So her women neighbors gave the child a nickname, which is "Naomi has a son!" They named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David.

Then Obed fathered Jesse, who fathered David.

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD came on David from that day forward. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.

So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David, who is with the sheep."

Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a container of wine, and one kid, and sent them to Saul along with his son David.

David went to Saul and began to serve him. Saul loved him very much, and he became his armor bearer.

Saul sent a messenger to Jesse to tell him, "Allow David to serve me, because I'm pleased with him."

Whenever an evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the lyre and play it. Relief would come to Saul and he would be better, because the evil spirit would leave him.

David was the son of that Ephrathite man named Jesse from Bethlehem in Judah. He had eight sons; at the time when Saul was king he was old, having lived to an advanced age.

David was the youngest, while the three oldest had followed Saul.

And David would go back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep in Bethlehem.

Jesse told his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain to your brothers, along with these ten loaves of bread, and quickly take them to your brothers in the camp.

David got up early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the supplies, and went as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the encampment as the army was going out to the battle line, shouting the battle cry.

David left the supplies he had with him in the care of the supply keeper and ran to the battle line. When he arrived there, he asked his brothers about their well-being.

As he was speaking with them, the Philistine champion named Goliath from Gath came up from the Philistine battle lines and spoke his usual words, as David listened.

David asked the men who were standing by him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? Indeed, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"

Eliab his oldest brother heard him talking to the men. Eliab was angry with David and said, "Why did you come down here? And who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your insolence and wicked intentions. You came down just to see the battle!"

"What have I done now?" David asked. "It was just a question, wasn't it?"

When the words that David had spoken were heard, they were reported to Saul, and he sent for him.

David told Saul, "Let no one's courage fail because of him; your servant will go fight this Philistine."

Saul told David, "You can't go against this Philistine and fight him. You are only a young man, but he has been a warrior since his youth."

David told Saul, "Your servant has been a shepherd for his father. When a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock,

David continued, "The LORD who delivered me from the power of the lion and the power of the bear will also deliver me from the power of this Philistine." Saul told David, "Go! And may the LORD be with you."

Saul put his garments on David, set a bronze helmet on his head, and put armor on him.

David strapped Saul's sword over his garments and tried to walk, but he was not used to the armor. David told Saul, "I can't walk in these because I'm not used to them," and then took them off.

With a man carrying his shield in front of him, the Philistine kept coming closer to David.

When the Philistine looked and saw David, he had contempt for him, because he was only a young man. David had a dark, healthy complexion and was handsome.

The Philistine asked David, "Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?" Then the Philistine cursed David by his own gods and

told David, "Come to me! I'll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and to the beasts of the field."

Then David told the Philistine, "You come at me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied.

When the Philistine got up and came closer to meet David, David quickly ran to the battle line to meet the Philistine.

David reached his hand into the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone; he struck down the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in David's hand.

David ran and stood over the Philistine. He took the Philistine's sword, pulled it from its sheath, killed him, and then he cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath's weapons in his tent.

When Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he asked Abner, the commander of the army, "Whose son is this young man, Abner?" Abner said, "As surely as you live, your majesty, I don't know."

When David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him to Saul with the Philistine's head in his hand.

Saul told him, "Whose son are you, young man?" David said, "The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."

When David finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan became a close friend to David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.

Saul took David that day and did not let him return to his father's house.

Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as he loved himself.

Jonathan took off the robe that he had on and gave it to David, along with his coat, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

David went out and was successful everywhere Saul sent him, and Saul put him in charge of the troops. This pleased the entire army, as well as Saul's officials.

When David returned from defeating the Philistine, as they were entering the city, women from all the towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul, singing and dancing as they joyously played tambourines and lyres.

As the women sang and played, they said, "Saul has struck down his thousands but David his ten thousands."

Saul was very angry and he did not like what the women sang. He told himself, "They have attributed tens of thousands to David, but to me they have attributed thousands. What else can he have but the kingdom?"

From then on Saul kept his eye on David.

The next day, while David was playing the lyre as he had before, the evil spirit from the LORD attacked Saul, and he began to rave inside the house with a spear in his hand.

Saul hurled it, thinking, "I'll pin David to the wall." But David escaped from him twice.

Now Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him and had departed from Saul.

Saul removed David from his presence and made him an officer over a division of soldiers. So David led the troops in battle.

David was successful in all that he did, for the LORD was with him.

When Saul saw that David was highly successful, he feared him.

But all Israel and Judah loved David because he led them in battle.

Saul told David, "Here is my older daughter Merab. I'll give her to you as a wife. Just be an excellent soldier for me and fight the LORD's battles." Now Saul told himself, "I won't harm him myself. Instead, I'll let the Philistines harm him."

David told Saul, "Who am I and what is my life or my father's family in Israel that I should be the king's son-in-law?"

