And David said to Abner, Are not thou a [valiant] man? And who is like to thee in Israel? Why then have thou not kept watch over thy lord the king? For there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.

This thing is not good that thou have done. As LORD lives, ye are worthy to die because ye have not kept watch over your lord, LORD's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his head.

Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it be LORD who has stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering, but if it be the sons of men, cursed be they before LORD. For they have d

Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of LORD. For the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when [a man] hunts a partridge in the mountains.

Then Saul said, I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do thee harm because my life was precious in thine eyes this day. Behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.

And LORD will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness, inasmuch as LORD delivered thee into my hand today, and I would not put forth my hand against LORD's anointed.

And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in my eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.

Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David. Thou shall both do mightily, and shall surely prevail. So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines, and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the bor

And David arose, and passed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.

And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath, and he sought no more again for him.

And David said to Achish, If now I have found favor in thine eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country that I may dwell there, for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag pertains to the kings of Judah to this day.

And David and his men went up, and made a raid upon the Geshurites, and the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for those [nations] were the inhabitants of the land, who were of old as thou go to Shur, even to the land of Egypt.

And David smote the land, and saved neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the donkeys, and the camels, and the apparel, and he returned, and came to Achish.

And David saved neither man nor woman alive to bring them to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell of us, saying, So did David, and so has been his manner all the while he has dwelt in the country of the Philistines.

And Achish believed David, saying, He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him. Therefore he shall be my servant forever.

And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shall go out with me in the army, thou and thy men.

And David said to Achish, Therefore thou shall know what thy servant will do. And Achish said to David, Therefore I will make thee my chief bodyguard forever.

Then Saul said to his servants, Seek me a woman who has a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman who has a familiar spirit at En-dor.

And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night, and he said, Divine to me, I pray thee, by the familiar spirit, and bring me up whomever I shall name to

And the woman said to him, Behold, thou know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. Why then do thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?

And Saul swore to her by LORD, saying, As LORD lives, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have thou deceived me? For thou are Saul.

And the king said to her, Be not afraid, for what do thou see? And the woman said to Saul, I see gods coming up out of the earth.

And he said to her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man comes up, and he is covered with a robe. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance.

And Samuel said to Saul, Why have thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am greatly distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answers me no more, neither by prophets, no

And Samuel said, Why then do thou ask of me, since LORD departed from thee, and has become thine adversary?

And LORD has done to thee, as he spoke by me. And LORD has rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David.

Because thou obeyed not the voice of LORD, and did not execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore LORD has done this thing to thee this day.

Then Saul fell straightway his full length upon the earth, and was greatly afraid because of the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.

And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was greatly troubled, and said to him, Behold, thy handmaid has hearkened to thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened to thy words which thou spoke to me.

Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee, and eat, that thou may have strength when thou go on thy way.

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

Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by the fountain which is in Jezreel.

Then the rulers of the Philistines said, What [are] these Hebrews? And Achish said to the rulers of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or [rather] these year

But the rulers of the Philistines were angry with him. And the rulers of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he may go back to his place where thou have appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, l

Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?

Then Achish called David, and said to him, As LORD lives, thou have been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the army is good in my sight, for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming to me to t

And David said to Achish, But what have I done? And what have thou found in thy servant so long as I have been before 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 thou are good in my sight, as an agent of God, notwithstanding the rulers of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

So David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the South, and upon Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire,

And when David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire. And their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captive.

Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

And David's two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, I pray thee, bring me here the ephod. And Abiathar brought there the ephod to David.

So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.

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

And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread. And he ate, and they gave him water to drink.

And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him, for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.

And David said to him, To whom do thou belong? And from where are thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite. And my master left me because three days ago I fell sick.

We made a raid upon the South of the Cherethites, and upon that which belongs to Judah, and upon the South of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.

And David said to him, Will thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear to me by God, that thou will neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.

And David smote them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day. And there escaped not a man of them, except four hundred young men who rode upon camels and fled.

And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives.

And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them; David brought back all.

And David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom also they had made to abide at the brook Besor. And they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people who were with him. And when D

Then answered all the wicked men and base fellows of those who went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them anything of the spoil that we have recovered except to every man his wife and his childr

Then David said, Ye shall not do so, my brothers, with that which LORD has given to us, who has preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand.

And who will hearken to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle so shall his share be who remains by the baggage; they shall share alike.

And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

And when David came to Ziklag, he sent from the spoil to the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold, a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of LORD:

to those who were in Bethel, and to those who were in Ramoth of the South, and to those who were in Jattir,

and to those who were in Aroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa,

and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites,

and to those who were in Hormah, and to those who were in Borashan, and to those who were in Athach,

and to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to frequent.

Then Saul said to his armor bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not, for he was very afraid. Therefore Saul took his s

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

And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.

And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about to carry the news to the house of their idols, and to the people.

And they put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard concerning him, that which the Philistines had done to Saul,

all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.