As soon as you are come into the city, you shall immediately find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he comes, because he does bless the sacrifice; and afterwards they eat who are bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this time you shall find him.

Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray you, where the seer's house is.

And as they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand you still awhile, that I may show you the word of God.

Then shall you go on forward from there, and you shall come to the oak of Tabor, and there shall meet you three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine:

After that you shall come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when you are come there to the city, that you shall meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a harp, and a tambourine, and a flute, and a lyre, before them; and they shall prophesy:

And let it be, when these signs are come unto you, that you do as the occasion suits you; for God is with you.

And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

And when they came there to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.

And said unto the children of Israel, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you.

And you have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and you have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands.

And Samuel said to all the people, See you him whom the LORD has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.

And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched.

And the spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.

And he took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever comes not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.

Therefore the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out unto you, and you shall do with us all that seems good unto you.

And when they forgot the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.

And when you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king.

If you will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both you and also the king that reigns over you continue following the LORD your God:

And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for your servants unto the LORD your God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.

Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:

And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly: you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which he commanded you: for now would the LORD have established your kingdom upon Israel forever.

And Samuel arose, and got him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men.

And Saul said unto Ahijah, Bring here the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel.

And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seems good unto you. Then said the priest, Let us draw near here unto God.

And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? will you deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day.

Then said he unto all Israel, Be you on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seems good unto you.

Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped.

And Saul answered, God do so and more also: for you shall surely die, Jonathan.

And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, so that he died not.

And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everything that was despised and worthless, that they destroyed utterly.

And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD your God in Gilgal.

Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray you, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.

And Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. And Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubles you.

Let our lord now command your servants, which are before you, to seek out a man, who is a skillful player on a harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon you, that he shall play with his hand, and you shall be well.

And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread, and a skin of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.

And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

And he had a helmet of bronze upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.

And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

Your servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put a helmet of bronze upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.

Then said David to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

This day will the LORD deliver you into my hand; and I will strike you, and take your head from you; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head there. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

And it came to pass the next day, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.

And Jonathan spoke good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been toward you very good:

And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

And he went there to Naioth in Ramah: and the spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

And he said unto him, God forbid; you shall not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will show it to me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.

And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded out my father tomorrow about this time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto you, and show it to you;

But also you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever: no, not when the LORD has cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.

And he said, Let me go, I pray you; for our family has a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he has commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away, I pray you, and see my brethren. Therefore he comes not unto the king's table.

And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and made marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.

And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the stronghold; depart, and get you into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hereth.

And Saul said unto him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for your servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.

And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars.

Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.

Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech you, tell your servant. And the LORD said, He will come down.

And David abode in the wilderness in strongholds, and remained in the mountains in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.

And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the forest, and strengthened his hand in God.

And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men surrounded David and his men to take them.

And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it shall seem good unto you. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe stealthily.

And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart troubled him, because he had cut off Saul's robe.

Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of your robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and killed you not, know you and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against you; yet you hunt my soul to take it.

And he said to David, you are more righteous than I: for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil.

For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? therefore the LORD reward you with good for what you have done unto me this day.

Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house.

And David swore unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men got themselves up unto the stronghold.

Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was surly and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:

But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields:

Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he has repaid me evil for good.

God do so and more also unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that belong to him by the morning light even one male.

And when Abigail saw David, she hastened, and got off the donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,

Yet a man has risen to pursue you, and to seek your soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; and the souls of your enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.

And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you ruler over Israel;

And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me:

For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hastened and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any remaining males.

Then said Abishai to David, God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day: now therefore let me strike him, I pray you, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not strike him the second time.

So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head; and they got away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awoke: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them.

This thing is not good that you have done. As the LORD lives, you are worthy to die, because you have not kept your master, the LORD'S anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the jar of water that was at his head.

And David answered and said, Behold the king's spear! and let one of the young men come over and get it.

And the woman said unto him, Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those that are mediums, and the wizards, out of the land: why then lay you a snare for my life, to cause me to die?

And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what saw you? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw a god ascending out of the earth.

And Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disturbed me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am much distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me, and answers me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called you, that you may make known unto me what I shall do.

Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the LORD lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favor you not.

And Achish answered and said to David, I know that you are good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

And David said to him, Can you bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that you will neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this company.

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

And Joab said, As God lives, unless you had spoken, surely then in the morning the people would have gone up every one from following his brother.

So do God to Abner, and more also, except, as the LORD has sworn to David, even so I do to him;

And Abner also spoke in the ears of Benjamin: and Abner went also to speak in the hearing of David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel, and that seemed good to the whole house of Benjamin.

And when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and struck him there under the fifth rib, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.

And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David swore, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or anything else, till the sun be down.