Now therefore go and smite the Amalekites, and only destroy ye all that pertaineth unto them, and see thou have no compassion on them. But slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, and ox, sheep, camel and ass.'"

And Saul told it the people, and numbered them in Telaim two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

And Saul came unto a city of the Amalekites, and fought in a valley.

But Saul said unto the Kenites, "Go and depart and get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them, for ye showed mercy with Israel when they came out of Egypt." And the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

And Samuel rose early, to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel that Saul was come to Carmel, and had set him up a pillar of triumph, and was turned and departed and gone to Gilgal.

And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said unto him, "Blessed be thou in the LORD. I have done the commandment of the LORD."

And Samuel answered, "What meaneth then the bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the noise of the oxen which I hear?"

But Samuel said to Saul, "Cease, and let me tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night." And he said unto him, "Say on."

And Samuel said, "When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the LORD anointed thee king over Israel.

And then the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said unto thee, 'See that thou utterly destroy those sinners, the Amalekites and fight against them until ye have utterly destroyed them.'

And wherefore hast thou now not obeyed the voice of the LORD: But didst turn to the prey and hast wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD?"

And the people took of the spoil, sheep, oxen, and the chiefest of the things which should have been destroyed, to offer unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal."

Then said Samuel, "Hath the LORD as great pleasure in burnt sacrifices and offerings, as he hath that thou shouldest obey his voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to give heed is better than the fat of rams.

Then said Samuel, "Bring ye hither to me, Agag the king of the Amalekites." And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, "Truly the bitterness of death cometh on."

And Samuel said, "As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among other women." And so Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

And Samuel did as the LORD bade him. And when he came to Bethlehem, the elders of the town were astonished at his coming, and said, "Betokeneth thy coming peace?"

And when they were come, he looked on Eliab and said, "The LORD's anointed is before him."

But the LORD said unto Samuel, "Look not on his fashion nor on the height of his stature, for I have refused him. Because it is not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance: but the LORD beholdeth the heart."

And he sent and brought him in. And he was brown with goodly eyes, and well favoured in sight. And then the LORD said, "Up and anoint him: for this is he."

And Samuel took the horn with the ointment and anointed him in the presence of his brethren. And the spirit of the LORD came upon David, from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

But the spirit of the LORD departed from Saul; and an evil spirit, sent of the LORD, vexed him.

Then said his servants unto him, "Behold, an evil spirit sent of God vexeth thee.

Let our lord therefore command his servants to seek a man that is a cunning player with a harp. And then when the evil spirit sent of God cometh upon thee, that he may play with his hand and thou shalt be eased."

Then answered one of his servants and said, "Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that can play upon instruments, and is an active fellow and a man of war and prudent and well made, and the LORD is with him."

And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a flacket of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.

And Saul sent to Jesse saying, "Let David remain with me, for he hath found favour in my sight."

And when the spirit of God came upon Saul, David took a harp and played with his hand, and so Saul was refreshed, and did amend; and the evil spirit departed from him.

The Philistines gathered their host to battle, and came together to Socoh in Judah, and pitched between Socoh and Azekah, in the end of Dammim.

And Saul and the men of Israel came and pitched in Oakdale and put themselves in array, to fight against the Philistines.

And the Philistines stood on a hill on the one side, and Israel stood on a hill on the other side; and a valley between them.

And then came a man and stood in the midst, out of the tents of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath: six cubits and a handbreadth long,

And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam. And his spearhead weighed six hundred sicles of iron. And one bearing a shield went before him.

And he stood and called unto the host of Israel, and said unto them, "What needeth that ye should come out in array to battle? Am not I a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? Choose you a man, and let him come down to me:

When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were discouraged and greatly afraid.

And this David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, named Jesse; which Jesse had eight sons, and was an old man in the days of Saul among the people.

And David was the youngest. And when the three eldest were gone after Saul,

And Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in Oakdale fighting with the Philistines.

And David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and took and went, as Jesse had commanded him, and came where the host lay. And the host was going out in array, and shouted in the battle:

for Israel and the Philistines had put themselves in array, the one against the other.

And as he talked with them, behold, there stood a man in the midst: Goliath the Philistine by name, of Gath, which came out of the array of the Philistines, and spake of the manner above rehearsed, that David heard it.

And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, ran away from him, and were sore afraid.

And every man of Israel said, "See ye this man that is come forth; even to revile Israel is he come. And to him that beateth him will the king give great riches, and will give him his daughter thereto: yea and make his father's house free in Israel."

And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the man and was angry with David and said, "Why camest thou away, and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the malice of thine heart, that thou art come to see the battle."

And I went out after him and smote him, and took it out of his mouth. And when he arose against me, I caught him by the beard and smote him and slew him.

For both a Lion and also a Bear hath thy servant slain. And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, for his railing on the host of the living God."

and gird David with his own sword upon his raiment. And he assayed to go, for he never proved it. Then said David unto Saul, "I cannot go in these, for I have not been used thereto." And put them off him,

and took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of a brook and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, and in a poke; and took a sling in his hand, and went to the Philistine.

And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a lad, ruddy and goodly to look upon.

And the Philistine said unto David, "Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with a staff?" And he cursed David in the name of his gods.

Then said David to the Philistine, "Thou comest to me with a sword, a spear, and a shield: But I come to thee in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the host of Israel whom thou hast railed upon.

