And Jonathan said unto David, "O LORD God of Israel, when I have groped my father's mind, one time or other within this three days, that it stand well with David: and I then send not unto thee and show it thee, the LORD do so and so unto Jonathan.

And in like manner, if evil to thee ward please my father, I will show thee and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace. And the LORD be with thee as he hath been with my father.

And thou shalt perform unto me the mercy of the LORD, not only while I live; but even when I am dead pluck not thy mercy away from my house forever.

No, not when the LORD hath destroyed the enemies of David, every one, from the face of the earth."

And with other words Jonathan adjured David, because he loved him. For as his own soul he loved him.

But this day three days, come in any wise unto the place where thou shalt hide thyself, when it is workday: even by the stone Ezel.

And I will shoot three arrows by the one side thereof, as though I shot at a mark, and will send after a lad, and bid him go seek the arrows.

If I say unto the lad, 'See the arrows are on this side of thee, bring them' - then come thou: for it is peace and nothing to do, as sure as the LORD liveth.

And so David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon was come, the king sat him down at meat, for to eat.

And the king sat him down after the old manner, in his seat by the wall. And Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty.

But on the morrow which was the second day of the moon, when David's place appeared empty, Saul said unto Jonathan his son, "Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday nor today?"

'Let me go I pray thee, for our kindred hold an offering in the city, and my brother hath sent for me. Now therefore if I have found favour in thine eyes let me go and see my brother.' And therefore he cometh not unto the table of the king."

Then was Saul angry with Jonathan and said unto him, "O froward and rebellious, thinkest thou I know not how thou hast chosen the son of Jesse unto thine own rebuke, and unto the rebuke and shame of thy mother?

And so Jonathan arose from the table in a great anger and did eat no meat the second day of the month, for he was sorry for David, because his father had done him shame.

On the next morning, Jonathan went out unto the field, at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him.

And he said unto the boy, "Run and find out mine arrows which I shoot." And as the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.

And when the lad was come to the place whither Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan cried after him and said, "The arrow is beyond thee."

And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place that was toward the south and fell on his face to the ground and bowed himself three times. And they kissed one another and wept together - but David more abundantly.

And Jonathan said unto David, "Go thy way in peace. Whatsoever we both have sworn and spoken together in the name of the LORD, the LORD be witness between me and thee, and between my seed and thine forever." And Jonathan gat him up, and came into the city.

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 was there, the same day, a certain man of the servants of Saul abiding before the LORD named Doeg; an Edomite, the chiefest of Saul's herdsmen.

Then the priest answered, "The sword of Goliath, the Philistine whom thou slewest in Oakdale; that is here, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here." And David said, "There is none to that, give it me."

And the servants of Achish said of him, "Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing unto this fellow in dances saying, 'Saul hath slain his thousand, and David his ten thousand'?"

And he changed his countenance before them, and raved in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

Lack I madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? He shall not come into my house."

And David departed thence and escaped, and came unto the cave of Adullam. When his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went thither to him.

And there gathered unto him all men that were in cumbrance and in debt and troubled in their hearts, and he became a captain over them. And there were with him upon a four hundred men.

And David went thence to Mizpeh in the land of Moab, and said unto the king of Moab, "Let my father and mother, I pray thee, have their abiding with you, till I know what God will do with me."

And he left them with the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the while that David kept himself in holds.

And the prophet Gad said unto David, "Abide not in castles, but depart and go to the land of Judah." Then David departed and came into the forest of Hereth.

And Saul heard of it: for David was known, and also the men that were with him. And as Saul sat in Gibeah under a grove upon a high bank with his spear in his hand and all his men about him,

he said unto his servants that stood about him, "Hear I pray you, you sons of Benjamin: will the son of Jesse also give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains over thousands and over hundreds,

that ye have all conspired against me? So that there is none of you that openeth mine ear? Insomuch that my son hath made a bond with the son of Jesse, neither is there any of you that mourneth for me or showeth it in mine ear: because my son hath set up my servant to lie await against me, as it appeareth this day."

Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which had the oversight of the servants of Saul, and said, "I saw the son of Jesse, when he came to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub,

Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house: that is to say, the priests that were in Nob. And they came all to the king.

And Ahimelech answered the king, and said, "Who is so faithful among all thy servants as David and thereto the king's son-in-law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is had in honour in thine house?

Have I this day begun first to ask counsel of God for him? God forbid that from me: let not the king put such a thing unto his servant and on all the house of my father. For thy servant knoweth nothing of all this, either less or more."

Then said the king unto his footmen that stood about him, "Turn and slay the priests of the LORD, both because their hand is with David and because they knew when David fled and showed it not to me." But the servants of the king would not move their hands, to run upon the priests of the LORD.

But yet one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to David,

Abide with me and fear not: he that seeketh thy soul shall seek mine, and with me thou shalt be in safeguard."

Then said David's men unto him, "See, we be afraid here in Judah. What shall we then be, when we come to Keilah, to the host of the Philistines?"

And it chanced when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah that he brought an ephod in his hand.

And it was told Saul, that David was come to Keilah. Then said Saul, "God hath delivered him into mine hand. For he is shut in, that he is come into a town with gates and bars."

Then David and his men, which were upon a six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah and went whither chance drave them. And when it was told Saul, that David was fled from Keilah, he let the journey alone.

And David abode in the wilderness in strongholds, and in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him all his life, but God delivered him not into his hand.

And David saw that Saul was come out, to seek his life, while David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a thicket.

And Jonathan Saul's son arose and went to David to the thicket, and strengthened him in God,

And they made a bond both of them together before the LORD. And David tarried still in the thicket, and Jonathan went to his house.

Then came the Ziphites to Saul, to Gibeah, saying, "David hideth himself fast by us in strongholds that are in a thicket in the hill of Hachilah on the rightside of the wilderness.

Then said Saul, "Blessed are ye in the LORD: for ye have compassion on me.

See therefore and know all the lurking places where he lurketh, and come again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you. And then if he be in the land, I will hunt him out with all the thousands of Judah.

And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the wild field, on the righthand of the wilderness.

For when Saul was gone with his men to seek, it was told David. And therefore he went unto a rock and dwelt in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he followed after David into the wilderness of Maon.

And Saul and his men went on the one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other. And David, as a man amazed, made haste to get from Saul. For Saul and his men had compassed David and his men round about, to take them.

But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, "Haste thee and come, for the Philistines are come in and rove the land."

And then David went thence and dwelt in holds at Engedi.

Then Saul was come again from the Philistines, it was told him, "Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi."

Then Saul took three thousand men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men in the rocks, where nothing haunted but wild goats.

And he came to the flocks of the sheep by a wayside where was a cave. And Saul went in to cover his feet. And David and his men sat along by the sides of the cave.

And when Saul was up out of the cave and gone away, David arose and went out of the cave and cried after Saul, saying, "My lord king!" And Saul looked behind him. And David stooped to the earth and bowed himself,

and said to Saul, "Wherefore giveth thou an ear to men's words, that say, 'David seeketh thee evil?'

Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee this day into mine hand, in the cave. When they bade kill thee, mine eye had compassion on thee: and I said, 'I will not lay my hands on my master, for he is the LORD's anointed.'

And moreover my father, see yet the tip of thy coat in my hand. And inasmuch as I killed thee not too, when I cut off the tip of thy coat; understand and see that there is neither evil nor rebelliousness in me, and that I have not sinned against thee. And yet thou huntest after my soul to take it.

When David had made an end of speaking all these words to Saul, Saul said, "Is this thy voice, my son David?" And he lifted up his voice and wept,

And thou hast showed this day how that thou hast dealt lovingly with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had locked me in thine hands, thou slewest me not.

