And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi." And they called his name Obed. He [was] the father of Jesse, the father of David.

and Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. Then the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon David from that day {on}. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.

So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me David your son who [is] with the sheep."

And Jesse took a donkey [loaded with] bread and a skin of wine and one {young goat} and sent [them] to Saul by the hand of David his son.

So David came to Saul and {entered his service}. He loved him greatly and {he became Saul's armor bearer}.

Then Saul sent [word] to Jesse, saying, "Please let David stand before me, because he has found favor {in my sight}."

So whenever the [evil] spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the stringed instrument and play it with his hand. Then {it would bring relief} for Saul; {he would feel better} and the evil spirit would depart from him.

Now David was the son of an Ephrathite. This [man was] from Bethlehem of Judah, and his name was Jesse. {He had} eight sons; in the days of Saul this man was old, [yet] he [still] walked among the men.

Now David was the youngest. The three oldest {followed} Saul,

but David went {back and forth} from Saul to feed the sheep of his father in Bethlehem.

Then Jesse said to his son David, "Please take for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and bring [them] quickly to the camp for your brothers.

David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and he took [the provisions] and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment while the troops [were] going to the battle line, and they raised the war cry.

David left the baggage [he had] with him in the {care} of the baggage keeper, ran to the battle line, and came and {asked how his brothers were doing}.

While he [was] speaking to them, {the champion}, whose name was Goliath the Philistine from Gath, [was] coming up from the caves of [the] Philistines. He spoke {just as he had previously}, and David heard [his words].

Now David had spoken to the men [who were] standing with him, saying, "What will be done for the man who defeats this Philistine and removes [the] disgrace from Israel? For who [is] this uncircumcised Philistine that he defies the battle lines of the living God?"

His oldest brother Eliab heard while he was speaking to the men, {and Eliab became very angry against David} and said, "Why have you come down today, and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumptuousness and the evil of your heart! For you have come down in order to see the battle!"

David replied, "What have I done now? {I merely asked a question}!

Now the words which David had spoken were heard and they reported [them] {to} Saul, and he summoned him.

David said to Saul, "Do not let anyone's heart fail concerning him! Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."

But Saul said to David, "You will not be able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, because you are [only] a boy, whereas [he has] been a man of war since his childhood!"

And David said to Saul, "Your servant has been a shepherd of the flock for his father. If the lion or the bear would come and carry off a sheep from the group,

And David said, "Yahweh, who rescued me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine!" Then Saul said to David, "Go and may Yahweh be with you!"

Then Saul clothed David with his [own] fighting attire and put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him [with] body armor.

Then David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire, but he tried in vain to walk [around], for he was not trained to use [them]. So David said to Saul, "I am not able to walk with these, because I am not trained to use [them]." So David removed them.

Then the Philistine {came on, getting nearer and nearer} to David, with {his shield bearer} in front of him.

When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him, for he was [only] a boy and ruddy with a handsome appearance.

So the Philistine said to David, "[Am] I a dog, that you [are] coming to me with sticks?" Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

The Philistine said to David, "Come to me so that I can give your flesh to the birds of heaven and to the wild animals of the field!"

Then David said to the Philistine, "You [are] coming to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I am coming to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have defied!

{When} the Philistine got up and came and drew near to meet David, David {ran quickly} to the battle line to meet the Philistine.

Then David put his hand into the bag and took a stone from it and slung [it]. He struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and with the stone, and he struck down the Philistine and killed him, but there was no sword in David's hand.

Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it from its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem and placed his weapons in his tent.

Now when Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, "Whose son [is] this young man, Abner?" And Abner said, "As your soul lives, O king, I do not know."

So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. The head of the Philistine [was] in his hand.

Then Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man?" And David said, "[I am] the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."

{When} he finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan became attached to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his [own] soul.

Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his [own] soul.

Jonathan stripped off the robe {that he was wearing} and gave it to David, along with his fighting attire, and even his sword, his bow, and his belt.

David went out {whenever} Saul sent him, [and] he succeeded. So Saul appointed him over the men of the war, and it {pleased} all the people and even {pleased} the servants of Saul.

{When they were coming back} after David had returned from striking down the Philistine, the women went out from all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with joy, and with three-stringed instruments.

And the women sang as they danced, and they said, "Saul has struck down his thousands, but David his ten thousands!"

{Saul became very angry}, and {this saying displeased him}, and he thought, "They have attributed to David ten thousands, but to me they have attributed thousands! {What more can he have but the kingdom}?"

So Saul was watching David [with suspicion] from that day onward.

{On} [the] next day, the evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he prophesied in the middle of the house. Now David was playing [the lyre] with his hand on [that] day {as usual}, and the spear was in Saul's hand.

Then Saul hurled the spear and thought, "{I will pin David to the wall}." But David eluded him twice.

{Now Saul was threatened by the presence of David} because Yahweh was with him, but had departed from Saul.

And David was achieving success in all his ways and Yahweh [was] with him,

However, all of Israel and Judah [were] loving David, for he was going forth and marching ahead of them.

Then Saul said to David, "Here [is] my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you as [your] wife. Only be {a brave warrior} for me and fight the battles of Yahweh." For Saul thought, "My hand will not be against him, but let the hand of [the] Philistines be against him."

