As for your asses which have been wandering for three days, give no thought to them, for they have come back. And for whom are all the desired things in Israel? are they not for you and your father's family?

Then you are to go on from there, and when you come to the oak-tree of Tabor, you will see three men going up to God to Beth-el, one having with him three young goats and another three cakes of bread and another a skin full of wine:

They will say, Peace be with you, and will give you two cakes of bread, which you are to take from them.

Then you are to go down before me to Gilgal, where I will come to you, for the offering of burned offerings and peace-offerings: go on waiting there for seven days till I come to you and make clear to you what you have to do.

But today you are turned away from your God, who himself has been your saviour from all your troubles and sorrows; and you have said to him, Put a king over us. So now, take your places before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.

And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, I will make an agreement with you on this condition, that all your right eyes are put out; so that I may make it a cause of shame to all Israel.

Now Saul came from the field, driving the oxen before him; and he said, Why are the people weeping? And they gave him word of what the men of Jabesh had said.

And now, see, the king is before you: and I am old and grey-headed, and my sons are with you: I have been living before your eyes from my early days till now.

Then crying out to the Lord, they said, We have done evil, because we have been turned away from the Lord, worshipping the Baals and the Astartes: but now, make us safe from those who are against us and we will be your servants.

If in the fear of the Lord you are his servants, hearing his voice and not going against the orders of the Lord, but being true to the Lord your God, you and the king ruling over you, then all will be well:

Now keep where you are and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes.

And do not go from the right way turning to those false gods in which there is no profit and no salvation, for they are false.

If they say to us, Keep quiet where you are till we come to you; then we will keep our places and not go up to them.

And they let the Philistine force see the two of them: and the Philistines said, Look! the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have taken cover.

And all the people were with Saul, about twenty thousand men, and the fight was general through all the hill-country of Ephraim; but Saul made a great error that day, by putting the people under an oath, saying, Let that man be cursed who takes food before evening comes and I have given punishment to those who are against me. So the people had not a taste of food.

Then it was said to Saul, See, the people are sinning against the Lord, taking the blood with the flesh. And he said to those who gave him the news, Now let a great stone be rolled to me here.

Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi and Malchi-shua; and these are the names of his daughters: the older was named Merab and the younger Michal;

And Samuel said, Though you may seem little to yourself, are you not head of the tribes of Israel? for the Lord with the holy oil made you king over Israel,

And send for Jesse to be present at the offering, and I will make clear to you what you are to do: and you are to put the holy oil on him whose name I give you.

Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your children here? And he said, There is still the youngest, and he is looking after the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and make him come here: for we will not take our seats till he is here.

Now give orders to your servants who are here before you to go in search of a man who is an expert player on a corded instrument: and it will be that when the evil spirit from God is on you, he will make music for you on his instrument, and you will get well.

And take these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers are and come back with a sign to say how they are.

And Saul said to David, You are not able to go out against this Philistine and have a fight with him: for you are only a boy, and he has been a man of war from his earliest days.

And all these people who are here today may see that the Lord does not give salvation by sword and spear: for the fight is the Lord's, and he will give you up into our hands.

And Saul said to him, Young man, whose son are you? And David in answer said, I am the son of your servant Jesse of Beth-lehem.

And Saul said, I will give her to him, so that she may be a cause of danger to him, and so that the hands of the Philistines may be against him. So Saul said to David, Today you are to become my son-in-law for the second time.

And Saul gave his servants orders saying, Have talk with David secretly and say to him, See how the king has delight in you, and how you are loved by all his servants: then be the king's son-in-law.

And I will go out and take my place by my father's side in the field near where you are; and I will get into talk with my father about you, and when I see how things are, I will give you word.

For he put his life in danger and overcame the Philistine, and the Lord gave all Israel salvation: you saw it and were glad: why then are you sinning against him who has done no wrong, desiring the death of David without cause?

Then he himself went to Ramah, and came to the great water-spring in Secu; and questioning the people he said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, They are at Naioth in Ramah.

And Jonathan said to David, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be witness; when I have had a chance of talking to my father, about this time tomorrow, if his feelings to David are good, will I not send and give you the news?

Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and it will be seen that you are not present, for there will be no one in your seat.

Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was full of fear at meeting David, and said to him, Why are you by yourself, having no man with you?

And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has given me orders and has said to me, Say nothing to anyone about the business on which I am sending you and the orders I have given you: and a certain place has been fixed to which the young men are to go.

