1:1 Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim of the Zuphites, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite: 
1:2 and he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 
1:3 And this man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, priests to Yahweh, were there. 
1:4 And when the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: 
1:5 but to Hannah he gave a special portion; for he loved Hannah, but Yahweh had shut up her womb. 
1:6 And her rival provoked her intensely, to make her fret, because Yahweh had shut up her womb. 
1:7 And [as] he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of Yahweh, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. 
1:8 And Elkanah her husband said to her, Hannah, why do you weep? And why don't you eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons? 
1:9 So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drank. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the door-post of the temple of Yahweh. 
1:10 And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Yahweh, and wept intensely. 
1:11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Yahweh of hosts, if you will indeed look at the affliction of your slave, and remember me, and not forget your slave, but will give to your slave a man-child, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and no razor will come upon his head.
1:12 \p And it came to pass, as she continued praying before Yahweh, that Eli was watching her mouth. 
1:13 Now Hannah, she spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice wasn't heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunk. 
1:14 And Eli said to her, How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you. 
1:15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drank neither wine nor strong drink, but I poured out my soul before Yahweh. 
1:16 Don't count your slave for a wicked woman; for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation I have spoken until now. 
1:17 Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him. 
1:18 And she said, Let your slave find favor in your sight. So the woman went her way, and ate; and her countenance was no more [sad].
1:19 \p And they rose up early in the morning, and worshiped before Yahweh, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah had sex with Hannah his wife; and Yahweh remembered her. 
1:20 And it came to pass, when the time came about, that Hannah became pregnant, and gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, [saying,] Because I have asked him of Yahweh.
1:21 \p And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to Yahweh the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. 
1:22 But Hannah didn't go up; for she said to her husband, [I will not go up] until the lad is weaned; and then I will bring him, that he may appear before Yahweh, and remain there forever. 
1:23 And Elkanah her husband said to her, Do what seems good to you; tarry until you have weaned him; only Yahweh establish his word. So the woman tarried and nursed her son, until she weaned him. 
1:24 And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull, and one ephah of meal, and a bottle of wine, and brought him to the house of Yahweh in Shiloh: and the lad was young. 
1:25 And they slew the bull, and brought the lad to Eli. 
1:26 And she said, Oh, my lord, as your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here by you, praying to Yahweh. 
1:27 I prayed for this lad; and Yahweh has given me my petition which I asked of him: 
1:28 therefore I also have granted him to Yahweh; as long as he lives he is granted to Yahweh. And he worshiped Yahweh there.
2:1 \p And Hannah prayed, and said: \q1 My heart exults in Yahweh; \q2 My horn is exalted in Yahweh; \q1 My mouth is enlarged over my enemies; \q2 Because I rejoice in your salvation. 
2:2 \q1 There is none holy like Yahweh; \q2 For there is none besides you, \q3 Neither is there any rock like our God. 
2:3 \q1 Don't talk anymore so exceedingly proudly; \q2 Don't let arrogance come out of your⁺ mouth; \q1 For Yahweh is a God of knowledge, \q2 And by him actions are weighed. 
2:4 \q1 The bows of the mighty men are broken; \q2 And those who stumbled are girded with strength. 
2:5 \q1 Those who were full have hired out themselves for bread; \q2 And those who were hungry have ceased [to hunger]: \q1 Yes, the barren has borne seven; \q2 And she who has many sons languishes. 
2:6 \q1 Yahweh kills, and makes alive: \q2 He brings down to Sheol, and brings up. 
2:7 \q1 Yahweh makes poor, and makes rich: \q2 He brings low, he also lifts up. 
2:8 \q1 He raises up the poor out of the dust, \q2 He lifts up the needy from the dunghill, \q1 To make them sit with princes, \q2 And inherit the throne of glory: \q1 For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh's, \q2 And he has set the world on them. 
2:9 \q1 He will keep the feet of his holy ones; \q2 But the wicked will be put to silence in darkness; \q3 For by strength no man will prevail. 
2:10 \q1 Yahweh - He will shatter the ones who contend against him; \q2 Against them he thunders in heaven: \q1 Yahweh will judge the ends of the earth; \q2 And he will give strength to his king, \q2 And exalt the horn of his anointed. 
2:11 \p And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the lad was ministering to Yahweh before Eli the priest. 
2:12 Now the sons of Eli were base men; they didn't know Yahweh. 
2:13 And the custom of the priests with the people was that, when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's attendant came, while the flesh was boiling, with a flesh-hook of three teeth in his hand; 
2:14 and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot; all that the flesh-hook brought up the priest took with it. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 
2:15 Yes, before they burned the fat, the priest's attendant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled flesh of you, but raw. 
2:16 And if the man said to him, They will surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as your soul desires; then he would say, No, but you will give it to me now: and if not, I will take it by force. 
2:17 And the sin of the young men was very great before Yahweh; for they despised the offering of Yahweh.
2:18 \p But Samuel ministered before Yahweh, being a lad, girded with a linen ephod. 
2:19 Moreover his mother made him a little robe, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. 
2:20 And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, Yahweh give you [Elkanah] seed of this woman in place of the petition which he asked of Yahweh. And they went to their own home. 
2:21 And Yahweh visited Hannah, and she became pregnant, and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the lad Samuel grew before Yahweh.
2:22 \p Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how that they plowed the women who served at the door of the tent of meeting. 
2:23 And he said to them, Why do you⁺ do such things? For I hear of your⁺ evil dealings from all this people. 
2:24 No, my sons; for the report that I hear is not good: you⁺ make Yahweh's people to transgress. 
2:25 If a man sins against another man, God will judge him; but if a man sins against Yahweh, who will entreat for him? Notwithstanding, they didn't listen to the voice of their father, because Yahweh was minded to slay them.
2:26 \p And the lad Samuel grew on, and increased in favor both with Yahweh, and also with men. 
2:27 And a man of God came to Eli, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Did I reveal myself to the house of your father, when, in Egypt, they belonged to the house of Pharaoh? 
2:28 And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? And did I give to the house of your father all the offerings of the sons of Israel made by fire? 
2:29 Why do you⁺ kick at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded in [my] habitation, and honor your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? 
2:30 Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever: but now Yahweh says, Be it far from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed. 
2:31 Look, the days are coming, that I will cut off your arm, and the arm of your father's house, that there will not be an old man in your house. 
2:32 And you will see the affliction of [my] habitation, in all the wealth which [God] will give Israel; and there will not be an old man in your house forever. 
2:33 And the man of yours, [whom] I will not cut off from my altar, [will be] to consume your eyes, and to grieve your soul; and all the increase of your house will die as men [before they become old]. 
2:34 And this will be the sign to you, that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they will die both of them. 
2:35 And I will raise myself up a faithful priest, that will do according to [my Speech] and my will: and I will build him a sure house; and he will walk before my anointed forever.
2:36 And it will come to pass, that everyone who is left in your house will come and bow down to him for a gerah of silver and a loaf of bread, and will say, Put me, I pray you, into one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.
3:1 \p And the lad Samuel ministered to Yahweh before Eli. And the word of Yahweh was precious in those days; there was no frequent vision. 
3:2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to wax dim, so that he could not see), 
3:3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was laying down [to sleep], in the temple of Yahweh, where the ark of God was; 
3:4 that Yahweh called Samuel; and he said, Here I am. 
3:5 And he ran to Eli, and said, Here I am; for you called me. And he said, I didn't call; lie down again. And he went and lay down. 
3:6 And Yahweh called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here I am; for you called me. And he answered, I didn't call, my son; lie down again. 
3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know Yahweh, neither was the word of Yahweh yet revealed to him. 
3:8 And Yahweh called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here I am; for you called me. And Eli perceived that Yahweh had called the lad. 
3:9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down: and it will be, if he calls you, that you will say, Speak, Yahweh; for your slave hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
3:10 \p And Yahweh came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel said, Speak; for your slave hears. 
3:11 And Yahweh said to Samuel, Look, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 
3:12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from the beginning even to the end. 
3:13 For I have told him that I will judge his house forever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons cursed God, and he did not restrain them. 
3:14 And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house will not be expiated with sacrifice nor offering forever.
3:15 \p And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of Yahweh. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. 
3:16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he said, Here I am. 
3:17 And he said, What is the thing that [Yahweh] has spoken to you? I pray you, don't hide it from me: God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that he spoke to you. 
3:18 And Samuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is Yahweh: he will do what seems good to him.
