Now in the morning, Jonathan went out into the fields at the time he had said to David, and he had a little boy with him.

And when the boy came to the place where the arrow was, Jonathan, crying out after the boy, said, Has it not gone past you?

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.

But the boy had no idea what was going on; only Jonathan and David had knowledge of it.

Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was full of fear at meeting David, and said to him, Why are you by yourself, having no man with you?

And David in answer said to the priest, Certainly women have been kept from us; and as has been done before when I have gone out the arms of the young men were made holy, even though it was a common journey; how much more today will their arms be made holy.

So the priest gave him the holy bread: there was no other, only the holy bread which had been taken from before the Lord, so that new bread might be put in its place on the day when it was taken away.

And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you put to death in the valley of Elah, is here folded in a cloth at the back of the ephod: take that, if you will, for there is no other sword here. And David said, there is no other sword like that; give it to me.

So changing his behaviour before them, he made it seem as if he was off his head, hammering on the doors of the town, and letting the water from his mouth go down his chin.

So David went away from there and took cover in a strong place at Adullam; and his brothers and all his father's people, hearing of it, went down to him there.

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.

That all of you have made designs against me, and not one of you gave me word when my son made an agreement with the son of Jesse, and not one of you has pity for me or has made my eyes open to the fact that my servant has been moved by my son against me, as at this day?

Then the king said to the runners who were waiting near him, Put the priests of the Lord to death; because they are on David's side, and having knowledge of his flight, did not give me word of it. But the king's servants would not put out their hands to make an attack on the Lord's priests.

And Nob, the town of the priests, he put to the sword, all the men and women, children and babies at the breast, and oxen and asses and sheep.

And it was clear to David that Saul had evil designs against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, Come here with the ephod.

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 was full of fear, in the knowledge that Saul had come out to take his life; and David was in the waste land of Ziph, in Horesh.

And Saul and his men went in search of him. And David had word of it, so he came down to the rock in the waste land of Maon. And Saul, hearing of this, went after David into the waste land of Maon.

Then Saul took three thousand of the best men out of all Israel, and went in search of David and his men on the rocks of the mountain goats.

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.

And David said to his men, Before the Lord, never let it be said that my hand was lifted up against my lord, the man of the Lord's selection, for the Lord's holy oil has been put on him.

And after that David came out of the hollow rock, and crying after Saul said, My lord the king. And when Saul gave a look back, David went down on his face and gave him honour.

And David said to Saul, Why do you give any attention to those who say that it is my desire to do you wrong?

And see, my father, see the skirt of your robe in my hand: for the fact that I took off the skirt of your robe and did not put you to death is witness that I have no evil purpose, and I have done you no wrong, though you are waiting for my life to take it.

After whom has the king of Israel come out? for whom are you searching? for a dead dog, an insect.

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.

And death came to Samuel; and all Israel came together, weeping for him, and put his body in its resting-place in his house at Ramah. Then David went down to the waste land of Maon.

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?

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.

And falling at his feet she said, May the wrong be on me, my lord, on me: let your servant say a word to you, and give ear to the words of your servant.

And in the morning, when the effect of the wine was gone, Nabal's wife gave him an account of all these things, and all the heart went out of him, and he became like stone.

And the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, and said, Is not David waiting secretly near us in the hill of Hachilah, before the waste land?

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

And David said to Abishai Do not put him to death; for who, without sin, may put out his hand against the man on whom the Lord has put the holy oil?

Never will my hand be stretched out against the man marked with the holy oil; but take the spear which is by his head and the vessel of water, and let us go.

And crying out to the people and to Abner, the son of Ner, David said, Have you no answer to give, Abner? Then Abner said, Who is that crying out to the king?

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?

And Saul, conscious that the voice was David's, said, Is that your voice, David, my son? And David said, It is my voice, O my lord king.

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

Let my lord the king give ear now to the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who is moving you against me, let him take an offering: but if it is the children of men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for driving me out today and keeping me from my place in the heritage of the Lord, saying, Go, be the servant of other gods.

Then do not let my blood be drained out on the earth away from the face of the Lord: for the king of Israel has come out to take my life, like one going after birds in the mountains.

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

And the Lord will give to every man the reward of his righteousness and his faith: because the Lord gave you into my hands today, and I would not put out my hand against the man who has been marked with the holy oil.

And David and his men were living with Achish at Gath; every man had his family with him, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, who had been the wife of Nabal.

Then David said to Achish, If now I have grace in your eyes, let me have a place in one of the smaller towns of your land, to be my living-place; for it is not right for your servant to be living with you in the king's town.

Not one living man or woman did David ever take back with him to Gath, fearing that they might give an account of what had taken place, and say, This is what David did, and so has he been doing all the time while he has been living in the land of the Philistines.

And Achish had belief in what David said, saying, He has made himself hated by all his people Israel, and so he will be my servant for ever.

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 David said to Achish, You will see now what your servant will do. And Achish said to David, Then I will make you keeper of my head for ever.

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 woman said to him, But you have knowledge of what Saul has done, how he has put away out of the land those who have control of spirits and the users of secret arts: why would you, by a trick, put me in danger of death?

And the woman saw that it was Saul, and she gave a loud cry, and said to Saul, Why have you made use of deceit? for you are Saul.

