So they assembled all the leaders of the Philistines and asked, "What should we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" They replied, "The ark of the God of Israel should be moved to Gath." So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.

the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, "What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place."

They inquired, "What is the guilt offering that we should send to him?" They replied, "The Philistine leaders number five. So send five gold sores and five gold mice, for it is the same plague that has afflicted both you and your leaders.

The five leaders of the Philistines watched what was happening and then returned to Ekron on the same day.

Just as they have done from the day that I brought them up from Egypt until this very day, they have rejected me and have served other gods. This is what they are also doing to you.

So Saul said to his servant, "All right, we can go. But what can we bring the man, since the food in our bags is used up? We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?"

So the cook picked up the leg and brought it and set it in front of Saul. Samuel said, "What was kept is now set before you! Eat, for it has been kept for you for this meeting time, from the time I said, 'I have invited the people.'" So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

When you leave me today, you will find two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah on Benjamin's border. They will say to you, 'The donkeys you have gone looking for have been found. Your father is no longer concerned about the donkeys but has become anxious about you two! He is asking, "What should I do about my son?"'

You will go down to Gilgal before me. I am going to join you there to offer burnt offerings and to make peace offerings. You should wait for seven days, until I arrive and tell you what to do."

When everyone who had known him previously saw him prophesying with the prophets, the people all asked one another, "What on earth has happened to the son of Kish? Does even Saul belong with the prophets?"

Saul's uncle said, "Tell me what Samuel said to you."

Saul said to his uncle, "He assured us that the donkeys had been found." But Saul did not tell him what Samuel had said about the matter of kingship.

He said to the Israelites, "This is what the Lord God of Israel says, 'I brought Israel up from Egypt and I delivered you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.

Now Saul was walking behind the oxen as he came from the field. Saul asked, "What has happened to the people? Why are they weeping?" So they told him about the men of Jabesh.

They said to the messengers who had come, "Here's what you should say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: 'Tomorrow deliverance will come to you when the sun is fully up.'" When the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh Gilead, they were happy.

If you fear the Lord, serving him and obeying him and not rebelling against what he says, and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the Lord your God, all will be well.

But if you don't obey the Lord and rebel against what the Lord says, the hand of the Lord will be against both you and your king.

Is this not the time of the wheat harvest? I will call on the Lord so that he makes it thunder and rain. Realize and see what a great sin you have committed before the Lord by asking for a king for yourselves."

But Samuel said, "What have you done?" Saul replied, "When I saw that the army had started to abandon me and that you didn't come at the appointed time and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash,

But now your kingdom will not continue! The Lord has sought out for himself a man who is loyal to him and the Lord has appointed him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you."

So Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell me what you have done." Jonathan told him, "I used the end of the staff that was in my hand to taste a little honey. I must die!"

Then Samuel said to Saul, "I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says.

Here is what the Lord of hosts says: 'I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed Israel along the way when Israel came up from Egypt.

"I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from me and has not done what I told him to do." Samuel became angry and he cried out to the Lord all that night.

When Samuel came to him, Saul said to him, "May the Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord said."

Samuel replied, "If that is the case, then what is this sound of sheep in my ears and the sound of cattle that I hear?"

Then Samuel said to Saul, "Wait a minute! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night." Saul said to him, "Tell me."

Why haven't you obeyed the Lord? Instead you have greedily rushed upon the plunder! You have done what is wrong in the Lord's estimation."

But the army took from the plunder some of the sheep and cattle -- the best of what was to be slaughtered -- to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal."

Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded and what you said as well. For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes.

Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you should do. You will anoint for me the one I point out to you."

Samuel did what the Lord told him. When he arrived in Bethlehem, the elders of the city were afraid to meet him. They said, "Do you come in peace?"

David asked the men who were standing near him, "What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?"

The soldiers told him what had been promised, saying, "This is what will be done for the man who can strike him down."

David replied, "What have I done now? Can't I say anything?"

This made Saul very angry. The statement displeased him and he thought, "They have attributed to David tens of thousands, but to me they have attributed only thousands. What does he lack, except the kingdom?"

When Saul's servants reported what David had said,

Saul replied, "Here is what you should say to David: 'There is nothing that the king wants as a price for the bride except a hundred Philistine foreskins, so that he can be avenged of his enemies.'" (Now Saul was thinking that he could kill David by the hand of the Philistines.)

I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are. I will speak about you to my father. When I find out what the problem is, I will let you know."

David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, "What have I done? What is my offense? How have I sinned before your father? For he is seeking my life!"

Jonathan replied to David, "Tell me what I can do for you."

Jonathan responded to his father Saul, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?"

(Now the servant did not understand any of this. Only Jonathan and David knew what was going on.)

Now what do you have at your disposal? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found."

David thought about what they said and was very afraid of King Achish of Gath.

Then David went from there to Mizpah in Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God is going to do for me."

But David's men said to him, "We are afraid while we are still here in Judah! What will it be like if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?"

Now if a man finds his enemy, does he send him on his way in good shape? May the Lord repay you with good this day for what you have done to me.

Now be aware of this, and see what you can do. For disaster has been planned for our lord and his entire household. He is such a wicked person that no one tells him anything!"

Then David took from her hand what she had brought to him. He said to her, "Go back to your home in peace. Be assured that I have listened to you and responded favorably."

He went on to say, "Why is my lord chasing his servant? What have I done? What wrong have I done?

Neither man nor woman would David leave alive so as to bring them back to Gath. He was thinking, "This way they can't tell on us, saying, 'This is what David did.'" Such was his practice the entire time that he lived in the country of the Philistines.

