But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.

Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of terebinths, fighting against the Philistines.

And the words were heard which David spoke, and they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him.

And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him: thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

And David said to Saul, Thy servant fed his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and also a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock.

And I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I seized him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.

And David said, Jehovah who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and Jehovah be with thee.

And Saul clothed David with his dress, and put a helmet of bronze upon his head, and clothed him with a corselet.

And David girded his sword upon his dress, and endeavoured to go; for he had not yet tried it. And David said to Saul, I cannot go in these; for I have never tried them. And David put them off him.

And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this young man? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.

And as David 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 Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, young man? And David said, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Beth-lehemite.

And it came to pass, when he had ended speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

And Saul took him that day, and would not let him return to his father's house.

And Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.

And David went forth; whithersoever Saul sent him he prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

And it came to pass as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tambours, with joy, and with triangles.

And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath smitten his thousands, And David his ten thousands.

And Saul was very wroth, and that saying was evil in his sight; and he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed the thousands; and what is there more for him but the kingdom?

And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

And it came to pass the next day that an evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house, but David played with his hand, as on other days; and the spear was in Saul's hand.

And Saul cast the spear, and thought, I will smite David and the wall. But David turned away from him twice.

And Saul was afraid of David, because Jehovah was with him, and had departed from Saul.

And Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

And Saul saw that he prospered well, and he stood in awe of him.

And Saul said to David, Behold my eldest daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife; only be thou valiant for me, and fight Jehovah's battles. But Saul thought, My hand shall not be upon him, but the hand of the Philistines shall be upon him.

And David said to Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?

And it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as wife.

And Michal Saul's daughter loved David; and they told Saul, and the thing was right in his sight.

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

And Saul commanded his servants, Speak with David secretly, saying, Behold, the king has delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son-in-law.

And Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, Is it a light thing in your eyes to be the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?

And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner did David speak.

And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David: The king does not desire any dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

when David arose and went, he and his men, and smote of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they delivered them in full to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife.

And Saul saw and knew that Jehovah was with David; and Michal Saul's daughter loved him.

And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul was David's enemy continually.

And the princes of the Philistines went forth; and it came to pass, whenever they went forth, that David succeeded better than all the servants of Saul; and his name was much esteemed.

And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should slay David.

But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David. And Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeks to kill thee; and now, I pray thee, take heed to thyself in the morning, and abide in a secret place and hide thyself;

And Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against thee; for also what he did was very advantageous to thee;

And Saul hearkened to the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, As Jehovah liveth, he shall not be put to death!

Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan declared to him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as previously.

And an evil spirit from Jehovah was upon Saul. And he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David played with his hand.

And Saul sought to smite David and the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the spear into the wall. And David fled, and escaped that night.

And Saul sent messengers to David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning; and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou wilt be put to death.

And Saul sent messengers to take David, and she said, He is sick.

And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may put him to death.

Then Saul said to Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go; why should I slay thee?

And David fled, and escaped, and came 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 by Ramah.

Then Saul sent messengers to take David; and they saw a company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as president over them; and the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

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

And he himself also stripped off his clothes, and prophesied, himself also, before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?

And David swore again and again, and said, Thy father certainly knows that I have found favour in thy sight: and he has thought, Jonathan shall not know this, lest he be grieved; but truly as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.

And Jonathan said to David, What thy soul may say, I will even do it for thee.

Deal kindly then with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of Jehovah with thee; but if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?

And Jonathan caused David to swear again, by the love he had for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

And the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall; and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty.

And Saul said nothing that day; for he thought, Something has befallen him, that he is not clean: surely he is not clean.

And it came to pass the next day after the new moon, the second day of the month, as David's place was empty, that Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has not the son of Jesse come to table, neither yesterday nor to-day?

And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem,

And Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, Son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame and to the shame of thy mother's nakedness?

And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, Why should he be put to death? what has he done?

Then Saul cast the spear at him to smite him; and Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to put David to death.

(Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Jehovah; and his name was Doeg, the Edomite, chief of the shepherds that belonged to Saul.)

And David arose, and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

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 has smitten his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

And Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah under the tamarisk upon the height, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing by him.

Then Saul said to his servants that stood by him, Hear now, ye Benjaminites: will the son of Jesse give every one of you also fields and vineyards? Will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds,

Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.

And Saul said, Hear now, son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord.

And Saul said to him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me as a lier-in-wait, as at this day?

And Abiathar informed David that Saul had slain Jehovah's priests.

And David said to Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would certainly tell Saul: I am accountable for all the lives of thy father's house.

And it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. Then Saul said, God has cast him off into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a city that has gates and bars.

And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.

And when David knew that Saul devised mischief against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring the ephod.

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

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

And David said, Will the citizens of Keilah deliver up me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will deliver thee up.

Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, and he forbore to go forth.

And David abode in the wilderness in strongholds, and abode in the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

And David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life; and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.

And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

And he said to him, Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father will not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; and that also Saul my father knows.

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

And now, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and it will be for us to deliver him up into the king's hand.

And Saul said, Blessed be ye of Jehovah; for ye have compassion upon me.

And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul; but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of the waste.

And Saul and his men went to seek him. And they told David; and he came down from the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul heard that, and he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain; and David made haste to get away from Saul; and Saul and his men sought to surround David and his men to take them.

But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, Haste thee and come; for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.

And Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines; therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.

And it came to pass when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.

And Saul took three thousand men, chosen out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.

And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet; and David and his men were abiding in the recesses of the cave.

And David's men said to him, Behold the day of which Jehovah said to thee, Behold, I will give thine enemy into thy hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good to thee. And David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe secretly.

And it came to pass afterwards that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt.