And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have thou deceived me? For thou are Saul.

And the king said to her, Be not afraid, for what do thou see? And the woman said to Saul, I see gods coming up out of the earth.

And he said to her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man comes up, and he is covered with a robe. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance.

And Samuel said to Saul, Why have thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am greatly distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answers me no more, neither by prophets, no

And Samuel said, Why then do thou ask of me, since LORD departed from thee, and has become thine adversary?

And LORD has done to thee, as he spoke by me. And LORD has rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David.

Because thou obeyed not the voice of LORD, and did not execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore LORD has done this thing to thee this day.

Moreover LORD will deliver Israel also with thee into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow thou and thy sons shall be with me. LORD will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

Then Saul fell straightway his full length upon the earth, and was greatly afraid because of the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.

And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was greatly troubled, and said to him, Behold, thy handmaid has hearkened to thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened to thy words which thou spoke to me.

Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee, and eat, that thou may have strength when thou go on thy way.

But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, constrained him, and he hearkened to their voice. So he arose from the ground, and sat upon the bed.

And the woman had a fatted calf in the house. And she hastened, and killed it, and she took flour, and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread of it.

And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants, and they ate. Then they rose up, and went away that night.

Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by the fountain which is in Jezreel.

And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands, and David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish.

Then the rulers of the Philistines said, What [are] these Hebrews? And Achish said to the rulers of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or [rather] these year

But the rulers of the Philistines were angry with him. And the rulers of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he may go back to his place where thou have appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, l

Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?

Then Achish called David, and said to him, As LORD lives, thou have been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the army is good in my sight, for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming to me to t

Therefore now return, and go in peace, that thou not displease the lords of the Philistines.

And David said to Achish, But what have I done? And what have thou found in thy servant so long as I have been before thee to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou are good in my sight, as an agent of God, notwithstanding the rulers of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

Therefore now rise up early in the morning with the servants of thy lord who have come with thee, and as soon as ye are up early in the morning, and have light, depart.

So David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the South, and upon Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire,

and had taken captive the women [and all] that were in it, both small and great. They did not kill any, but carried them off, and went their way.

And when David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire. And their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captive.

Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

And David's two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters. But David strengthened himself in LORD his God.

And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, I pray thee, bring me here the ephod. And Abiathar brought there the ephod to David.

And David inquired of LORD, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue, for thou shall surely overtake [them], and shall without fail recover [all].

So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.

But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread. And he ate, and they gave him water to drink.

And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him, for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.

And David said to him, To whom do thou belong? And from where are thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite. And my master left me because three days ago I fell sick.

We made a raid upon the South of the Cherethites, and upon that which belongs to Judah, and upon the South of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.

And David said to him, Will thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear to me by God, that thou will neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.

And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the ground, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of

And David smote them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day. And there escaped not a man of them, except four hundred young men who rode upon camels and fled.

And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives.

And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them; David brought back all.

And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drove before those [other] cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

And David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom also they had made to abide at the brook Besor. And they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people who were with him. And when D

Then answered all the wicked men and base fellows of those who went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them anything of the spoil that we have recovered except to every man his wife and his childr

Then David said, Ye shall not do so, my brothers, with that which LORD has given to us, who has preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand.

And who will hearken to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle so shall his share be who remains by the baggage; they shall share alike.

And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

And when David came to Ziklag, he sent from the spoil to the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold, a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of LORD:

to those who were in Bethel, and to those who were in Ramoth of the South, and to those who were in Jattir,

and to those who were in Aroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa,

and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites,

and to those who were in Hormah, and to those who were in Borashan, and to those who were in Athach,

and to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to frequent.

Now the Philistines fought against Israel. And the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.

And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons, and the Philistines killed Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.

And the battle went severely against Saul, and the archers overtook him, and he was greatly distressed because of the archers.

Then Saul said to his armor bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not, for he was very afraid. Therefore Saul took his s

And when his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died with him.

So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor bearer, and all his men, that same day together.

And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled. And the Philistine

And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.

And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about to carry the news to the house of their idols, and to the people.

And they put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard concerning him, that which the Philistines had done to Saul,

all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

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

And it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag,

it came to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes torn, and earth upon his head. And so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the ground, and did obeisance.

And David said to him, From where did thou come? And he said to him, I escaped out of the camp of Israel.

And David said to him, How did the matter go? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, The people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son are also dead.

And David said to the young man who told him, How do thou know that Saul and Jonathan his son are dead?

And the young man who told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul was leaning upon his spear, and, lo, the chariots and the horsemen followed close after him.

And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, Here I am.

And he said to me, Who are thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.

And he said to me, Stand, I pray thee, beside me, and kill me, for anguish has taken hold of me, because my life is yet whole in me.

So I stood beside him, and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he was fallen. And I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.

Then David took hold on his clothes, and tore them, and likewise all the men who were with him.

And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of LORD, and for the house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword.

And David said to the young man who told him, From where are thou? And he answered, I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.

And David said to him, Why were thou not afraid to put forth thy hand to destroy LORD's anointed?

And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him so that he died.

And David said to him, Thy blood be upon thy head, for thy mouth has testified against thee, saying, I have slain LORD's anointed.

And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son

(and he bade them teach the sons of Judah [the song of] the bow; behold, it is written in the book of Jashar):

From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.

Saul and Jonathan, men who were loved and pleasant, undivided; comely in their lives, and undivided in their death; swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And LORD said to him, Go up. And David said, Where shall I go up? And he said, To Hebron.

So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

And David brought up his men who were with him, every man with his household, and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.

And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, The men of Jabesh-gilead were those who buried Saul.

And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, Blessed be ye of LORD, that ye have shown this kindness to your lord, even to Saul, and have buried him.

And now LORD show loving kindness and truth to you. And I also will reward you this kindness because ye have done this thing.

Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be ye valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.

Now Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's army, had taken Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim.

And he made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.