1 Samuel 16-31

EasyEnglish Bible

Samuel anoints David as king

16 The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Stop being sad about Saul. I have decided that he will no longer be the king of Israel. Fill your horn with olive oil and go.^[a] I am sending you to a man whose name is Jesse. He lives in Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to become king.’

² Samuel said, ‘If I go to do that, people will tell Saul about it. Then he will kill me.’

The Lord said, ‘Take a calf with you. Tell the people that you have come to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. ³ Then ask Jesse to come to the sacrifice. I will show you what to do after that. I will show you the person that you must anoint with the oil.’

⁴ Samuel obeyed the Lord. He went to Bethlehem. The leaders of the town went to meet Samuel, but they were very afraid. They asked him, ‘Have you come to visit us as a friend?’

⁵ Samuel replied, ‘Yes. I do not bring any trouble. I have come to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. Make yourselves clean. Then come to the sacrifice with me.’

Samuel made Jesse and his sons clean to worship the Lord. Then he took them with him to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they arrived, Samuel saw Jesse's son Eliab. Samuel thought, ‘I am sure that the Lord has chosen this man to be king.’

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at how handsome or how tall Eliab is. I have not chosen him. The Lord does not look at people in the way that people do. People look at the face and body of a person. But the Lord sees what they are like inside.’

⁸ Then Jesse called his son Abinadab. Jesse caused him to stand in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, ‘The Lord has not chosen this man either.’

⁹ Jesse caused his son Shammah to stand in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, ‘The Lord has not chosen this man.’

¹⁰ Jesse caused seven of his sons to stand in front of Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen any of these men.’

¹¹ Samuel asked Jesse, ‘Are those all of your sons?’

Jesse answered, ‘I have one more son. He is the youngest. He is taking care of my sheep.’

Samuel said, ‘Send someone to bring him here. We cannot continue to offer the sacrifice until he arrives.’

¹² So Jesse told his men to bring his youngest son for Samuel to see. This young man was handsome and strong and he had beautiful eyes.

The Lord said to Samuel, ‘I have chosen this man. Now anoint him as king.’

¹³ Samuel took the horn that was full of olive oil. He poured the oil over David's head to anoint him. Samuel did this in front of David's brothers. From that moment, the Spirit of the Lord came on David with great power.

Then Samuel returned to his home in Ramah.

David becomes Saul's servant

¹⁴ The Spirit of the Lord had now gone away from Saul. The Lord sent an evil spirit to Saul. It gave Saul trouble and fear in his mind.

¹⁵ Saul's servants said to him, ‘We know that God has sent an evil spirit which is giving you much trouble. ¹⁶ If you agree, we will look for a man who can make music on a harp. When the evil spirit gives you trouble, this man can make music. Then you will not feel so upset.’

¹⁷ Saul agreed and he said to his servants, ‘Find someone who can make good music with a harp. Then bring him to me.’

¹⁸ One of the servants said, ‘I know one man who can play a harp very well. He is one of Jesse's sons, who lives in Bethlehem. This man is a brave soldier. He speaks well and he is handsome. The Lord is with him.’

¹⁹ So Saul sent his men to Jesse with this message: ‘Tell your son David to come to me. That is your son who takes care of your sheep.’

²⁰ So Jesse took some loaves of bread, a bag with wine in it, and a young goat. He put them on the back of a donkey and he sent them to Saul with his son David.

²¹ David went to Saul. He became Saul's servant. Saul loved David. David carried Saul's armour for him. ²² Then Saul sent a message to Jesse. He said, ‘I am very pleased with David. Let him stay here as my servant.’

²³ So, when the evil spirit brought trouble to Saul, David made music on his harp. Then Saul would feel happier and the evil spirit would leave him.

David kills Goliath

17 The Philistine army came together. They were ready to fight the Israelites. They met together near Socoh, a town in Judah.^[b] They put up their tents at Ephes Dammim between Socoh and Azekah. ² Saul and the Israelite army put up their tents in the valley of Elah. The soldiers prepared to fight against the Philistines. ³ The Philistines were standing on one hill. The Israelites were on another hill. The valley was between the two armies.

⁴ The Philistines had a strong, brave soldier. His name was Goliath and he came from a town called Gath. He was nearly three metres tall! ⁵ He wore a helmet and armour that were made of bronze. The armour for his body weighed about 57 kilograms. ⁶ He had pieces of bronze to protect his legs. He had a bronze sword that he tied on his back. ⁷ He also carried a heavy spear. It was as thick as a tree. The iron point on the spear weighed about seven kilograms. A man who carried Goliath's shield walked in front of him.

⁸ Goliath stood up and he shouted to the Israelite soldiers, ‘Why have you all got ready to fight against us? I am the great soldier of the Philistine army. You serve Saul as his soldiers. Is that not true? So you must choose one of your men to come and fight against me. ⁹ If he can kill me in a fight, we Philistines will become your slaves. But if I knock him down and I kill him, then you Israelites will become our slaves.’

¹⁰ Then Goliath said, ‘I am not afraid of any of your soldiers! Choose one of your men and we will fight against each other.’

¹¹ King Saul and all the Israelite soldiers heard what Goliath said. It made them very upset and afraid.

