I Samuel 26-31

I Samuel 26

¹And the Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, facing the waste?

²And 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.

³And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which faces the waste, by the way side. And David abode in the wilderness; and when he saw that Saul had come after him into the wilderness,

⁴David sent out spies, and learned that Saul was certainly come.

⁵And David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped; and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host; and Saul lay within the wagon-defence, and the people were encamped round about him.

⁶And David spake and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.

⁷And David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping within the wagon-defence, and his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people lay round about him.

⁸And Abishai said to David, God has delivered thine enemy into thy hand this day; and now let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear, even to the ground once, and I will not do it the second time.

⁹And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not; for who can stretch forth his hand against Jehovah's anointed, and be guiltless?

¹⁰And David said, As Jehovah liveth, Jehovah will surely smite him; either his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle and perish.

¹¹Jehovah forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed! But now take, I pray thee, the spear that is at his head, and the cruse of water, and let us go.

¹²And David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's head; and they went away, and no man saw it, and none knew it, and none awaked, for they were all asleep; for a deep sleep from Jehovah had fallen upon them.

¹³And David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of a hill afar off; a great space being between them.

¹⁴And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?

¹⁵And David said to Abner, Art not thou a man? and who is like to thee in Israel? and why hast thou not guarded thy lord the king? for one of the people came in to destroy the king thy lord.

¹⁶This thing is not good which thou hast done. As Jehovah liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not guarded your master, Jehovah's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his head.

¹⁷And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.

¹⁸And he said, Why does my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in my hand?

¹⁹And now, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If Jehovah have moved thee against me, let him accept an oblation; but if the sons of men, cursed be they before Jehovah; for they have driven me out this day from adhering to the inheritance of Jehovah, saying, Go, serve other gods.

²⁰And now, let not my blood fall to the earth far from the face of Jehovah; for the king of Israel is come out to seek a single flea, as when they hunt a partridge on the mountains.

²¹And Saul said, I have sinned: return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my life was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have acted foolishly, and have erred exceedingly.

²²And David answered and said, Behold the king's spear, and let one of the young men come over and fetch it.

²³And Jehovah will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; for Jehovah gave thee into my hand this day, and I would not stretch forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed.

²⁴And behold, as thy life was highly esteemed this day in mine eyes, so let my life be highly esteemed in the eyes of Jehovah, that he may deliver me out of all distress.

²⁵And Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt certainly do great things, and shalt certainly prevail. And David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

I Samuel 27

¹And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me to seek me any more within all the limits of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.

²And David arose and passed over, he and the six hundred men that were with him, to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

³And David abode with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household; David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.

⁴And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; and he sought no more for him.

⁵And David said to Achish, If now I have found favour in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some country-town, that I may abide there; for why should thy servant abide in the royal city with thee?

⁶And Achish gave him Ziklag that day; therefore Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.

⁷And the time that David abode in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.

⁸And David and his men went up and made a raid upon the Geshurites, and the Gerzites, and the Amalekites: for those were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, and as far as the land of Egypt.

⁹And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.

¹⁰So Achish said, Have ye not made a raid to-day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.

¹¹And David left neither man nor woman alive, to bring them to Gath, for he said, Lest they should tell of us, saying, So did David. And such was his custom as long as he abode in the country of the Philistines.

¹²And Achish trusted David, saying, He has made himself utterly odious among his people Israel; and he shall be my servant for ever.

I Samuel 28

¹And it came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered together their armies for warfare to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, Know thou assuredly that thou shalt go out with me to the camp, thou and thy men.

²And David said to Achish, Thereby thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of my person for ever.

³(Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and they had buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away the necromancers and the soothsayers out of the land.)

⁴And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and encamped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped in Gilboa.

⁵And when Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.

⁶And Saul inquired of Jehovah; but Jehovah did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.

⁷Then said Saul to his servants, Seek me a woman that has a spirit of Python, that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman who has a spirit of Python at En-dor.

⁸And Saul disguised himself, and put on other garments, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, I pray thee, divine to me by the spirit of Python, and bring me him up whom I shall name to thee.

⁹And the woman said to him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul has done, how he has cut off the necromancers and the soothsayers out of the land; and why layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?

¹⁰And Saul swore unto her by Jehovah, saying, As Jehovah liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

¹¹Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

¹²And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? Even thou art Saul.

¹³And the king said to her, Be not afraid; but what didst thou see? And the woman said to Saul, I saw a god ascending out of the earth.

¹⁴And he said to her, What is his form? And she said, An old man comes up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.

¹⁵And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul said, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answers me no more, neither by prophets nor by dreams; therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known to me what I shall do.

