As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him down, or his time will come to die, or he will go into battle and perish.

The LORD forbid that I should raise my hand against the LORD's anointed. Now take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let's go."

So David took the spear and the jug of water at Saul's head, and they left. No one saw, and no one knew, because no one was awake. They were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen over them.

Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away with a large distance between them.

David called out to the army and to Ner's son Abner, "Abner, won't you answer me?" Abner answered: "Who are you who calls out to the king?"

David told Abner, "Are you not a man, and who is like you in Israel? Why didn't you guard your lord, the king? Indeed, a soldier came to destroy the king, your lord.

This thing that you did is not good. As the LORD lives, you deserve to die, you who didn't guard your lord, the LORD's anointed. Where is the king's spear and where is the jug of water that was at his head?"

Saul recognized David's voice and said, "Is this your voice, my son David?"

David replied, "It is my voice, your majesty." David said, "Why is your majesty pursuing his servant? For what have I done, and what evil do I bear toward you?

Then Saul said, "I've wronged you. Return, my son David, for I won't harm you again because my life was precious to you today. Look, I've acted foolishly and have made a very great mistake."

David replied, "Here's the king's spear. Have one of the young men come over and get it.

The LORD repays a person for his righteousness and his faithfulness. The LORD gave you into my control today, but I refused to raise my hand against the LORD's anointed.

Look, just as your life was valuable in my eyes today, so may my life be valuable in the LORD's eyes, and may he deliver me from all trouble."

Saul told David, "Blessed are you, my son David. In whatever you do you will surely succeed." So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

So David got up, and he and the 600 men who were with him went to Maoch's son Achish, the king of Gath.

David stayed with Achish in Gath along with his men, each of whom was with his household. David had his two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, who had been the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, and he did not continue to search for him.

So that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and therefore, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until the present time.

David lived in Philistine territory for a year and four months.

David and his men went up and raided the descendants of Geshur, the descendants of Girzi, and the Amalekites, for they had been living in the land since ancient times, from the entrance of Shur all the way to the land of Egypt.

David struck the land and did not leave a man or woman alive. He took sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing, and then came back and went to Achish.

David answered, "Against the Negev of Judah, against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites, and against the Negev of the Kenites." David did not leave a man or woman alive to bring to Gath. He told himself, "Otherwise, they'll say, "This is what David is doing, and this has been his practice all the time he has lived in Philistine territory.'"

At that time the Philistines assembled their army for war to fight against Israel. Achish told David, "You know, of course, that you and your men will go out with me into the battle."

Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.

The Philistines assembled, moved out, and camped at Shunem, while Saul assembled all Israel and camped at Gilboa.

When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.

Saul told his servants, "Find me a woman who is a medium so I can go to her and make my inquiry through her." His servants told him, "Look, there's a woman at Endor who is a medium."

Saul disguised himself, putting on different clothes. He went along with two men to the woman at night. He said, "Consult a familiar spirit for me and bring up for me the one whom I tell you."

The woman told him, "Look, you know what Saul has done. He has removed mediums and spiritists from the land, so why are you trying to entrap me, so as to cause my death?"

Saul told her, "What does he look like?" She said, "An old man is coming up, and he's wrapped in a robe." Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed low to the ground and prostrated himself.

Samuel told Saul, "Why did you disturb me by bringing me up?" Saul said, "I'm in great distress. The Philistines are waging war against me. God has departed from me and won't answer me anymore, either by messages written by the hand of the prophets or by dreams. So I've summoned you to tell me what I should do."

Samuel said, "Why do you ask me, since the LORD has departed from you and become your enemy?

The LORD has done to you exactly as he spoke through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom away from you and has given it to your colleague David.

Because you didn't obey the LORD and didn't display his fierce anger against Amalek, therefore, the LORD will do this thing to you today.

The LORD is giving both you, and Israel with you, into Philistine control. Tomorrow, the LORD will give you, your sons with you, and also the army of Israel into the control of the Philistines."

Saul immediately fell down full-length on the ground. He was terrified because of Samuel's words, and he had no strength because he had not eaten food all day and all night.

Then the woman came to Saul and saw that he was very disturbed. She told him, "Look, your servant obeyed you. I put my life into your hands, and I listened to your words that you spoke to me.

Now, please listen to your servant. I'll put a piece of bread before you so you can eat and have strength to go on your way."

Both his servants and the woman urged him, and so he listened to them. He got up off the ground and sat on the bed. The woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly slaughtered it. She took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread.

She brought it to Saul and to his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and went out that night.

The Philistine leaders were passing in review among the military units, and David and his men were among them in the rear with Achish.

But the Philistine leaders were angry with him, so they pleaded with him, "Send the man back! Let him return to the place you assigned him. He mustn't go into battle with us. Otherwise, he may become our adversary in the battle! How could there be a better way for this fellow to reconcile himself with his lord? Wouldn't it be with the heads of these men?

Then Achish summoned David and told him, "As surely as the LORD lives, you are trustworthy, and it seems good to me for you to campaign with me as part of the army. Indeed, I've not found any evil in you from the time you came to me until now. But the leaders don't approve of you.

Now return and go in peace, so you do nothing to displease the Philistine leaders."

David told Achish, "What have I done, and what have you found in your servant from the time I came before you until this very moment, that I shouldn't go out and fight the enemies of your majesty?"

Achish answered David, "I know that I'm pleased with you. You're like an angel of God. But the Philistine leaders have said, "He mustn't go into battle with us.'

Now, get up early in the morning along with your lord's servants who came with you. Get up early in the morning, and go as soon as you have light."

So David and his men got up early in the morning to return to Philistine territory, while the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

When David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and set it on fire.

They took the women in it captive, from young to old. They did not kill anyone. Instead, they carried them off and went on their way.

David and his men came to the town, and it had been burned down. Their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.

Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and cried until they had no more strength left to cry.

David's two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal's former wife, had been captured.

David was in great danger because all the people were bitter because of their sons and daughters, and they were talking about stoning him. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

The LORD told David, "Pursue them! You will definitely overtake them and rescue the captives." So David and 600 men who were with him set out. They came to the Wadi Besor where those who were left behind stayed.

David and 400 men continued the pursuit, while the 200 men who were too exhausted to cross over the Wadi Besor remained there.

They found an Egyptian man in the field, and they took him to David. They gave him food to eat and provided water for him.

They gave him part of a fig cake and two bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, he revived, since he had neither eaten food nor had he drunk water for three days and three nights.

David told him, "To whom do you belong and where are you from?"

The Egyptian replied, "I'm a young Egyptian man, the slave of an Amalekite man. My master abandoned me, because I got sick three days ago. We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory that belongs to Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we set Ziklag on fire."

David asked him, "Will you take me to this raiding party?" He said, "Swear to me by God that you won't kill me or turn me over to my master, and I'll take you to the raiding party."

The Egyptian led him to the camp, and there the Amalekites were spread out over the whole area, eating, drinking, and celebrating with the great amount of spoil they had taken from the territory belonging to the Philistines and to Judah.

David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not one of them escaped except for 400 young men who mounted camels and fled.

David took all the rest of the sheep and cattle, driving them ahead of their rescued livestock. People said about all this, "This is David's spoil."

David came to the 200 men who were too exhausted to follow him and who had been left at the Wadi Besor. They came out to meet David and the people who were with him. As David approached the people, he asked them how they were doing.

At this point, all the wicked and worthless men of the group who had gone with David answered, "Because they didn't go with us, we won't give them any of the spoil that we recovered, except that each person may take his wife and his children and go."

David said, "No, you won't do this, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us. He guarded us and gave the raiding party that came against us into our hand.

Who will listen to you in this matter? Indeed, the share of those who went down into battle and the share of those who stayed with the supplies will be the same. They'll share alike."

From that day forward he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel, and it remains to this present day.

David came to Ziklag, and he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, and to his friends, telling them, "Look, this is a gift for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD

Hebron, and for all those places where David and his men had frequented."

The Philistines fought against Israel, and the army of Israel fled before the Philistines. They fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons. The Philistines struck down Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul's sons.

The heaviest fighting was directed toward Saul, and when the bowmen who were shooting located Saul, he was severely wounded by them.

Saul told his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised people will come and run me through and make sport of me." But his armor bearer did not want to do it because he was very frightened, so Saul took the sword and fell on it.

When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him.

As a result, Saul, his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men died together that day.

When the men of Israel who were across the valley and who were across the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled, and the Philistines came and occupied them.

The next day, the Philistines came to strip the dead, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

They cut off his head and stripped him of his weapons. They sent people throughout the territory of the Philistines to report the good news in the temples of their idols and to the people.

They put Saul's weapons in the temple of Asherah and fastened his corpse to the wall of Beth-shan.

every valiant soldier got up, traveled all night, and removed Saul's body and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. Then they went to Jabesh and cremated the bodies there.

They took their bones, buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.

Shortly after Saul had died, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and remained in Ziklag for two days.

The next day, a man escaped from Saul's camp! With torn clothes and dirty hair, he approached David, fell to the ground, and bowed down to him.

David continued questioning him, "How did things go? Please tell me!" He replied, "The army has fled the battlefield, many of the army are wounded or have died, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead."

David asked the young man who related the story, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?"

The young man who had been relating the story answered, "I happened to be on Mount Gilboa and there was Saul, leaning on his spear! Meanwhile, the chariots and horsemen were rapidly drawing near.

Saul glanced behind him, saw me, and called out to me, so I replied, "Here I am!'

He begged me, "Please come stand here next to me and kill me, because I'm still alive.'

So I stood next to him and killed him, because I knew that he wouldn't live after he had fallen. I took the crown that had been on his head, along with the bracelet that had been on his arm, and I have brought them to your majesty."

On hearing this, David grabbed his clothes and tore them, as did all the men who were attending to him.

They mourned and wept, and then decided to fast until dusk for Saul, for his son Jonathan, for the army of the LORD, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen in battle.

Then David called out to one of his young men and ordered him, "Go up to him and cut him down!" So he attacked him and killed him.

So David intoned this song of lament about Saul and his son Jonathan,

and he gave orders to teach the descendants of Judah the art of warfare, as is recorded in the Book of Jashar:

Don't make it known in Gath! Don't declare it in the avenues of Ashkelon! Otherwise, the daughters of Philistia will rejoice; and the daughters of the uncircumcised will triumph.

Mountains of Gilboa, let no dew or rain fall on you, and may none of your fields be filled with plenty, because in that place the shield of the valiant ones was defiled, the shield of Saul without an anointing with oil.

Saul and Jonathan, loved and handsome in life, in death were not separated. Swifter than eagles they were, and more valiant than lions.

Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul! He clothed you in scarlet luxury and decorated your garments with gold.