¹² At this time, David's father Jesse was a very old man. Jesse belonged to the clan of Ephrathah. He came from Bethlehem town in Judah. He had e ight sons. ¹³ Jesse's three oldest sons had joined Saul's army to fight the war. They were Eliab, Jesse's oldest son, his second son, Abinadab, and his third son, Shammah. ¹⁴ David was Jesse's youngest son. While Jesse's three oldest sons were in Saul's army, ¹⁵ David would sometimes leave Saul and go back home to Bethlehem. He did that to take care of his father's sheep.

¹⁶ For 40 days, Goliath would stand up and insult the Israelite army every morning and every evening.

¹⁷ One day, Jesse said to his son David, ‘Take some food to your brothers in the army. Here is a large bag of grain that we have cooked, and ten loaves of bread. Take them quickly to the army camp. ¹⁸ Also take these ten pieces of cheese to the officer who leads their group of soldiers. Find out whether your brothers are well. Bring something back to me to show how they are. ¹⁹ They are in Elah Valley with Saul and the Israelite army, where they are fighting against the Philistines.’

²⁰ So David got up early the next morning. He left his father's sheep with another shepherd to take care of them. He did what his father had told him to do. He took the food to give to his brothers. When David arrived at the camp of the Israelite army, the soldiers were going out to fight. They were shouting their war songs while they went. ²¹ The Israelite army and the Philistine army stood in their places ready for the fight. They looked towards each other across the valley. ²² David gave his gifts to the officer who took care of the army's food. Then he ran to the place where the Israelite soldiers were standing. He said ‘hello’ to his brothers to see if they were well. ²³ While David was talking to his brothers, Goliath marched out from the Philistine army. He was the great Philistine soldier from Gath. As he came, Goliath was insulting the Israelites as he did every day. David heard what he said. ²⁴ When all the Israelite soldiers saw Goliath, they were very afraid. They ran away from him.

²⁵ The Israelites said to each other, ‘Look at this man! He is so strong! He comes every day to insult us. King Saul will give great riches to any man who can kill Goliath. The king will give his daughter to that man, for him to marry her. His family will never again have to pay taxes to the king.’

²⁶ David asked the men who were standing near him, ‘If someone kills this Philistine soldier and takes away the shame from Israel, what gift will he get? He is an unclean Philistine! He must stop insulting the army of our God, who lives for ever.’

²⁷ The men then told David what the king had promised to do. They said, ‘This is what the king will do to help the man who kills that Philistine soldier.’

²⁸ When David was speaking with the soldiers, his oldest brother, Eliab, heard him. He became angry with David. He asked David, ‘Why have you come here? You should be taking care of a few sheep in the wilderness. Who is taking care of them now? I know how proud you are! I know about your wicked ideas! You came here only to watch the battle.’

²⁹ David said, ‘Have I done anything wrong? I only asked a question.’

³⁰ So David went away and he asked other people the same question. All the men gave him the same answer. ³¹ Some of the soldiers went to King Saul and they told him what David had said. Saul told David to come to him.

³² David said to King Saul, ‘We should not be afraid of this Philistine! I am your servant. I am ready to go and fight against him.’

³³ Saul replied, ‘You could not fight against this strong Philistine. You are only a boy! He has been a brave soldier since he was a young man.’

³⁴ But David said to Saul, ‘Sir, I have been a shepherd who takes care of his father's sheep. Sometimes a lion or a bear would come to take a lamb from among the sheep. ³⁵ Then I would chase after the lion or the bear. I would knock it down and I would save the lamb from its mouth. If the wild animal turned to attack me, I would take hold of its neck. Then I would hit it and kill it. ³⁶ I have killed lions and bears like that. I will do the same to this unclean Philistine. He has insulted the army of our God, who lives for ever. ³⁷ The Lord has kept me safe from lions and bears. He will also save me from the power of this Philistine soldier.’

So Saul said to David, ‘Then do it! I pray that the Lord will help you.’

³⁸ Saul took his own clothes and armour and he put them on David. He put his bronze helmet on David's head. ³⁹ David tied Saul's sword on top of the armour. Then he tried to walk. But he had not worn heavy armour like that before.

So David said to Saul, ‘I cannot wear all this armour to fight. I have not used armour before.’ So David took it all off.

⁴⁰ Instead, David picked up his shepherd's stick. He picked up five round stones from the stream. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd's bag. He held his sling in his hand. Then he walked towards the Philistine soldier.

⁴¹ The Philistine slowly walked towards David. The man who was carrying his shield walked in front of him. ⁴² As he came nearer, the Philistine looked carefully at David. He saw that David was no more than a healthy, handsome boy. That made him laugh at David. ⁴³ He said to David, ‘Do you think that I am just a dog? Can you knock me down with a little stick?’ Then he prayed to his gods that they would curse David.

⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, ‘Come nearer to me. I will feed the birds and the wild animals with your dead body.’

⁴⁵ David said to him, ‘You have come to fight against me with a sword, a knife and a spear. But I come to fight against you with the authority of the Lord Almighty. He is the God who leads Israel's army, and you have insulted him! ⁴⁶ Today the Lord will make me strong to win against you. I will knock you down and I will cut off your head. Today I will feed the birds and the wild animals with the dead bodies of the Philistine soldiers. Then everyone on the earth will know that there is a God who takes care of Israel. ⁴⁷ The Lord does not need swords or spears to save his people. Everyone here will soon know that! The Lord is the one who fights our battles. He will put you under our power.’