¹⁶And Samuel said, Why then dost thou inquire of me, seeing Jehovah is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?

¹⁷And Jehovah has done for himself as he spoke by me; and Jehovah has rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbour, to David.

¹⁸Because thou didst not hearken to the voice of Jehovah, and didst not execute his fierce anger upon Amalek, therefore has Jehovah done this thing to thee this day.

¹⁹And Jehovah will also give Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines; and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me; the army of Israel also will Jehovah give into the hand of the Philistines.

²⁰And Saul fell straightway his full length on the earth, and was sore 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.

²¹And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said to him, Behold, thy bondmaid has hearkened to thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened to thy words which thou spokest to me.

²²And now, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy bondmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength when thou goest on thy way.

²³But he refused and said, I will not eat. Then his servants, and the woman also, compelled him, and he hearkened to their voice; and he arose from the earth and sat on the bed.

²⁴And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread thereof;

²⁵and she brought it near before Saul, and before his servants, and they ate. And they rose up and went away that night.

I Samuel 29

¹And the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek; and Israel encamped by the spring that is in Jizreel.

²And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands; and David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish.

³And the princes of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews? And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years, and I have found nothing in him since the day of his falling away to me to this day?

⁴But the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he may go again to his place where thou hast appointed him, that he go not down with us to the battle, that in the battle he be not an adversary to us; for wherewith should this fellow reconcile himself to his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?

⁵Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul smote his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

⁶And Achish called David, and said to him, As Jehovah liveth, thou art upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the camp is acceptable to me; for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming to me to this day; but thou art not acceptable to the lords.

⁷And now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.

⁸And David said to Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee to this day, that I should not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

⁹And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art acceptable to me, as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

¹⁰And now rise up early in the morning with thy master's servants that are come with thee; and rise ye early in the morning, and when ye have daylight, depart.

¹¹And 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 Jizreel.

I Samuel 30

¹And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the south, and upon Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire;

²and had taken the women captives that were in it; both great and small: they had put none to death, but had carried them off, and went on their way.

³And David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were taken captives.

⁴Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

⁵And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

⁶And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him; for the soul of all the people was embittered, every man because of his sons and because of his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.

⁷And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, Bring near to me, I pray thee, the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod near to David.

⁸And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he said to him, Pursue; for thou shalt assuredly overtake them and shalt certainly recover.

⁹So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor; and those that were left stayed behind.

¹⁰And David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to go over the torrent Besor.

¹¹And 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,

¹²and gave him a piece of fig-cake and two raisin-cakes, and he ate, and his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, for three days and three nights.

¹³And David said to him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.

¹⁴We made a raid against the south of the Cherethites, and against what belongs to Judah, and against the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.

¹⁵And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear to me by God, that thou wilt neither put me to death nor deliver me up into the hand of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.

¹⁶And he brought him down, and behold, they were spread over the whole land, 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.

¹⁷And David smote them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day; and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels, and fled.

¹⁸And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken: and David recovered his two wives.

¹⁹And there was nothing missed by them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil nor anything that they had taken: David brought all back.

²⁰And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before the other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

²¹And David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and whom they had left behind at the torrent Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him; and David drew near to the people and saluted them.

²²And all the wicked men, and men of Belial, of those that had gone with David, answered and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.

²³Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah has given us, who has preserved us, and given the troop that came against us into our hand.

²⁴And who will hearken to you in this matter? For as his share is that goes down to the battle, so shall his share be that abides by the baggage: they shall share alike.

²⁵And it was so from that day forward; and he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

²⁶And David came to Ziklag, and he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah:

²⁷to those in Bethel, and to those in south Ramoth, and to those in Jattir,

²⁸and to those in Aroer, and to those in Siphmoth, and to those in Eshtemoa,

²⁹and to those in Rachal, and to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those in the cities of the Kenites,

³⁰and to those in Hormah, and to those in Chor-ashan, and to those in Athach,

³¹and to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men went about.

I Samuel 31

¹And the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on mount Gilboa.

²And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines smote Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons.

³And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers came up with him; and he was much terrified by the archers.

⁴Then said Saul to his armour-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not; for he was much afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.

⁵And when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on his sword, and died with him.

⁶So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer, and all his men, that same day together.

⁷And when the men of Israel that were on this side of the valley, and they that were on this side of 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.

⁸And it came to pass the next day, that the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa.

⁹And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent them into the land of the Philistines round about, to announce the glad tidings in the houses of their idols, and to the people.

¹⁰And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

¹¹And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹²all 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 came to Jabesh, and burned them there.

¹³And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.