3:19 \p And Samuel grew, and [the Speech of] Yahweh was with him, and did not let any of his words fall to the ground.
3:20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Yahweh. 
3:21 And Yahweh appeared again in Shiloh; for Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of Yahweh.
4:1 \p And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. \p Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. 
4:2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined the battle, Israel was struck before the Philistines; and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. 
4:3 And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Why has Yahweh struck us today before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of Yahweh out of Shiloh to us, that it may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies. 
4:4 So the people sent to Shiloh; and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of hosts who sits [above] the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
4:5 \p And when the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. 
4:6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What is the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of Yahweh came into the camp. 
4:7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God has come into the camp. And they said, Woe to us! For there has not been such a thing before. 
4:8 Woe to us! Who will deliver us out of the hand of [the Speech of] these majestic gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with all manner of plagues in the wilderness.
4:9 Be strong, and conduct yourselves like men, O you⁺ Philistines, or else you⁺ will be slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been slaves to you⁺: conduct yourselves like men, and fight. 
4:10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was struck, and they fled every man to his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. 
4:11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
4:12 \p And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day, with his clothes rent, and with earth on his head. 
4:13 And he came and saw that Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. 
4:14 And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What is the noise of this tumult? And the man hurried, and came and told Eli. 
4:15 Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see. 
4:16 And the man said to Eli, I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army. And he said, How did it go, my son? 
4:17 And he who brought the news answered and said, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has also been a great slaughter among the people, and your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. 
4:18 And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that [Eli] fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.
4:19 \p And his daughter-in-law, Phinehas' wife, was pregnant, near to be delivered: and when she heard the news that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and brought forth; for her pains came upon her. 
4:20 And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, Don't be afraid; for you have brought forth a son. But she didn't answer, neither did she regard it. 
4:21 And she named the lad Ichabod, saying, The glory has departed from Israel; because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 
4:22 And she said, The glory has departed from Israel; for the ark of God was taken.
5:1 \p Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Eben-ezer to Ashdod. 
5:2 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 
5:3 And those of Ashdod arose early on the next day, and saw Dagon fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. 
5:4 And they arose early in the morning on the next day, and saw Dagon fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands [lay] cut off on the threshold; only [the stump of] Dagon was left to him. 
5:5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any who come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day.
5:6 \p But the hand of Yahweh was heavy on them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its borders. 
5:7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel will not remain with us; for his hand is intense on us, and on Dagon our god. 
5:8 They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about to Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel [there]. 
5:9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of Yahweh was against the city with a very great discomfiture: and he struck the men of the city, both small and great; and tumors broke out on them. 
5:10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people. 
5:11 They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it doesn't slay us, and our people. For there was a deadly discomfiture throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 
5:12 And the men who didn't die were struck with the tumors; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
6:1 \p And the ark of Yahweh was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 
6:2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the fortune-tellers, saying, What shall we do with the ark of Yahweh? Show us with which we will send it to its place. 
6:3 And they said, If you⁺ send away the ark of the God of Israel, don't send it empty; but by all means return him a trespass-offering: then you⁺ will be healed, and it will be known to you⁺ why his hand is not removed from you⁺. 
6:4 Then they said, What will be the trespass-offering which we will return to him? And they said, Five golden tumors, and five golden mice, [according to] the number of the lords of the Philistines; for the same plague was on all of you⁺, and on your⁺ lords. 
6:5 Therefore you⁺ will make images of your⁺ tumors, and images of your⁺ mice that mar the land; and you⁺ will give glory to the God of Israel: perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you⁺, and from off your⁺ gods, and from off your⁺ land. 
6:6 Why then do you⁺ harden your⁺ hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had wrought wonderfully among them, didn't they let the people go, and they departed? 
6:7 Now therefore you⁺ take and prepare a new cart, and two milch kine, on which there has come no yoke; and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them; 
6:8 and take the ark of Yahweh, and lay it on the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which you⁺ return to him for a trespass-offering, in a coffer by its side; and send it away, that it may go. 
6:9 And see; if it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, then he has done us this great evil: but if not, then we will know that it is not his hand that struck us; it was a chance that happened to us.
6:10 \p And the men did so, and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home; 
6:11 and they put the ark of Yahweh on the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors. 
6:12 And the kine took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and didn't turn aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth-shemesh. 
6:13 And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. 
6:14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they split the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine for a burnt-offering to Yahweh. 
6:15 And the Levites took down the ark of Yahweh, and the coffer that was with it, in which the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day to Yahweh. 
6:16 And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
6:17 \p And these are the golden tumors which the Philistines returned for a trespass-offering to Yahweh: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; 
6:18 and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even to the great stone, on which they set down the ark of Yahweh, [which stone remains] to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.
6:19 \p And he killed of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of Yahweh, he killed of the people seventy men, fifty thousand men; and the people mourned, because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter. 
6:20 And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? And to whom will he go up from us? 
6:21 And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought back the ark of Yahweh; come⁺ down, and fetch it up to you⁺.
7:1 \p And the men of Kiriath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of Yahweh, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of Yahweh. 
7:2 And it came to pass, from the day that the ark remained in Kiriath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after Yahweh. 
7:3 And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you⁺ are returning to Yahweh with all your⁺ heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you⁺, and direct your⁺ hearts to Yahweh, and serve him only; and he will deliver you⁺ out of the hand of the Philistines. 
7:4 Then the sons of Israel put away the Baalim and the Ashtaroth, and served Yahweh only.
7:5 \p And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray for you⁺ to Yahweh. 
7:6 And they gathered together to Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before Yahweh, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against Yahweh. And Samuel judged the sons of Israel in Mizpah. 
7:7 And when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered together to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the sons of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 
7:8 And the sons of Israel said to Samuel, Don't cease to cry to Yahweh our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines. 
7:9 And Samuel took a nursing lamb, and offered it for a whole burnt-offering to Yahweh: and Samuel cried to Yahweh for Israel; and Yahweh answered him. 
7:10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt-offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel; but Yahweh thundered with a great thunder on that day on the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were struck down before Israel. 
7:11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and struck them, until they came under Beth-car.
7:12 \p Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, So far Yahweh has helped us. 
7:13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they did not come inside the border of Israel anymore: and the hand of Yahweh was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 
7:14 And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and their border Israel delivered out of the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
7:15 \p And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 
7:16 And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el and Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel in all those places. 
7:17 And his return was to Ramah, for his house was there; and there he judged Israel: and he built there an altar to Yahweh.
8:1 \p And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. 
8:2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. 
8:3 And his sons didn't walk in his ways, but turned aside after greed for monetary gain, and took bribes, and perverted justice.
8:4 \p Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Ramah; 
8:5 and they said to him, Look, you are old, and your sons don't walk in your ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 
8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to Yahweh. 
8:7 And Yahweh said to Samuel, Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they haven't rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them. 
8:8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so they also do to you. 
8:9 Now therefore listen to their voice: nevertheless you will protest solemnly to them, and will show them the manner of the king who will reign over them.
8:10 \p And Samuel told all the words of Yahweh to the people who asked of him a king. 
8:11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king who will reign over you⁺: he will take your⁺ sons, and appoint them to him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they will run before his chariots; 
8:12 and he will appoint them to himself for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and [he will set some] to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots. 
8:13 And he will take your⁺ daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 
8:14 And he will take your⁺ fields, and your⁺ vineyards, and your⁺ oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his slaves. 
8:15 And he will take the tenth of your⁺ seed, and of your⁺ vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his slaves. 
8:16 And he will take your⁺ male slaves, and your⁺ female slaves, and your⁺ goodliest young men, and your⁺ donkeys, and put them to his work. 
8:17 He will take the tenth of your⁺ flocks: and you⁺ will be his slaves. 
8:18 And you⁺ will cry out in that day because of your⁺ king whom you⁺ will have chosen you⁺; and Yahweh will not answer you⁺ in that day.
8:19 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No: but we will have a king over us, 
8:20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 
8:21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he spoke them in the ears of Yahweh. 
8:22 And Yahweh said to Samuel, Listen to their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, Go⁺ every man to his city.
9:1 \p Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a man [of] Benjamin, a mighty man of valor. 
9:2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a young and goodly man: and there was not among the sons of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. 
9:3 And the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the attendants with you, and arise, go seek the donkeys. 
9:4 And he passed through the hill-country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they didn't find them: then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they didn't find them.
9:5 \p When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his attendant who was with him, Come, and let us return, or else my father will leave off caring for the donkeys, and be anxious for us. 