⁴⁸ The Philistine soldier started to move nearer to David to attack him. David ran forward quickly to fight against him. ⁴⁹ David reached into his bag and he took out a stone. He put the stone into his sling and he threw it. The stone hit the Philistine man's head, above his eyes. It went in very deep. Goliath fell down with his face on the ground.

⁵⁰ In that way, David used a sling and a stone to win against the Philistine soldier. He knocked down the Philistine and he killed him. And David did not even hold a sword in his hand! ⁵¹ David then ran and stood over Goliath. He pulled Goliath's sword out and he killed him. Then he used it to cut off Goliath's head.

The Philistines saw that their best soldier was now dead. So they ran away.

⁵² When the soldiers from Israel and Judah saw what had happened, they chased after the Philistines. They shouted their war song as they ran. They chased the Philistines all the way to Gath, and then to the gates of Ekron town. The dead bodies of the Philistine soldiers were lying everywhere on the road to Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron.

⁵³ When the Israelite soldiers had finished chasing and killing the Philistines, they returned. They went into the Philistines' camp and they took their things for themselves. ⁵⁴ David picked up Goliath's head to take it to Jerusalem. But he put Goliath's weapons in his own tent.

⁵⁵ Saul had watched David when he went out to fight the strong Philistine soldier. Saul said to Abner, the leader of his army, ‘Tell me Abner, who is that young man? Who is his father?’

Abner replied, ‘My king, I cannot tell you a lie. I do not know who he is.’ ⁵⁶ The king said, ‘You must find out the name of that man's father.’

⁵⁷ When David returned after he had killed Goliath, Abner took him to Saul. David was still holding Goliath's head in his hand.

⁵⁸ Saul asked him, ‘Young man, who is your father?’ David answered, ‘I am the son of your servant Jesse, who lives in Bethlehem.’

18 David finished talking with Saul. After that, Saul's son Jonathan became a very good friend of David. Jonathan loved David as much as he loved his own life. ² Saul kept David with him from that day. He did not let David go home to his father's house. ³ Jonathan made a special promise to be David's friend, because he loved David as much as he loved his own life. ⁴ Jonathan took off his coat and he gave it to David. He also gave his armour to David, as well as his sword, his bow and his belt.

⁵ David did whatever Saul asked him to do. And he always did it well. So Saul made David an officer to lead his army. That made the soldiers happy, and it also pleased Saul's officers.

⁶ After David had killed the Philistine, Goliath, he and the soldiers returned to their homes. Women came out from all the towns in Israel to meet King Saul. The women were happy as they sang songs and they danced. They made music with tambourines and lyres. ⁷ They sang this song while they danced:

⁸ Saul did not like this song. He became very angry. He thought, ‘The women say that David has killed tens of thousands of men. But they say that I have only killed thousands of men. They will soon want David to be their king.’

⁹ After that, Saul was jealous of David and he watched David carefully.

¹⁰ The next day God caused an evil spirit to come and control Saul. Saul started to prophesy in his house. David was making music on his harp as he did every day. Saul had a spear in his hand. ¹¹ He threw the spear at David. He thought, ‘I will hit David so that it fixes him to the wall.’ He tried to do this twice, but David moved out of the way.

¹² The Lord was with David. But the Lord had left Saul. So Saul was afraid of David. ¹³ So Saul sent David away from him. He made David the leader of 1,000 soldiers. David led the soldiers into battles, but he always came back again.^{[c] 14} David won all his fights because the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ Saul saw that David was a great soldier. So he became more afraid of David. ¹⁶ All the people in Israel and Judah loved David because he led the army in their battles.

David marries Saul's daughter

¹⁷ Saul said to David, ‘Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I will let you marry her. But you must be a brave soldier and you must fight battles for the Lord.’ Saul thought to himself, ‘I will not have to kill David myself. The Philistines will do that.’

¹⁸ But David said to Saul, ‘I am not an important person. My family and my father's clan are not important either. I do not deserve to marry the king's daughter.’

¹⁹ When the time came for Merab to marry David, Saul told her to marry a different man. He gave her to Adriel from Meholah to be his wife.

²⁰ Saul had another daughter, Michal, and she loved David. When somebody told Saul about this, he was very happy. ²¹ He thought, ‘I will let David marry her. I will use her as a trap that will catch him. I will give the Philistines a chance to kill him.’ So Saul said to David, ‘Now you have another chance to marry one of my daughters.’

²² Saul told his servants to say secretly to David, ‘The king is pleased with you. His servants all like you. You should now marry the king's daughter.’

²³ Saul's servants said this to David. But David replied, ‘It is a great honour for someone to marry the king's daughter. But I am poor. I am not important enough.’^[d]

²⁴ Saul's servants told him what David had said. ²⁵ Saul said, ‘Tell David this: The king does not want David to pay money to marry the king's daughter. He can pay for her with the foreskins of 100 dead Philistines. Saul wants David to punish his enemies.’

