The sin of these young men was very great in the Lord's sight, for they treated the Lord's offering with contempt.

He said to them, "Why do you behave in this way? For I hear about these evil things from all these people.

Too bad for us! Who can deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues in the desert!

These are the gold sores that the Philistines brought as a guilt offering to the Lord -- one for each of the following cities: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.

Year after year he used to travel the circuit of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah; he used to judge Israel in all of these places.

"When these signs have taken place, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God will be with you.

As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed his inmost person. All these signs happened on that very day.

When the messengers went to Gibeah (where Saul lived) and informed the people of these matters, all the people wept loudly.

The Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and he became very angry.

Saul selected for himself three thousand men from Israel. Two thousand of these were with Saul at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel; the remaining thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. He sent all the rest of the people back home.

Jonathan said to his armor bearer, "Come on, let's go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will intervene for us. Nothing can prevent the Lord from delivering, whether by many or by a few."

Jonathan replied, "All right! We'll go over to these men and fight them.

Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen any of these."

When Saul and all the Israelites heard these words of the Philistine, they were upset and very afraid.

Jesse said to his son David, "Take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread; go quickly to the camp to your brothers.

Also take these ten portions of cheese to their commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back their pledge that they received the goods.

David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire and tried to walk around, but he was not used to them. David said to Saul, "I can't walk in these things, for I'm not used to them." So David removed them.

So Saul's servants spoke these words privately to David. David replied, "Is becoming the king's son-in-law something insignificant to you? I'm just a poor and lightly-esteemed man!"

So his servants told David these things and David agreed to become the king's son-in-law. Now the specified time had not yet expired

Then Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served him as he had done formerly.

Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the servant who was with him. He said to him, "Go, take these things back to the city."

So David asked the Lord, "Should I go and strike down these Philistines?" The Lord said to David, "Go, strike down the Philistines and deliver Keilah."

David restrained his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and started down the road.

When David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, "Is that your voice, my son David?" Then Saul wept loudly.

So David's servants went and spoke all these words to Nabal in David's name. Then they paused.

Should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don't even know where they came from!"

So David's servants went on their way. When they had returned, they came and told David all these things.

These men were very good to us. They did not insult us, nor did we sustain any loss during the entire time we were together in the field.

In the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed.

David thought to himself, "One of these days I'm going to be swept away by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of searching for me through all the territory of Israel and I will escape from his hand."

The leaders of the Philistines asked, "What about these Hebrews?" Achish said to the leaders of the Philistines, "Isn't this David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me for quite some time? I have found no fault with him from the day of his defection until the present time!"

But the leaders of the Philistines became angry with him and said to him, "Send the man back! Let him return to the place that you assigned him! Don't let him go down with us into the battle, for he might become our adversary in the battle. What better way to please his lord than with the heads of these men?

Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and stab me with it! Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come, stab me, and torture me." But his armor bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it.