9:6 And he said to him, Look now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says surely comes to pass: now let us go there; perhaps he can tell us concerning our journey on which we go. 
9:7 Then Saul said to his attendant, But, look, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what do we have? 
9:8 And the attendant answered Saul again, and said, Look, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way. 
9:9 (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he said, Come, and let us go to the seer; for he who is now called a Prophet was formerly called a Seer.) 
9:10 Then said Saul to his attendant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went to the city where the man of God was.
9:11 \p As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said to them, Is the seer here? 
9:12 And they answered them, and said, He is; look, [he is] before you: hurry now, for he has come today into the city; for the people have a sacrifice today in the high place: 
9:13 as soon as you⁺ come into the city, you⁺ will right away find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people will not eat until he comes, because he blesses the sacrifice; [and] afterward they who are invited will eat. Now therefore go⁺ up; for at this time you⁺ will find him. 
9:14 And they went up to the city; [and] as they came inside the city, look, Samuel came out toward them, to go up to the high place.
9:15 \p Now Yahweh had revealed to Samuel a day before Saul came, saying, 
9:16 Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you will anoint him to be leader over my people Israel; and he will save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked on my people, because their cry has come to me. 
9:17 And when Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh said to him, Look, the man of whom I spoke to you! This same will have authority over my people. 
9:18 Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray you, where the seer's house is. 
9:19 And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer; go up before me to the high place, for you⁺ will eat with me today: and in the morning I will let you go, and will tell you all that is in your heart. 
9:20 And as for your donkeys being lost now these three days, don't set your mind on them; for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you, and for all your father's house? 
9:21 And Saul answered and said, Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then did you speak to me after this manner?
9:22 \p And Samuel took Saul and his attendant, and brought them into the guest-chamber, and made them sit in the chiefest place among those who were invited, who were about thirty persons. 
9:23 And Samuel said to the cook, Bring the portion which I gave you, of which I said to you, Set it by you. 
9:24 And the cook took up the thigh, and that which was on it, and set it before Saul. And [Samuel] said, Look, that which has been reserved! Set it before you and eat; because to the appointed time has it been kept for you, for I said, I have invited the people. So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
9:25 \p And when they had come down from the high place into the city, he communed with Saul on the housetop. 
9:26 And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, saying, Rise up, that I may send you away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad. 
9:27 As they were going down at the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, Bid the attendant to pass on before us (and he passed on), but you stand still first, that I may cause you to hear the word of God.
10:1 \p Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not that Yahweh has anointed you to be leader over his inheritance? 
10:2 When you depart from me today, then you will find two men by Rachel's tomb, in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, The donkeys which you went to seek were found; and, look, your father has left off caring for the donkeys, and is anxious for you⁺, saying, What shall I do for my son? 
10:3 Then you will go on forward from there, and you will come to the oak of Tabor; and you will meet there three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three young goats, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: 
10:4 and they will greet you, and give you two wave offerings of bread, which you will receive of their hand. 
10:5 After that you will come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is: and it will come to pass, when you come there to the city, that you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they will be prophesying: 
10:6 and the Spirit of Yahweh will come mightily on you, and you will prophesy with them, and will be turned into another man. 
10:7 And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as occasion will serve you; for [the Speech of] God is with you.
10:8 And you will go down before me to Gilgal; and, look, I will come down to you, to offer burnt-offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings: seven days you will tarry, until I come to you, and show you what you will do.
10:9 \p And it was so, that, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. 
10:10 And when they came there to the hill, look, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily on him, and he prophesied among them. 
10:11 And it came to pass, when all who knew him formerly saw that, look, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that has come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? 
10:12 And one of the same place answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? 
10:13 And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.
10:14 \p And Saul's uncle said to him and to his attendant, Where did you⁺ go? And he said, To seek the donkeys; and when we saw that they were not found, we came to Samuel. 
10:15 And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray you, what Samuel said to you⁺. 
10:16 And Saul said to his uncle, He told us plainly that the donkeys were found. But concerning the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel spoke, he didn't tell him.
10:17 \p And Samuel called the people together to Yahweh to Mizpah; 
10:18 and he said to the sons of Israel, This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you⁺ out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you⁺: 
10:19 but you⁺ have this day rejected your⁺ God, who himself saves you⁺ out of all your⁺ calamities and your⁺ distresses; and you⁺ have said to him, Surely set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before Yahweh by your⁺ tribes, and by your⁺ thousands. 
10:20 So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken. 
10:21 And he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families; and the family of the Matrites was taken; and Saul the son of Kish was taken: but when they sought him, he could not be found. 
10:22 Therefore they asked of [the Speech of] Yahweh further, Is there yet a man to come here? And Yahweh answered, Look, he has hid himself among the baggage.
10:23 And they ran and fetched him from there; and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. 
10:24 And Samuel said to all the people, Do you⁺ see him whom Yahweh has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, [Long] live the king.
10:25 \p Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before Yahweh. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 
10:26 And Saul also went to his house to Gibeah; and there went with him the host, whose hearts God had touched. 
10:27 But certain worthless fellows said, How will this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace.
11:1 \p Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you. 
11:2 And Nahash the Ammonite said to them, On this condition I will make it with you⁺, that all your⁺ right eyes be put out; and I will lay it for a reproach on all Israel. 
11:3 And the elders of Jabesh said to him, Leave us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there is none to save us, we will come out to you. 
11:4 Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 
11:5 And, look, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said, What ails the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh.
11:6 \p And the Spirit of God came mightily on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger was greatly kindled. 
11:7 And he took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whoever does not come forth after Saul and after Samuel, so it will be done to his oxen. And the dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they came out as one man. 
11:8 And he numbered them in Bezek; and the sons of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. 
11:9 And they said to the messengers who came, Thus you⁺ will say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you⁺ will have deliverance. And the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. 
11:10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you⁺, and you⁺ will do with us all that seems good to you⁺. 
11:11 And it was so on the next day, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and struck the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that those who remained were scattered, so that not two of them were left together.
11:12 \p And the people said to Samuel, Who is he that said, Will Saul reign over us? Bring the men, that we may put them to death. 
11:13 And Saul said, There will not be a man put to death this day; for today Yahweh has wrought deliverance in Israel.
11:14 \p Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there. 
11:15 And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before Yahweh in Gilgal; and there they offered sacrifices of peace-offerings before Yahweh; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
12:1 \p And Samuel said to all Israel, Look, I have listened to your⁺ voice in all that you⁺ said to me, and have made a king over you⁺. 
12:2 And now, see, the king walks before you⁺; and I am old and grayheaded; and, see, my sons are with you⁺: and I have walked before you⁺ from my youth to this day. 
12:3 Here I am: witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind my eyes with it? And I will restore it you⁺. 
12:4 And they said, You haven't defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything of any man's hand. 
12:5 And he said to them, [the Speech of] Yahweh is witness against you⁺, and his anointed is witness this day, that you⁺ have not found anything in my hand. And they said, He is witness.
12:6 \p And Samuel said to the people, It is Yahweh who appointed Moses and Aaron, and who brought your⁺ fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 
12:7 Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you⁺ before Yahweh concerning all the righteous acts of Yahweh, which he did to you⁺ and to your⁺ fathers. 
12:8 When Jacob came into Egypt, and your⁺ fathers cried to Yahweh, then Yahweh sent Moses and Aaron, who brought forth your⁺ fathers out of Egypt, and made them to dwell in this place. 
12:9 But they forgot Yahweh their God; and he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them. 
12:10 And they cried to Yahweh, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken Yahweh, and have served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve you. 
12:11 And Yahweh sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you⁺ out of the hand of your⁺ enemies on every side; and you⁺ dwelt in safety. 
12:12 And when you⁺ saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you⁺, you⁺ said to me, No, but a king will reign over us; when Yahweh your⁺ God was your⁺ king. 
12:13 Now therefore here is the king whom you⁺ have chosen, and whom you⁺ have asked for: and see that Yahweh has set a king over you⁺. 
12:14 If you⁺ will fear Yahweh, and serve him, and accept [his Speech], and not rebel against [the Speech of] Yahweh, and both you⁺ and also the king who reigns over you⁺ are followers of Yahweh your⁺ God, [well]:
12:15 but if you⁺ will not accept [the Speech of] Yahweh, but rebel against [the Speech of] Yahweh, then will the hand of Yahweh be against you⁺, as it was against your⁺ fathers.
12:16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which Yahweh will do before your⁺ eyes. 