Are there not enough unbalanced men about me, that you have let this person come and do such tricks before me? is such a man to come into my house?

Then the king said to the runners who were waiting near him, Put the priests of the Lord to death; because they are on David's side, and having knowledge of his flight, did not give me word of it. But the king's servants would not put out their hands to make an attack on the Lord's priests.

Then the king said to Doeg, You are to put the priests to death. And Doeg the Edomite, turning on the priests and attacking them, put to death that day eighty-five men who took up the ephod.

And they sent word to David, saying, The Philistines are fighting against Keilah and taking the grain from the grain-floors.

And David's men said to him, Even here in Judah we are full of fear: how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?

And now, is it true, as they have said to me, that Saul is coming? O Lord, the God of Israel, give ear to your servant, and say if these things are so. And the Lord said, He is coming down.

And see, my father, see the skirt of your robe in my hand: for the fact that I took off the skirt of your robe and did not put you to death is witness that I have no evil purpose, and I have done you no wrong, though you are waiting for my life to take it.

After whom has the king of Israel come out? for whom are you searching? for a dead dog, an insect.

And he said to David, You are right and I am wrong: for you have given me back good, but I have given you evil.

If your young men are questioned they will say the same thing. So now, let my young men have grace in your eyes, for we are come at a good time; please give anything you may have by you to your servants and to your son David.

And Nabal gave them his answer and said, Who is David? who is the son of Jesse? there are a number of servants in these days running away from their masters.

So now, give thought to what you are going to do; for evil is in store for our master and all his house: for he is such a good-for-nothing person that it is not possible to say anything to him.

And let this offering, which your servant gives to my lord, be given to the young men who are with my lord.

And though a man has taken up arms against you, putting your life in danger, still the soul of my lord will be kept safe among the band of the living with the Lord your God; and the souls of those who are against you he will send violently away from him, like stones from a bag.

And David said to Abner, Are you not a man of war? is there any other like you in Israel? why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? for one of the people came in to put the king your lord to death.

Now in those days the Philistines got their forces together to make war on Israel. And Achish said to David, Certainly you and your men are to go out with me to the fight.

And the woman saw that it was Saul, and she gave a loud cry, and said to Saul, Why have you made use of deceit? for you are Saul.

And Samuel said to Saul, Why have you made me come up, troubling my rest? And Saul in answer said, I am in great danger; for the Philistines are making war on me, and God has gone away from me and will no longer give me any answer, by the prophets or by dreams: so I have sent for you to make clear to me what I am to do.

Then the rulers of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews doing here? And Achish said to the rulers of the Philistines, Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me for a year or two, and I have never seen any wrong in him from the time when he came to me till now?

Then Achish sent for David and said to him, By the living Lord, you are upright, and everything you have done with me in the army has been pleasing to me: I have seen no evil in you from the day when you came to me till now: but still, the lords are not pleased with you.

And David said to Achish, But what have I done? what have you seen in your servant while I have been with you till this day, that I may not go and take up arms against those who are now making war on my lord the king?

And Achish in answer said, It is true that in my eyes you are good, like an angel of God: but still, the rulers of the Philistines have said, He is not to go up with us to the fight.

So get up early in the morning, with the servants of your lord who are with you, and go to the place I have given you, and have no evil design in your heart, for you are good in my eyes; but when there is light enough in the morning, go away.

And David said to him, Whose man are you and where do you come from? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master went on without me because three days back I became ill.

And they took all the flocks and herds, and driving them in front of him, said, These are David's.

And David came to the two hundred men, who because of weariness had not gone with him, but were waiting at the stream Besor: and they went out, meeting David and the people who were with him; and when they came near them, they said, How are you?

Then David said, You are not to do this, my brothers, after what the Lord has given us, who has kept us safe and given up the band which came against us into our hands.

Who is going to give any attention to you in this question? for an equal part will be given to him who went to the fight and to him who was waiting by the goods: they are all to have the same.

And David said to him, How did things go? Give me the news. And in answer he said, The people have gone in flight from the fight, and a great number of them are dead; and Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.

And David said to the young man who gave him the news, Why are you certain that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?

And he said to me, Who are you? And I said, I am an Amalekite.

Then crying out to Joab, Abner said, Are fighting and destruction to go on for ever? do you not see that the end will only be bitter? how long will it be before you send the people back and make them give up attacking their countrymen?

For the Lord has said of David, By the hand of my servant David I will make my people Israel safe from the Philistines, and from all who are against them.

