Samuel {did not see Saul again} until the day of his death, but Samuel mourned over Saul, and Yahweh regretted that he made Saul king over Israel.

David went out {whenever} Saul sent him, [and] he succeeded. So Saul appointed him over the men of the war, and it {pleased} all the people and even {pleased} the servants of Saul.

Saul went {on one side of the mountain}, and David and his men {went on the other side of the mountain}. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men [were] closing in on David and his men to capture them.

When David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, "[Is] this your voice, my son David?" And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

Then David got up and came to the place where Saul had encamped, and David saw the place where Saul [was] lying down, {as well as} Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. (Now Saul [was] lying in the encampment, and the army [was] encamping around him.)

And Ner fathered Kish, and Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-Shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.

And Ner fathered Kish, and Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-Shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.

And the Philistines {overtook} Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua, the sons of Saul.

And Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and deal harshly with me." But he was very afraid. Then Saul took the sword and fell upon it.

And some Manassites deserted to David when he came with the Philistines to the battle against Saul, but he did not help them, for the rulers of the Philistines sent him away upon counsel, saying, "He will desert to his master Saul at [the cost of] our heads."

From the men of Benjamin, kinsmen of Saul, three thousand, and {even still} the majority of them {remained loyal} to the house of Saul.

Now the female donkeys of Kish the father of Saul got lost, and Kish said to Saul his son, "Please take one of the servants with you and get up; go and seek the female donkeys."

So the cook took up the shank and what was on it and put it before Saul, and he said, "Look, {the saved portion} [is] placed {before you}--eat, because it has been kept for you for the appointed time," {and he said}, "I have invited the people." So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

They got up early, {and as dawn was breaking}, Samuel called to Saul on the roof, saying, "Get up, so that I can send you away." So Saul got up and the two of them, he and Samuel, went outside.

{Just then}, Saul was coming from the field behind the cattle. Saul said, "What [is the matter] with the people, that they [are] weeping?" So they recounted to him the words of the men of Jabesh.

So all the people went to Gilgal and they made Saul king there before Yahweh in Gilgal. They sacrificed fellowship offerings there before Yahweh. Then Saul rejoiced there greatly [along with] all the men of Israel.

And all Israel did hear, saying, "Saul has defeated the garrison of [the] Philistines; and also, Israel has become a stench among [the] Philistines!" So the people were called out after Saul at Gilgal.

{So} on [the] day of battle, there was not a sword or a spear found in the hands of all the army that was with Saul and Jonathan, but {Saul and his son Jonathan had them}.

While Saul was still speaking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of [the] Philistines {increased more and more}, so Saul said to the priest, "Withdraw your hand!"

Then Saul said to Yahweh the God of Israel, "{Render a decision perfectly}." Jonathan and Saul were chosen [by lot] and the people went out.

The name of Saul's wife [was] Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz, and the name of the commander of his army [was] Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.

Warfare was severe against [the] Philistines all the days of Saul. Whenever Saul saw {anyone who was a mighty warrior} or {any brave man}, he {conscripted him into his service}.

Then Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul. Samuel was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel, and look, he [is] setting up a monument for himself." Then he turned around and crossed over and went down to Gilgal.

When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, "May you be blessed by Yahweh! I have kept the word of Yahweh."

So Samuel returned after Saul, and Saul {worshiped} Yahweh.

Then Samuel went to Ramah and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.

So David came to Saul and {entered his service}. He loved him greatly and {he became Saul's armor bearer}.

So whenever the [evil] spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the stringed instrument and play it with his hand. Then {it would bring relief} for Saul; {he would feel better} and the evil spirit would depart from him.

{On} [the] next day, the evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he prophesied in the middle of the house. Now David was playing [the lyre] with his hand on [that] day {as usual}, and the spear was in Saul's hand.

{Now Saul was threatened by the presence of David} because Yahweh was with him, but had departed from Saul.

Then Saul said to David, "Here [is] my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you as [your] wife. Only be {a brave warrior} for me and fight the battles of Yahweh." For Saul thought, "My hand will not be against him, but let the hand of [the] Philistines be against him."

Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David, so they told Saul, and the matter {pleased him}.

And Saul thought, "I will give her to him, so that she may be a snare for him and the hand of [the] Philistines may be against him." So Saul said to David, "For a second [time] you can become my son-in-law today."

Then Saul said, "This [is] what you must say to David: '{The king desires no bride price} except for a hundred foreskins of [the] Philistines, to avenge himself on the enemies of the king.'" (Now Saul had planned to allow David to fall by the hand of [the] Philistines.)

Saul {was threatened by David still more}, so Saul {became a perpetual enemy of David}.

Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants about killing David, but Saul's son Jonathan {liked David very much}.

So Saul tried {to pin David to the wall with the spear}, but {he eluded Saul}, so that he struck the spear into the wall, and David fled and escaped that [same] night.

Then Saul said to Michal, "Why have you deceived me like this and sent away my enemy, so that he escaped?" Michal said to Saul, "He said to me, 'Let me go, why should I kill you?'"

So Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw the company of the prophets prophesying and Samuel standing [as] chief over them, then the Spirit of God came upon Saul's messengers, and they also prophesied.

So they told Saul, and he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Again Saul sent messengers a third [time], and they also prophesied.

Now there was a man from the servants of Saul on that day, detained before Yahweh, whose name [was] Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's shepherds.

Now Saul heard that David and the men who [were] with him had been located. Saul [was] sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk [tree] at Ramah. Now his spear [was] in his hand and all his servants [were] stationed around him.

When it was told to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, Saul said, "God {has given him} into my hand, because he has shut himself in by going into a city [with] {two barred gates}.

He said to him, "Do not be afraid, for the hand of my father Saul will not find you. You will be king over Israel, and {I will be second to you}. My father Saul knows [this] also."

And Saul and his men went to seek [him], and they told David, so he went down [to] the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard [this], he pursued David [into] the wilderness of Maon.

So David rebuked his men with the words and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave, and he went on his way.

Then David got up afterward and went out of the cave and called after Saul, "My lord the king!" When Saul looked after him, David knelt down [with his] face to the ground and bowed down.

So David swore [this on oath] to Saul, and Saul went to his house, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Now Saul was on the hill of Hakilah, which [is] opposite Jeshimon by the road, but David was staying in the wilderness. When he realized that Saul had come to the wilderness after him,

Then Saul said to David, "Blessed are you, my son David; {you will not only do many things, but also will always succeed}!" Then David went on his way and Saul returned to his place.

Then David {thought to himself}, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me but [that] I must certainly escape to the land of [the] Philistines. Then Saul will desist from searching for me further in all of the territories of Israel, and so I will escape from his hand."

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman said to Saul, "Why did you deceive me? You [are] Saul!"

Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul said, "{I am in distress}! For [the] Philistines [are about] to make war against me, but God has turned away from me, and he does not answer me any more, not {by the prophets} or by the dreams. So I called to you to let me know what I should do."

And [the] Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and [the] Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malki-Shua, the sons of Saul.

Then Saul said to {his armor bearer}, "Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised do not come and thrust me through and make a fool of me!" But {his armor bearer} [was] not willing [to do so] because he [was] very afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.

But Abner the son of Ner, the commander of Saul's army, had taken Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over [to] Mahanaim.

The battle [was] prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David, but David {[was] growing stronger and stronger} while the house of Saul {[was] becoming weaker and weaker}.

As the war between the house of Saul and the house of David was [continuing], Abner was strengthening himself in the house of Saul.

(Now Jonathan the son of Saul had a son who [was] crippled in the feet. He [was] five years old when the message of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse had picked him up and fled. It happened that as she [was] hurrying away to flee, he fell and became crippled. His name [was] Mephibosheth.)

They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron, and they said to the king, "Here [is] the head of Ish-Bosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life. Yahweh has given to my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and on his offspring."

David summoned Ziba the servant of Saul and said to him, "All that [was] Saul's and all his household I have given to the son of your master.

But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the sworn oath of Yahweh which [was] between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.

So the king took two of the sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, namely Armoni and Mephibosheth, and five of the sons of Michal the daughter of Saul whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.

So David left and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the rulers of Jabesh Gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth Shan, where [the] Philistines hung them {when} [the] Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa.

And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"

and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'

And [when] we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Aramaic language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? [It is] hard for you to kick against the goads!'

And the battle was heavy against Saul, and the {archers} found him, and he was wounded by the {archers}.

When his armor-bearer saw that Saul [was] dead, he also fell upon the sword, and he died.

So Saul died. And his three sons and all his house died together.

And when all the men of Israel who [were] in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. Then the Philistines came and dwelled in them.

And it happened [that] on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

When all Jabesh-Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,

every strong man arose and took the dead body of Saul and the dead bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

So Saul died on account of his sin which he had sinned against Yahweh concerning the command of Yahweh that he did not keep. He also consulted a medium to seek [guidance].

{For some time now}, even when Saul was king, you were {the one who led the army of Israel in battle}. And Yahweh your God said to you, 'You will shepherd my people Israel and will be leader over my people Israel.'"

And in the days of Saul they made war against the Hagrites, and they fell into their hand. And they lived in their tents in all the region east of Gilead.

Now these are the ones who came to David at Ziklag while he was still shut up because {of Saul}, the son of Kish. And they [were] the mighty warriors helping [with] the war.

[They were] armed with [the] bow, [able to shoot] right-handed or left-handed, [slinging] stones or [shooting] arrows with the bow; [they were] kinsmen of Saul from Benjamin.

And these are the numbers of the chiefs of those prepared for the army who came to David at Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him according to the word of Yahweh.

Then let us bring around the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul."

And when the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came into the city of David, then Michal the daughter of Saul looked down from the window and saw the king, David, leaping and dancing. And she despised him in her heart.

And all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah had dedicated--all the dedicated gifts [were] under the hand of Shelomith and his brothers.