12:17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call to Yahweh, that he may send thunder and rain; and you⁺ will know and see that your⁺ wickedness is great, which you⁺ have done in the sight of Yahweh, in asking for yourselves a king. 
12:18 So Samuel called to Yahweh; and Yahweh sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel.
12:19 \p And all the people said to Samuel, Pray for your slaves to Yahweh your God, that we will not die; for we have added to all our sins [this] evil, to ask for ourselves a king. 
12:20 And Samuel said to the people, Don't be afraid; you⁺ have indeed done all this evil; yet don't turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with all your⁺ heart: 
12:21 and don't turn⁺ aside [going] after vain things which can't profit nor deliver, for they are vain. 
12:22 For Yahweh will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it has pleased Yahweh to make you⁺ a people to himself. 
12:23 Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh in ceasing to pray for you⁺: but I will instruct you⁺ in the good and the right way. 
12:24 Only fear Yahweh, and serve him in truth with all your⁺ heart; for consider what great things he has done for you⁺. 
12:25 But if you⁺ will still do wickedly, you⁺ will be consumed, both you⁺ and your⁺ king.
13:1 \p Saul was a son of a year when he began to reign; and he reigned two years over Israel. 
13:2 Saul chose himself three thousand men of Israel, of which two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mount of Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. 
13:3 And Jonathan struck the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba: and the Philistines heard. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. 
13:4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had struck the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel was a stench to the Philistines. And the people had gathered together after Saul at Gilgal.
13:5 \p And the Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude: and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastward of Beth-aven. 
13:6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in coverts, and in pits. 
13:7 Now some of the Hebrews had gone over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
13:8 \p And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel [had appointed]: but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 
13:9 And Saul said, Bring the burnt-offering here to me, and the peace-offerings. And he offered the burnt-offering. 
13:10 And it came to pass that, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt-offering, look, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. 
13:11 And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you didn't come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash; 
13:12 therefore I said, Now will the Philistines come down on me to Gilgal, and I haven't entreated the favor of Yahweh: I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt-offering. 
13:13 And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly; you haven't kept [the Speech of] Yahweh your God, which he commanded you: for now Yahweh would have established your kingdom on Israel forever.
13:14 But now your kingdom will not continue: Yahweh has sought himself a man after his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him to be leader over his people, because you have not kept that which Yahweh commanded you. 
13:15 And Samuel arose, and went up from Gilgal, and went on his way. But the remnant of the people went up after Saul to meet the battlefolk, and they went from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 
13:16 And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people who were present with them, remained in Geba of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 
13:17 And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned to the way that leads to Ophrah, to the land of Shual; 
13:18 and another company turned the way to Beth-horon; and another company turned the way of the border that looks down on the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
13:19 \p Now there was no blacksmith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, Or else the Hebrews will make swords or spears: 
13:20 but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his plowshare, and his coulter, and his ax, and his mattock; 
13:21 yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the three-pronged fork, and for the axes, and to set the goads. 
13:22 So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son it was found. 
13:23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.
14:1 \p Now it fell on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on yonder side. But he didn't tell his father. 
14:2 And Saul remained in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate-tree which is in Migron: and the people who were with him were about six hundred men; 
14:3 and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Yahweh in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people didn't know that Jonathan was gone. 
14:4 And between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. 
14:5 The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.
14:6 \p And Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint to Yahweh to save by many or by few. 
14:7 And his armorbearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart: turn yourself, look, I am with you according to your heart. 
14:8 Then said Jonathan, Look, we will pass over to the men, and we will disclose ourselves to them. 
14:9 If they say thus to us, Tarry until we come to you⁺; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them. 
14:10 But if they say thus, Come up to us; then we will go up; for Yahweh has delivered them into our hand: and this will be the sign to us. 
14:11 And both of them disclosed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Look, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves. 
14:12 And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you⁺ something. And Jonathan said to his armorbearer, Come up after me; for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel. 
14:13 And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armorbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armorbearer slew them after him. 
14:14 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armorbearer made, was about twenty men, within, as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land. 
14:15 And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled; and the earth quaked: so there was an exceedingly great trembling.
14:16 \p And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and saw that the multitude melted away, and they went [here] and there. 
14:17 Then Saul said to the people who were with him, Number now, and see who has gone from us. And when they had numbered, look, Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there. 
14:18 And Saul said to Ahijah, Bring here the ark of God. For the ark of God was [there] at that time with the sons of Israel. 
14:19 And it came to pass, while Saul talked to the priest, that the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said to the priest, Withdraw your hand. 
14:20 And Saul and all the people who were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle: and saw that every man's sword was against his fellow man, [and there was] a very great panic. 
14:21 Now the Hebrews who were formerly with the Philistines, and who went up with them into the camp round about, even they also [came] to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 
14:22 Likewise all the men of Israel who had hid themselves in the hill-country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also stuck [closely] after them in the battle. 
14:23 So Yahweh saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over by Beth-aven.
14:24 \p And the men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man who eats any food until it is evening, and I may be avenged on my enemies. So none of the people tasted food. 
14:25 And all the people came into the forest; and there was honey on the ground. 
14:26 And when the people had come to the forest, look, the honey dropped: but no man put his hand to his mouth; for the people feared the oath. 
14:27 But Jonathan didn't hear when his father charged the people with the oath: therefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened. 
14:28 Then one of the people answered, and said, Your father straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man who eats food this day. And the people were faint. 
14:29 Then said Jonathan, My father has troubled the land: see, I pray you⁺, how my eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. 
14:30 How much more, if perhaps the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found? For now there has been no great slaughter among the Philistines.
14:31 \p And they struck of the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very faint; 
14:32 and the people flew on the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood. 
14:33 Then they told Saul, saying, Look, the people sin against Yahweh, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, You⁺ have betrayed [Yahweh]: roll a great stone to me this day. 
14:34 And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, Bring me here every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and don't sin against Yahweh in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there. 
14:35 And Saul built an altar to Yahweh: the same was the first altar that he built to Yahweh.
14:36 \p And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatever seems good to you. Then said the priest, Let us draw near here to [the Speech of] God.
14:37 And Saul asked counsel of [the Speech of] God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he did not answer him that day.
14:38 And Saul said, Draw near here, all you⁺ chiefs of the people; and know and see in what this sin has been this day. 
14:39 For, as Yahweh lives, who saves Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he will surely die. But there wasn't a man among all the people who answered him. 
14:40 Then he said to all Israel, You⁺ be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, Do what seems good to you. 
14:41 Therefore Saul said to Yahweh, the God of Israel, Why haven't you answered your slave today? If the guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, Yahweh, God of Israel, give Urim; but if it is in your people Israel, give Thummim. And Jonathan and Saul were taken [by lot]; but the people escaped. 
14:42 And Saul said, Cast [lots] between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken.
14:43 \p Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what you have done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did certainly taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; and, look, I must die. 
14:44 And Saul said, God do so and more also; for you will surely die, Jonathan. 
14:45 And the people said to Saul, Will Jonathan die, who has wrought this great salvation in Israel? Far from it: as Yahweh lives, not one hair of his head will fall to the ground; for he has wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he did not die. 
14:46 Then Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the Philistines went to their own place. 
14:47 Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the sons of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and wherever he turned himself, he saved. 
14:48 And he did valiantly, and struck the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who despoiled them.
14:49 \p Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchishua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal: 
14:50 and the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the captain of his host was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle. 
14:51 And Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.
14:52 \p And there was intense war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any mighty man, or any son of valor, he took him to himself.
15:1 \p And Samuel said to Saul, Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore listen to the voice of the words of Yahweh. 
15:2 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, I have remembered that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt. 
15:3 Now go and strike Amalek, and completely destroy all that they have, and don't spare them; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
15:4 \p And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. 
15:5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. 
15:6 And Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, go⁺ down from among the Amalekites, or else I will destroy you⁺ with them; for you⁺ showed kindness to all the sons of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 
15:7 And Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt. 
15:8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and completely destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 
15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and the oxen, and the seconds, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not completely destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed completely.
15:10 \p Then the word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying, 
15:11 I regretted [before my Speech] that I have set up Saul to be king; for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments. And Samuel was angry; and he cried to Yahweh all night.
15:12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, look, he set up for himself a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal. 
15:13 And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed be you of Yahweh: I have performed the commandment of Yahweh. 
15:14 And Samuel said, What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 
15:15 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 Yahweh your God; and the rest we have completely destroyed. 