In this way, Saul thought that he would use the Philistines to kill David.

²⁶ Saul's servants told David what Saul wanted. It made David happy to think that he could marry the king's daughter. Before the time for the wedding arrived, ²⁷ David and his men left their homes. They went and they killed 200 Philistines. David brought all their foreskins to Saul. David gave them to Saul so that he could marry the king's daughter. So Saul agreed to let David marry his daughter Michal.

²⁸ Saul realized that the Lord was with David. He knew that his daughter Michal loved David. ²⁹ So Saul became even more afraid of David. Saul was David's enemy for the rest of his life.

³⁰ The Philistine army continued to march out and attack the Israelites. Every time that they fought, David won more fights than any of Saul's other officers. So David became very famous.

Saul tries to kill David

19 Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan liked David very much. ² So he told David, ‘My father Saul is trying to kill you. Be careful tomorrow morning. Hide in a secret place and stay there. ³ I will go out with my father. I will stand with him in the field where you are hiding. I will talk to him about you. Then I will tell you what he says.’

⁴ Jonathan spoke to his father Saul. He said good things about David. He said to Saul, ‘The king should not do anything bad against David. David is your servant. He has not done anything that is bad against you. Everything that he does really helps you. ⁵ David was not afraid to die when he fought against the Philistine, Goliath. When David killed Goliath, the Lord helped Israel to win a great battle. When you saw it, you were very happy. So why do you now want to kill David? He is not guilty of anything that is wrong. You have no reason to kill him.’

⁶ Saul agreed with Jonathan. He made a promise in the Lord's name that he would not kill David. ⁷ Then Jonathan called to David. He told David everything that the king had said. Jonathan took David back to Saul. So David served King Saul as he had done before.

⁸ The war with the Philistines started again. David went out with his soldiers to fight against them. He attacked them so strongly that the Philistine soldiers ran away.

⁹ Then the Lord caused an evil spirit to control Saul. Saul was sitting in his house. He had a spear in his hand. David was making music with his harp. ¹⁰ Saul threw his spear at David. He wanted to fix David to the wall. But David moved out of the way and the spear hit the wall. That night, David ran away to escape from Saul.

¹¹ Saul sent some of his servants to watch David's house. Saul told them to kill David when he came out in the morning. But David's wife Michal warned him. She said, ‘You must run away tonight. If you do not escape, tomorrow you will die!’ ¹² So Michal helped David to leave the house through a window. He ran away and he escaped.

¹³ Then Michal took an idol and she put it on the bed. She covered the idol with a blanket and she put a pillow of goat's hair at its head.

¹⁴ Saul sent some of his men to take hold of David. Michal told them that David was ill. ¹⁵ Saul then told the men to go back to David's house. He said to them, ‘Bring David to me on his bed. Then I will kill him.’ ¹⁶ The men returned to David's house. They found the idol on the bed and the pillow of goat's hair at its head.

¹⁷ Saul said to Michal, ‘You have deceived me! You have helped my enemy to escape!’ Michal said to him, ‘David told me that I must help him to escape. He said that he would kill me if I did not help him.’

¹⁸ David ran away and he escaped from Saul. He went to visit Samuel at Ramah. David told Samuel everything that Saul had done to him. Then David and Samuel went to live in Naioth.^[e]

¹⁹ Somebody told Saul that David was living at Naioth in Ramah. ²⁰ So Saul sent men to take hold of David. When the men arrived, they saw a group of prophets. Samuel was their leader. They were all prophesying. Then the Spirit of God came on Saul's men. They also started to prophesy. ²¹ When people told Saul about this, he sent more men to Naioth. But they prophesied too. So Saul sent a third group of men. These men also started to prophesy.

²² Then Saul himself went to Ramah. He went as far as the large well at Secu. He asked the people, ‘Where are Samuel and David?’ The people replied, ‘They are at Naioth in Ramah.’

²³ Saul went to Naioth. The Spirit of God came on him also. He started to prophesy as he walked towards Naioth. ²⁴ When he met Samuel, he took off his clothes and he continued to prophesy. He lay on the ground with no clothes all that day and all that night. So people still say, ‘Has Saul really become one of the prophets?’

Jonathan helps David

20 Then David ran away from Naioth at Ramah. He went to Jonathan and he asked him, ‘What bad things have I done? What have I done to hurt your father? Why is he trying to kill me?’

² Jonathan replied, ‘No. You will not die. My father tells me everything that he does, even the little things. So it is not true that he is trying to kill you. He would not hide this from me.’

³ But David answered, ‘Your father knows that you like me very much. He has decided that he will not tell you. He does not want to make you upset. I promise that my words are true, as truly as the Lord lives and you live. I know that I am very near to death.’

⁴ Jonathan said to David, ‘I will do anything that you want me to do for you.’

⁵ David said to Jonathan, ‘Tomorrow we have a special meal because of the new moon.^[f] I should go and eat this meal with the king. Instead, let me go and hide in the field. I will stay there until the third evening. ⁶ Your father may see that I am not at the meal. If he does, say to him, “David asked me to let him go to his home in Bethlehem. His family offer a sacrifice there at this time every year.” ⁷ Your father may say, “That is good.” If he says that, I will know that I am safe. But if he becomes very angry, we will know that he has decided to hurt me. ⁸ Jonathan, please show that you love me. The Lord knows about the promise that you made, to be my friend. If I am guilty of a sin, please kill me yourself. Do not let your father kill me.’