And now I know well that thou shalt be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.

And then Samuel died, and all Israel gathered together and lamented him, and buried him in his own house at Ramah. And David arose and gat him to the wilderness of Paran.

And there was a man in Maon whose cattle was in Carmel, and the man was exceeding mighty, and had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

And when David heard in the wilderness, that Nabal shore his sheep,

he sent out ten of his young men, and said unto them, "Get you up to Carmel and go to Nabal and greet him in my name.

I have heard say that thou hast shearers. Now the shepherds were with us, and we did them no spite, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel:

ask thy lads, and they will show thee. Wherefore let these young men find favour in thine eyes - for we come in a good season - and give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants and to thine son David."

And David's young men came and told Nabal all those words in the name of David and then stopped.

Then David said unto his men, "Gird every man his sword about him." And they girded every man his sword on, and David thereto girded on his sword. And there followed David upon a four hundred men, and two hundred abode by the stuff.

But one of the lads told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "See, David sent messengers unto our master out of the wilderness to salute him, and he railed on them.

And yet the men were very good unto us and did us no displeasure, neither missed we anything, as long as were conversant with them, when we were in the fields.

Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two bottles of wine and five sheep ready dressed and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred bundles of raisins and two hundred frails of figs, and laded them on asses,

And as she rode on her ass and was coming down in a slade of the hill, David and his men came down against her, and she met them.

And David said, "In vain have I kept all that this fellow had in the wilderness: so that nought was missed that pertained unto him, for he hath quite me with evil for good.

God do this and yet more unto the enemies of David, if until tomorrow in the morning I leave this man, of all that he hath, so much as one that pisseth against the wall."

When Abigail saw David, she hasted and lighted off her ass and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,

and fell at his feet and said, "Let this unhappy deed be counted mine, my lord, and let thine handmaid speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thy handmaid.

And now my lord as sure as the LORD liveth and as thy soul liveth, the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood and from avenging thyself with thine own hand. Furthermore, I pray God that thine enemies and they that intend to do my lord evil, may be as Nabal.

Forgive the trespass of thine handmaid that the LORD may make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and there could none evil be found in thee in all thy life.

And if any man rise to persecute thee and to seek thy soul, the soul of my lord be bound in a bundle of life with the LORD thy God. And the souls of thy enemies be slung in the middle of a sling.

And moreover when the LORD shall have done to my lord all the good that he hath promised thee, and shall have made thee ruler over Israel:

then shall it be no grudge of conscience unto thee or discourage of heart unto my lord, that thou sheddest blood causeless and didst avenge thyself. And moreover when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then think on thine handmaid."

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 sure as the LORD God of Israel liveth which hath kept me back from hurting thee - except thou hadst hasted and met me, there had not been left Nabal, by the dawning of the day, a pisser against the wall."

And so David received of her hand that she brought him, and said to her, "Go in peace to thine house. And see, I have obeyed thy voice and have received thee to grace."

And when Abigail came to Nabal, behold, he held a feast in his house like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, and he was drunk a good. Wherefore she told him nought, neither little nor more, until the morrow day.

But in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these words, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone,

And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the LORD that hath judged the cause of my rebuke of the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil, and hath turned the wickedness of Nabal again upon his own head." And David sent to commune with Abigail, to the intent to take her to his wife.

And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her saying, "David sent us unto thee, to take thee to his wife."

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

And Abigail hasted and arose and gat her up upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went at her feet, and went after the messengers of David and was his wife.

After that came the Ziphites unto Saul to Gibeah saying, "David hideth himself in the hill of Hachilah even before the wilderness."

Then Saul arose and went to the wilderness of Ziph, and three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, for to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.

And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah which lieth before the wilderness, by the wayside. But David dwelt in the wilderness. And when he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness,

And so David and Abishai came to the people by night. And behold, Saul lay sleeping within a round bank and his spear pitched in the ground at his head, Abner and the people lying round about him.