But David said to Saul, "Who [am] I, and [who are] my relatives, the clan of my father in Israel, that I should be a son-in-law to the king?"

{But} at the time Saul's daughter Merab [was] to be given to David, she was given [instead] to Adriel the Meholathite as wife.

Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David, so they told Saul, and the matter {pleased him}.

And Saul thought, "I will give her to him, so that she may be a snare for him and the hand of [the] Philistines may be against him." So Saul said to David, "For a second [time] you can become my son-in-law today."

Then Saul commanded his servants, "Speak to David in secret, saying, 'Look, the king [is] pleased with you, and all his servants love you. So then, become a son-in-law of the king.'"

And Saul's servants spoke these words {to David privately}. But David said, "[Is] it insignificant {in your sight} to become the son-in-law of the king, [as] I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?"

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

Then Saul said, "This [is] what you must say to David: '{The king desires no bride price} except for a hundred foreskins of [the] Philistines, to avenge himself on the enemies of the king.'" (Now Saul had planned to allow David to fall by the hand of [the] Philistines.)

So his servants told David these words, and the matter {pleased David} to become the son-in-law of the king [as] {the specified time had not expired}.

And David got up, and he and his men went and struck down two hundred men [of the] Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and {they presented the full number} to become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as [his] wife.

When Saul {realized} that Yahweh [was] with David and {his own daughter Michal} loved him,

Saul {was threatened by David still more}, so Saul {became a perpetual enemy of David}.

Then the commanders of [the] Philistines went out [for battle], and as often as they went out, David succeeded more than all the servants of Saul, and his name became very esteemed.

Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants about killing David, but Saul's son Jonathan {liked David very much}.

So Jonathan informed David, saying, "My father Saul [is] trying to kill you; now please take care! In the morning you should stay in the hiding place and conceal yourself.

So Jonathan spoke well about David to his father Saul and said to him, "The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his service for you [has been] very good.

He put his life in his hand and attacked the Philistine, and Yahweh brought about a great victory for all of Israel, and you saw [it] and rejoiced! Now why should you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?"

Jonathan called to David and told him all of these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was before him as {formerly}.

War came again, so David went out and fought against [the] Philistines and {defeated them thoroughly} so that they fled before him.

Then the evil spirit from Yahweh came upon Saul while he was sitting in his house [with] his spear in his hand. And David [was] playing a stringed instrument in [his] hand.

So Saul tried {to pin David to the wall with the spear}, but {he eluded Saul}, so that he struck the spear into the wall, and David fled and escaped that [same] night.

Then Saul sent messengers to David's house to guard him and to kill him in the morning, but Michal his wife told David, saying, "If {you do not save your life} tonight, [then] tomorrow you [will be] killed!"

So Michal lowered David through the window, and he went and fled and escaped.

And Saul sent messengers to arrest David, but she said, "He [is] ill."

So Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, "Bring him up to me in the bed, so that I can kill him."

So David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth.

And it was told to Saul, "David [is] in Naioth in Ramah."

So Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw the company of the prophets prophesying and Samuel standing [as] chief over them, then the Spirit of God came upon Saul's messengers, and they also prophesied.

Then he also went to Ramah. When he came to the great cistern which [was] in Secu, he asked and said, "Where [are] Samuel and David?" Someone said, "Look [they are] in Naioth in Ramah."

Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, "What have I done? What [is] my guilt and what [is] my sin before your father that [he is] {trying to kill me}?

Then David {took an oath} again and said, "Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thought, 'Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he worry.' But {as Yahweh lives} and {as your soul lives}, surely [there is] merely a step between me and death!"

Then Jonathan said to David, "{Whatever you wish}, I will do for you."

David said to Jonathan, "Look, tomorrow [is] the new moon, and I should certainly sit with the king to eat. You must send me away so that I can hide myself in the field until the third evening.

If your father misses me at all, then you must say, 'David earnestly asked from me to run to Bethlehem his city, for {the yearly sacrifice} [is] there for all the clan.'

Then David said to Jonathan, "Who will tell me if what your father answers you [is] harsh?"

And Jonathan said to David, "Come, let us go out to the field." So the two of them went out to the field.

Then Jonathan said to David, "Yahweh the God of Israel [is my witness] that I will question my father {by this time the day after tomorrow}. And look, {if he is well disposed toward you}, will I not send [word] to you and {disclose it to you}?

And do not cut off your loyal love from {my family} forever, not [even] when Yahweh {exterminates} each of the enemies of David from the face of the earth."

So Jonathan {made a covenant} with the house of David, [saying,] "May Yahweh {call the enemies of David to account}."

And Jonathan again made David swear an oath, because he loved him; for with the love of his soul he loved him.

So David hid himself in the field. {When the new moon came}, {the king was seated at the feast}.

The king sat at his seat {as before}, the seat by the wall, and Jonathan got up, and Abner sat beside Saul, but David's place was empty.

{And then} on the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David's place was empty. So Saul asked Jonathan his son, "Why did the son of Jesse not come either yesterday or today to the feast?"

Jonathan answered Saul, "David earnestly asked permission from me [to go] up to Bethlehem.

Then Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. So Jonathan knew {that his father had decided} to kill David.

Jonathan got up from the table {enraged}, and did not eat on the second day of the new moon because he was upset about David, because his father had disgraced him.

{And then} in the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a young boy [was] with him.

But the boy did not know anything [about this]; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.