15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, Wait, and I will tell you what Yahweh has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on.
15:17 \p And Samuel said, Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? And Yahweh anointed you king over Israel; 
15:18 and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, Go, and completely destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 
15:19 Why then didn't you obey the voice [Speech] of Yahweh, but flew on the spoil, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh?
15:20 And Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice [Speech] of Yahweh, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites.
15:21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal. 
15:22 And Samuel said, Does Yahweh have as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in accepting [the Speech of] Yahweh? Look, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of fortune-telling, and stubbornness is as idolatry and talismans. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has also rejected you from being king.
15:24 \p And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the mouth [Speech] of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
15:25 Now therefore, I pray you, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh. 
15:26 And Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel. 
15:27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, [Saul] laid hold on the skirt of his robe, and it rent. 
15:28 And Samuel said to him, Yahweh has rent the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to your fellow man, who is better than you. 
15:29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not man, that he should repent. 
15:30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray you, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God. 
15:31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshiped Yahweh.
15:32 \p Then Samuel said, Bring⁺ here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. 
15:33 And Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be childless among women. And Samuel cut Agag in pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal.
15:34 \p Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 
15:35 And Samuel didn't come to see Saul anymore until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Yahweh repented [returned by his Speech] that he had made Saul king over Israel.
16:1 \p And Yahweh said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go: I will send you to Jesse the Beth-lehemite; for I have provided myself a king among his sons. 
16:2 And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. And Yahweh said, Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. 
16:3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you will do: and you will anoint to me him whom I name to you. 
16:4 And Samuel did that which Yahweh spoke, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, Do you come peacefully? 
16:5 And he said, Peacefully; I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
16:6 \p And it came to pass, when they had come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely Yahweh's anointed is before him. 
16:7 But Yahweh said to Samuel, Don't look on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for [it is] not [a matter of] what man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks on the heart. 
16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither has Yahweh chosen this. 
16:9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither has Yahweh chosen this. 
16:10 And Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, Yahweh has not chosen these. 
16:11 And Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your lads here? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and, look, he is shepherding the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down until he comes here. 
16:12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had handsome eyes, and was good-looking. And Yahweh said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he. 
16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: and the Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. 
16:14 Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Yahweh troubled him. 
16:15 And Saul's slaves said to him, Look now, an evil spirit from God troubles you. 
16:16 Let our lord now command your slaves, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp: and it will come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he will play with his hand, and you will be well. 
16:17 And Saul said to his slaves, Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me. 
16:18 Then one of the young men answered, and said, Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, who is skillful in playing, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and prudent in speech, and a comely person; and [the Speech of] Yahweh is with him.
16:19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send me David your son, who is with the sheep. 
16:20 And Jesse took a donkey [laden] with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by David his son to Saul. 
16:21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armorbearer. 
16:22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray you, stand before me; for he has found favor in my sight. 
16:23 And it came to pass, when the [evil] spirit from God was on Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
17:1 \p Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 
17:2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 
17:3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 
17:4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 
17:5 And he had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was clad with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 
17:6 And he had greaves of bronze on his legs, and a javelin of bronze between his shoulders. 
17:7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head [weighed] six hundred shekels of iron: and his shield-bearer went before him. 
17:8 And he stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, Why do you⁺ come out to set your⁺ battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you⁺ slaves to Saul? Choose⁺ a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 
17:9 If he is able to fight with me, and kill me, then we will be your⁺ slaves; but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then you⁺ will be our slaves, and serve us. 
17:10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. 
17:11 And when Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
17:12 \p Now David was the son of a man, an Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man, in the days of Saul, was old and notable among men. 
17:13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 
17:14 And David was the youngest; and the three eldest followed Saul. 
17:15 Now David went to and fro from Saul to shepherd his father's sheep at Beth-lehem. 
17:16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
17:17 \p And Jesse said to David his son, Now take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry [them] quickly to the camp to your brothers; 
17:18 and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and take their pledge. 
17:19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
17:20 \p And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the place of the wagons, as the host which was going forth to the fight shouted for the battle. 
17:21 And Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. 
17:22 And David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. 
17:23 And as he talked with them, look, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words: and David heard them. 
17:24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were very afraid. 
17:25 And the men of Israel said, Have you⁺ seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel: and it will be, that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. 
17:26 And David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, What will be done to the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 
17:27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So it will be done to the man who kills him.
17:28 \p 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 you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle. 
17:29 And David said, What have I done now? Is there not a cause? 
17:30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.
17:31 \p And when the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him. 
17:32 And David said to Saul, Don't let the heart of man fail because of him; your slave will go and fight with this Philistine. 
17:33 And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he is a man of war from his youth. 
17:34 And David said to Saul, Your slave was shepherding his father's sheep; and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 
17:35 I went out after him, and struck him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and slew him. 
17:36 Your slave struck both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine will be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God. 
17:37 And David said, Yahweh who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and [the Speech of] Yahweh will be with you.
17:38 And Saul clad David with his apparel, and he put a helmet of bronze on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail. 
17:39 And David girded his sword on his apparel, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said to Saul, I can't go with these; for I haven't proved them. And David put them off him. 
17:40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his wallet; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
17:41 \p And the Philistine came upon and drew near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him. 
17:42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and handsome. 
17:43 And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 
17:44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the field. 
17:45 Then said David to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 
17:46 This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand; and I will strike you, and take your head from off you; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the heavens, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 
17:47 and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh does not save with sword and spear: for the battle is Yahweh's, and he will give you⁺ into our hand. 
17:48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 
17:49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took a stone from there, and slang it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.
17:50 \p So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 
17:51 Then David ran, and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 
17:52 And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until you come to Gai, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron. 
17:53 And the sons of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 
17:54 And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.
17:55 \p And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As your soul lives, O king, I don't know. 
17:56 And the king said, You inquire whose son the young man is. 
17:57 And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 
17:58 And Saul said to him, Whose son are you, young man? And David answered, I am the son of your slave Jesse the Beth-lehemite.
18:1 \p And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 
18:2 And Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home anymore to his father's house. 
18:3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 
18:4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him, and gave it to David, and his apparel, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his belt. 
18:5 And David went out wherever Saul sent him, [and] behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and it was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's slaves. 
18:6 And it came to pass as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with timbrels, with joy, and with instruments of music. 
18:7 And the women sang one to another as they played, and said, Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.
18:8 \p And Saul was very angry, and this thing was evil in his eyes; 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? 
18:9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.
18:10 \p And it came to pass on the next day, that an evil spirit from God came mightily on Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played [the harp] with his hand, as he did day by day. And Saul had his spear in his hand; 
18:11 and Saul cast the spear; for he said, I will strike David even to the wall. And David turned away from him twice. 
18:12 And Saul was afraid of David, because [the Speech of] Yahweh was with him, and had departed from Saul.
18:13 Therefore Saul removed him from himself, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. 
18:14 And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and [the Speech of] Yahweh was with him.
18:15 And when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in awe of him. 
18:16 But all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went out and came in before them.
18:17 \p And Saul said to David, Look, my elder daughter Merab, I will give her to you as wife: only be valiant for me, and fight Yahweh's battles. For Saul said, Don't let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him. 
18:18 And David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my life, [or] my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king? 
18:19 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 as wife. 
18:20 And Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing was right in his eyes. 
18:21 And Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David, You will this day be my son-in-law a second time.
18:22 \p And Saul commanded his slaves, [saying,] Commune with David secretly, and say, Look, the king has delight in you, and all his slaves love you: now therefore be the king's son-in-law. 
18:23 And Saul's slaves spoke those words in the ears of David. And David said, Does it seem to you⁺ a light thing to be the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed? 
18:24 And the slaves of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spoke David. 
18:25 And Saul said, Thus you⁺ will say to David, The king does not desire any dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 
18:26 And when his slaves told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. And the days were not expired; 
18:27 and David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife. 
18:28 And Saul saw and knew that [the Speech of] Yahweh was with David; and Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him.
18:29 And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul was David's enemy continually.
18:30 \p Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, as often as they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the slaves of Saul; so that his name was greatly valued.
19:1 \p And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his slaves, that they should slay David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. 
19:2 And Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeks to slay you: now therefore, I pray you, take heed to yourself in the morning, and remain in a secret place, and hide yourself: 
19:3 and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will commune with my father of you; and if I see anything, I will tell you. 
19:4 And Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Don't let the king sin against his slave, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you: 
19:5 for he put his soul in his hand, and struck the Philistine, and Yahweh wrought a great victory for all Israel: you saw it, and rejoiced; why then will you sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? 