David replied to Achish, "That being the case, you will come to know what your servant can do!" Achish said to David, "Then I will make you my bodyguard from now on."

But the woman said to him, "Look, you are aware of what Saul has done; he has removed the mediums and magicians from the land! Why are you trapping me so you can put me to death?"

The king said to her, "Don't be afraid! What have you seen?" The woman replied to Saul, "I have seen one like a god coming up from the ground!"

He said to her, "What about his appearance?" She said, "An old man is coming up! He is wrapped in a robe!" Then Saul realized it was Samuel, and he bowed his face toward the ground and kneeled down.

Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" Saul replied, "I am terribly troubled! The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He does not answer me -- not by the prophets nor by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what I should do."

When the woman came to Saul and saw how terrified he was, she said to him, "Your servant has done what you asked. I took my life into my own hands and did what you told me.

The leaders of the Philistines asked, "What about these Hebrews?" Achish said to the leaders of the Philistines, "Isn't this David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me for quite some time? I have found no fault with him from the day of his defection until the present time!"

But the leaders of the Philistines became angry with him and said to him, "Send the man back! Let him return to the place that you assigned him! Don't let him go down with us into the battle, for he might become our adversary in the battle. What better way to please his lord than with the heads of these men?

But David said to Achish, "What have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day that I first came into your presence until the present time, that I shouldn't go and fight the enemies of my lord the king?"

But David said, "No! You shouldn't do this, my brothers. Look at what the Lord has given us! He has protected us and has delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us.

When the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

God will severely judge Abner if I do not do for David exactly what the Lord has promised him,

So Joab went to the king and said, "What have you done? Abner has come to you! Why would you send him away? Now he's gone on his way!

So David asked the Lord what he should do. This time the Lord said to him, "Don't march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees.

"Go, tell my servant David: 'This is what the Lord says: Do you really intend to build a house for me to live in?

"So now, say this to my servant David: 'This is what the Lord of hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from your work as a shepherd to make you leader of my people Israel.

King David went in, sat before the Lord, and said, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you should have brought me to this point?

What more can David say to you? You have given your servant special recognition, O Lord God!

Therefore you are great, O Lord God, for there is none like you! There is no God besides you! What we have heard is true!

Then Mephibosheth bowed and said, "Of what importance am I, your servant, that you show regard for a dead dog like me?"

Messengers told David what had happened, so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, "Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown again; then you may come back."

Be strong! Let's fight bravely for the sake of our people and the cities of our God! The Lord will do what he decides is best!"

When the time of mourning passed, David had her brought to his palace. She became his wife and she bore him a son. But what David had done upset the Lord.

Nathan said to David, "You are that man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: 'I chose you to be king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul.

This is what the Lord says: 'I am about to bring disaster on you from inside your own household! Right before your eyes I will take your wives and hand them over to your companion. He will have sexual relations with your wives in broad daylight!

His servants said to him, "What is this that you have done? While the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!"

But she said to him, "No I won't, for sending me away now would be worse than what you did to me earlier!" But he refused to listen to her.

(Now she was wearing a long robe, for this is what the king's virgin daughters used to wear.) So Amnon's attendant removed her and bolted the door behind her.

So Absalom's servants did to Amnon exactly what Absalom had instructed. Then all the king's sons got up; each one rode away on his mule and fled.

Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shimeah, said, "My lord should not say, 'They have killed all the young men who are the king's sons.' For only Amnon is dead. This is what Absalom has talked about from the day that Amnon humiliated his sister Tamar.

Go to the king and speak to him in the following fashion." Then Joab told her what to say.

The king replied to her, "What do you want?" She answered, "I am a widow; my husband is dead.

I have now come to speak with my lord the king about this matter, because the people have made me fearful. But your servant said, 'I will speak to the king! Perhaps the king will do what his female servant asks.

Now Absalom used to get up early and stand beside the road that led to the city gate. Whenever anyone came by who had a complaint to bring to the king for arbitration, Absalom would call out to him, "What city are you from?" The person would answer, "I, your servant, am from one of the tribes of Israel."

Now two hundred men had gone with Absalom from Jerusalem. Since they were invited, they went naively and were unaware of what Absalom was planning.

But the king said, "What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses because the Lord has said to him, 'Curse David!', who can say to him, 'Why have you done this?'"

Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, "Give us your advice. What should we do?"

But Absalom said, "Call for Hushai the Arkite, and let's hear what he has to say."

So Hushai came to Absalom. Absalom said to him, "Here is what Ahithophel has advised. Should we follow his advice? If not, what would you recommend?"

Then Hushai reported to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, "Here is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the leaders of Israel to do, and here is what I have advised.

His wife then took the covering and spread it over the top of the well and scattered some grain over it. No one was aware of what she had done.

Joab replied to the man who was telling him this, "What! You saw this? Why didn't you strike him down right on the spot? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a commemorative belt!"

Then Joab said to the Cushite, "Go and tell the king what you have seen." After bowing to Joab, the Cushite ran off.

The king replied, "How is the young man Absalom?" Ahimaaz replied, "I saw a great deal of confusion when Joab was sending the king's servant and me, your servant, but I don't know what it was all about."

But David said, "What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? You are like my enemy today! Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? Don't you realize that today I am king over Israel?"

After all, there was no one in the entire house of my grandfather who did not deserve death from my lord the king. But instead you allowed me to eat at your own table! What further claim do I have to ask the king for anything?"

I am presently eighty years old. Am I able to discern good and bad? Can I taste what I eat and drink? Am I still able to hear the voices of male and female singers? Why should I continue to be a burden to my lord the king?

David said to the Gibeonites, "What can I do for you, and how can I make amends so that you will bless the Lord's inheritance?"