And Samuel said, As your sword has made women without children, so now your mother will be without children among women. And Agag was cut up by Samuel, bone from bone, before the Lord in Gilgal.

And the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you go on sorrowing for Saul, seeing that I have put him from his place as king over Israel? Take oil in your vessel and go; I will send you to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite: for I have got a king for myself among his sons.

And Saul's servants said to him, See now, an evil spirit from God is troubling you.

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 Saul said to his servants, Then get me a man who is an expert player, and make him come to me.

And Jesse took five cakes of bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David.

And whenever the evil spirit from God came on Saul, David took his instrument and made music: so new life came to Saul, and he got well, and the evil spirit went away from him.

Now the Philistines got their armies together for war, and came together at Socoh in the land of Judah, and took up their position between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.

And he had a head-dress of brass on his head, and he was dressed in a coat of metal, the weight of which was five thousand shekels of brass.

And David got up early in the morning, and, giving the sheep into the care of a keeper, took the things and went as Jesse had said; and he came to the lines where the carts were, when the army was going out to the fight giving their war-cry.

And David gave his parcels into the hands of the keeper of the army stores, and went running to the army and came to his brothers to get knowledge about them.

And David said to the men near him, What will be done to the man who overcomes this Philistine and takes away the shame from Israel? for who is this Philistine, a man without circumcision, that he has put shame on the armies of the living God?

Your servant has overcome lion and bear: and the fate of this Philistine, who is without circumcision, will be like theirs, seeing that he has put shame on the armies of the living God.

Then Saul gave David his clothing of war, and put a head-dress of brass on his head and had him clothed with a coat of metal.

And David took Saul's sword and put the band round him over the metal coat, and was unable to go forward; for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, It is not possible for me to go out with these, for I am not used to them. So David took them off.

Then he took his stick in his hand, and got five smooth stones from the bed of the stream and put them in a bag such as is used by sheep-keepers; and in his hand was a leather band used for sending stones: and so he went in the direction of the Philistine.

And when the Philistine, taking note, saw David, he had a poor opinion of him: for he was only a boy, red-haired and good-looking.

Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the armies of Israel on which you have put shame.

This day the Lord will give you up into my hands, and I will overcome you, and take your head off you; and I will give the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth today, so that all the earth may see that Israel has a God;

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.

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 said, Then say to David, The king has no desire for any bride-price, but only for the private parts of a hundred Philistines so that the king may get the better of his haters. But it was in Saul's mind that David might come to his end by the hands of the Philistines.

So David and his men got up and went, and put to death two hundred of the Philistines; and David took their private parts and gave the full number of them to the king, so that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife.

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.

And Jonathan gave his father Saul a good account of David, and said to him, Let not the king do wrong against his servant, against David; because he has done you no wrong, and all his acts have had a good outcome for you:

And Saul would have sent his spear through him, pinning him to the wall, but he got away and the spear went into the wall: and that night David went in flight and got away.

So Michal let David down through the window, and he went in flight and got away.

Then Michal took the image and put it in the bed, with a cushion of goat's hair at its head, and she put clothing over it.

And when the men came in, there was the image in the bed, with the cushion of goat's hair at its head

And Saul said to Michal, why have you been false to me, letting my hater go and get safely away? And in answer Michal said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go, or I will put you to death.

So David went in flight and got away and came to Ramah, to Samuel, and gave him an account of all Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and were living in Naioth.

And Saul sent men to take David; and when they saw the band of prophets at work, with Samuel in his place at their head, the spirit of God came on Saul's men, and they became like prophets.

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 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?

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.

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 Jonathan went on crying out after the boy, Be quick, do not keep waiting about, go quickly. And Jonathan's boy got the arrow and came back to his master.

Then David got up and went in flight that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish, the king of Gath.

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 the prophet Gad said to David, Do not go on living in this place but go into the land of Judah. Then David went away and came to the woodland of Hereth.

