And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:

This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases 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.

And David put his hand in his bag, and took there a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

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 Saul was very wroth, and that saying was evil in his sight; and he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed the thousands; and what is there more for him but the kingdom?

And it came to pass on the morrow, 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.

Then Saul said to David, "Here's my oldest daughter, Merab. I want to give her to you in marriage. Only be a brave warrior for me and fight the battles of the Lord." For Saul thought, "There's no need for me to raise my hand against him. Let it be the hand of the Philistines!"

And Saul saith, 'Thus do ye say to David, There is no delight to the king in dowry, but in a hundred foreskins of the Philistines -- to be avenged on the enemies of the king;' and Saul thought to cause David to fall by the hand of the Philistines.

so he told him: “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning and hide in a secret place and stay there.

And I will go forth and stand by the hand of my father in the field where thou art there, and I will speak of thee to my father; and what I shall see I will announce to thee.

And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.

then came there a sad spirit of Yahweh unto Saul, he being in his house, seated, with his spear in his hand, - while, David, played with his hand,

And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster.

So Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw a company of prophets prophesying with Samuel standing there as their leader, the spirit of God came upon Saul's messengers, and they also prophesied.

So he went there to Naioth in Ramah and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and {he walked along prophesying} until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

He also removed his clothes and was caught up in prophetic ecstasy right in front of Samuel! He fell down naked and remained there all that day and all night. That is why people say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

And he said unto him - Far be it! thou shalt not die. Lo! my father doeth nothing, great or small, without unveiling mine ear, - wherefore, then, should my father hide from me, this thing? There is, nothing, in this.

And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.

If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.

Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?

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

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.

And on the third day it will be specially noted, and you will go to the place where you took cover when the other business was in hand, waiting by the hill over there.

And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the LORD liveth.

And the king took his seat, as at other times, by the wall: and Jonathan was in front, and Abner was seated by Saul's side, but there was no one in David's seat.

And on the day after the new moon, that is, the second day, there was still no one in David's seat: and Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast yesterday or today?

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

Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and he said to him, "Why are you alone and there are no men with you?"

Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.

And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

And David answered the priest and said to him - Of a truth, women, have been withheld from us, of late, through my coming out, and the wallets of the young men have become hallowed, - while the bread , itself, is in a manner common, and the more so since, to-day, there are other loaves to be hallowed, in the vessel.

So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.

And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.

And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

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?

So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s house heard about it, they went down there to him.

And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come [out of Judah] and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.”

Then Saul said to his servants who were there about him, Give ear now, you Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give to every one of you fields and vine-gardens, will he make you all captains of hundreds and captains of thousands;

That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

And there escapeth one son of Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, and his name is Abiathar, and he fleeth after David,

And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house.

Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and left Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit.

Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly.

Look, find out all of the hiding places where he hides. Then return to me {with dependable information}, and I will go with you. And then if he [is] there in the land, then I will seek him among all the thousands of Judah."

and Saul and his men went to look for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. Saul heard of this and pursued David there.

But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land.

David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi.

and he cometh in unto folds of the flock, on the way, and there is a cave, and Saul goeth in to cover his feet; and David and his men in the sides of the cave are abiding.

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

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

And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.

And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.

And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.

Now consider carefully what you must do, because there is certain to be trouble for our master and his entire family. He is such a worthless fool nobody can talk to him!”

She was riding on the donkey and as she went down a protected part of the mountain, David was there with his men, coming down to meet her, and she went toward them.

Now David had said, What was the use of my taking care of this man's goods in the waste land, so that there was no loss of anything which was his? he has only given me back evil for good.

May God's punishment be on David, if when morning comes there is so much as one male of his people still living.

Forgive the trespass of thine handmaid that the LORD may make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and there could none evil be found in thee in all thy life.

yea, though there hath arisen a sun of earth to pursue thee, and to seek thy life, yet shall the life of my lord be bound up in the bundle of the living, with Yahweh thy God, but, as for the life of thine enemies, he shall sling it out with the middle of the hollow of the sling.

there will not be remorse or a troubled conscience for my lord because of needless bloodshed or my lord’s revenge. And when the Lord does good things for my lord, may you remember me your servant.”

For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.

Then Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was in his house, holding a feast fit for a king. Nabal was in a good mood and very drunk, so she didn’t say anything to him until morning light.

So Saul arose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, taking with him three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search for David [there] in the wilderness of Ziph.

Saul camped beside the road at the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon. David was living in the wilderness and discovered Saul had come there after him.

And David will rise and come to the place where Saul encamped there: and David will see the place where Saul lay down there, and Abner son of Ner, chief of his army. And Saul lay down in the track, and the people encamping round about him.

So David and Abishai went to the army during the night, and there was Saul lying asleep inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head; and Abner and the people were lying around him.

Then Abishai said to David, God has given up your hater into your hands today; now let me give him one blow through to the earth with his spear, and there will be no need to give him a second.

And David said furthermore, "As sure as the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle and there perish:

And David taketh the spear, and the cruse of water at the pillow of Saul, and they go away, and there is none seeing, and there is none knowing, and there is none awaking, for all of them are sleeping, for a deep sleep from Jehovah hath fallen upon them.

David crossed to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance; there was a considerable space between them.

And David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.

And he said, Why does my lord go armed against his servant? what have I done? or what evil is there in me?

And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.

And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.

And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

And he said, "What fashion is he of?" And the woman said, "There cometh up an old man with a mantle upon him." And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and stooped with his face to the ground and bowed himself.

Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.

and now, hearken, I pray thee, also thou, to the voice of thy maid-servant, and I set before thee a morsel of bread, and eat, and there is in thee power when thou goest in the way.'

But the Philistine leaders were angry with him, so they pleaded with him, "Send the man back! Let him return to the place you assigned him. He mustn't go into battle with us. Otherwise, he may become our adversary in the battle! How could there be a better way for this fellow to reconcile himself with his lord? Wouldn't it be with the heads of these men?

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 they had taken captive the women [and all] who were there, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off [to be used as slaves] and went on their way.

Then David and the people who [were] with him raised their voices and wept until there was not [enough] strength in them to weep.

And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray you, bring me here the ephod. And Abiathar brought there the ephod to David.

So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor; there those [who could not continue] remained behind.

David and 400 men continued the pursuit, while the 200 men who were too exhausted to cross over the Wadi Besor remained there.

So he took him down, and {there they were}, spread out over the surface of all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all of the abundant plunder which they had taken from the land of [the] Philistines and from the land of Judah.

And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.

And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.

Then responded every man who was bad and abandoned, from among the men who had been with David, and said - Because they went not with me there shall not be given them of the spoil that we have rescued, - save, to every man, his wife and his children, let them put them forth, then, and go.

When David came to Ziklag, he sent of his prey unto the elders of Judah and to his friends, saying, "See there a blessing for you, of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD."

And to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David went about there, he and his men.

All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

Behold, there came a man the third day out of the host from Saul with his clothes rent and earth upon his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the earth and did obeisance.