And when the time came to give Saul's daughter Merab to David, she was given as a wife to Adriel of Meholah.

Saul's daughter Michal loved David. Saul was informed of this and he liked the idea.

Saul told himself, "I'll give her to him and she can be a snare to him and the Philistines will harm him." So Saul told David, "For a second time you can be my son-in-law today."

Saul commanded his officials, "Speak with David privately and say, "Look, the king delights in you, and all his officials love you. Now become the king's son-in-law.'"

Saul's officials delivered this message to David, and he asked, "Is becoming the king's son-in-law an unimportant thing to you? I'm a poor and unimportant man."

Saul's officials reported to him: "This is what David said."

Saul said, "This is what you are to tell David, "The king desires no bride price except 100 Philistine foreskins to take vengeance on the king's enemies.'" Now Saul thought he would cause David to die at the hand of the Philistines.

When his officials delivered this message to David, David decided it would be a good thing to become the king's son-in-law. Before the time was up,

David got up, went out with his men, and struck down 200 Philistine men. David brought their foreskins and gave them all to the king so he could become the king's son-in-law. So Saul gave him his daughter Michal as a wife.

As Saul continued to observe, he realized that the LORD was with David and that Saul's daughter Michal loved him.

Then Saul was even more afraid of David, and Saul was David's enemy from that time on.

The Philistine commanders would go out to fight and whenever they did, David was more successful than any of Saul's other leaders. His name was held in high esteem.

Saul told his son Jonathan and all his officials to kill David, but Saul's son Jonathan was very fond of David.

So Jonathan told David, "My father Saul is trying to kill you. In the morning be careful and stay hidden in a secret place.

Jonathan spoke to his father Saul favorably about David. "The king shouldn't wrong his servant David because he has not wronged you and because what he has done has been very beneficial for you.

He risked his life and struck down the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a spectacular deliverance for all Israel. You saw that and rejoiced, so why would you do wrong and shed innocent blood by killing David without cause?"

Saul listened to Jonathan, and swore by the life of the LORD that David would not be killed.

Jonathan summoned David and told him all this. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and David served him as before.

The war continued and David went out to fight against the Philistines. He thoroughly defeated them, and they fled before David.

The evil spirit from the LORD attacked Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand and David was playing the lyre.

Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he jumped away from Saul and the spear stuck in the wall. That night David escaped and fled.

Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him so they could kill him in the morning. David's wife, Michal, told him, "If you don't escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you'll be put to death."

So Michal let David down through the window, and he escaped and fled.

When Saul sent the messengers to take David, Michal said, "He's sick."

Then Saul sent messengers to check on David. He told them, "Bring him to me on the bed so I may kill him."

David escaped and fled. He came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed at Naioth.

It was reported to Saul saying, "David is at Naioth in Ramah right now."

Saul sent messengers to take David, and they saw a group of prophets caught up in prophetic ecstasy, with Samuel standing beside them leading them. Then the Spirit of God came on Saul's messengers, and they also were caught up in prophetic ecstasy.

Then Saul himself went to Ramah, and he arrived at the large well that is in Secu. He asked, "Where are Samuel and David?"

David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and said, "What have I done? What is my crime, and how have I wronged your father so that he's determined to kill me?

David again took an oath: "Your father certainly knows that I've found favor with you, and so he told himself, "Jonathan must not know this so he won't be upset.' But as certainly as the LORD is alive and living, and as certainly as I'm alive and living, too, there is only a step between me and death."

Jonathan told David, "Whatever you say, I'll do."

David told Jonathan, "Look, the New Moon is tomorrow, and I'm expected to sit down with the king to eat. Let me go so I can hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow.

If your father actually notices that I'm not there, then you are to say, "David urgently requested that I allow him to run to his hometown of Bethlehem because the yearly sacrifice for the entire family was taking place there.'

Then David told Jonathan, "Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?"

Then Jonathan told David, "Come, let's go into the field." So the two of them went into the field.

Jonathan told David, "The LORD God of Israel is my witness that I'll carefully question my father by tomorrow or the next day. And if the response is favorable for David, will I not then send word to you and let you know?

And don't stop showing your gracious love to my family forever, not even when the LORD eliminates each of David's enemies from the surface of the earth."

Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David: "May the LORD punish any violation of this covenant by the hand of David's enemies."

Jonathan made David vow again out of his love for him, because he loved him as himself.

David hid in the field. When the New Moon arrived, the king sat down to eat.

The king sat down at his place as before, in the seat by the wall. Jonathan stood while Abner sat next to Saul, but David's place was empty.

But the next day, on the second day of the New Moon, David's place was empty, and so Saul told his son Jonathan, "Why didn't Jesse's son come to the festival, either yesterday or today?"

Jonathan answered Saul, "David urgently requested that I let him go to Bethlehem.