1 Samuel 17-20

I Samuel 17

¹Now the Philistines got their armies together for war, and came together at Socoh in the land of Judah, and took up their position between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.

²And Saul and the men of Israel came together and took up their position in the valley of Elah, and put their forces in order against the Philistines.

³The Philistines were stationed on the mountain on one side and Israel on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

⁴And a fighter came out from the tents of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath; he was more than six cubits tall.

⁵And he had a head-dress of brass on his head, and he was dressed in a coat of metal, the weight of which was five thousand shekels of brass.

⁶His legs were covered with plates of brass and hanging on his back was a javelin of brass.

⁷The stem of his spear was as long as a cloth-worker's rod, and its head was made of six hundred shekels' weight of iron: and one went before him with his body-cover.

⁸He took up his position and in a loud voice said to the armies of Israel, Why have you come out to make war? Am I not a Philistine and you servants of Saul? Send out a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.

⁹If he is able to have a fight with me and overcome me, then we will be your servants: but if I am able to overcome him, then you will be our servants and do work for us.

¹⁰And the Philistine said, I have put to shame the armies of Israel this day; give me a man so that we may have a fight together.

¹¹And Saul and all Israel, hearing those words of the Philistine, were troubled and full of fear.

¹²Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah named Jesse, who had eight sons; and he was an old man in Saul's day, and far on in years.

¹³And the three oldest sons of Jesse had gone with Saul to the fight: the names of the three who went to the fight were Eliab, the oldest, and Abinadab the second, and Shammah the third.

¹⁴And David was the youngest: and the three oldest were with Saul's army.

¹⁵Now David went to and from Saul, looking after his father's sheep at Beth-lehem.

¹⁶And the Philistine came near every morning and evening for forty days.

¹⁷And Jesse said to his son David, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dry grain and these ten cakes of bread, and go quickly with them to the tents to your brothers;

¹⁸And take these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers are and come back with a sign to say how they are.

¹⁹Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

²⁰And David got up early in the morning, and, giving the sheep into the care of a keeper, took the things and went as Jesse had said; and he came to the lines where the carts were, when the army was going out to the fight giving their war-cry.

²¹And Israel and the Philistines had put their forces in position, army against army.

²²And David gave his parcels into the hands of the keeper of the army stores, and went running to the army and came to his brothers to get knowledge about them.

²³And while he was talking to them, the fighter, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came out from the Philistines' lines and said the same words, in David's hearing.

²⁴And all the men of Israel, when they saw him, went in flight, overcome with fear.

²⁵And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man? Clearly he has come out to put shame on Israel: and it is certain that if any man overcomes him, the king will give that man great wealth, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's family free in Israel.

²⁶And David said to the men near him, What will be done to the man who overcomes this Philistine and takes away the shame from Israel? for who is this Philistine, a man without circumcision, that he has put shame on the armies of the living God?

²⁷And the people gave him this answer, So it will be done to the man who overcomes him.

²⁸And Eliab, his oldest brother, hearing what David said to the men, was moved to wrath against David, and said, Why have you come here? Into whose care have you given that little flock of sheep in the waste land? I have knowledge of your pride and the evil of your heart, you have come down to see the fight.

²⁹And David said, What have I done now? was it not only a word?

³⁰And turning away from him to one of the other men, he said the same words: and the people gave him the same answer.

³¹And, hearing what David said, they gave Saul word of it: and he sent for him.

³²And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart become feeble because of him; I, your servant, will go out and have a fight with this Philistine.

³³And Saul said to David, You are not able to go out against this Philistine and have a fight with him: for you are only a boy, and he has been a man of war from his earliest days.

³⁴And David said to Saul, Your servant has been keeper of his father's sheep; and if a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,

³⁵I went out after him, and overcame him, and took it out of his mouth: and if, turning on me, he came at me, I took him by the hair and overcame him and put him to death.

³⁶Your servant has overcome lion and bear: and the fate of this Philistine, who is without circumcision, will be like theirs, seeing that he has put shame on the armies of the living God.

³⁷And David said, The Lord, who kept me safe from the grip of the lion and the bear, will be my saviour from the hands of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go! and may the Lord be with you.

³⁸Then Saul gave David his clothing of war, and put a head-dress of brass on his head and had him clothed with a coat of metal.

³⁹And David took Saul's sword and put the band round him over the metal coat, and was unable to go forward; for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, It is not possible for me to go out with these, for I am not used to them. So David took them off.

⁴⁰Then he took his stick in his hand, and got five smooth stones from the bed of the stream and put them in a bag such as is used by sheep-keepers; and in his hand was a leather band used for sending stones: and so he went in the direction of the Philistine.