⁹ Jonathan said, ‘No, that will never happen! If I ever find out that my father wants to kill you, I will surely tell you.’

¹⁰ David asked Jonathan, ‘If your father answers you in an angry way, who will tell me?’ ¹¹ Jonathan said, ‘Come with me into the field.’ So they went there together.

¹² Then Jonathan said to David, ‘I make this promise to you, and the Lord, Israel's God, knows that it is true. Tomorrow or the next day I will find out what my father is thinking about you. If he is feeling friendly to you, I will send someone to tell you. ¹³ But if my father wants to hurt you, I will tell you clearly. I ask the Lord to punish me, if I do not tell you. I will help you to escape and be safe. I pray that the Lord will bless you, as he blessed my father. ¹⁴ While I am still alive, please be kind to me. Continue to love me, as the Lord loves his people. And if I die, ¹⁵ continue to be kind to my family. Even when the Lord removes every one of your enemies from the earth, do not forget about my family.’

¹⁶ So Jonathan made an agreement with David's family. He said, ‘I am asking the Lord to destroy all David's enemies.’ ¹⁷ Jonathan asked David to promise again that they would be friends. That was because Jonathan loved David as much as he loved his own life.

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to David, ‘Tomorrow we will have the special meal because of the new moon. Nobody will be sitting in your seat, so people will know that you are not there. ¹⁹ The day after tomorrow, go back to the place where you hid the other time. Wait beside the rock called Ezel. ²⁰ I will shoot three arrows towards the rock to see where they go. ²¹ Then I will send a boy to find the arrows. If you are not in danger I will say to the boy, “The arrows are on this side of you. Come and bring them here.” That will mean that you are safe. You can then come out from the place where you are hiding. As surely as the Lord lives, I promise that you will not be in trouble. ²² But if I say to the boy, “Look, the arrows are beyond you,” you must run away. It will mean that the Lord has sent you away. ²³ But never forget the promise that we have made to each other. The Lord will make sure that we are faithful to each other.’

²⁴ So David hid in the field. At the time of the new moon, the king sat down to eat the special meal. ²⁵ He sat beside the wall in his usual place. Jonathan sat with his face towards him. Abner sat beside the king. David's seat was empty. ²⁶ Saul did not say anything about it that day. He thought, ‘Perhaps something has happened to David that has made him unclean. I am sure that is why he is not here.’^{[g] 27} The next day after the new moon, David's seat was still empty at the meal. So Saul said to his son Jonathan, ‘Why has Jesse's son not come to the meal? He did not come yesterday or today.’

²⁸ Jonathan answered, ‘David asked me very strongly to let him go to Bethlehem. ²⁹ He said, “Please let me go. My family is offering a sacrifice to God in the town. My brother told me that I must be there. If you agree as my friend, let me go to visit my brothers.” That is why David has not come to eat this meal with the king.’

³⁰ Saul became very angry with Jonathan. He said, ‘You stupid man! I see that you have turned against me! You have become a friend of that son of Jesse. You have brought shame on yourself. Your mother should be ashamed that she gave birth to you! ³¹ You will never rule as king while that son of Jesse is still alive. Send men to go and bring him to me now. He must die!’^[h]

³² Jonathan said to his father, King Saul, ‘Why must David die? What wrong thing has he done?’

³³ Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan and tried to kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father had decided to kill David. ³⁴ Jonathan was very angry. He got up from the table. He did not eat anything on that second day of the special meal. He was very upset because his father had insulted David.

³⁵ The next morning, Jonathan went out to the field to meet David. He took a young boy with him. ³⁶ He said to the boy, ‘I will shoot some arrows. You must run and find them.’ While the boy was running, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. ³⁷ The boy ran to the place where the arrow had reached. Jonathan shouted to him, ‘I think that the arrow is beyond you.’ ³⁸ Then he shouted, ‘Hurry now! Go quickly. Do not wait.’ The boy picked up the arrow and he brought it back to Jonathan. ³⁹ (The boy did not understand what this meant. Only Jonathan and David knew.) ⁴⁰ Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows back to the boy. He said to the boy, ‘Go now and take these things back to the town.’

⁴¹ When the boy had left, David came out from beside the rock. He went down on his knees in front of Jonathan. He bent down on the ground three times. Then David and Jonathan kissed each other and they wept. David wept even more than Jonathan did.

⁴² Jonathan said to David, ‘Go now and God will keep you safe. We have promised each other in the Lord's name that we will always be friends. The Lord will watch us to make sure that we always keep this promise. He will watch our descendants too, for ever.’

Then David left. Jonathan returned to the town.

David goes to the town of Nob

21 David went to visit Ahimelech the priest. He lived in the town of Nob.^[i] Ahimelech shook with fear when he saw David. He asked David, ‘Why are you alone? Why is nobody with you?’^[j]

² David answered, ‘The king has asked me to do something special. He said to me, “Do not tell anyone where I have sent you. Do not say what I have told you to do.” So I have sent my soldiers to wait for me at a certain place. ³ Do you have anything to eat here? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else that you have.’

