And the men of Israel and of Judah got up, and gave a cry, and went after the Philistines as far as Gath and the town doors of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines were falling down by the road from Shaaraim all the way to Gath and Ekron.

Then the children of Israel came back from going after the Philistines, and took their goods from the tents.

And from that day Saul was looking with envy on David.

Now on the day after, an evil spirit from God came on Saul with great force and he was acting like a prophet among the men of his house, while David was making music for him, as he did day by day: and Saul had his spear in his hand.

And Saul, balancing the spear in his hand, said, I will give David a blow, pinning him to the wall. And David got away from him twice.

And Saul went in fear of David, because the Lord was with David and had gone away from Saul.

And an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul, when he was seated in his house with his spear in his hand; and David made music for him.

And he went on from there to Naioth in Ramah: and the spirit of God came on him, and he went on, acting like a prophet, till he came to Naioth in Ramah.

And David went in flight from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and said, What have I done? What is my crime and my sin against your father that he is attempting to take my life?

And he said to him, Far be the thought: you will not be put to death: see, my father does nothing, great or small, without giving me word of it: would he keep this secret from me? It is not so.

And may you, while I am still living, O may you be kind to me, as the Lord is kind, and keep me from death!

And let not your mercy ever be cut off from my family, even when the Lord has sent destruction on all David's haters, cutting them off from the face of the earth.

And if it comes about that the name of Jonathan is cut off from the family of David, the Lord will make David responsible.

And on the third day I will send arrows from my bow against its side as if at a mark.

And Saul, pointing his spear at him, made an attempt to give him a wound: from which it was clear to Jonathan that his father's purpose was to put David to death.

So Jonathan got up from the table, burning with wrath, and took no part in the feast the second day of the month, being full of grief for David because his father had put shame on him.

And he said to the boy, Go and get the arrow I let loose from my bow. And while the boy was running, he sent an arrow past him.

And when the boy had gone, David came from his secret place by the hill, and falling to the earth went down on his face three times: and they gave one another a kiss, weeping together, till David's grief was the greater.

And the priest, answering David, said, I have no common bread here but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.

And David in answer said to the priest, Certainly women have been kept from us; and as has been done before when I have gone out the arms of the young men were made holy, even though it was a common journey; how much more today will their arms be made holy.

So the priest gave him the holy bread: there was no other, only the holy bread which had been taken from before the Lord, so that new bread might be put in its place on the day when it was taken away.

So changing his behaviour before them, he made it seem as if he was off his head, hammering on the doors of the town, and letting the water from his mouth go down his chin.

So David went away from there and took cover in a strong place at Adullam; and his brothers and all his father's people, hearing of it, went down to him there.

And from there David went to Mizpeh in the land of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab, Let my father and mother come and make their living-place with you till it is clear to me what God will do for me.

And he got directions from the Lord for him, and gave him food, and put in his hand the sword of Goliath the Philistine.

And Saul said to him, Why have you made designs against me with the son of Jesse, giving him food and a sword and getting directions from the Lord for him, and helping him to take up arms against me, and to be on the watch to make a secret attack on me as he is doing now?

Is this the first time I have got directions from God for him? Far be the thought! let the king make no such statement against his servant or my father's family, for your servant has no knowledge, great or small, of this thing.

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

So David, questioning the Lord, said, Am I to go and make an attack on these Philistines? And the Lord said to David, Go and make an attack on the Philistines so that Keilah may be kept from falling into their hands.

Then David and his men, about six hundred of them, went out of Keilah, and got away wherever they were able to go. And Saul, hearing that David had got away from Keilah, did not go there.

So turning back from going after David, Saul went against the Philistines: so that place was named Sela-hammah-lekoth.

And from there, David went up and took cover in the safe place of En-gedi.

Now when Saul came back from fighting the Philistines, news was given him that David was in the waste land of En-gedi.

There is an old saying, From the evil-doer comes evil: but my hand will never be lifted up against you.

So let the Lord be judge, and give a decision between me and you, and see and give support to my cause, and keep me from falling into your hands.

So give me your oath by the Lord, that you will not put an end to my seed after me or let my name be cut off from my father's family.

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.

Am I to take my bread and my wine and the meat I have got ready for my wool-cutters and give it to men coming from I have no idea where?

But one of the young men said to Nabal's wife Abigail, David sent men from the waste land to say kind words to our master, and he gave them a rough answer.

So now, my lord, by the living God and by your living soul, seeing that the Lord has kept you from the crime of blood and from taking into your hands the punishment for your wrongs, may all your haters, and those who would do evil to my lord, be like Nabal.

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.

A blessing on your good sense and on you, who have kept me today from the crime of blood and from taking into my hands the punishment for my wrongs.

For truly, by the living Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept me from doing you evil, if you had not been so quick in coming to me and meeting me, by dawn there would not have been in Nabal's house so much as one male living.

Then David took from her hands her offering: and he said to her, Go back to your house in peace; see, I have given ear to your voice, and taken your offering with respect.

And David, hearing that Nabal was dead, said, May the Lord be praised, who has taken up my cause against Nabal for the shame which he put on me, and has kept back his servant from evil, and has sent on Nabal's head the reward of his evil-doing. And David sent word to Abigail, desiring to take her as his wife.

And so David sent out watchers, and got word from them that Saul was certainly coming.