19:6 And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swore, As Yahweh lives, he will not be put to death. 
19:7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as formerly.
19:8 \p And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him. 
19:9 And an evil spirit from Yahweh was on Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing [the harp] with his hand. 
19:10 And Saul sought to strike David even to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he struck the spear into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. 
19:11 And Saul sent messengers to David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, If you don't save your soul tonight, tomorrow you will be slain. 
19:12 So Michal let David down through the window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. 
19:13 And Michal took the talismans, and laid them in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' [hair] at his head, and used a blanket as a covering. 
19:14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. 
19:15 And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. 
19:16 And when the messengers came in, look, the talismans were in the bed, with the pillow of goats' [hair] at his head. 
19:17 And Saul said to Michal, Why have you deceived me thus, and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said to me, Let me go; why should I kill you?
19:18 \p Now David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. 
19:19 And it was told Saul, saying, Look, David is at Naioth in Ramah. 
19:20 And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 
19:21 And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 
19:22 Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Look, they are at Naioth in Ramah. 
19:23 And he went there to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 
19:24 And he also stripped off his clothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?
20:1 \p 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 your father, that he seeks my soul? 
20:2 And he said to him, Far from it; you will not die: look, my father does nothing either great or small, but that he discloses it to me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so. 
20:3 And David swore moreover, and said, Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes; and he says, Don't let Jonathan know this, or else he will be grieved: but truly as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death. 
20:4 Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever your soul desires, I will even do it for you. 
20:5 And David said to Jonathan, Look, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the evening. 
20:6 If your father misses me at all, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beth-lehem his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family. 
20:7 If he says thus, It is well; your slave will have peace: but if he is angry, then know that evil has been determined by him. 
20:8 Therefore deal kindly with your slave; for you have brought your slave into a covenant of Yahweh with you: but if there is iniquity in me, slay me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father? 
20:9 And Jonathan said, Far be it from you; for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come upon you, then would not I tell it you? 
20:10 Then said David to Jonathan, Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly? 
20:11 And Jonathan said to David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field.
20:12 \p And Jonathan said to David, [By] Yahweh, God of Israel: surely I will sound out my father by about this time on the third day, look, if there is good toward David, shall I not then send to you, and disclose it to you? 
20:13 Yahweh do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do you evil, if I don't disclose it to you, and send you away, that you may go in peace: and [the Speech of] Yahweh be with you, as he has been with my father.
20:14 And you will not only while I yet live show me the loving-kindness of Yahweh, that I will not die; 
20:15 but also you will not cut off your kindness from my house forever; no, not when Yahweh has cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. 
20:16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, [saying,] And Yahweh will require it at the hand of the sons of David.
20:17 \p And Jonathan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 
20:18 Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. 
20:19 And on the third day, you will go down quickly, and come to the place where you hid yourself when the business was in hand, and will remain by the stone Ezel. 
20:20 And I will shoot three arrows on its side, as though I shot at a mark. 
20:21 And, look, I will send the lad, [saying,] Go, find the arrows. If I say to the lad, Look, the arrows are on this side of you; take them, and come; for there is peace to you and no hurt, as Yahweh lives. 
20:22 But if I say thus to the boy, Look, the arrows are beyond you; go your way; for Yahweh has sent you away. 
20:23 And as concerning the matter which you and I have spoken of, look, [the Speech of] Yahweh is between you and me forever.
20:24 \p So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon came, the king sat him down to eat food. 
20:25 And the king sat on his seat, as at other times, even on the seat by the wall; and Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul's side: but David's place was empty. 
20:26 Nevertheless Saul did not speak anything that day: for he thought, Something has befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean. 
20:27 And it came to pass on the next day, the second of the month, that David's place was empty: and Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why didn't the son of Jesse come to meat, neither yesterday, nor today? 
20:28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Beth-lehem: 
20:29 and he said, Let me go, I pray you; for our family has a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he has commanded me [to be there]: and now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away, I pray you, and see my brothers. Therefore he didn't come to the king's table.
20:30 \p Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of a perverse rebellious woman, don't I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 
20:31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the ground, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Therefore now send and fetch him to me, for he will surely die. 
20:32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, Why should he be put to death? What has he done? 
20:33 And Saul cast his spear at him to strike him; therefore Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to put David to death. 
20:34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.
20:35 \p And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. 
20:36 And he said to his lad, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 
20:37 And when the lad came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Isn't the arrow beyond you? 
20:38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, hurry, don't stop. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. 
20:39 But the lad didn't know anything: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 
20:40 And Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to him, Go, carry them to the city. 
20:41 And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose from beside the mound, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. 
20:42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, since we have sworn both of us in the name of Yahweh, saying, [the Speech of] Yahweh will be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed, forever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.
21:1 \p Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said to him, Why are you alone, and no man with you? 
21:2 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 whereabout I send you, and what I have commanded you: and I have arranged a meeting with the young men to such and such a place. 
21:3 Now therefore what is under your hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever there is present. 
21:4 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. 
21:5 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 will their vessels be holy? 
21:6 So the priest gave him holy [bread]; for there was no bread there but the showbread, that was taken from before Yahweh, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.
21:7 \p Now a certain man of the slaves of Saul was there that day, detained before Yahweh; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chiefest of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. 
21:8 And David said to Ahimelech, And is there not here under your hand spear or sword? For I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business was urgent. 
21:9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you slew in the valley of Elah, look, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if you will take that, take it; for there is no other but that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it to me.
21:10 \p And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 
21:11 And the slaves of Achish said to him, Isn't this David the king of the land? Didn't they sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?
21:12 \p And David laid up these words in his heart, and was very afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 
21:13 And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself insane in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down on his beard. 
21:14 Then Achish said to his slaves, Look, you⁺ see the man is insane; why then have you⁺ brought him to me? 
21:15 Do I lack lunatics, that you⁺ have brought this fellow to play the lunatic in my presence? Will this fellow come into my house?
22:1 \p David therefore departed from there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam: and when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. 
22:2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was in bitterness of soul, gathered themselves to him; and he became captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.
22:3 \p And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, [and be] with you⁺, until I know what God will do for me. 
22:4 And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the stronghold. 
22:5 And the prophet Gad said to David, Don't remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hereth.
22:6 \p And Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him: now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk-tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his slaves were standing about him. 
22:7 And Saul said to his slaves who stood about him, Hear now, you⁺ Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you⁺ fields and vineyards, will he make all of you⁺ captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, 
22:8 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 slave against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? 
22:9 Then Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the slaves of Saul, answered and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 
22:10 And he inquired of [the Speech of] Yahweh for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
22:11 \p Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests who were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. 
22:12 And Saul said, Hear now, you son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. 
22:13 And Saul said to him, Why have you⁺ conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have inquired of [the Speech of] God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?
22:14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who among all your slaves is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and commander over your bodyguard, and is honorable in your house? 
22:15 Have I today begun to inquire [by the Speech of] God for him? Be it far from me: don't let the king impute anything to his slave, nor to all the house of my father; for your slave knows nothing of all this, less or more.
22:16 And the king said, You will surely die, Ahimelech, you, and all your father's house. 
22:17 And the king said to the guard that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of Yahweh; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me. But the slaves of the king would not put forth their hand to fall on the priests of Yahweh. 
22:18 And the king said to Doeg, You turn, and fall on the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell on the priests, and he slew on that day eighty-five persons who wore a linen ephod. 
22:19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and donkeys and sheep, with the edge of the sword.
22:20 \p And one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. 
22:21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain Yahweh's priests. 
22:22 And David said to Abiathar, I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have turned in every soul of your father's house. 
22:23 Remain with me, don't be afraid; for he who seeks my soul seeks your soul: for with me you will be in safeguard.
23:1 \p And they told David, saying, Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing-floors. 
23:2 Therefore David inquired of [the Speech of] Yahweh, saying, Shall I go and strike these Philistines? And Yahweh said to David, Go, and strike the Philistines, and save Keilah.
23:3 And David's men said to him, Look, we are afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? 
23:4 Then David inquired of [the Speech of] Yahweh yet again. And Yahweh answered him, and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.
23:5 And David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and slew them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. 
23:6 And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
23:7 \p And it was told Saul that David came to Keilah. And Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand; for he has been shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars. 
23:8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 
23:9 And David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring here the ephod. 
23:10 Then said David, O Yahweh, the God of Israel, your slave has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. 
