And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain LORD's priests.

And David said to Abiathar, I knew on 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.

And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.

And it was told Saul that David came 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.

And David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring here the ephod.

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

Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah, and he ceased to go forth.

And David saw that Saul came out to seek his life, and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the forest.

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

Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, [and] who has seen him there, for it is told me that he deals very shrewdly.

See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hides himself, and come ye again to me of a certainty. And I will go with you, and it shall come to pass, if he is in the land, that I will search him out among a

And Saul and his men went to seek him. And they told David. Therefore he came down to the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard [that], he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

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 encompassed David and his men round about to take them.

So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines. Therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.

And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.

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

And he said to his men, LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, LORD's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, since he is LORD's anointed.

Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that LORD had delivered thee today into my hand in the cave. And some bade me kill thee, but [I] spared thee. And I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord, for he is LORD's anoi

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 my hand, and I have not sinned

And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.

And thou have declared this day how that thou have dealt well with me, inasmuch as when LORD had delivered me up into thy hand, thou killed me not.

For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away well? Therefore LORD reward thee good for that which thou have done to me this day.

And now, behold, I know that thou shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thy hand.

Swear now therefore to me by LORD, that thou will not cut off my seed after me, and that thou will not destroy my name out of my father's house.

And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

And thus ye shall say to him who lives [in prosperity], Peace be to thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be to all that thou have.

And now I have heard that thou have shearers. Thy shepherds have now been with us, and we did them no hurt, 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 flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men of whom I know not from where they are?

Now therefore know and consider what thou will do, for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house. For he is such a worthless fellow that [a man] cannot speak to him.

And it was so, as she rode on her donkey, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them.

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 to him, and he has returned me evil for good.

God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that pertains to him by the morning light so much as one man-child.

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

that this shall be no grief to thee, nor offence of heart to my lord, either that thou have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. And when LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid

So David received from her hand that which she had brought him. And he said to her, Go up in peace to thy house. See, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

And it came to pass about ten days after, that LORD smote Nabal, so that he died.

And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be LORD, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil, and the evil-doing of Nabal LORD has returned upon his ow

And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.

David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul definitely came.

LORD forbid that I should put forth my hand against LORD's anointed. But now take, I pray thee, the spear that is at his head, and the cruse of water, and let us go.

And David cried out to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answer thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who are thou that cries to the king?

This thing is not good that thou have done. As LORD lives, ye are worthy to die because ye have not kept watch over your lord, LORD's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his head.

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 escape into the land of the Philistines, and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the bor

And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath, and he sought no more again for him.

And David said to Achish, If now I have found favor in thine eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country that I may dwell there, for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag pertains to the kings of Judah to this day.

And the number of the days that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.

And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shall go out with me in the army, thou and thy men.

Then Saul said to his servants, Seek me a woman who has a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman who has a familiar spirit at En-dor.

And he said to her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man comes up, and he is covered with a robe. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance.

And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was greatly troubled, and said to him, Behold, thy handmaid has hearkened to thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened to thy words which thou spoke to me.

Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee, and eat, that thou may have strength when thou go on thy way.

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

But the rulers of the Philistines were angry with him. And the rulers of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he may go back to his place where thou have appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, l

Therefore now return, and go in peace, that thou not displease the lords of the Philistines.

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

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

And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the South, and upon Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire,

and had taken captive the women [and all] that were in it, both small and great. They did not kill any, but carried them off, and went their way.

But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

We made a raid upon the South of the Cherethites, and upon that which belongs to Judah, and upon the South of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.

And David said to him, Will thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear to me by God, that thou will neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.

And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the ground, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of

And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives.

And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them; David brought back all.

And David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom also they had made to abide at the brook Besor. And they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people who were with him. And when D

Then answered all the wicked men and base fellows of those who went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them anything of the spoil that we have recovered except to every man his wife and his childr

Then David said, Ye shall not do so, my brothers, with that which LORD has given to us, who has preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand.

And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

And when his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died with him.

So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor bearer, and all his men, that same day together.

And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled. And the Philistine

And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.

And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard concerning him, that which the Philistines had done to Saul,

it came to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes torn, and earth upon his head. And so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground, and did obeisance.

And David said to the young man who told him, How do thou know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?

So I stood beside him, and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he was fallen. And I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.

And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him so that he died.

And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And LORD said to him, Go up. And David said, Where shall I go up? And he said, To Hebron.

And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, Blessed be ye of LORD, that ye have shown this kindness to your lord, even to Saul, and have buried him.

And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

And each man caught his fellow by the head, and [thrust] his sword in his fellow's side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon.

And the battle was very severe that day. And Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.

However he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him in the body, so that the spear came out behind him. And he fell down there, and died in the same place. And it came to pass, that as many

But Joab and Abishai pursued after Abner. And the sun went down when they came to the hill of Ammah that lays before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.

Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? Know thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? How long shall it be then, before thou bid the people return from following their brothers?

And Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah, and they passed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and came to Mahanaim.

But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner's men, [so that] three hundred and sixty men died.

And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner made himself strong in the house of Saul.

Then Abner was very angry for the words of Ish-bosheth, and said, Am I a dog's head that belongs to Judah? This day I show kindness to the house of Saul thy father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee i

And he said, Well! I will make a league with thee, but one thing I require of thee. That is, thou shall not see my face unless thou first bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when thou come to see my face.

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

And Abner said to David, I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel to my lord the king that they may make a covenant with thee, and that thou may reign over all that thy soul desires. And David sent Abner away, and he went in

When Joab and all the army that was with him came, they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he has gone in peace.

Then Joab came to the king, and said, What have thou done? Behold, Abner came to thee. Why is it that thou have sent him away, and he is quite gone?

Thou know Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou do.

And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there in the body, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.

So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to kill Abner the son of Ner.

And the king said to his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?