Then Saul hastened, and fell prostrate - the whole length of him - to the earth, and was sore afraid, at the words of Samuel, and indeed, no, strength, was left in him, for he had not eaten food all the day and all the night.

And the woman came unto Saul, and, when she saw that he was greatly terrified, she said unto him - Lo! thy handmaid hearkened unto thy voice, and I put my life into my hand, and heard thy words which thou didst speak unto me.

Now, therefore, I pray thee, hearken, thou also, unto the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set before thee a morsel of food, and eat thou, - that there may be in thee strength, when thou goest on thy journey.

But he refused, and said - I will not eat. But, when his servants, and the woman also, strongly urged him, then hearkened he unto their voice, - and rose up from the earth, and sat on the bed.

Now, the woman, had a calf fattening, in the shed. So she hastened, and sacrificed it, - and took meal, and kneaded, and baked thereof, unleavened cakes;

and brought near before Saul and before his servants, and they did eat. Then rose they up and departed, the same night.

Now the Philistines gathered together all their hosts, towards Aphek, - and, the Israelites, were encamping by the fountain, that is in Jezreel.

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

Then said the princes of the Philistines, What are these Hebrews doing ? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines - Is not this David, servant of Saul king of Israel, who hath been with me this year, or two, and I have found in him nothing, from the day of his coming over unto me unto this day?

But the princes of the Philistines raged against him, and the princes of the Philistines said unto him - Let the man go back, that he may return unto the place which thou didst appoint him, and let him not go down with us, into battle, so shall he not become to us a traitor, in the battle, - for, wherewith, should this fellow gain favour with his lord? Would it not be with the heads of those men?

So Achish called for David, and said unto him - By the life of Yahweh, surely, upright, thou art, and, pleasing in mine eyes, have been thy going out and thy coming in with me, in the host, for I have found in thee no wrong, from the day of thy coming in unto me, until this day, - but, in the eyes of the lords, displeasing, thou art.

Now, therefore, return, and go in peace, - so shalt thou not do wrong in the eyes of the lords of the Philistines.

Then said David unto Achish - But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant, from the day that I came before thee, unto this day, - that I may not go in and fight, with the enemies of my lord the king.

Then answered Achish, and said unto David, I acknowledge that, pleasing, thou art in mine eyes, as a messenger of God, - notwithstanding, the princes of the Philistines, have said, He shall not go up with us, into the battle.

Now, therefore, rise up early in the morning, thou and the servants of thy lord who have come with thee, - yea, as soon as ye have risen early in the morning, and have light, then depart.

So David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines, - but, 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 into the South, and into Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

and had taken captive the women and all who were therein, from small even unto great, they had not put one to death, - but had driven them forth, and gone their way.

So, when David and his men came to the city, lo! it was burnt with fire, - and, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, had been taken captive.

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

And, the two wives of David, had been taken captive, - Ahinoam, the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

And David was in sore distress, for the people had spoken of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were embittered, every man for his own sons and for his own daughters, - but David emboldened himself in Yahweh his God.

Then said David to Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, Do bring near me, I pray thee, the ephod. So Abiathar brought near the ephod, unto David.

And David enquired of Yahweh, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? shall I overtake it? And he said unto him: Pursue, for thou shalt, overtake, and thou shalt, rescue.

So David went, he, and the six hundred men, who were with him, and they came in as far as the ravine of Besor, - where, they who had to be left behind, stayed.

But David pursued, he. and four hundred men, - but the two hundred men stayed, because they were too wearied to cross over the ravine of Besor.

And they found an Egyptian in the field, and took him unto David, - and gave him food, and he did eat, and they gave him water to drink;

and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two cakes of raisins, and, when he had eaten, his spirit came back unto him, - for he had neither eaten food, nor drunk water, three days and three nights.

Then David said to him - Whose art thou? and whence art thou? And he said, A young man of Egypt, am I, servant to an Amalekite, and my lord left me behind, because I fell sick, three days ago.

As for us, we invaded the South of the Cherithites, and against that which pertaineth unto Judah, and against the South of Caleb, - and, Ziklag, burned we with fire.

And David said unto him, Wilt thou bring me down unto this troop? And he said - Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt not put me to death, neither wilt thou surrender me into the hand of my lord, and I will bring thee down unto this troop.

So he brought him down, and lo! they were left to themselves over the face of all the land, - eating, and drinking, and dancing around, for all the great spoil which they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.

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

And David rescued all whom the Amalekites had taken, - his two wives also, did David rescue;

and there was nothing missing to them - whether small or great, whether spoil, or sons or daughters, or, any thing which they had taken unto themselves, - the whole, did David recover.

And David took all the flocks and the herds, - they drave them before those other cattle, and they said, This, is David's spoil.

And David came unto the two hundred men, who had been too wearied to follow David, and whom they had suffered to remain at the ravine of Besor, - and they came forth to meet David, and to meet the people who were with him, and when David came near unto the people, they enquired of his success.

Then responded every man who was bad and abandoned, from among the men who had been with David, and said - Because they went not with me there shall not be given them of the spoil that we have rescued, - save, to every man, his wife and his children, let them put them forth, then, and go.

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

Who indeed, could hearken unto you, in this mutter? Surely, like the share of him that went down into the battle, even, so, shall be the share of him that remained by the stores - alike, shall they share.

And so it came to pass, from that day forward, that he appointed it, for a statute and for a custom unto Israel, until this day.

And, when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil, unto the elders of Judah, unto his friends, saying, - Lo! for you, a blessing, out of the spoil of the enemies of Yahweh:

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

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

and to them who were in Racal, and to them who were in the cities of the Jerameelites, and to them who were in the cities of the Kenites,

and to them who were in Hormah, and to them who were in Cor-ashan, and to them who were in Athach,

and to them who were in Hebron, - and to all the places where David had been to and fro, he and his men.

Now, as, the Philistines, were fighting against Israel, the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain, in Mount Gilboa.

And the Philistines followed hard after Saul, and after his sons, - and the Philistines smote Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, sons of Saul.

And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers discovered him, - and he was terrified at the archers.

Then said Saul to his armour-bearer - Draw thy sword and pierce me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come, and pierce me through, and abuse me. But his armour-bearer was not willing, for he was sore afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell thereon.

And, when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also, fell upon his sword, and died with him.

Thus died Saul, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer, yea all his men, on that day, together.

And, when the men of Israel who were across the vale, and who were across the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled, and the Philistines entered, and took up their abode therein.

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

So they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, - and sent throughout the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and unto the people.

And they put his armour in a house of Ashtoreths, - and, his dead body, fastened they on the wall of Beth-shan.

And, when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard concerning him, what the Philistines had done unto Saul,

then arose all the men of valour, and journeyed all the night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Beth-shan, - and came to Jabesh, and burned them there;

and took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk-tree in Jabesh, - and fasted seven days.