Is it not clear to you that Abner, the son of Ner, came with deceit to get knowledge of your going out and your coming in and of all you are doing?

May it come on the head of Joab and all his father's family: among the men of Joab's family may there ever be some who are diseased or lepers, or who do the work of women, or are put to the sword, or are wasted from need of food!

While I, though I am crowned king, have little strength, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are out of my control: may the Lord give to the evil-doer the reward of his evil-doing!

Then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said, Truly, we are your bone and your flesh.

In the past when Saul was king over us, it was you who went at the head of Israel when they went out or came in: and the Lord said to you, You are to be the keeper of my people Israel and their ruler.

And that day David said, Whoever makes an attack on the Jebusites, let him go up by the water-pipe, and put to death all the blind and feeble-footed who are hated by David. And this is why they say, The blind and feeble-footed may not come into the house.

These are the names of those whose birth took place in Jerusalem: Shammua and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon

And when David went for directions to the Lord, he said, You are not to go up against them in front; but make a circle round them from the back and come on them opposite the spice-trees.

Go and say to my servant David, The Lord says, Are you to be the builder of a house, a living-place for me?

From the time when I put judges over my people Israel; and I will give you peace from all who are against you. And the Lord says to you that he will make you the head of a line of kings.

Truly you are great, O Lord God: there is no one like you and no other God but you, as is clear from everything which has come to our ears.

And now, O Lord God, you are God and your words are true and you have said you will give your servant this good thing;

Now there was of Saul's people a servant named Ziba, and they sent him to David; and the king said to him, Are you Ziba? And he said, I am.

And the king said, Is there anyone of Saul's family still living, to whom I may be a friend in God's name? And Ziba said, There is a son of Jonathan, whose feet are damaged.

And you and your sons and your servants are to take care of the land for him, and get in the fruit of it, so that your master's son may have food: but Mephibosheth, your master's son, will have a place at my table at all times. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

And he said, If the Aramaeans are stronger and get the better of me, then you are to come to my help; but if the children of Ammon get the better of you, I will come to your help.

And Uriah said to David, Israel and Judah with the ark are living in tents, and my lord Joab and the other servants of my lord are sleeping in the open field; and am I to go to my house and take food and drink, and go to bed with my wife? By the living Lord, and by the life of your soul, I will not do such a thing.

And the archers sent their arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king's servants are dead, and among them is your servant Uriah the Hittite.

And Nathan said to David, You are that man. The Lord God of Israel says, I made you king over Israel, putting holy oil on you, and I kept you safe from the hands of Saul;

And he said to him, O son of the king, why are you getting thinner day by day? will you not say what your trouble is? And Amnon said to him, I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister.

Then Jonadab said to him, Go to your bed, and let it seem that you are ill: and when your father comes to see you, say to him, Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread, and get the food ready before my eyes, so that I may see it and take it from her hand.

So now, let not my lord the king take this thing to heart, with the idea that all the king's sons are dead: for only Amnon is dead.

And Jonadab said to the king, See, the king's sons are coming; as your servant said, so it is.

For death comes to us all, and we are like water drained out on the earth, which it is not possible to take up again; and God will not take away the life of the man whose purpose is that he who has been sent away may not be completely cut off from him.

But Absalom at the same time sent watchers through all the tribes of Israel to say, At the sound of the horn you are to say, Absalom is king in Hebron.

And the king's servants said to the king, See, your servants are ready to do whatever the king says is to be done.

Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why are you coming with us? go back and keep with the king: for you are a man of another country, you are far from the land of your birth.

The king said further to Zadok the priest, See, you and Abiathar are to go back to the town in peace, with your two sons, Ahimaaz, your son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar.

And word came to David, saying, Ahithophel is among those who are joined to Absalom. And David said, O Lord, let the wisdom of Ahithophel be made foolish.

And David said to Ziba, What is your reason for this? And Ziba said, The asses are for the use of the king's people, and the bread and the fruit are food for the young men; and the wine is for drink for those who are overcome by weariness in the waste land.

The Lord has sent punishment on you for all the blood of the family of Saul, whose kingdom you have taken; and the Lord has given the kingdom to Absalom, your son: now you yourself are taken in your evil, because you are a man of blood.

Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, Give your opinion now, what are we to do?

And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to your father's women who are here looking after his house; then all Israel will have the news that you are hated by your father, and the hands of your supporters will be strong.