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.

For, as Jehovah lives, He who saves Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people who answered.

And the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has worked out this great salvation in Israel? Far be it! As Jehovah lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, so that he did not die.

Now go and strike Amalek, and completely destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

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 completely destroy them. But everything that was vile and feeble they completely destroyed.

It repents Me that I have set up Saul to be king. For he has turned back from following Me and has not done My commands. And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to Jehovah all night.

And Samuel said, When you were little in your own sight, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? And Jehovah anointed you king over Israel.

Why then did you not obey the voice of Jehovah? Why did you fly on the spoil and do evil in the sight of Jehovah?

And Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the Word of Jehovah, and Jehovah has rejected you from being king over Israel.

And also the Glory of Israel will not lie nor repent, for He is not a man that He should repent.

But Jehovah said to Samuel, Do not look on his face, nor on his height, because I have refused him. For He does not see as man sees. For man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart.

And Jesse called Abinadab, and he passed him before Samuel, but he said, Also Jehovah has not chosen this one.

And Jesse passed Shammah by, but he said, Also Jehovah has not chosen this one.

And Jesse passed seven of his sons before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, Jehovah has not chosen these.

And Samuel said to Jesse, Are all the young men here? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and bring him, for we will not sit down until he comes here.

And he stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, Why have you come out to set your battle in order? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants to Saul? Choose a man for you, and let him come down to me.

And David said, What have I done now? Was it not only a word?

And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him. For you are but a youth, and he is a man of war from his youth.

And David girded his sword on his armor, and he tried to go. But he had not tested it. And David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them. And David put them off him.

And all this multitude shall know that Jehovah does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is Jehovah's, and He will give you into our hands.

And Saul took him that day and would not let him go home to his father's house any more.

And Saul said to David, Behold I will give you my older daughter Merab for a wife. Only you be a brave son for me and fight Jehovah's battles. For Saul said, Let not my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.

And Saul said, You shall say this to David, The king does not desire any dowry except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

And when his servants told David these words, it was right in the eyes of David to be the king's son-in-law. And the days were not fulfilled.

And Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Do not let the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works are very good toward you.

And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. And Saul swore, As Jehovah lives, he shall not die.

And Saul thought to strike David even to the wall with the spear. But he burst forth from Saul's presence, and he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

Saul also sent messengers to David's house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And David's wife Michal told him saying, If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you shall be killed.

And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel, even he. And he lay down disrobed all that day and all that night. Because of this they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?

And he said to him, Far be it. You shall not die! Behold, my father will do nothing either great or small that he will not show to me. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so.

And David swore again and said, Your father certainly knows that I have found grace in your eyes. And he said, Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be full of sorrow. But truly as Jehovah lives, and as your soul lives, only a step is between me and death.

And David said to Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go so that I may hide myself in the field until the third day at evening.

And Jonathan said, Far be it from you. For if I knew certainly that evil was determined by my father to come on you, then would I not tell you?

And Jonathan said to David, By Jehovah, the God of Israel, when I search my father about this time tomorrow or the third day, behold, if there is good toward David, then shall I not send to you and reveal it in your ear?

And you shall not only show me the kindness of Jehovah while I still live, so that I do not die,

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

And Saul did not speak anything that day. For he thought, Something has happened to him; he is not clean. Surely he is not clean.

And it happened on the next day, the second of the month, David's place was empty. And Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why does the son of Jesse not come to the meal, neither yesterday nor today?

and he said, Please send me away, for we have a family sacrifice in the city. And my brother commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, I pray you let me get away and see my brothers. And he does not come to the king's table.

And Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own confusion, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?

For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. And now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.

And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger, and did not eat food on the second day of the new moon. For he was grieved for David, because his father had put him to shame.

And when the lad had come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad and said, Is not the arrow beyond you?

And Jonathan cried after the lad, Hurry, make haste, do not stand. And Jonathan's lad gathered the arrow and came to his master.

But the lad did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

And David said to Ahimelech, And is there not here under your hand spear or sword? For I have not brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business needed haste.

And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

Do I have need of mad men, that you have brought this one to show madness in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?

And the prophet Gad said to David, Do not stay in the stronghold. Leave and go into the land of Judah. And David left and came into the forest of Hareth.

But all of you have conspired against me, and none of you was revealing in my ear when my son cut a covenant with the son of Jesse? And not one of you is sorry for me, even to reveal in my ear that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as today.

Have I today begun to ask of God for him? Be it far from me. Do not let the king charge a thing to his servant, nor to all the house of my father. For your servant knew nothing of all this, more or less.

And the king said to the guard that stood around him, Turn and kill the priests of Jehovah, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not reveal it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall on the priests of Jehovah.