This day shall the LORD deliver thee into my hand, and I shall smite thee and take thine head from thee, and will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the earth - and all the world shall know that there is a God in Israel.

And when the Philistine arose and came and drew nigh unto David, David hasted and ran in array even against the Philistine.

And David put his hand in his poke and took out a stone and slung it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead that the stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell groveling to the earth.

And so David overcame the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and smote the Philistine and slew him. And because David had no sword in his hand,

he ran and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword and drew it out of his sheath and slew him and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem: But he put his armour in his tent.

When Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner the captain of his host, "Abner, whose son is this lad?" And Abner answered, "As truly as thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell."

And so when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

And when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David; insomuch that Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

And Jonathan and David bound themselves the one to the other, for Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

And Jonathan put off his own coat that was upon him, and gave it David, and thereto his mantle, his sword, his bow and his girdle.

And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely. And when Saul had set him over his men of war, he pleased all the people, and Saul's servants thereto.

And it happened as they went, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that women came out of all cities of Israel singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with timbrels, with joy, and with fiddles.

And it happened on the morrow, that the evil spirit sent of God came upon Saul, so that he prophesied in the midst of the house. And David played on the instrument with his hand as he was daily wont.

And Saul had a spear in his hand, and hurled it; intending to have nailed David to the wall. But David avoided out of his presence two times.

And then Saul put David from him and made him a captain over a thousand, and he went out and in before the people.

And David was wise in all that he took in hand, and the LORD was with him.

Wherefore, when Saul saw that he was so exceeding wise, he was afraid of him.

But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and in before them.

And David answered Saul, "What am I? And what is my life or the kindred of my father in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?"

Howbeit, when the time was come that Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David she was given unto Adriel, a Meholathite, to wife.

Nevertheless, Michal Saul's daughter loved David. And when it was showed Saul, the thing pleased him well.

And he said, "I will give him her that she may be a snare to him, to bring the hand of the Philistines upon him." And Saul said to David, "Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law again."

And Saul commanded his servants to commune with David secretly and say, "Behold, the king hath a favour to thee, and all his servants love thee - be therefore the king's son-in-law."

And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. But David answered, "Seemeth it to you a light thing to be the king's son-in-law, when I am a poor man and of small reputation?"

Then his servants told David these words, and it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law.

And shortly after that, David arose with his men, and went, and slew of the Philistines, two hundred men; and brought their foreskins, and satisfied the king thereof to be his son-in-law. And so Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

And when Saul saw and understood, how that the LORD was with David, and that Michal his daughter loved him,

And when the Philistines went out to war, David behaved himself wiselier than all the servants of Saul: so that his name was much set by.

and told David saying, "Saul my father goeth about to slay thee. Now therefore take heed to thyself betimes and abide in some secret place and hide thyself.

And I will go out and stand by my father in the field where thou art, and will commune with my father of thee, and if I can perceive ought I will tell thee."

For he did put his life in his hand and slew the Philistine, and the LORD gave a great victory to all Israel. And thou sawest it, and thou rejoicedest. Wherefore then shouldest thou sin against innocent blood, and slay David for nought?"

Then Jonathan called David and showed him all those words, and brought him to Saul. And he was in his presence as in times past.

And the evil spirit of the LORD was upon Saul as he sat in his house having a javelin in his hand, and David played with his hand.

Then Saul sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him and to slay him in the morning. But Michal his wife told it him saying, "If thou save not thyself this night, tomorrow thou art a dead man."

And then she took an image and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow stuffed with goat's hair under the head of it, and covered it with a cloth.

And when Saul sent messengers to fetch David, she said that he was sick.

And when the messengers were come in, "Behold there lay an image in the bed, with a pillow of goat's hair under the head of it.

And so David fled and escaped and went to Samuel to Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.

And it was told Saul, saying, "Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah."

Then Saul sent messengers to fetch David. And when they saw a company of prophets prophesying and Samuel standing fast by them, the spirit of God fell upon the messengers of Saul, and they prophesied too.

And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers yet again the third time which prophesied also.

Then went he himself to Ramah, and when he came to a great well that is in Secu, he asked and said, "Where are Samuel and David?" And they said, "See, they be at Naioth in Ramah."

And as he went thither to Naioth in Ramah the spirit of God came upon him also and he went prophesying, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

And he stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and fell naked all that day and all that night, wherefore it is a common saying, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

And David fled from Naioth in Ramah and went and said before Jonathan, "What have I done? Wherein am I faulty? What is the sin that I have committed before thy father that he seeketh my life?"

And David sware again and said, "Thy father knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes and therefore he thinketh, 'Jonathan shall not know it, lest he be sorry.' For in very deed even as truly as the LORD liveth, and as truly as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death."

And David said unto Jonathan, "Behold, tomorrow is the first day of the month, and I should sit with the king at meat. But let me go that I may hide myself in the fields unto this day three days at evening.

If thy father miss me, then say, 'David asked leave of me, that he might go to Bethlehem to his own city, for there is holden a yearly feast for all his kin.'

And then thou shalt show mercy unto thy servant, for thou hast made with me thy servant a bond in the LORD. Notwithstanding, if there be in me any trespass, then slay me thyself, for what needeth thee to bring me to thy father?"