But also thou shalt not withdraw thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.

And Jonathan covenanteth with the house of David, and Jehovah hath sought it from the hand of the enemies of David;

and Jonathan addeth to cause David to swear, because he loveth him, for with the love of his own soul he hath loved him.

But if I say thus to the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away.

Nevertheless Saul spoke not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.

And it came to pass, on the morrow, the second of the month, that David's place was empty, - and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore hath not the son of Jesse come in, either yesterday or to-day, to meat?

And Jonathan answereth Saul, 'David hath been earnestly asked of me unto Beth-Lehem,

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 favor in thy eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not to the king's table.

And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, Why shall he be slain? what hath he done?

And Saul casteth the javelin at him to smite him, and Jonathan knoweth that it hath been determined by his father to put David to death.

And Jonathan riseth from the table in the heat of anger, and hath not eaten food on the second day of the new moon, for he hath been grieved for David, for his father put him to shame.

And he saith to his youth, 'Run, find, I pray thee, the arrows which I am shooting;' the youth is running, and he hath shot the arrow, causing it to pass over him.

And the youth cometh unto the place of the arrow which Jonathan hath shot, and Jonathan calleth after the youth, and saith, 'Is not the arrow beyond thee?'

And the youth hath not known anything, only Jonathan and David knew the word.

And Jonathan giveth his weapons unto the youth whom he hath, and saith to him, 'Go, carry into the city.'

The youth hath gone, and David hath risen from Ezel, at the south, and falleth on his face to the earth, and boweth himself three times, and they kiss one another, and they weep one with another, till David exerted himself;

and Jonathan saith to David, 'Go in peace, in that we have sworn -- we two -- in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah is between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed -- unto the age;' and he riseth and goeth; and Jonathan hath gone in to the city.

And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said to me, Let no man know any thing of the business about which I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.

And David answered the priest and said unto him, "Of a truth, women hath been locked up from us about a three days, when I came out: and the vessels of the young men were holy. Howbeit, this way is impure: but it shall be hallowed in the vessel."

And there is a man of the servants of Saul on that day detained before Jehovah, and his name is Doeg the Edomite, chief of the shepherds whom Saul hath.

And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

and gather themselves unto him do every man in distress, and every man who hath an exactor, and every man bitter in soul, and he is over them for head, and there are with him about four hundred men.

And Saul heareth that David hath become known, and the men who are with him, and Saul is abiding in Gibeah, under the grove in Ramah, and his spear is in his hand, and all his servants standing by him.

That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth 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 showeth to me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

and he asketh for him at Jehovah, and provision hath given to him, and the sword of Goliath the Philistine hath given to him.

And Ahimelech answereth the king and saith, 'And who among all thy servants is as David -- faithful, and son-in-law of the king, and hath turned aside unto thy council, and is honoured in thy house?

To-day have I begun to ask for him at God? far be it from me! let not the king lay anything against his servant, against any of the house of my father, for thy servant hath known nothing of all this, less or more.'

and Nob, the city of the priests, he hath smitten by the mouth of the sword, from man even unto woman, from infant even unto suckling, and ox, and ass, and sheep, by the mouth of the sword.

and Abiathar declareth to David that Saul hath slain the priests of Jehovah.

And it was told to Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars.

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

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

And David riseth -- and his men -- about six hundred men, and they go out from Keilah, and go up and down where they go up and down; and to Saul it hath been declared that David hath escaped from Keilah, and he ceaseth to go out.

And David abideth in the wilderness, in fortresses, and abideth in the hill-country, in the wilderness of Ziph; and Saul seeketh him all the days, and God hath not given him into his hand.

And David seeth that Saul hath come out to seek his life, and David is in the wilderness of Ziph, in a forest.

And they make a covenant both of them before Jehovah; and David abideth in the forest, and Jonathan hath gone to his house.

Now therefore, sir king, come down with all the lust that thy soul hath to come. And our part shall be to deliver him into the hands of the king."

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 to me that he dealeth very subtilly.

And see and know of all the hiding-places where he hideth himself, and ye have turned back unto me prepared, and I have gone with you, and it hath been, if he is in the land, that I have searched him out through all the thousands of Judah.'

And a messenger hath come in unto Saul, saying, 'Haste, and come, for the Philistines have pushed against the land.'

And it cometh to pass when Saul hath turned back from after the Philistines, that they declare to him, saying, 'Lo, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.'

And it cometh to pass afterwards that the heart of David smiteth him, because that he hath cut off the skirt which is on Saul,

And David subdueth his men by words, and hath not permitted them to rise against Saul; and Saul hath risen from the cave, and goeth on the way;

Behold, this day thy eyes have seen how the LORD hath delivered thee to-day into my hand in the cave; and some bade me kill thee: but my eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord; for he is the LORD'S anointed.

'Jehovah doth judge between me and thee, and Jehovah hath avenged me of thee, and my hand is not on thee;

After whom, hath the king of Israel come forth? After whom, art thou in pursuit? After a dead dog! after a single flea!

And Jehovah hath been for judge, and hath judged between me and thee, yea, he seeth and pleadeth my cause, and doth deliver me out of thy hand.'

and that a man doth find his enemy, and hath sent him away in a good manner; and Jehovah doth repay thee good for that which thou didst to me this day.

