And Saul thought, "I will give her to him, so that she may be a snare for him and the hand of [the] Philistines may be against him." So Saul said to David, "For a second [time] you can become my son-in-law today."

Then Saul said, "This [is] what you must say to David: '{The king desires no bride price} except for a hundred foreskins of [the] Philistines, to avenge himself on the enemies of the king.'" (Now Saul had planned to allow David to fall by the hand of [the] Philistines.)

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

Then the commanders of [the] Philistines went out [for battle], and as often as they went out, David succeeded more than all the servants of Saul, and his name became very esteemed.

So Jonathan spoke well about David to his father Saul and said to him, "The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his service for you [has been] very good.

For he put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: Why then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?

And Jonathan called for David, and Jonathan told him all these things, - and Jonathan brought in David unto Saul, and so he was in his presence, as aforetime.

And an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul, when he was seated in his house with his spear in his hand; and David made music for him.

Saul sent agents to David’s house to watch for him and kill him in the morning. But his wife Michal warned David, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead tomorrow!”

And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth.

And when the messengers had come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster.

He even stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay there naked all that day and night. (For that reason it is asked, "Is Saul also among the prophets?")

David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, "What have I done? What is my offense? How have I sinned before your father? For he is seeking my life!"

And Jonathan answered him, "God forbid, thou shalt not die. For see, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will show it me. For why should my father hide this thing from me? There shall be no such thing."

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."

Then said Jonathan to David, Whatever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.

David said to Jonathan, "Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am certainly expected to join the king for a meal. You must send me away so I can hide in the field until the third evening from now.

If thy father shall at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me, that he might run to Beth-lehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.

If he says 'Good,' [it will mean] peace for your servant; but if he [is] very angry, know that {he has decided to do me harm}.

Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there is in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldst thou bring me to thy father?

And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil is determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee?

“By the Lord, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If I find out that he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you?

Thus shall Jehovah do to Jonathan, and thus shall he add; for it shall be good to my father with evil to thee, and I uncovered thine ear and sent thee away, and thou wentest in peace: and Jehovah will be with thee as he was with my father.

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 caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.

Then Jonathan said to him, "Tomorrow [is] the new moon, and you will be missed, for your seat will stay empty.

When you have stayed for three days, you shall go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on that eventful day, and you shall remain by the stone Ezel.

And, as for me - three arrows to the side, will I shoot, - as though I shot at a mark.

And behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find the arrows. If I expressly say to the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the LORD liveth.

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.

And as to the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever.

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.

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

Jonathan answered, “David asked for my permission to go to Bethlehem.

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.

For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.

So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.

{And then} in the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a young boy [was] with him.

And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. :43 And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

And David will say to Abimelech the priest, The king commanded me a word, and he will say to me, A man shall not know any thing of the word for which I sent thee, and what I commanded thee: and the boys I showed to such a place a certain one.

And David answered the priest and said to him, Truly women have been kept from us for about three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and in a way the holy bread is common. Also surely today it is sanctified in the vessels.

So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the show-bread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

And David said to Ahimelech, And is there not here under thy hand a spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.

And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it 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 like that; give it to me.

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

The servants of Achish said to him, "[Is] not this David the king of the land? [Is] it not for this [one] that they sang in the dances, saying, 'Saul killed his thousands, but 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 David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.

And Gad the prophet saith unto David, 'Thou dost not abide in a fortress, go, and thou hast entered for thee the land of Judah;' and David goeth and entereth the forest of Hareth.

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,

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 inquired of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.

Then the king arranged for a meeting with the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and all the priests of his father's house who were at Nob. They all came to the king.

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, to lie in wait, as at this day?

Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? be it far from me. Let not the king impute any thing to his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.

But for all that, the king said, "Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech; both thou and all thy father's house."

Then the king said to the messengers who were stationed beside him, "Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, for they too have sided with David! They knew he was fleeing, but they did not inform me." But the king's servants refused to harm the priests of the Lord.

As for Nob, the city of the priests, he struck down with the sword men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep -- all with the sword.

Then David said to Abiathar, "I knew on that day that Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would certainly tell Saul. {I am responsible for the deaths of all your father's household}!

Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.

Then David inquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand.

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.

Saul then summoned all of the army for the battle, to go down [to] Keilah to lay a siege against David and his men.

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.

And David stayed in the wilderness in strongholds, and remained in the stronghold in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul looked for him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

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

So then, O king, {whenever you want} to come down, come down, and [it will be] for us to deliver him into the hand of the king."

And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye have compassion on me.

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.

Look and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with accurate information, and I’ll go with you. If it turns out he really is in the region, I’ll search for him among all the clans of Judah.”

Saul and his men also went to look for him. And they told David. And he came down from the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard, he followed 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 for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men around to take them.

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

Then returned Saul from pursuing David, and departed to meet the Philistines, - for which cause, they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth "the Cliff of Separation".

So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and he and his men went to search [for] David {in the direction of} the Rocks of the Mountain Goats.

And on the way he came to a place where sheep were kept, where there was a hollow in the rock; and Saul went in for a private purpose. Now David and his men were in the deepest part of the hollow.

And later, David was full of regret for cutting off Saul's skirt.

He said to his men, "Far be it from me in Yahweh, that I do this thing to my lord, to Yahweh's anointed one, by stretching out my hand against him! For he [is] the anointed one of Yahweh."

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.

Moreover, my father, see, yes, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.

“May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you.

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

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 he said to David, thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded thee with evil.

And you have shown this day how that you have dealt well with me: for when the LORD had delivered me into your hand, you killed me not.

For if a man findeth his enemy, will he let him go away well? wherefore the LORD reward thee with good, for what thou hast done to me this day.

“Now I know for certain you will be king, and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.

Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him. They buried him at his house at Ramah. Then David got up and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

And the man's name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful form. But the man was cruel and evil in his dealings. And he was of Caleb.

And David will send ten boys, and David will say to the boys, Go up to Cannel and come to Nabal, and ask to him in my name for peace.

And say this to my brother, May all be well for you: peace be to you and your house and all you have.

Now I hear that they are shearing sheep for you. When your shepherds were with us, we neither insulted them nor harmed them the whole time they were in Carmel.

Ask thy young men, and they will show thee. Wherefore let the young men find favor in thy eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatever cometh to thy hand, to thy servants, and to thy son David.

Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men, whom I know not whence they are?

So the young men of David turned away for their journey, - and came back, and drew near, and told him, according to all these words.

Both night and day they were a protective wall for us the entire time we were with them, while we were tending our flocks.

Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do: for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.

Then Abigail quickly took two hundred cakes of bread and two skins full of wine and five sheep ready for cooking and five measures of dry grain and a hundred parcels of dry grapes and two hundred cakes of figs, and put them on asses.

(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.

Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thy handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.