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

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 Abiathar, one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, got away and went in flight after David;

And news was given to Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, Now God has given him into my hands; for by going into a walled town with locked doors, he has let himself be shut in.

Then David said, O Lord, the God of Israel, news has been given to your servant that it is Saul's purpose to come to Keilah and send destruction on the town because of me.

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.

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.

And David kept in the waste land, in safe places, waiting in the hill-country in the waste land of Ziph. And Saul was searching for him every day, but God did not give him up into his hands

And Saul's son Jonathan went to David in Horesh, and made his hands strong in God;

And said to him, Have no fear, for Saul my father will not get you into his power; and you will be king of Israel, and I will be by your side, and my father Saul is certain of this.

So take care to get knowledge of all the secret places where he is taking cover, and be certain to come back to me, and I will go with you: and without doubt, if he is anywhere in the land, I will get him, among all the families of Judah.

And Saul and his men went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men went on the other: and David's purpose was to get away as quickly as possible, for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men were making a circle round David and his men in order to take them.

And David's men said to him, Now is the time when the Lord says to you, I will give up your hater into your hands to do with him whatever seems good to you. Then David, getting up, took the skirt of Saul's robe in his hand, cutting off the end of it without his knowledge.

So with these words David kept his servants back, and did not let them make an attack on Saul. And Saul got up and went on his way.

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.

And you have made clear to me how good you have been to me today: because, when the Lord gave me up into your hands, you did not put me to death.

If a man comes across his hater, will he let him get away safe? so may you be rewarded by the Lord for what you have done for me today.

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.

Now this man was named Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail: she was a woman of good sense and pleasing looks: but the man was cruel and evil in his ways; he was of the family of Caleb.

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.

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 these men have been very good to us; they did us no wrong and nothing of ours was touched while we were with them in the fields:

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.

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.

And when Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her ass, falling down on her face before him.

Let my lord give no attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing: for as his name is, so is he, a man without sense: but I, your servant, did not see the young men whom my lord sent.

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.

And when the Lord has done for my lord all those good things which he has said he will do for you, and has made you a ruler over Israel;

Then you will have no cause for grief, and my lord's heart will not be troubled because you have taken life without cause and have yourself given punishment for your wrongs: and when the Lord has been good to you, then give a thought to your servant.

And David said to Abigail, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be praised, who sent you to me today:

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.

And she got up, and going down on her face to the earth, said, See, I am ready to be a servant-girl, washing the feet of the servants of my lord.

Then Abigail got up quickly and went on her ass, with five of her young women, after the men whom David had sent; and she became David's wife.

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

And David got up and came to the place where Saul's tents were: and David had a view of the place where Saul was sleeping with Abner, the son of Ner, the captain of his army: and Saul was sleeping inside the ring of carts, and the tents of the people were all round 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.

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.

What you have done is not good. By the living Lord, death is the right fate for you, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the man on whom the Lord has put the holy oil. Now see, where is the king's spear, and the vessel of water which was by his head?

Then David said, Here is the king's spear! let one of the young men come over and get it.

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.

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 Philistines came together and put their forces in position in Shunem; and Saul got all Israel together and they took up their positions in Gilboa.

Then Saul said to his servants, Get me a woman who has control of a spirit so that I may go to her and get directions. And his servants said to him, There is such a woman at En-dor.

And the king said to her, Have no fear: what do you see? And the woman said to Saul, I see a god coming up out of the earth.

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.

And the woman had in the house a young cow, made fat for food; and she put it to death straight away; and she took meal and got it mixed and made unleavened bread;

And she put it before Saul and his servants, and they had a meal. Then they got up and went away the same night.

Now the Philistines got all their army together at Aphek: and the Israelites put their forces in position by the fountain in Jezreel.

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.

So David and his men got up early in the morning to go back to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

And David was greatly troubled; for the people were talking of stoning him, because their hearts were bitter, every man sorrowing for his sons and his daughters: but David made himself strong in the Lord his God.