'And, now, lo, I have known that thou dost certainly reign, and the kingdom of Israel hath stood in thy hand;

And there is a man in Maon, and his work is in Carmel; and the man is very great, and he hath three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and he is shearing his flock in Carmel.

and, now, I have heard that thou hast shearers; now, the shepherds whom thou hast have been with us, we have not put them to shame, nor hath anything been looked after by them, all the days of their being in Carmel.

And to Abigail wife of Nabal hath one young man of the youths declared, saying, 'Lo, David hath sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord, and he flieth upon them;

And, now, know and consider what thou dost; for evil hath been determined against our lord, and against all his house, and he is too much a son of worthlessness to be spoken to.'

And she saith to her young men, 'Pass over before me; lo, after you I am coming;' and to her husband Nabal she hath not declared it;

and it hath come to pass, she is riding on the ass and is coming down in the secret part of the hill-country, and lo, David and his men are coming down to meet her, and she meeteth them.

(Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this man hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him: and he hath requited me evil for good.

So may God do to David and so may he add, if I leave remaining, of all that he hath, until the morning, - so much as a little boy.

Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withheld thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thy own hand, now let thy enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

And now this blessing which thy handmaid hath brought to my lord, let it even be given to the young men that follow my lord.

I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thy handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.

Yet a man hath risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thy enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the middle of a sling.

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

That this will be no grief to thee, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.

Then said David unto Abigail, - Blessed, be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who hath sent thee this day, to meet me;

And blessed be thy behaviour, and blessed be thou which hath kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with mine own hand.

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

And David receiveth from her hand that which she hath brought to him, and to her he hath said, 'Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and accept thy face.'

And Abigail cometh in unto Nabal, and lo, he hath a banquet in his house, like a banquet of the king, and the heart of Nabal is glad within him, and he is drunk unto excess, and she hath not declared to him anything, less or more, till the light of the morning.

And it cometh to pass in the morning, when the wine is gone out from Nabal, that his wife declareth to him these things, and his heart dieth within him, and he hath been as a stone.

And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to himself for a wife.

And when the servants of David had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, David hath sent us to thee, to take thee to him for a wife.

And Ahinoam hath David taken from Jezreel, and they are -- even both of them -- to him for wives;

And Saul encampeth in the height of Hachilah, which is on the front of the desert, by the way, and David is abiding in the wilderness, and he seeth that Saul hath come after him in to the wilderness;

and David sendeth spies, and knoweth that Saul hath come unto Nachon,

and David riseth, and cometh in unto the place where Saul hath encamped, and David seeth the place where Saul hath lain, and Abner son of Ner, head of his host, and Saul is lying in the path, and the people are encamping round about him.

Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thy enemy into thy hand this day; now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear, even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.

But David said unto Abishai, Do not destroy him, - for who that hath thrust forth his hand against the Anointed of Yahweh, shall be guiltless?

And David saith, 'Jehovah liveth; except Jehovah doth smite him, or his day come that he hath died, or into battle he go down, and hath been consumed --

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.

And David said unto Abner - Art not thou, a man? Who indeed is like thee, in Israel? Wherefore, then, hast thou not kept watch over thy lord, the king? For one of the people hath entered, to destroy the king - thy lord.

Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD hath stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they are the children of men, cursed be they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods.

Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel hath come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.

And Saul saith, 'I have sinned; turn back, my son David, for I do evil to thee no more, because that my soul hath been precious in thine eyes this day; lo, I have acted foolishly, and do err very greatly.'

and Jehovah doth turn back to each his righteousness and his faithfulness, in that Jehovah hath given thee to-day into my hand, and I have not been willing to put forth my hand against the anointed of Jehovah,

and lo, as thy soul hath been great this day in mine eyes, so is my soul great in the eyes of Jehovah, and He doth deliver me out of all distress.'

And Saul saith unto David, 'Blessed art thou, my son David, also working thou dost work, and also prevailing thou dost prevail.' And David goeth on his way, and Saul hath turned back to his place.

And David saith unto his heart, 'Now am I consumed one day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing for me better than that I diligently escape unto the land of the Philistines, and Saul hath been despairing of me -- of seeking me any more in all the border of Israel, and I have escaped out of his hand.'

And it is declared to Saul that David hath fled to Gath, and he hath not added any more to seek him.

So Achish gave him, on that day, Ziklag, - wherefore Ziklag hath pertained unto the kings of Judah, unto this day.

And the number of the days which David hath dwelt in the field of the Philistines is days and four months;

and David hath smitten the land, and doth not keep alive man and woman, and hath taken sheep, and oxen, and asses, and camels, and garments, and turneth back, and cometh in unto Achish.

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 hath been his manner all the while he hath dwelt in the country of the Philistines.

And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.

And Samuel hath died, and all Israel mourn for him, and bury him in Ramah, even in his city, and Saul hath turned aside those having familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

and Saul asketh at Jehovah, and Jehovah hath not answered him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.

Then said Saul to 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 En-dor.

And the woman said to him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: Why then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?

And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am grievously distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God hath departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known to me what I shall do.

Then said Samuel, Why then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD hath departed from thee, and hath become thy enemy?

And the LORD hath done to him, as he spoke by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David: