Now one day Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was with him, looking after his arms, Come, let us go over to the Philistine force over there. But he said nothing to his father.

And Saul was still waiting in the farthest part of Geba, under the fruit-tree in Migron: there were about six hundred men with him;

Now between the narrow roads over the mountains by which Jonathan was making his way to the Philistines' forces, there was a sharp overhanging rock on one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: one was named Bozez and the other Seneh.

And Jonathan said to his young servant who had his arms, Come, let us go over to the armies of these men who have no circumcision: it may be that the Lord will give us help, for there is no limit to his power; the Lord is able to give salvation by a great army or by a small band.

And there was great fear in the tents and in the field and among all the men of the armed force, and the attackers were shaking with fear; even the earth was moved with a great shaking and there was a fear as from God.

And the watchmen of Saul, looking out from Geba in the land of Benjamin, saw all the army flowing away and running here and there.

Then Saul said to the people who were with him, Let everyone be numbered and let us see who has gone from us. And when they had been numbered, it was seen that Jonathan and his servant were not there.

And Saul and all the people with him came together and went forward to the fight: and every man's sword was turned against the man at his side, and there was a very great noise.

And there was honey on the face of the field, and all the people came to the honey, the bees having gone from it;

How much more if the people had freely taken their food from the goods of those who were fighting against them! would there not have been much greater destruction among the Philistines?

And rushing at the goods taken in the fight, the people took oxen and sheep and young oxen, and put them to death there on the earth, and had a meal, taking the flesh with the blood in it.

And Saul said, Go about among the people and say to them, Let every man come here to me with his ox and his sheep, and put them to death here, and take his meal: do no sin against the Lord by taking the blood with the flesh. So all the people took their oxen with them that night and put them to death there.

And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, attacking them till the morning, till there is not a man of them living. And they said, Do whatever seems right to you. Then the priest said, Let us come near to God.

All through the life of Saul there was bitter war against the Philistines; and whenever Saul saw any strong man or any good fighting man, he kept him near himself.

And early in the morning he got up and went to Saul; and word was given to Samuel that Saul had come to Carmel and put up a pillar, and had gone from there down to Gilgal.

Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your children here? And he said, There is still the youngest, and he is looking after the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and make him come here: for we will not take our seats till he is here.

Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on him there among his brothers: and from that day the spirit of the Lord came on David with power. So Samuel went back to Ramah.

The Philistines were stationed on the mountain on one side and Israel on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

And Saul was very angry and this saying was unpleasing to him; and he said, They have given David credit for tens of thousands, and to me for only thousands: what more is there for him but the kingdom?

And there was war again: and David went out fighting the Philistines, causing great destruction among them; and they went in flight before him.

And when the men came in, there was the image in the bed, with the cushion of goat's hair at its head

And he went on from there to Naioth in Ramah: and the spirit of God came on him, and he went on, acting like a prophet, till he came to Naioth in Ramah.

But David took his oath again and said, Your father sees that I am dear to you; so he says to himself, Let Jonathan have no idea of this, for it will be a grief to him; but as the Lord is living, and as your soul is living, there is only a step between me and death.

So, then, be kind to your servant; for you have been united with your servant in an agreement made before the Lord: but if there is any wrongdoing in me, put me to death yourself; why take me to your father?

Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and it will be seen that you are not present, for there will be no one in your seat.

And on the third day it will be specially noted, and you will go to the place where you took cover when the other business was in hand, waiting by the hill over there.

And I will send my boy to have a look for the arrow. And if I say to him, See, the arrow is on this side of you; take it up! then you may come; for there is peace for you and no evil, by the living Lord.

And the king took his seat, as at other times, by the wall: and Jonathan was in front, and Abner was seated by Saul's side, but there was no one in David's seat.

And on the day after the new moon, that is, the second day, there was still no one in David's seat: and Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast yesterday or today?

Saying, Our family is making an offering in the town, and my brothers have given me orders to be there: so now, if I have grace in your eyes, let me go away and see my brothers. This is why he has not come to the king's table.

And the priest, answering David, said, I have no common bread here but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.

So the priest gave him the holy bread: there was no other, only the holy bread which had been taken from before the Lord, so that new bread might be put in its place on the day when it was taken away.

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, kept back before the Lord; his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the strongest of Saul's runners.

And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you put to death in the valley of Elah, is here folded in a cloth at the back of the ephod: take that, if you will, for there is no other sword here. And David said, there is no other sword like that; give it to me.

Are there not enough unbalanced men about me, that you have let this person come and do such tricks before me? is such a man to come into my house?

So David went away from there and took cover in a strong place at Adullam; and his brothers and all his father's people, hearing of it, went down to him there.

And from there David went to Mizpeh in the land of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab, Let my father and mother come and make their living-place with you till it is clear to me what God will do for me.

Then Saul said to his servants who were there about him, Give ear now, you Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give to every one of you fields and vine-gardens, will he make you all captains of hundreds and captains of thousands;

And David said to Abiathar, I was certain that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would take the news to Saul: I am responsible for the lives of all your father's family.

Then David and his men, about six hundred of them, went out of Keilah, and got away wherever they were able to go. And Saul, hearing that David had got away from Keilah, did not go there.

And from there, David went up and took cover in the safe place of En-gedi.

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.

There is an old saying, From the evil-doer comes evil: but my hand will never be lifted up against you.

Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; he was a great man and had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats: and he was cutting the wool of his sheep in Carmel.

And Nabal gave them his answer and said, Who is David? who is the son of Jesse? there are a number of servants in these days running away from their masters.

Now David had said, What was the use of my taking care of this man's goods in the waste land, so that there was no loss of anything which was his? he has only given me back evil for good.

May God's punishment be on David, if when morning comes there is so much as one male of his people still living.

For truly, by the living Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept me from doing you evil, if you had not been so quick in coming to me and meeting me, by dawn there would not have been in Nabal's house so much as one male living.

Then Abishai said to David, God has given up your hater into your hands today; now let me give him one blow through to the earth with his spear, and there will be no need to give him a second.

And David said to Abner, Are you not a man of war? is there any other like you in Israel? why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? for one of the people came in to put the king your lord to death.

And he said, Why does my lord go armed against his servant? what have I done? or what evil is there in me?

Then Saul said to his servants, Get me a woman who has control of a spirit so that I may go to her and get directions. And his servants said to him, There is such a woman at En-dor.

Then Saul went down flat on the earth, and was full of fear because of Samuel's words: and there was no strength in him, for he had taken no food all that day or all that night.

So get up early in the morning, with the servants of your lord who are with you, and go to the place I have given you, and have no evil design in your heart, for you are good in my eyes; but when there is light enough in the morning, go away.

And had made the women and all who were there, small and great, prisoners: they had not put any of them to death, but had taken them all away.

There was no loss of anything, small or great, sons or daughters or goods or anything which they had taken away: David got it all back.

All the fighting men got up and, travelling all night, took Saul's body and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh and had them burned there.

O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain on you, you fields of death: for there the arms of the strong have been shamed, the arms of Saul, as if he had not been marked with the holy oil.

So David went there, taking with him his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

And the men of Judah came there, and with the holy oil made David king over the people of Judah. And word came to David that it was the men of Jabesh-gilead who put Saul's body in its last resting-place.

And there was hard fighting that day; and Abner and the men of Israel gave way before the servants of David.

There were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel: and Asahel was as quick-footed as a roe of the fields.

Now there was a long war between Saul's people and David's people; and David became stronger and stronger, but those on Saul's side became more and more feeble.

Now while there was war between Saul's people and David's people, Abner was making himself strong among the supporters of Saul.

And when Abner was back in Hebron, Joab took him on one side by the doorway of the town to have a word with him quietly, and there he gave him a wound in the stomach, causing his death in payment for the death of his brother Asahel.

May it come on the head of Joab and all his father's family: among the men of Joab's family may there ever be some who are diseased or lepers, or who do the work of women, or are put to the sword, or are wasted from need of food!

And David went to Baal-perazim, and overcame them there; and he said, The Lord has let the forces fighting against me be broken before me as a wall is broken by rushing waters. So that place was named Baal-perazim.

And the wrath of the Lord, burning against Uzzah, sent destruction on him because he had put his hand on the ark, and death came to him there by the ark of God.

And I will make a resting-place for my people Israel, planting them there, so that they may be living in the place which is theirs, and never again be moved; and never again will they be troubled by evil men as they were at the first,

Truly you are great, O Lord God: there is no one like you and no other God but you, as is clear from everything which has come to our ears.

And David said, Is there still anyone of Saul's family living, so that I may be a friend to him, because of Jonathan?

Now there was of Saul's people a servant named Ziba, and they sent him to David; and the king said to him, Are you Ziba? And he said, I am.

And the king said, Is there anyone of Saul's family still living, to whom I may be a friend in God's name? And Ziba said, There is a son of Jonathan, whose feet are damaged.

And the Aramaeans went in flight before Israel; and David put to the sword the men of seven hundred Aramaean war-carriages and forty thousand footmen, and Shobach, the captain of the army, was wounded, and came to his death there.

Now one evening, David got up from his bed, and while he was walking on the roof of the king's house, he saw from there a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man.

So David made prayer to God for the child; and he took no food day after day, and went in and, stretching himself out on the earth, was there all night.

But now that the child is dead there is no reason for me to go without food; am I able to make him come back to life? I will go to him, but he will never come back to me.

And her brother Absalom said to her, Has your brother Amnon been with you? but now, let there be an end to your crying, my sister: he is your brother, do not take this thing to heart. So Tamar went on living uncomforted in her brother's house.

Then Absalom said, If you will not go, then let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said to him, Is there any reason for him to go with you?

And Joab sent to Tekoa and got from there a wise woman, and said to her, Now make yourself seem like one given up to grief, and put on the clothing of sorrow, not using any sweet oil for your body, but looking like one who for a long time has been weeping for the dead:

And I had two sons, and the two of them had a fight in the field, and there was no one to come between them, and one with a blow put the other to death.

Now in all Israel there was no one so greatly to be praised for his beautiful form as Absalom: from his feet to the crown of his head he was completely beautiful.

And Absalom's answer was, See, I sent to you saying, Come here, so that I may send you to the king to say, Why have I come back from Geshur? it would be better for me to be there still: let me now see the king's face, and if there is any sin in me, let him put me to death.

And Ittai the Gittite in answer said, By the living Lord, and by the life of my lord the king, in whatever place my lord the king may be, for life or death, there will your servant be.

And there was great weeping in all the country when all the people went through; and the king himself was waiting in the Kidron valley and all the people went by him in the direction of the olive-tree on the edge of the waste land.

So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and did not go away from there.

And have you not there Zadok and Abiathar the priests? so whatever comes to your ears from the king's house, give word of it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.

And when King David came to Bahurim, a man of Saul's family named Shimei, the son of Gera, came out from there, calling curses after him.

And the king and his people came tired to Jordan, and took their rest there.

But he will certainly have taken cover now in some hole or secret place; and if some of our people, at the first attack, are overcome, then any hearing of it will say, There is destruction among the people who are on Absalom's side.

And if he has gone into some town, then let all Israel take strong cords to that town, and we will have it pulled into the valley, till not one small stone is to be seen there.

And the people of Israel were overcome there by the servants of David, and there was a great destruction that day, and twenty thousand men were put to the sword.

And the king said, Get back and take your place here. So turning to one side, he took his place there.

So the king came back, and came as far as Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, meeting the king there, to take him back with them over Jordan.

And the king said, Say nothing more about these things. I say, Let there be a division of the land between Ziba and you.

Now by chance there was present a good-for-nothing person named Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he, sounding the horn, said, We have no part in David, or any interest in the son of Jesse: let every man go to his tent, O Israel.

So there went after Abishai, Joab and the Cherethites and the Pelethites and all the fighting-men; they went out of Jerusalem to overtake Sheba, the son of Bichri.

Then she said, In the old days, there was a saying, Let them put the question in Abel and in Dan, saying, Has what was ordered by men of good faith in Israel ever come to an end?

In the days of David they were short of food for three years, year after year; and David went before the Lord for directions. And the Lord said, On Saul and on his family there is blood, because he put the Gibeonites to death.