain that Saul had come.

Immediately, David went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the general of his army, were lying down. Saul was lying inside the inner circle of the camp with the troops camped around him.

Then David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, “Who will go with me into the camp to Saul?”

“I’ll go with you,” answered Abishai.

That night, David and Abishai came to the troops, and Saul was lying there asleep in the inner circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. Abner and the troops were lying around him.

So David took the spear and the water jug by Saul’s head, and they went their way. No one saw them, no one knew, and no one woke up; they all remained asleep because a deep sleep from the Lord came over them.

Saul recognized David’s voice and asked, “Is that your voice, my son David?”

“It is my voice, my lord and king,” David said.

Saul responded, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David, I will never harm you again because today you considered my life precious. I have been a fool! I’ve committed a grave error.”

Saul said to him, “You are blessed, my son David. You will certainly do great things and will also prevail.” Then David went on his way, and Saul returned home.

David said to himself, “One of these days I’ll be swept away by Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape immediately to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me everywhere in Israel, and I’ll escape from him.”

When it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

By this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his city, and Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.

The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel, and they camped at Gilboa.

When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he was afraid and trembled violently.

Saul then said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.”

His servants replied, “There is a woman at En-dor who is a medium.”

Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes and set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me. Bring up for me the one I tell you.”

But the woman said to him, “You surely know what Saul has done, how he has killed the mediums and spiritists in the land. Why are you setting a trap for me to get me killed?”

Then Saul swore to her by the Lord: “As surely as the Lord lives, nothing bad will happen to you because of this.”

When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, and then she asked Saul, “Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!”

Then Saul asked her, “What does he look like?”

“An old man is coming up,” she replied. “He’s wearing a robe.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed his face to the ground and paid homage.

“Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Samuel asked Saul.

“I’m in serious trouble,” replied Saul. “The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He doesn’t answer me anymore, either through the prophets or in dreams. So I’ve called on you to tell me what I should do.”

Immediately, Saul fell flat on the ground. He was terrified by Samuel’s words and was also weak because he hadn’t had any food all day and all night.

The woman came over to Saul, and she saw that he was terrified and said to him, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do.

She served it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Afterward, they got up and left that night.

Then the Philistine commanders asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

Achish answered the Philistine commanders, “That is David, servant of King Saul of Israel. He has been with me a considerable period of time. From the day he defected until today, I’ve found no fault with him.”

Isn’t this the David they sing about during their dances:

Saul has killed his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands?”

The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons and killed his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers caught up with him and severely wounded him.

Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me.” But his armor-bearer would not do it because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it.

When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him.

So on that day, Saul died together with his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men.

When the men of Israel on the other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordan saw that Israel’s men had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.

The next day when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa.

They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the good news in the temples of their idols and among the people.

When the residents of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

all their brave men set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there.