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 he said to her, What is his form? And she said, It is an old man coming up covered with a robe. And Saul saw that it was Samuel, and with his face bent down to the earth he gave him honour.

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 the Lord himself has done what I said: the Lord has taken the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbour David;

Because you did not do what the Lord said, and did not give effect to his burning wrath against Amalek. So the Lord has done this thing to you today.

And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was in great trouble, and said to him, See now, your servant has given ear to your words, and I have put my life in danger by doing what you said.

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.

Then the rulers of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews doing here? And Achish said to the rulers of the Philistines, Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me for a year or two, and I have never seen any wrong in him from the time when he came to me till now?

But the rulers of the Philistines were angry with him, and said to him, Make the man go back to the place you have given him; do not let him go down with us to the fight, or he may be turned against us and be false to us: for how will this man make peace with his lord? will it not be with the heads of these men?

And David said to Achish, But what have I done? what have you seen in your servant while I have been with you till this day, that I may not go and take up arms against those who are now making war on my lord the king?

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.

Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made an attack on the South and on Ziklag, and had overcome Ziklag and put it on fire;

And when David and his men came to the town, they saw that it had been burned down, and their wives and their sons and daughters had been made prisoners.

There was no loss of anything, small or great, sons or daughters or goods or anything which they had taken away: David got it all back.

And David came to the two hundred men, who because of weariness had not gone with him, but were waiting at the stream Besor: and they went out, meeting David and the people who were with him; and when they came near them, they said, How are you?

Then David said, You are not to do this, my brothers, after what the Lord has given us, who has kept us safe and given up the band which came against us into our hands.

And so he made it a rule and an order for Israel from that day till now.

Then Saul said to the servant who had the care of his arms, Take out your sword and put it through me, before these men without circumcision come and make sport of me. But his servant, full of fear, would not do so. Then Saul took out his sword, and falling on it, put an end to himself.

And when the men of Israel across the valley and on the other side of Jordan saw that the army of Israel was in flight and that Saul and his sons were dead, they came out of their towns and went in flight; and the Philistines came and took them for themselves.

And when the people of Jabesh-gilead had news of what the Philistines had done to Saul,

On the third day a man came from Saul's tents, with his clothing out of order and earth on his head: and when he came to David, he went down on the earth and gave him honour.

And David said to him, Had you no fear of stretching out your hand to put to death the one marked with the holy oil?

(It is recorded in the book of Jashar for teaching to the sons of Judah) and he said:

Give no news of it in Gath, let it not be said in the streets of Ashkelon; or the daughters of the Philistines will be glad, the daughters of men without circumcision will be uplifted in joy.

And the men of Judah came there, and with the holy oil made David king over the people of Judah. And word came to David that it was the men of Jabesh-gilead who put Saul's body in its last resting-place.

And Abner, the son of Ner, with the servants of Saul's son Ish-bosheth, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out and came face to face with them by the pool of Gibeon; and they took up their position, facing one another on opposite sides of the pool.

And every one got the other by the head, driving his sword into the other's side, so they all went down together: and that place was named the Field of Sides, and it is in Gibeon.

Then Abner, looking back, said, Is it you, Asahel? And he said, It is I.

But still he did not go to one side: so Abner gave him a back blow in the stomach with his spear, so that the spear came out at his back; and he went down on the earth, wounded to death: and all those who came to the place where Asahel went down dead, came to a stop.

Then crying out to Joab, Abner said, Are fighting and destruction to go on for ever? do you not see that the end will only be bitter? how long will it be before you send the people back and make them give up attacking their countrymen?

And Joab came back from fighting Abner: and when he had got all his men together, it was seen that nineteen of David's men, in addition to Asahel, were not with them.

And they took Asahel's body and put it in the last resting-place of his father in Beth-lehem. And Joab and his men, travelling all night, came to Hebron at dawn.

And Abner was very angry at the words of Ish-bosheth, and he said, Am I a dog's head of Judah? I am this day doing all in my power for the cause of your father Saul and for his brothers and his friends, and have not given you up into the hands of David, and now you say I have done wrong with a woman.

And Abner sent men to David at Hebron, saying, Make an agreement with me, and I will give you my support in getting all Israel on your side.

And he said, It is well; I will make an agreement with you, but on one condition, which is, that when you come before me, Saul's daughter Michal is to come with you; till she comes you will not see my face.

Then Abner had a talk with the chief men of Israel, saying, In the past it was your desire to make David your king: so now, do it:

And Abner said the same things to Benjamin: and he went to David in Hebron to make clear to him what seemed good to Israel and to all the people of Benjamin.

And Abner said to David, Now I will go, and make all Israel come to my lord the king, so that they may make an agreement with you, and your kingdom may be as wide as your heart's desire. Then David sent Abner away and he went in peace.

Now the servants of David and Joab had been out attacking a band of armed men, and they came back with a great store of goods taken in the fight: but Abner was no longer in Hebron with David, for he had sent him away and he had gone in peace.

Then Joab came to the king, and said, What have you done? when Abner came to you why did you send him away and let him go?

Is it not clear to you that Abner, the son of Ner, came with deceit to get knowledge of your going out and your coming in and of all you are doing?