⁴¹And the Philistine came nearer to David; and the man who had his body-cover went before him.

⁴²And when the Philistine, taking note, saw David, he had a poor opinion of him: for he was only a boy, red-haired and good-looking.

⁴³And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come out to me with sticks? And the Philistine put curses on David by all his gods.

⁴⁴And the Philistine said to David, Come here to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.

⁴⁵Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the armies of Israel on which you have put shame.

⁴⁶This day the Lord will give you up into my hands, and I will overcome you, and take your head off you; and I will give the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth today, so that all the earth may see that Israel has a God;

⁴⁷And all these people who are here today may see that the Lord does not give salvation by sword and spear: for the fight is the Lord's, and he will give you up into our hands.

⁴⁸Now when the Philistine made a move and came near to David, David quickly went at a run in the direction of the army, meeting the Philistine face to face.

⁴⁹And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and sent it from his leather band straight at the Philistine, and the stone went deep into his brow, and he went down to the earth, falling on his face.

⁵⁰So David overcame the Philistine with his leather band and a stone, wounding the Philistine and causing his death: but David had no sword in his hand.

⁵¹So running up to the Philistine and putting his foot on him, David took his sword out of its cover, and put him to death, cutting off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their fighter was dead, they went in flight.

⁵²And the men of Israel and of Judah got up, and gave a cry, and went after the Philistines as far as Gath and the town doors of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines were falling down by the road from Shaaraim all the way to Gath and Ekron.

⁵³Then the children of Israel came back from going after the Philistines, and took their goods from the tents.

⁵⁴And David took the head of the Philistine to Jerusalem, but the metal war-dress and the arms he put in his tent.

⁵⁵And when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, Abner, whose son is this young man? And Abner said, On your life, O king, I have no idea.

⁵⁶And the king said, Make search and see whose son this young man is.

⁵⁷And when David was coming back after the destruction of the Philistine, Abner took him to Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

⁵⁸And Saul said to him, Young man, whose son are you? And David in answer said, I am the son of your servant Jesse of Beth-lehem.

I Samuel 18

¹Now after David's talk with Saul was ended, the soul of Jonathan was joined with the soul of David, and David became as dear to him as his very life.

²And that day Saul took David and would not let him go back to his father's house.

³Then Jonathan and David made an agreement together, because of Jonathan's love for David.

⁴And Jonathan took off the robe he had on and gave it to David, with all his military dress, even to his sword and his bow and the band round his body.

⁵And David went wherever Saul sent him, and did wisely: and Saul put him at the head of his men of war, and this was pleasing to all the people as well as to Saul's servants.

⁶Now on their way, when David came back after the destruction of the Philistine, the women came out of all the towns of Israel, with songs and dances, meeting David with melody and joy and instruments of music.

⁷And the women, answering one another in their song, said, Saul has put to death his thousands and David his tens of thousands.

⁸And Saul was very angry and this saying was unpleasing to him; and he said, They have given David credit for tens of thousands, and to me for only thousands: what more is there for him but the kingdom?

⁹And from that day Saul was looking with envy on David.

¹⁰Now on the day after, an evil spirit from God came on Saul with great force and he was acting like a prophet among the men of his house, while David was making music for him, as he did day by day: and Saul had his spear in his hand.

¹¹And Saul, balancing the spear in his hand, said, I will give David a blow, pinning him to the wall. And David got away from him twice.

¹²And Saul went in fear of David, because the Lord was with David and had gone away from Saul.

¹³So Saul sent him away, and made him a captain over a thousand; and he went about his business before the people.

¹⁴And in all his undertakings David did wisely; and the Lord was with him.

¹⁵And when Saul saw how wisely he did, he was in fear of him.

¹⁶But David was loved by all Israel and Judah, for he went out and came in before them.

¹⁷And Saul said to David, Here is my oldest daughter Merab, whom I will give you for your wife: only be strong for me, fighting in the Lord's wars. For Saul said, Let it not be through me that his fate comes to him, but through the Philistines.

¹⁸And David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my father's family in Israel, that I am to be son-in-law to the king?

¹⁹But when the time came to give Merab, Saul's daughter, to David, she was given to Adriel of Meholath.

²⁰And Saul's daughter Michal was in love with David: and Saul had word of it and was pleased.

²¹And Saul said, I will give her to him, so that she may be a cause of danger to him, and so that the hands of the Philistines may be against him. So Saul said to David, Today you are to become my son-in-law for the second time.

²²And Saul gave his servants orders saying, Have talk with David secretly and say to him, See how the king has delight in you, and how you are loved by all his servants: then be the king's son-in-law.