Stay with me, and do not fear. For he who seeks my life seeks your life. But you shall be in safekeeping with me.

And David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah and went wherever they could go. And it was told to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah. And he did not go forth.

And David stayed in the wilderness in strongholds, and remained in the stronghold in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul looked for him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

And he said to him, Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. And you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. And my father Saul knows that also.

And the men of Ziph came up to Saul, to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the forest, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the wilderness?

And David held back his men with words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul rose up out of the cave and went on his way.

Behold, your eyes have seen today how Jehovah had delivered you today into my hand in the cave. And one said to kill you. But I had pity on you. And I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord, for he is Jehovah's anointed.

And, my father, behold! Yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand. For in that I cut off the skirt of your robe and did not kill you, know 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.

May Jehovah judge between me and you, and may Jehovah avenge me of you. But my hand shall not be on you.

As the ancient proverb says, Wickedness proceeds from the wicked. But my hand shall not be on you.

And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me, because when Jehovah shut me up into your hand, you did not kill me.

And swear therefore to me before Jehovah that you will not cut off my seed after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house.

And now I have heard that you have shearers. And we did not hurt your shepherds who were with us; neither was there anything missing to them all the while they were in Carmel.

Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men about whom I know not where they come from?

But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither did we miss anything as long as we were going to and fro among them, when we were in the fields.

They were a wall to us both by night and day all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

And she said to her servants, Go on before me. Behold, I am coming after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

Please do not let my lord regard this man of worthlessness, Nabal. For as his name is, so he is. Nabal is his name, and foolishness is with him. And I, your handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.

Please forgive the trespass of your handmaid. For Jehovah will certainly make a sure house for my lord, because my lord fights the battles of Jehovah, and evil has not been found in you all your days.

And truly, as Jehovah, the God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from doing evil to you, for unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal by the morning light one who urinates against the wall.

And Abigail came to Nabal. And behold, he held a feast in his house like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. And she did not tell him anything, more or less, until the morning light.

And the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Is not David hiding himself in the hill of Hachilah, on the edge of the desert?

So David and Abishai came to the people by night. And behold, Saul lay sleeping in the tent, and his spear stuck in the ground at his head. But Abner and the people lay around him.

And Abishai said to David, God has shut up your enemy into your hand this day. And please let me strike him with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not repeat it to him.

And David said to Abishai, Do not destroy him. For who can stretch forth his hand against Jehovah's anointed and be guiltless?

And David cried to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Do you not answer, Abner? And Abner answered and said, Who are you that cries to the king?

And David said to Abner, Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? But why have you not watched over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy your lord the king.

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

And now, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of Jehovah. For the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains.

May Jehovah give to each his righteousness and his faithfulness. For Jehovah delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed.

And David struck the land, and did not keep alive man nor woman, and took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the clothing, and returned and came to Achish.

And David did not keep alive man or woman to bring news to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So David did, and so has been his custom all the days he lived in the fields of the Philistines.

And when Saul inquired of Jehovah, Jehovah did not answer him, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.

And Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing. And he went. And two men went with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, Please divine for me calling up the dead, and bring me up the man whom I shall name to you.

And the king said to her, Do not be afraid. For what did you see? And the woman said to Saul, I saw gods coming up out of the earth.

And Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disturbed me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am grievously distressed, for the Philistines are warring against me. And God has left me and does not answer me any more, neither by prophets nor by dreams. And I have called you so that you may make known to me what I should do.

Because you did not obey the voice of Jehovah, nor execute his fierce wrath on Amalek, therefore Jehovah has done this thing to you now.

And Saul immediately fell headlong on the earth, and was sorely afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all day nor all night.

But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, forced him, and the woman also. And he listened to their voices and arose from the earth and sat on the bed.

And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants. And they ate, and rose up and went away that night.

And the rulers of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews doing? 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 these days, or these years. And I have not found anything evil in him from the day he fell away until today?

And the rulers of the Philistines were angry with him. And the Philistine rulers said to him, Send the man back, and he shall return to his place where you have appointed him. And he shall not go down with us to battle, and shall not become an enemy to us in battle. For with what should he reconcile himself to his master? Should it not be with the heads of these men?

Is not this David, of whom they sang to one another in dances, saying, Saul killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

And Achish called David and said to him, Surely, as Jehovah 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 to me until today. But you are not good in the eyes of the lords.

And return now, and go in peace so that you do not displease the lords of the Philistines.

And David said to Achish, But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant so long as I have been with you to this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

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

And they had seized the women in it. They did not kill any, either small or great, but carried them away and went on their way.