And David said to Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?

And Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law, in the one of the two.

And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?

So the servants of Saul informed him, saying, "{This is what David said}."

And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dower, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand 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 Saul said to his son Jonathan, and to all his servants, to kill David.

And Jonathan said to David, Saul, my father, is purposing your death: so now, take care in the morning, and keep yourself safe in a secret place:

And Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been toward thee very good:

And Saul gave ear to the voice of Jonathan, and said with an oath, By the living Lord, he is not to be put to death.

Then in that night Saul sent men to David's house to keep watch on him so as to put him to death in the morning: and David's wife Michal said to him, If you do not go away to a safe place tonight you will be put to death in the morning.

And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.

Saul sent the agents back to see David and said, “Bring him on his bed so I can kill him.”

And Saul said to Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away my enemy, that he has escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said to me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?

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.

And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is my iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?

And he said to him, Far be it from thee; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing, either great or small, but that he will show it to me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.

And David swore moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he should be grieved: But truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.

Then said Jonathan to David, Whatever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.

And David said to Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new-moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field to the third day at evening.

if thy father at all look after me, and thou hast said, David asked earnestly of me to run to Beth-Lehem his city, for a sacrifice of the days is there for all the family.

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

Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father shall answer thee roughly?

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 Jonathan said to David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to-morrow any time, or the third day, and behold, if there be good towards David, and I then send not to thee, and show it thee;

Then Jonathan said to David, To-morrow is the new-moon: and thou wilt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.

But Saul said nothing on that day, for he thought, "{Something happened to him}. He [is] not [ceremonially] clean; surely he [is] not clean."

And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David's place was empty: and Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why cometh not the son of Jesse to eat, neither yesterday, nor to-day?

And answering Saul, Jonathan said, He made a request to me that he might go to Beth-lehem,

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

Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thy own confusion, and to the confusion of thy mother's nakedness?

And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, Why shall he be slain? what hath he done?

Now in the morning, Jonathan went out into the fields at the time he had said to David, and he had a little boy with him.

And he said to his lad, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow, beyond him.

And when the lad had come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?

And Jonathan gave his arms to his lad, and said to him, Go, carry them to the city.

And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. :43 And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said to him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said to me, Let no man know any thing of the business about which I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.

And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

And David answered the priest, and said to him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yes, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.

And David said to Ahimelech, And is there not here under thy 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 thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it to me.

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.

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

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

And the prophet Gad said to David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and come into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth.

Then Saul said to his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjaminites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds;

Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.

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

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

Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honorable in thy house?

And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy 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.

And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day eighty and five persons that wore a linen ephod.

And David said to Abiathar, I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house.

Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said to David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.

And David's men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?

Then David inquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand.

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

And David knew that Saul secretly plotted mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.

Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh 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 thy servant hath heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy 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 thee up.

The LORD said, "They'll hand you over." David and his men, about 600 strong, got up and left Keilah. They moved around wherever they could go. Saul was advised that David had escaped from Keilah, so he stopped the campaign.

And he said to him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou wilt be king over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.

Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, "Isn't David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon?

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

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.'

And the men of David said to him, Behold the day of which the LORD said to thee, Behold, I will deliver thy enemy into thy hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good to thee. Then David arose, and privately cut off the skirt of Saul's robe.

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

And after that David came out of the hollow rock, and crying after Saul said, My lord the king. And when Saul gave a look back, David went down on his face and gave him honour.

And David said to Saul, Why hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?

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.

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

And he said to David, thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded thee with evil.

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

and said thus: To life! and thou, peace; and thy house, peace; and all that thou hast -- peace!

David’s young men went and said all these things to Nabal on David’s behalf, and they waited.

And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants in these days that break away every man from his master.

So David’s young men made their way back and returned; and they came and told him everything that was said [to them by Nabal].

And David said to his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the goods.

But one of the young men said to Nabal's wife Abigail, David sent men from the waste land to say kind words to our master, and he gave them a rough answer.

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 have I kept all that this man hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him: and he hath requited me evil for good.

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

And when the Lord has done for my lord all those good things which he has said he will do for you, and has made you a ruler over Israel;

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

So David received from her hand that which she had brought him, and said to her, Return in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

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

So the servants of David went to Abigail at Carmel and said to her, "David has sent us to you to bring you back to be his wife."

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

The Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, "Isn't David hiding on the hill of Hakilah near Jeshimon?"

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 thee.

Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thy enemy into thy hand this day; now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear, even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.

And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not; for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD'S anointed and be guiltless?

David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD will smite him; or his day will come to die; or he will descend into battle and perish.

And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?