²³And Saul's servants said these things to David. And David said, Does it seem to you a small thing to be the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, of no great name?

²⁴And the servants of Saul gave him an account of what David had said.

²⁵And Saul said, Then say to David, The king has no desire for any bride-price, but only for the private parts of a hundred Philistines so that the king may get the better of his haters. But it was in Saul's mind that David might come to his end by the hands of the Philistines.

²⁶And when his servants said these words to David, he was well pleased to be the son-in-law of the king. And the days were still not past.

²⁷So David and his men got up and went, and put to death two hundred of the Philistines; and David took their private parts and gave the full number of them to the king, so that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife.

²⁸And it was clear to Saul that the Lord was with David; and he was loved by all Israel.

²⁹And Saul's fear of David became all the greater, and he went on hating him, day by day.

³⁰Then the rulers of the Philistines went out to war: and whenever they went out, David did more wisely than all the other servants of Saul, so that his name became greatly honoured.

I Samuel 19

¹And Saul gave orders to his son Jonathan and to all his servants to put David to death. But Saul's son Jonathan had great delight in David.

²And Jonathan said to David, Saul, my father, is purposing your death: so now, take care in the morning, and keep yourself safe in a secret place:

³And I will go out and take my place by my father's side in the field near where you are; and I will get into talk with my father about you, and when I see how things are, I will give you word.

⁴And Jonathan gave his father Saul a good account of David, and said to him, Let not the king do wrong against his servant, against David; because he has done you no wrong, and all his acts have had a good outcome for you:

⁵For he put his life in danger and overcame the Philistine, and the Lord gave all Israel salvation: you saw it and were glad: why then are you sinning against him who has done no wrong, desiring the death of David without cause?

⁶And Saul gave ear to the voice of Jonathan, and said with an oath, By the living Lord, he is not to be put to death.

⁷Then Jonathan sent for David and gave him word of all these things. And Jonathan took David to Saul, who kept him by his side as in the past.

⁸And there was war again: and David went out fighting the Philistines, causing great destruction among them; and they went in flight before him.

⁹And an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul, when he was seated in his house with his spear in his hand; and David made music for him.

¹⁰And Saul would have sent his spear through him, pinning him to the wall, but he got away and the spear went into the wall: and that night David went in flight and got away.

¹¹Then in that night Saul sent men to David's house to keep watch on him so as to put him to death in the morning: and David's wife Michal said to him, If you do not go away to a safe place tonight you will be put to death in the morning.

¹²So Michal let David down through the window, and he went in flight and got away.

¹³Then Michal took the image and put it in the bed, with a cushion of goat's hair at its head, and she put clothing over it.

¹⁴And when Saul sent men to take David, she said, He is ill.

¹⁵And Saul sent his men to see David, saying, Do not come back without him, take him in his bed, so that I may put him to death.

¹⁶And when the men came in, there was the image in the bed, with the cushion of goat's hair at its head

¹⁷And Saul said to Michal, why have you been false to me, letting my hater go and get safely away? And in answer Michal said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go, or I will put you to death.

¹⁸So David went in flight and got away and came to Ramah, to Samuel, and gave him an account of all Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and were living in Naioth.

¹⁹And word was given to Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah.

²⁰And Saul sent men to take David; and when they saw the band of prophets at work, with Samuel in his place at their head, the spirit of God came on Saul's men, and they became like prophets.

²¹And Saul, having news of this, sent other men, who in the same way became like prophets. And a third time Saul sent men, and they like the others became like prophets.

²²Then he himself went to Ramah, and came to the great water-spring in Secu; and questioning the people he said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, They are at Naioth in Ramah.

²³And he went on from there to Naioth in Ramah: and the spirit of God came on him, and he went on, acting like a prophet, till he came to Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴And he took off his clothing, acting like a prophet before Samuel, and falling down he was stretched out, without his clothing, all that day and all that night. This is the reason for the saying, Is even Saul among the prophets?

I Samuel 20

¹And David went in flight from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and said, What have I done? What is my crime and my sin against your father that he is attempting to take my life?

²And he said to him, Far be the thought: you will not be put to death: see, my father does nothing, great or small, without giving me word of it: would he keep this secret from me? It is not so.

³But David took his oath again and said, Your father sees that I am dear to you; so he says to himself, Let Jonathan have no idea of this, for it will be a grief to him; but as the Lord is living, and as your soul is living, there is only a step between me and death.

⁴Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever your desire is, I will do it for you.

⁵And David said to Jonathan, Tomorrow is the new moon, and I will not be seated with the king at his table: but let me go to a safe place in the country till the evening.