23:11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your slave has heard? O Yahweh, the God of Israel, I urge you, tell your slave. And Yahweh said, He will come down. 
23:12 Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver up me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Yahweh said, They will deliver you up. 
23:13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. And it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; then he stopped to go forth. 
23:14 And David remained in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill-country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.
23:15 \p And David saw that Saul came out to seek his soul: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the forest. 
23:16 And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose, and went to David into the forest, and strengthened his hand in [the Speech of] God.
23:17 And he said to him, Don't be afraid; for the hand of Saul my father will not find you; and you will be king over Israel, and I will be next to you; and that also Saul my father knows. 
23:18 And they both made a covenant before Yahweh: and David remained in the forest, and Jonathan went to his house.
23:19 \p Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the forest, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert? 
23:20 Now therefore, O king, come down, according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part will be to deliver him up into the king's hand. 
23:21 And Saul said, Blessed be you⁺ of Yahweh; for you⁺ have had compassion on me. 
23:22 Go, I pray you⁺, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where [the trace of] his foot is, [and] who has seen him there; for it is told me that he deals very subtly. 
23:23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hides himself, and come⁺ again to me of a certainty, and I will go with you⁺: and it will come to pass, if he is in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.
23:24 \p And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert. 
23:25 And Saul and his men went to seek him. And they told David: therefore he came down to the rock, and remained in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard [that], he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. 
23:26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David hurried to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men surrounded David and his men to take them. 
23:27 But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, Hurry, and come; for the Philistines have made a raid on the land. 
23:28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth. 
23:29 And David went up from there, and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi.
24:1 \p And it came to pass, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Look, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi. 
24:2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats. 
24:3 And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were dwelling in the innermost parts of the cave. 
24:4 And the men of David said to him, Look, the day of which Yahweh said to you, Look, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you will do to him as it will seem good to you. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe secretly. 
24:5 And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart struck him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. 
24:6 And he said to his men, Yahweh forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, Yahweh's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is Yahweh's anointed. 
24:7 So David checked his men with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.
24:8 \p David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and did obeisance. 
24:9 And David said to Saul, Why do you harken to the words of man, saying, Look, David seeks your hurt? 
24:10 Look, this day your eyes have seen how that Yahweh had delivered you today into my hand in the cave: and some bade me kill you; but [I] spared you; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord; for he is Yahweh's anointed. 
24:11 Moreover, my father, see, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and didn't kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I haven't sinned against you, though you hunt after my soul to take it. 
24:12 Yahweh judge between me and you, and Yahweh avenge me of you; but my hand will not be on you. 
24:13 As says the proverb of the ancients, Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness; but my hand will not be on you. 
24:14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea. 
24:15 Yahweh therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand.
24:16 \p And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, Is this your voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 
24:17 And he said to David, You are more righteous than I; for you have rendered to me good, whereas I have rendered to you evil. 
24:18 And you have declared this day how that you have dealt well with me, since when Yahweh had delivered me up into your hand, you didn't kill me. 
24:19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away well? Therefore [may] Yahweh reward you good for that which you have done to me this day. 
24:20 And now, look, I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. 
24:21 Swear now therefore to me by Yahweh, that you will not cut off my seed after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house. 
24:22 And David swore to Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men got up to the stronghold.
25:1 \p And Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
25:2 \p And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 
25:3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding and beautiful: but the man was harsh and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. 
25:4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 
25:5 And David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, Go⁺ up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: 
25:6 and thus you⁺ will say to him, To life! Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 
25:7 And now I have heard that you have shearers: your shepherds have now been with us, and we did not hurt them, neither was there anything missing to them, all the while they were in Carmel. 
25:8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you: therefore let the young men find favor in your eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I pray you, whatever comes to your hand, to your slaves, and to your son David.
25:9 \p And when David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. 
25:10 And Nabal answered David's slaves, and said, Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many slaves nowadays that break away every man from his master. 
25:11 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 don't know from where they are? 
25:12 So David's young men turned on their way, and went back, and came and told him according to all these words. 
25:13 And David said to his men, Gird⁺ on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred remained by the baggage.
25:14 \p But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Look, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master; and he railed at them. 
25:15 But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither did we miss anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields: 
25:16 they were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them shepherding the sheep. 
25:17 Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house: for he is such a worthless fellow, that one can't speak to him.
25:18 \p Then Abigail hurried, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five seahs of parched grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 
25:19 And she said to her young men, Go on before me; look, I come after you⁺. But she didn't tell her husband Nabal. 
25:20 And it was so, as she rode on her donkey, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that, look, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them. 
25:21 Now David had said, Surely in vain I have 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. 
25:22 God do so to David, and more also, if I leave of all who pertain to him by the morning light so much as one urinating against a wall.
25:23 \p And when Abigail saw David, she hurried, and dismounted from her donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground. 
25:24 And she fell at his feet, and said, On me, my lord, on me be the iniquity; and let your slave, I pray you, speak in your ears, and you hear the words of your slave. 
25:25 Don't let my lord, I pray you, regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I your slave didn't see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 
25:26 Now therefore, my lord, as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, seeing Yahweh has withheld you from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. 
25:27 And now this present which your slave has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. 
25:28 Forgive, I pray you, the trespass of your slave: for Yahweh will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights the battles of Yahweh; and evil will not be found in you all your days. 
25:29 And though man rises up to pursue you, and to seek your soul, yet the soul of my lord will be bound in the bundle of life with Yahweh your God; and the souls of your enemies, he will sling them out, as from the hollow of a sling. 
25:30 And it will come to pass, when Yahweh will have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and will have appointed you leader over Israel, 
25:31 that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. And when Yahweh will have dealt well with my lord, then remember your slave.
25:32 \p And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me: 
25:33 and blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand. 
25:34 For in very deed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting you, except you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one urinating against a wall. 
25:35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said to her, Go up in peace to your house; see, I have listened to your voice, and have accepted your person.
25:36 \p And Abigail came to Nabal; and, look, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry inside him, for he was very drunk: therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. 
25:37 And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died inside him, and he became as a stone. 
25:38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that Yahweh struck Nabal, so that he died.
25:39 \p And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Yahweh, that has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his slave from evil: and the evildoing of Nabal Yahweh has returned on his own head. And David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to him as wife. 
25:40 And when the slaves of David had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to you, to take you to him as wife. 
25:41 And she arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, Look, your slave is a slave to wash the feet of my lord's slaves. 
25:42 And Abigail hurried, and arose, and rode on a donkey, with five damsels of hers that followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
25:43 \p David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they became both of them his wives. 
25:44 Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
26:1 \p And the Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert? 
26:2 Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 
26:3 And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert, by the way. But David remained in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. 
26:4 David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul came of a certainty. 
26:5 And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had encamped; and David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay inside the place of the wagons, and the people were encamped round about him.
26:6 \p Then David answered and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul at the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with you. 
26:7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, look, Saul lay sleeping inside the place of the wagons, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people lay round about him. 
26:8 Then Abishai said to David, God has delivered up your enemy into your hand this day: now therefore let me strike him, I pray you, with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time. 
26:9 And David said to Abishai, Don't destroy him; for who can put forth his hand against Yahweh's anointed, and be innocent? 
26:10 And David said, As Yahweh lives, Yahweh will strike him; or his day will come to die; or he will go down into battle and perish. 
26:11 Yahweh forbid that I should put forth my hand against Yahweh's anointed: but now take, I pray you, the spear that is at his head, and the cruse of water, and let us go. 
26:12 So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's head; and they got away: and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither did any awake; for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from Yahweh had fallen on them.
26:13 \p Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of the mountain far off; a great space being between them; 
26:14 and David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Don't you answer, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who are you that cried to the king? 
26:15 And David said to Abner, Are you not a [valiant] man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then haven't you kept watch over your lord the king? For there came one of the people in to destroy the king your lord. 
26:16 This thing is not good that you have done. As Yahweh lives, you⁺ are worthy to die, because you⁺ haven't kept watch over your⁺ lord, Yahweh's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his head.
26:17 \p And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this your voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king. 
26:18 And he said, Why does my lord pursue after his slave? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand? 
26:19 Now therefore, I pray you, let my lord the king hear the words of his slave. If it is Yahweh who has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering: but if it is the sons of man, cursed be they before Yahweh: for they have driven me out this day that I should not share in the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, Go, serve other gods. 
26:20 Now therefore, don't let my blood fall to the earth away from the presence [Speech] of Yahweh: for the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains.
