And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to LORD thy God, and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

And Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of LORD, and have gone the way which LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou have rejected the word of LORD, he has also rejected thee from being king.

And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of LORD, and thy words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

And Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with thee, for thou have rejected the word of LORD, and LORD has rejected thee from being king over Israel.

Then he said, I have sinned. Yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship LORD thy God.

And LORD said to Samuel, How long will thou mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill thy horn with oil, and go. I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for me a king among

And Samuel said, How do I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. And LORD said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I have come to sacrifice to LORD.

And he said, Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to LORD. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

But LORD said to Samuel, Do not look on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For [LORD sees] not as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but LORD looks on the heart.

Then one of the young men answered, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skilful in playing, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and prudent in speech, and a comely man, and LORD is with him

And he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, Why have ye come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.

And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man who has come up? Surely to defy Israel he has come up. And it shall be, that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and m

And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why have thou come down? And with whom have thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and t

And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

And David girded his sword upon his apparel, and he attempted to go, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them. And David put them off of him.

Then David said to the Philistine, Thou come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin, but I come to thee in the name of LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou have defied.

And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him, and he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands, and what can he have more but the kingdom?

But it came to pass at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite to wife.

And Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against thee, and because his works have been very good toward thee.

And Saul said to Michal, Why have thou deceived me thus, and let my enemy go, so that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said to me, Let me go. Why should I kill thee?

And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? What is my iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeks my life?

And David swore moreover, and said, Thy father knows well that I have found favor in thine eyes, and he says, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as LORD lives, and as thy soul lives, there is but a step betwe

If he says thus, It is well. Thy servant shall have peace. But if he is angry, then know that evil is determined by him.

Therefore deal kindly with thy servant, for thou have brought thy servant into a covenant of LORD with thee. But if there be in me iniquity, kill me thyself, for why should thou bring me to thy father?

And Jonathan said to David, LORD, the God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about this time tomorrow, [or] the third day, behold, if there be good toward David, shall I not then send to thee, and disclose it to thee?

And when thou have stayed three days, thou shall go down quickly, and come to the place where thou hid thyself when the business was in hand, and shall remain by the stone Ezel.

And concerning the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, LORD is between thee and me forever.

And he said, Let me go, I pray thee, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother, he has commanded me. And now, if I have found favor in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brothers. Therefore he has

Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, Thou son of a perverse rebellious woman, do I not know that thou have chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame, and to the shame of thy mother's nakedness?

And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, inasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of LORD, saying, LORD shall be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed, forever. And he arose and departed, and Jonathan went i

And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has commanded me a business, and has said to me, Let no man know anything of the business about which I send thee, and what I have commanded thee, and I have assigned the young men t

And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread. If only the young men have kept themselves from women.

And David answered the priest, and said to him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days. When I came out the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was but a common journey. How much more then today sh

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

Then Achish said to his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad. Why then have ye brought him to me?

Do I lack madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?

that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none who discloses to me when my son makes a league with the son of Jesse. And there is none of you who is sorry for me, or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my serva

And Saul said to him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou have given him bread, and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me to lay in wait as at this day?

Have I today begun to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me. Let not the king impute anything to his servant, nor to all the house of my father, for thy servant knows nothing of all this, less or more.

And David said to Abiathar, I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned [the death] of all the persons of thy father's house.

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

But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, Hasten thee, and come, for the Philistines have made a raid upon the land.

Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that LORD had delivered thee today into my hand in the cave. And some bade me kill thee, but [I] spared thee. And I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord, for he is LORD's anoi

Moreover, my father, see, yea, 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

And he said to David, Thou are more righteous than I, for thou have rendered to me good, whereas I have rendered to thee evil.

And thou have declared this day how that thou have dealt well with me, inasmuch as when LORD had delivered me up into thy hand, thou killed me not.

For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away well? Therefore LORD reward thee good for that which thou have done to me this day.

And thus ye shall say to him who lives [in prosperity], Peace be to thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be to all that thou have.

And now I have heard that thou have shearers. Thy shepherds have now been with us, and we did them no hurt, neither was there anything missing to them all the while they were in Carmel.

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

Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him, and he has returned me evil for good.

And it shall come to pass, when LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee prince over Israel,

that this shall be no grief to thee, nor offence of heart to my lord, either that thou have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. And when LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid

and blessed be thy discretion, and blessed be thou, who have kept me this day from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand.

So David received from her hand that which she had brought him. And he said to her, Go up in peace to thy house. See, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

And David said to Abner, Are not thou a [valiant] man? And who is like to thee in Israel? Why then have thou not kept watch over thy lord the king? For there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.

This thing is not good that thou have done. As LORD lives, ye are worthy to die because ye have not kept watch over your lord, LORD's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his head.

And he said, Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand?

Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it be LORD who has stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering, but if it be the sons of men, cursed be they before LORD. For they have d

Then Saul said, I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do thee harm because my life was precious in thine eyes this day. Behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.

And David said to Achish, If now I have found favor in thine eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country that I may dwell there, for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

And Achish said, Against whom have ye made a raid today? And David said, Against the South of Judah, and against the South of the Jerahmeelites, and against the South of the Kenites.

And the woman said to him, Behold, thou know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. Why then do thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?

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 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 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 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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant thou have been to me. Thy love to me was wonderful, exceeding the love of women.

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.

And Joab said, As God lives unless thou had spoken, surely then in the morning the people would have gone up every man from followed his brother.

Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And [Ish-bosheth] said to Abner, Why have thou gone in to my father's concubine?

Then Abner was very angry for the words of Ish-bosheth, and said, Am I a dog's head that belongs to Judah? This day I show kindness to the house of Saul thy father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee i

Then Joab came to the king, and said, What have thou done? Behold, Abner came to thee. Why is it that thou have sent him away, and he is quite gone?

And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim, and have been sojourners there until this day.

And they came there into the midst of the house as though they would have fetched wheat, and they smote him in the body. And Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.

when he who told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good news, I took hold of him, and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.

How much more, when evil men have slain a righteous man in his own house upon his bed, shall I not now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth?

And I will be yet more vile than this, and will be base in my own sight, but of the handmaids of whom thou have spoken, of them I shall be had in honor.

For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the sons of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.

In all places in which I have walked with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people Israel, saying, Why have ye not built for me a house of cedar?

And I have been with thee wherever thou went, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee. And I will make thee a great name, like the name of the great ones that are on the earth.

Then David the king went in, and sat before LORD. And he said, Who am I, O lord LORD, and what is my house, that thou have brought me thus far?

And this was yet a small thing in thine eyes, O lord LORD, but thou have spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and this [too] according to the manner of men, O lord LORD!

For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, thou have wrought all this greatness, to make thy servant know it.

Therefore thou are great, O LORD God, for there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

And now, O LORD God, the word that thou have spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, confirm it forever, and do as thou have spoken.

For thou, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house. Therefore thy servant has found in his heart to pray this prayer to thee.

And now, O lord LORD, thou are God, and thy words are truth, and thou have promised this good thing to thy servant.

Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee, for thou, O lord LORD, have spoken it. And with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed forever.