And the king said to the guard who stood about him, Turn, and kill the priests of LORD, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me. But the servants of the king would no

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.

Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down as thy servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And LORD said, He will come down.

Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the forest, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert?

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 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 the men of David said to him, Behold, the day of which LORD said to thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thy hand, and thou shall do to him as it shall seem good to thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul

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

As says the proverb of the ancients, Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness, but my hand shall not be upon thee.

After whom is the king of Israel come out? After whom do thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea.

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.

And there was a man in Maon whose possessions were in Carmel. And the man was very great [in goods], 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 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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I thy handmaid saw not the young men of my lord whom thou sent.

Now therefore, my lord, as LORD lives, and as thy soul lives, since LORD has withheld thee from blood guiltiness, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now therefore let thine enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, b

And though men be risen up to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with LORD thy God. And the souls of thine enemies, them he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling.

For in very deed, as LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting thee, unless thou had hastened and come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child.

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 when the servants of David came to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to thee, to take thee to him to wife.

And she arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, thy handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

And the Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert?

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.

And David said, As LORD lives, LORD will smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go down into battle and perish.

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 said to Abner, Are not thou a [valiant] man? And who is like to thee in Israel? Why then have thou not kept watch over thy lord the king? For there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.

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 Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.

And he said, Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand?

Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of LORD. For the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when [a man] hunts a partridge in the mountains.

And LORD will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness, inasmuch as LORD delivered thee into my hand today, and I would not put forth my hand against LORD's anointed.

And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in my eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.

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 David and his men went up, and made a raid upon the Geshurites, and the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for those [nations] were the inhabitants of the land, who were of old as thou go to Shur, even to the land of Egypt.

And David saved neither man nor woman alive to bring them to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell of us, saying, So did David, and so has been his manner all the while he has dwelt in the country of the Philistines.

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 Saul swore to her by LORD, saying, As LORD lives, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

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 Samuel said to Saul, Why have thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am greatly distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answers me no more, neither by prophets, no

And LORD has done to thee, as he spoke by me. And LORD has rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David.

Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by the fountain which is in Jezreel.

Then the rulers of the Philistines said, What [are] these Hebrews? And Achish said to the rulers of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or [rather] these year

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

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

Then Achish called David, and said to him, As LORD lives, thou have been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the army is good in my sight, for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming to me to t

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.

Therefore now rise up early in the morning with the servants of thy lord who have come with thee, and as soon as ye are up early in the morning, and have light, depart.

And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drove before those [other] cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

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 who will hearken to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle so shall his share be who remains by the baggage; they shall share alike.

And the young man who told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul was leaning upon his spear, and, lo, the chariots and the horsemen followed close after him.

And he said to me, Stand, I pray thee, beside me, and kill me, for anguish has taken hold of me, because my life is yet whole in me.

(and he bade them teach the sons of Judah [the song of] the bow; behold, it is written in the book of Jashar):

Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places! How are the mighty fallen!

How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain upon thy high places.

Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be ye valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.

And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men, I pray thee, arise and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.

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 three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel. And Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.

Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Is it thou, Asahel? And he answered, It is I.

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

And Joab said, As God lives unless thou had spoken, surely then in the morning the people would have gone up every man from followed his brother.

Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And [Ish-bosheth] said to Abner, Why have thou gone in to my father's concubine?

God do so to Abner, and more also, if, as LORD has sworn to David, I do not even so to him,

And Abner sent messengers to David on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? [And] saying, Make thy league with me, and, behold, my hand shall be with thee to bring about all Israel to thee.

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 her husband went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, Go, return, and he returned.

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?

Let it fall upon the head of Joab, and upon all his father's house. And let there not fail from the house of Joab one who has an issue, or who is a leper, or who leans on a staff, or who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.

And the king lamented for Abner, and said, Should Abner die as a fool dies?

Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters. As a man falls before the sons of iniquity, so did thou fall. And all the people wept again over him.

And all the people came to cause David to eat bread while it was yet day, but David swore, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or anything else, till the sun is down.

And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as whatever the king did pleased all the people.

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

And [Ish-bosheth], Saul's son, [had] two men who were captains of bands. The name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin, for Beeroth also is reckoned to

Now Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled. And it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that h

And the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went, and came about the heat of the day to the house of Ish-bosheth, as he took his rest at noon.

And they came there into the midst of the house as though they would have fetched wheat, and they smote him in the body. And Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.

Now when they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, they smote him, and killed him, and beheaded him, and took his head, and went by the way of the Arabah all night.

And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, As LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,

when he who told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good news, I took hold of him, and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.

In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was thou who led out and brought in Israel. And LORD said to thee, Thou shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and thou shall be prince over Israel.

Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David.

And David did so, as LORD commanded him, and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gezer.

And David arose, and went with all the people who were with him, from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, even the name of LORD of hosts who sits [above] the cherubim.

And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.

And when they came to the threshing-floor of Nacon, Uzzah put forth to the ark of God, and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.

And the anger of LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God smote him there for his error, and he died there by the ark of God.

And David was displeased, because LORD had broken forth upon Uzzah. And he called that place Perez-uzzah, to this day.