So David took the spear and the vessel of water from Saul's head; and they got away without any man seeing them, or being conscious of their coming, or awaking; for they were all sleeping because a deep sleep from the Lord had come on them.

Let my lord the king give ear now to the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who is moving you against me, let him take an offering: but if it is the children of men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for driving me out today and keeping me from my place in the heritage of the Lord, saying, Go, be the servant of other gods.

Then do not let my blood be drained out on the earth away from the face of the Lord: for the king of Israel has come out to take my life, like one going after birds in the mountains.

And so, as your life was dear to me today, may my life be dear to the Lord, and may he make me free from all my troubles.

And David said to himself, Some day death will come to me by the hand of Saul: the only thing for me to do is to get away into the land of the Philistines; then Saul will give up hope of taking me in any part of the land of Israel: and so I may be able to get away from him.

And David and his men went up and made attacks on the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites; for these were the people who were living in the land from Telam on the way to Shur, as far as Egypt.

Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel, after weeping for him, had put his body in its last resting-place in Ramah, his town. And Saul had put away from the land all those who had control of spirits and who made use of secret arts.

And he said to her, What is his form? And she said, It is an old man coming up covered with a robe. And Saul saw that it was Samuel, and with his face bent down to the earth he gave him honour.

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.

And Samuel said, Why do you put your questions to me, seeing that God has gone away from you and is on the side of him who is against you?

But he would not, saying, I have no desire for food. But his servants, together with the woman, made him take food, and he gave way to them. So he got up from the earth, and took his seat on the bed.

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 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 when he had taken him down, they saw them all, seated about on all sides, feasting and drinking among all the mass of goods which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.

And David went on fighting them from evening till the evening of the day after; and not one of them got away but only four hundred young men who went in flight on camels.

And so he made it a rule and an order for Israel from that day till now.

And when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the goods to the responsible men of Judah, and to his friends, saying, Here is an offering for you from the goods of those who were fighting against the Lord;

Now on the day after, when the Philistines came to take their goods from the dead, they saw Saul and his three sons dead on the earth in Mount Gilboa.

All the fighting men got up and, travelling all night, took Saul's body and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh and had them burned there.

Now after the death of Saul, when David, having come back from the destruction of the Amalekites, had been in Ziklag for two days;

On the third day a man came from Saul's tents, with his clothing out of order and earth on his head: and when he came to David, he went down on the earth and gave him honour.

And David said to him, Where have you come from? And he said, I have come in flight from the tents of Israel.

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.

So I put my foot on him and gave him his death-blow, because I was certain that he would not go on living after his fall: and I took the crown from his head and the band from his arm, and I have them here for my lord.

And David said to the young man who had given him the news, Where do you come from? And he said, I am the son of a man from a strange land; I am an Amalekite.

From the blood of the dead, from the fat of the strong, the bow of Jonathan was not turned back, the sword of Saul did not come back unused.

And Abner, the son of Ner, with the servants of Saul's son Ish-bosheth, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

And Abner said, Then go to the right or to the left and put your hands on one of the fighting-men and take his arms. But Asahel would not be turned away from going after Abner.

And Joab came back from fighting Abner: and when he had got all his men together, it was seen that nineteen of David's men, in addition to Asahel, were not with them.

And if I do not take away the kingdom from the family of Saul and make David ruler over Israel and Judah from Dan as far as Beer-sheba!

So Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband Paltiel, the son of Laish.

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.

And when Joab had come out from David, he sent men after Abner, and they overtook him at the water-spring of Sirah, and made him come back with them: but David had no knowledge of it.

And when David had word of it he said, May I and my kingdom be clear for ever in the eyes of the Lord from the blood of Abner, the son of Ner:

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!

Now Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son whose feet were damaged. He was five years old when news of the death of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and the woman who took care of him took him up and went in flight: and while she was getting him away as quickly as she was able, he had a fall and his feet were damaged. His name was Mephibosheth.

And they took the head of Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron, and said to the king, Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul your hater, who would have taken your life; the Lord has taken payment for the wrongs of my lord the king from Saul and his seed today.

And David made answer to Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, By the living Lord, who has kept me safe from all my trouble,

How much more, when evil men have put an upright person to death, in his house, sleeping on his bed, will I take payment from you for his blood, and have you cut off from the earth?

So David took the strong tower for his living-place, naming it the town of David. And David took in hand the building of the town all round, starting from the Millo.

And David took more women and wives in Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron: and he had more sons and daughters.

And David, desiring directions from the Lord, said, Am I to go up against the Philistines? will you give them up into my hands? And the Lord said, Go up, for I will certainly give up the Philistines into your hands.

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.

And David did as the Lord had said; and he overcame the Philistines, attacking them from Gibeon to near Gezer.

And they said to King David, The blessing of the Lord is on the family of Obed-edom and on all he has, because of the ark of God. And David went and took the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the town of David with joy.

Now when the king was living in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from war on every side;

For from the day when I took the children of Israel up out of Egypt till this day, I have had no house, but have gone from place to place in a tent.

Then say these words to my servant David, The Lord of armies says, I took you from the fields, from keeping the sheep, so that you might be a ruler over my people, over my people Israel:

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.

But my mercy will not be taken away from him, as I took it from him who was before you.

Because of your word and from your heart, you have done all this great work, and let your servant see it.

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 what other nation in the earth, like your people Israel, did a god go out to take for himself, to be his people, and to make a name for himself, and to do great and strange things for them, driving out a nation and its gods from before his people?