26:21 \p Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David; for I will do you harm no more, because my soul was precious in your eyes this day: look, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. 
26:22 And David answered and said, Look at the spear, O king! Let then one of the young men come over and fetch it. 
26:23 And Yahweh will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; since Yahweh delivered you into my hand today, and I would not put forth my hand against Yahweh's anointed. 
26:24 And, look, as your soul was greatly valued this day in my eyes, so let my soul be greatly valued in the eyes of Yahweh, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. 
26:25 Then Saul said to David, Blessed be you, my son David: you will both do mightily, and will surely prevail. So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.
27:1 \p And David said in his heart, I will now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in all the borders of Israel: so I will escape out of his hand. 
27:2 And David arose, and passed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 
27:3 And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife. 
27:4 And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath: and he did not seek for him again anymore.
27:5 \p And David said to Achish, If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should your slave dwell in the royal city with you? 
27:6 Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: therefore Ziklag pertains to the kings of Judah to this day. 
27:7 And the number of the days that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.
27:8 \p And David and his men went up, and made a raid on the Geshurites, and the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for those [nations] were the inhabitants of the land, who were from Telam, as you go to Shur, even to the land of Egypt. 
27:9 And David struck the land, and saved neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the donkeys, and the camels, and the apparel; and he returned, and came to Achish. 
27:10 And Achish said, Isn't it true, you⁺ 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. 
27:11 And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring them to Gath, saying, Or else they would tell of us, saying, So did David, and so has been his manner all the while he has dwelt in the country of the Philistines. 
27:12 And Achish believed David, saying, He has become a complete stench among his people Israel; therefore he will be my slave forever.
28:1 \p And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their hosts together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, Know assuredly, that you will go out with me in the host, you and your men. 
28:2 And David said to Achish, Therefore you will know what your slave will do. And Achish said to David, Therefore I will make you keeper of my head forever.
28:3 \p Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away the spiritists and the wizards out of the land. 
28:4 And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and encamped in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped in Gilboa. 
28:5 And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. 
28:6 And when Saul inquired of [the Speech of] Yahweh, Yahweh did not answer him, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
28:7 Then Saul said to his slaves, Seek me a woman who is mistress of a spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his slaves said to him, Look, there is a woman at En-dor who is mistress of a spirit.
28:8 \p And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, Tell my fortune, I pray you, with a spirit, and call up for me whomever I will name to you. 
28:9 And the woman said to him, Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the spiritists and the wizards out of the land: why then do you lay a snare for my soul, to cause me to die? 
28:10 And Saul swore to her [by the Speech of] Yahweh, saying, As Yahweh lives, no punishment will happen to you for this thing.
28:11 Then the woman said, Whom shall I bring up to you? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. 
28:12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul. 
28:13 And the king said to her, Don't be afraid: for what did you see? And the woman said to Saul, I see a god coming up out of the earth. 
28:14 And he said to her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man comes up; and he is covered with a robe. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance.
28:15 \p And Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am very distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and [the Speech of] God has departed from me, and has not answered me anymore, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I will do.
28:16 And Samuel said, Why then do you ask of me, seeing [the Speech of] Yahweh has departed from you, and has become your adversary?
28:17 And Yahweh has done for himself, as he spoke by me: and Yahweh has rent the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to your fellow man, even to David. 
28:18 Because you didn't obey the voice [Speech] of Yahweh, and did not execute his fierce wrath on Amalek, therefore has Yahweh done this thing to you this day.
28:19 Moreover Yahweh will deliver Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me: Yahweh will deliver the host of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.
28:20 \p Then Saul fell immediately his full length on the earth, and was very afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night. 
28:21 And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was very troubled, and said to him, Look, your female slave has listened to your voice, and I have put my soul in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me. 
28:22 Now therefore, I pray you, you listen also to the voice of your female slave, and let me set a morsel of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength, when you go on your way. 
28:23 But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his slaves, together with the woman, constrained him; and he listened to their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat on the bed. 
28:24 And the woman had a fatted calf in the house; and she hurried, and killed it; and she took flour, and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread of it: 
28:25 and she brought it before Saul, and before his slaves; and they ate. Then they rose up, and went away that night.
29:1 \p Now the Philistines gathered together all their hosts to Aphek: and the Israelites encamped by the fountain which is in Jezreel. 
29:2 And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands; and David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish. 
29:3 Then the princes of the Philistines said, What [are] these Hebrews [doing here]? And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Isn't this David, the slave of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or [rather] these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell away [to me] to this day? 
29:4 But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; and the princes of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he may go back to his place where you have appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us: for how should this [fellow] reconcile himself to his lord? Should it not be with the heads of these men? 
29:5 Isn't this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?
29:6 \p Then Achish called David, and said to him, As Yahweh lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the host is good in my sight; for I haven't found evil in you since the day of your coming to me to this day: nevertheless the lords don't favor you. 
29:7 Therefore now return, and go in peace, that you do not displease the lords of the Philistines. 
29:8 And David said to Achish, But what have I done? And what have you found in your slave so long as I have been before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king? 
29:9 And Achish answered and said to David, I know that you are good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He will not go up with us to the battle. 
29:10 Therefore, rise up early in the morning with the slaves of your lord who came with you, and go to the town that I gave you⁺. And don't take the complaint to heart, because you are good in my sight. And as soon as you⁺ are up early in the morning, and have light, depart. 
29:11 So 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 Jezreel.
30:1 \p And it came to pass, when David and his men had come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the South, and on Ziklag, and had struck Ziklag, and burned it with fire, 
30:2 and had taken captive the women who were in it, both small and great: they did not slay any, but carried them off, and went their way. 
30:3 And when David and his men came to the city, look, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captive. 
30:4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 
30:5 And David's two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 
30:6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were in bitterness of soul, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David strengthened himself in [the Speech of] Yahweh his God.
30:7 \p And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, I pray you, bring the ephod here to me. And Abiathar brought the ephod there to David. 
30:8 And David inquired [by the Speech of] Yahweh, saying, If I pursue after this troop, will I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue; for you will surely overtake [them], and without fail will recover [all].
30:9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind had stopped. 
30:10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stopped, who were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.
30:11 \p 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. 
30:12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drank any water, three days and three nights. 
30:13 And David said to him, To whom do you belong? And where are you from? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, slave to an Amalekite; and this is now the third day since my master left me because I was sick. 
30:14 We made a raid on the South of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the South of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. 
30:15 And David said to him, Will you bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear to me by [the Speech of] God, that you will neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this troop.
30:16 \p And when he had brought him down, look, they were spread abroad over all the ground, 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. 
30:17 And David struck them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day: and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who rode on camels and fled. 
30:18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; and David rescued his two wives. 
30:19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them: David brought back all. 
30:20 And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drove before those [other] cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.
30:21 \p And David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom also they had left at the brook Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people who were with him: and when David came near to the people, he greeted them. 
30:22 Then all the wicked men and base fellows, of those who went with David, answered and said, Because they didn't go with us, we will not give them anything of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his sons, that he may lead them away, and depart. 
30:23 Then said David, You⁺ will not do so, my brothers, with that which Yahweh has given to us, who has preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand. 
30:24 And who will listen to you⁺ in this matter? For as his share is that goes down to the battle, so will his share be that tarries by the baggage: they will share alike. 
30:25 And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
30:26 \p And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his fellow man, saying, Look, a present for you⁺ of the spoil of the enemies of Yahweh: 
30:27 To those who were in Bethuel, and to those who were in Ramoth of the South, and to those who were in Jattir, 
30:28 and to those who were in Arad, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa, 
30:29 and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites, 
30:30 and to those who were in Hormah, and to those who were in Bor-ashan, and to those who were in Athach, 
30:31 and to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to roam.
31:1 \p Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. 
31:2 And the Philistines stuck [closely] on Saul and on his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. 
31:3 And the battle went intensely against Saul, and the archers, men with the bow, overtook him; and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers. 
31:4 Then Saul said to his armorbearer, Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, or else these uncircumcised will come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he was very afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell on it. 
31:5 And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword, and died with him. 
31:6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armorbearer, and all his men too, that same day together.
31:7 \p And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were beyond 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. 
31:8 And it came to pass on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. 
31:9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the good news to the house of their idols, and to the people. 
31:10 And they put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. 
31:11 And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard concerning him that which the Philistines had done to Saul, 
31:12 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 they came to Jabesh, and burned them there. 
31:13 And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk-tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