⁶And if your father takes note of the fact that I am away, say, David made a request to me for himself that he might go to Beth-lehem, to his town: for it is the time when his family make their offering year by year.

⁷If he says, It is well, your servant will be at peace: but if he is angry, then it will be clear to you that he has an evil purpose in mind against me.

⁸So, then, be kind to your servant; for you have been united with your servant in an agreement made before the Lord: but if there is any wrongdoing in me, put me to death yourself; why take me to your father?

⁹And Jonathan said, Do not have such a thought: for if I saw that my father was designing evil against you, would I not give you word of it?

¹⁰Then David said to Jonathan, Who will give me word if your father gives you a rough answer?

¹¹And Jonathan said to David, Come, let us go out into the country. And the two of them went out together into the open country.

¹²And Jonathan said to David, May the Lord, the God of Israel, be witness; when I have had a chance of talking to my father, about this time tomorrow, if his feelings to David are good, will I not send and give you the news?

¹³May the Lord's punishment be on Jonathan, if it is my father's pleasure to do you evil and I do not give you word of it and send you away so that you may go in peace: and may the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father.

¹⁴And may you, while I am still living, O may you be kind to me, as the Lord is kind, and keep me from death!

¹⁵And let not your mercy ever be cut off from my family, even when the Lord has sent destruction on all David's haters, cutting them off from the face of the earth.

¹⁶And if it comes about that the name of Jonathan is cut off from the family of David, the Lord will make David responsible.

¹⁷And Jonathan again took an oath to David, because of his love for him: for David was as dear to him as his very soul.

¹⁸Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and it will be seen that you are not present, for there will be no one in your seat.

¹⁹And on the third day it will be specially noted, and you will go to the place where you took cover when the other business was in hand, waiting by the hill over there.

²⁰And on the third day I will send arrows from my bow against its side as if at a mark.

²¹And I will send my boy to have a look for the arrow. And if I say to him, See, the arrow is on this side of you; take it up! then you may come; for there is peace for you and no evil, by the living Lord.

²²But if I say to the boy, See, the arrow has gone past you: then go on your way, for the Lord has sent you away.

²³As for what you and I were talking of, the Lord is between you and me for ever.

²⁴So David went to a secret place in the country: and when the new moon came, the king took his place at the feast.

²⁵And the king took his seat, as at other times, by the wall: and Jonathan was in front, and Abner was seated by Saul's side, but there was no one in David's seat.

²⁶But Saul said nothing that day, for his thought was, Something has taken place making him unclean; it is clear that he is not clean.

²⁷And on the day after the new moon, that is, the second day, there was still no one in David's seat: and Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast yesterday or today?

²⁸And answering Saul, Jonathan said, He made a request to me that he might go to Beth-lehem,

²⁹Saying, Our family is making an offering in the town, and my brothers have given me orders to be there: so now, if I have grace in your eyes, let me go away and see my brothers. This is why he has not come to the king's table.

³⁰Then Saul was moved to wrath against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of an evil and uncontrolled woman, have I not seen how you have given your love to the son of Jesse, to your shame and the shame of your mother?

³¹For while the son of Jesse is living on the earth, your position is unsafe and your kingdom is in danger. So make him come here to me, for it is certainly right for him to be put to death.

³²And Jonathan, answering his father Saul, said to him, Why is he to be put to death? What has he done?

³³And Saul, pointing his spear at him, made an attempt to give him a wound: from which it was clear to Jonathan that his father's purpose was to put David to death.

³⁴So Jonathan got up from the table, burning with wrath, and took no part in the feast the second day of the month, being full of grief for David because his father had put shame on him.

³⁵Now in the morning, Jonathan went out into the fields at the time he had said to David, and he had a little boy with him.

³⁶And he said to the boy, Go and get the arrow I let loose from my bow. And while the boy was running, he sent an arrow past him.

³⁷And when the boy came to the place where the arrow was, Jonathan, crying out after the boy, said, Has it not gone past you?

³⁸And Jonathan went on crying out after the boy, Be quick, do not keep waiting about, go quickly. And Jonathan's boy got the arrow and came back to his master.

³⁹But the boy had no idea what was going on; only Jonathan and David had knowledge of it.

⁴⁰And Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy, and said to him, Take these and go back to the town.

⁴¹And when the boy had gone, David came from his secret place by the hill, and falling to the earth went down on his face three times: and they gave one another a kiss, weeping together, till David's grief was the greater.

⁴²And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, for we two have taken an oath, in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord will be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed for ever. Then David went away, and Jonathan went into the town.