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

And Achish called David, and said to him, As Jehovah liveth, thou art upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the camp is acceptable to me; for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming to me to this day; but thou art not acceptable to the lords.

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

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

And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art acceptable to me, as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

And now rise up early in the morning with thy master's servants that are come with thee; and rise ye early in the morning, and when ye have daylight, depart.

And 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 Jizreel.

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 smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire;

and had taken the women captives that were in it; both great and small: they had put none to death, but had carried them off, and went on their way.

And David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were taken captives.

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

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

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him; for the soul of all the people was embittered, every man because of his sons and because of his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.

And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, Bring near to me, I pray thee, the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod near to David.

And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he said to him, Pursue; for thou shalt assuredly overtake them and shalt certainly recover.

So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor; and those that were left stayed behind.

And David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to go over the torrent 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 gave him a piece of fig-cake and two raisin-cakes, and he ate, and his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, for three days and three nights.

And David said to him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.

We made a raid against the south of the Cherethites, and against what belongs to Judah, and against the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.

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

And he brought him down, and behold, they were spread over the whole land, 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 Judah.

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

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

And there was nothing missed by them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil nor anything that they had taken: David brought all back.

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

And David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and whom they had left behind at the torrent Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him; and David drew near to the people and saluted them.

And all the wicked men, and men of Belial, of those that had gone with David, answered and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.

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

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

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

And David came to Ziklag, and he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah:

to those in Bethel, and to those in south Ramoth, and to those in Jattir,

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

and to those in Rachal, and to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those in the cities of the Kenites,

and to those in Hormah, and to those in Chor-ashan, and to those in Athach,

and to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men went about.

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

And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines smote Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons.

And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers came up with him; and he was much terrified by the archers.

Then said Saul to his armour-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not; for he was much afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.

And when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on his sword, and died with him.

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

And when the men of Israel that were on this side of the valley, and they that were on this side of 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 Philistines came and dwelt in them.

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

And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent them into the land of the Philistines round about, to announce the glad tidings in the houses of their idols, and to the people.

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

And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead heard of what 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 came to Jabesh, and burned them there.

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

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

And it came to pass on the third day, that behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his garments rent, and earth upon his head; and as soon as he came to David, he fell to the earth and did obeisance.

And David said to him, Whence comest thou? And he said to him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.

And David said to him, What has taken place? I pray thee, tell me. And he said that the people had fled from the battle, and many of the people also had fallen and died, and that Saul and Jonathan his son were dead also.

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

And the young man that told him said, I happened by chance to be upon mount Gilboa, and behold, Saul leaned on his spear; and behold, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.

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

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

He said to me again, Stand, I pray thee, over me, and slay me; for anguish has seized me; for my life is yet whole in me.

So I stood over him, and put him to death, for I knew that he would not live after his fall; and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither to my lord.

Then David took hold of his garments and rent them; and all the men that were with him did likewise.

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

And David said to the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he said, I am the son of an Amalekite stranger.

And David said to him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thy hand to destroy Jehovah's anointed?

Then David called one of the young men and said, Draw near, and fall on him. And he smote him 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 Jehovah's anointed.

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

and he bade them teach the children of Judah the song of the bow. Behold, it is written in the book of Jasher: --

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, beloved and pleasant in their lives, Even in their death were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant wast thou unto me; Thy love to me was wonderful, passing women's love.

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

And it came to pass after this that David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah? And Jehovah said to him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.

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

And his men that were with him did David bring up, 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, It is the men of Jabesh-Gilead that have buried Saul.

And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead, and said to them, Blessed be ye of Jehovah, that ye have shewn this kindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buried him!

And now Jehovah shew kindness and faithfulness to you; and I also will requite you this good, because ye have done this thing.

And now let your hands be strong, and be ye valiant; for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.

And Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;

and made him king over Gilead, and over the Asshurites, and over Jizreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

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

And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out. And they met together by the pool of Gibeon; and they sat down, these on the one side of the pool, and those on the other side of the pool.

And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise and make sport before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.

And they arose and went over by number, twelve for Benjamin, and for Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.

And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side, and they fell down together. And that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is by Gibeon.

And the battle that day was very severe; and Abner and the men of Israel were routed before the servants of David.

And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was swift of foot, as one of the gazelles that are in the field.

And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from behind Abner.

Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he said, I am.

And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside, to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay hold of one of the young men, and take for thyself his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following him.

And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: why should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?

But he refused to turn aside; therefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him in the belly, so that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place. And it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.

And Joab and Abishai pursued after Abner; and the sun went down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of a hill.

And Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? and how long shall it be ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?

And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.