⁴ The priest answered David, ‘I do not have any ordinary bread that I can give to you. There is only the special holy bread. You can take it for your men to eat only if they have not had sex with women.’

⁵ David replied, ‘We have not been near women since we left our homes. The young men always keep themselves clean, even on ordinary journeys. So for today's important journey, they will certainly be clean.’

⁶ So the priest gave the holy bread to David because he did not have any other bread. This was the bread which had been on the table in the Lord's tent. The priest would take it from there each day and he would put hot, fresh bread in its place.

⁷ One of Saul's servants was there that day. His name was Doeg. He came from Edom. He was the leader of Saul's shepherds. He was staying in Nob to make offerings to the Lord.

⁸ David asked the priest, Ahimelech, ‘Is there any sword or spear here that I could take? The king sent me quickly to do an important job. So I left home without my sword or any other weapon.’

⁹ Ahimelech answered, ‘The sword of Goliath the Philistine is here. After you killed him in the valley of Elah, we kept the sword here. We covered it with a cloth and we put it behind the ephod. If you want it, you can take it. We do not have any other weapon except that one.’

David said, ‘Give it to me. There is no sword as good as that one.’

David goes to Gath

¹⁰ So on that day, David escaped from Saul. He went to Gath and he visited King Achish there. ¹¹ The servants of King Achish said to him, ‘This man is David, the king of his country! The people sing this song about him when they dance:

¹² David thought carefully about what King Achish's servants were saying. It caused him to be very afraid of Achish, king of Gath. ¹³ So when David was with them, he pretended to be crazy. He made marks with his fingers on the doors of the city's gate. He let water run out of his mouth and go down his beard.

¹⁴ King Achish said to his servants, ‘Look at this man! He is completely crazy! Why did you bring him to me? ¹⁵ I have enough fools around me already. I do not need to see this crazy man as well. Keep him away from my house.’

David at Adullam and Mizpah

22 Then David left Gath and he went to a cave near Adullam.^[l] His brothers and his father's family discovered where he had gone. So they all went to visit him. ² Everybody who had trouble went to stay with David. People who had debts and those who were angry also went to him. About 400 men went to be with David and he became their leader.

³ David then went to Mizpah, a town in the land of Moab. David said to the king of Moab, ‘Please let my father and my mother stay with you for a short time. I need to learn what God will do to help me.’ ⁴ So David left his parents to stay with the king of Moab. They stayed with the king all the time that David was hiding near there.

⁵ The prophet Gad said to David, ‘Do not stay and hide here. Go to the land of Judah.’ So David left his safe place and he went to Hereth forest.

Saul kills Ahimelech's family at Nob

⁶ One day, Saul was on the hill near Gibeah. He was sitting under a tamarisk tree. He was holding a spear. All his officers stood round him. Then someone told Saul that they knew where David and his men were hiding. ⁷ Saul said to his officers, ‘Listen to me, you men of Benjamin's tribe. Do you really think that this son of Jesse will give fields and vineyards to all of you? Will he make you all officers and leaders in his army? No! ⁸ So why are you trying to deceive me? None of you told me when my own son promised to be a friend of this son of Jesse. You do not feel sorry for me. Now my son is helping one of my own servants to attack me! Yes, he is waiting for his chance to kill me!’

⁹ Doeg, the man from Edom, was standing there with Saul's officers. He said, ‘I saw that son of Jesse when he came to Nob town. He visited Ahitub's son, Ahimelech. ¹⁰ Ahimelech asked the Lord what David should do. Then he gave some food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine to David.’

¹¹ Then King Saul told his men to fetch Ahitub's son, Ahimelech, the priest. They also brought all his father's family who were priests at Nob. They all came to the king.

¹² Saul said to Ahimelech, ‘Listen to me, son of Ahitub.’ Ahimelech answered, ‘I am listening, my king.’

¹³ Saul said to him, ‘You and this son of Jesse have been trying to kill me! You gave him bread and a sword. You prayed to God on his behalf. Now, at this moment, he is waiting for his chance to kill me!’

¹⁴ Ahimelech answered the king, ‘David is the most faithful servant that you have. He is your daughter's husband. He is the captain of the soldiers who keep you safe. Everyone in your house respects him. ¹⁵ I have often prayed to God on David's behalf. This was not the first time. King Saul, do not say that my family or I have done anything wrong. I do not know anything about what is happening.’

¹⁶ But King Saul said, ‘Ahimelech, you must die, together with all your family.’

¹⁷ Then the king said to the guards who were near him, ‘Now kill the Lord's priests! They have been helping David. They knew that he was running away from me. But they did not tell me.’ But the king's officers refused to hurt the Lord's priests.

¹⁸ So the king said to Doeg, ‘You must kill the priests.’ So Doeg, the man from Edom, killed the priests that same day. He killed 85 priests who wore linen ephods. ¹⁹ He also killed all the people in Nob, which was the town where the priests lived. He killed the men and women, children and babies. He also killed the cows, donkeys and sheep.

²⁰ But one man called Abiathar escaped. He was one of Ahimelech's sons. Abiathar ran away to see David. ²¹ Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord's priests. ²² David said to him, ‘When I went to see your father at Nob, Doeg was there too. I knew that he would tell Saul about me. So I have caused the death of everybody in your father's family. ²³ Please stay here with me. Do not be afraid. Saul wants to kill you and he wants to kill me too. You will be safe with me.’

David saves Keilah town

23 The Philistines were attacking the town of Keilah.^[m] They were taking away the grain that the people had brought from their fields. Someone told David about this. ² So David asked the Lord, ‘Should I go and attack those Philistines?’

The Lord answered him, ‘Go and attack the Philistines. Save Keilah town.’

³ But David's men said to him, ‘We are afraid when we are here in Judah. If we go to attack the Philistine army at Keilah, we will be in even more danger.’ ⁴ So David asked the Lord again. The Lord answered again, ‘Go to Keilah. I will put the Philistines under your power.’

⁵ So David and his men went to Keilah. They fought against the Philistines and they killed many of them. Also, they took away their animals. In that way, David saved the people who lived in Keilah.

⁶ When Ahimelech's son Abiathar had run away, he had come to David at Keilah. And he had brought the priests' ephod with him.

David escapes from Saul again

⁷ Someone told Saul that David was now at Keilah. Saul said, ‘God has now put David under my power. David has gone into a town that has high walls and strong gates. He will not be able to leave that place.’^{[n] 8} So Saul called his army to join him. They prepared to go to Keilah and to attack David and his men.

⁹ Somebody told David that Saul was preparing to attack him. David said to Abiathar the priest, ‘Bring the ephod here.’ ¹⁰ David prayed, ‘Lord, Israel's God. I am your servant. I have heard news that Saul is preparing to attack Keilah. He wants to destroy this town because I am here. ¹¹ Will the leaders in Keilah give me to Saul? Will Saul really come here, as I have heard that he will? Lord, Israel's God, please tell me what will happen.’ The Lord said, ‘Saul will come.’

¹² David asked the Lord again, ‘Will the leaders in Keilah give me and my men to Saul?’ The Lord said, ‘They will do that.’^[o]

¹³ So David and his 600 men left Keilah. They moved around to stay in different places. People told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah. So Saul decided that he would not go there.

¹⁴ David stayed in places where he would be safe. They were in the desert, and in the hill country of Ziph.^[p] Saul always tried to find David. But God did not let Saul catch David.

¹⁵ David was at Horesh in the Ziph Desert. He heard news that Saul was coming there to kill him. ¹⁶ Saul's son, Jonathan, went to visit David at Horesh. He told David to be brave, because God would keep him safe. ¹⁷ Jonathan said to David, ‘Do not be afraid. My father will never be able to hurt you. You will be the next king to rule over Israel. I will be your most important officer. My father Saul also knows that is true.’

¹⁸ Jonathan and David promised again in the Lord's name that they would be faithful friends of one another. Then Jonathan went to his home. David stayed at Horesh.

¹⁹ Some people from Ziph went to visit Saul at Gibeah. They said to Saul, ‘David is hiding among our people. He is on Hakilah hill, south of Jeshimon. He is hiding in the Horesh hills. ²⁰ Now, King Saul, we know that you want to catch David. So you can come to our land at any time. We will help you to catch him.’

²¹ Saul replied, ‘I ask the Lord to bless you, because you have been kind to me. ²² Do a bit more to help me now. Make sure that you know where he is. Find the people who have seen him there. I have heard that David is very clever. ²³ Find all the places where he hides. When you know all about him, come back and tell me. Then I will come with you. If he is still in that region, I will surely find him. I will look through all the land of Judah and I will catch him.’

²⁴ So the people returned to Ziph before Saul himself went there. David and his men were in the Maon Desert. This was south of Jeshimon, in the Jordan Valley. ²⁵ Saul and his men started to look for David. But David heard about this. So he and his men went to hide at a great rock in the Maon Desert. When Saul heard about this, he and his men went into the Maon Desert to find David.

²⁶ Saul and his men were going along one side of the mountain. David and his men were on the other side of the mountain. They were moving quickly to escape from Saul. Saul and his men were getting very near to David and his men. They would soon catch them.

²⁷ But then a man arrived with a message for Saul. He said to Saul, ‘Come quickly. The Philistines are attacking our land!’ ²⁸ So Saul stopped chasing after David. Instead, he went to fight against the Philistines. So people call that place ‘The rock where they escaped’.

²⁹ David left that place. He went to hide in the safe places at En Gedi.

David refuses to kill Saul

24 When Saul had finished fighting against the Philistines, he returned to his home. Someone told him that David was in the desert at En Gedi. ² So Saul chose 3,000 of the best soldiers in Israel. They went to look for David and his men near Wild Goat Rocks.

³ Saul came to the place near the road where the shepherds keep their sheep. There was a cave near to this place. Saul went in there to use it as a toilet.

David and his men were hiding at the back of the same cave. ⁴ David's men said to him, ‘This is the day that the Lord told you about! The Lord said to you, “I will give your enemy to you. Then you can decide what is the right thing to do to him.” ’ So David stood up very quietly. He went and he cut off a small piece of cloth from Saul's coat. Saul did not know what had happened.

⁵ After that, David thought that he had done something wrong. He felt sorry that he had cut a piece of cloth from Saul's coat. ⁶ David said to his men, ‘I ask the Lord to stop me doing anything wrong to my master. The Lord has chosen him to be Israel's king. I must never do anything to hurt him. He is the king that the Lord has chosen.’ ⁷ David spoke like this to stop his men from attacking Saul.

Then Saul left the cave and he started to travel along the road.

⁸ After that, David went out of the cave. He shouted to Saul, ‘My master and my king!’ Saul looked behind him. David went down on his knees with his face on the ground to respect the king. ⁹ David said to Saul, ‘You should not listen to the people who say, “David wants to hurt you.” ¹⁰ You can see that the Lord has kept you safe today when I had a chance to hurt you in the cave. Some of my men wanted me to kill you, but I did not agree. I said, “I will not hurt my master, because the Lord has chosen him to be king.” ¹¹ My father, look at what I have in my hand! It is a small piece of your coat. I cut this off the corner of your coat, but I did not kill you. So you must know that I do not want to do anything bad against you. I have not turned against you. I am not guilty of anything, but you are chasing after me so that you can kill me. ¹² The Lord is the judge who will decide which of us is guilty. I pray that he will punish you for what you are doing to me. But I myself will never do anything to hurt you. ¹³ You know the proverb, “Evil people do evil things.” But I will never try to hurt you. ¹⁴ You are Israel's king. So why are you chasing after someone like me? I am less important than a dead dog or a little fly! ¹⁵ The Lord will be the judge to decide who is right. I pray that he will see that I am not guilty. I pray that he will save me from your power.’

¹⁶ When David stopped speaking, Saul said, ‘Is that really you, David my son?’ Then Saul started to weep loudly. ¹⁷ He said to David, ‘You are a better man than I am. You have been kind to me even when I have tried to hurt you. ¹⁸ You have shown me today how kind you have been to me. The Lord gave you a chance to hurt me, but you did not kill me. ¹⁹ If someone catches his enemy, he does not let him escape. But you have not tried to hurt me today. So I ask that the Lord will bless you in return. ²⁰ I know that you will be the king of Israel one day. The kingdom will be strong when you rule. ²¹ So promise me in the Lord's name that you will not kill any of my descendants. Please make sure that people do not forget my family's name.’

²² So David made a strong promise to Saul. Then Saul returned to his home. But David and his men went back to the place where they had been hiding.

Samuel dies

25 Then Samuel died. All the Israelites met together and they were very sad. Then they buried Samuel at his home in Ramah.

David went down to the Paran desert.

Nabal insults David

^2-3 There was a very rich man who lived at Maon. His name was Nabal. He was a descendant of Caleb. His wife's name was Abigail. She was wise and beautiful. But Nabal was a cruel man who did evil things.

Nabal had some land near Carmel. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. He was with his men in Carmel as they cut the wool from his sheep.

⁴ While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was cutting the wool from his sheep. ⁵ So David sent ten young men to meet with Nabal. He said to them, ‘Go to Carmel and find Nabal. Tell him that David says “hello”. ⁶ Then give him this message: “We hope that you and your family are all well. We hope that everything you have is doing well. ⁷ David has heard that you are now cutting the wool from your sheep. When your shepherds were with us near Carmel, we did not hurt them. We did not take anything from them. ⁸ Your servants will tell you that, if you ask them. Now we have come to you at this special holiday time. So please be kind to the young men that David has sent to see you. They are your servants as well as his servants. Please give any extra food that you have to these young men and to your good friend David.” ’

⁹ David's men went to Carmel. They gave David's message to Nabal. They waited for Nabal to reply. ¹⁰ Nabal answered David's young men, ‘Who is this David? Do I know this son of Jesse? Many servants run away from their masters these days. ¹¹ I have food and drink for the men who are cutting the wool from my sheep. I have cooked meat for them to eat. But I will not give anything to you. You might have come from anywhere!’

¹² David's young men left Nabal. They returned to David and they told him everything that Nabal had said. ¹³ David said to his men, ‘Tie your swords onto your belts.’ So they all did that. David put his sword on his belt too. About 400 men went with David. About 200 men stayed at their camp.

¹⁴ One of Nabal's servants spoke to Nabal's wife, Abigail. He said to her, ‘David sent some of his men from the desert to say “hello” to our master. But our master insulted them. ¹⁵ David's men have been very kind to us. When we were with them in the fields, they did not hurt us. They did not take anything from us the whole time that we were there. ¹⁶ They kept us safe while we took care of Nabal's sheep. They kept us safe all the time, during the day and at night. ¹⁷ So please think carefully about this. Decide what you can do. If you do nothing, there will be great trouble for our master and all his family and servants. He is such a wicked man that he will not listen to anyone.’

¹⁸ Abigail quickly got some food. She got 200 loaves of bread, two leather bags of wine, five sheep that she had cooked, and five jars of grain that she had cooked. She also got 100 blocks of raisins and 200 blocks of dried figs. She put all these things on some donkeys. ¹⁹ She said to her servants, ‘You go first and I will follow you.’ But she did not tell her husband Nabal what she was doing.

²⁰ Abigail rode her donkey along the path beside a mountain. Then she saw David and his men as they were coming towards her. So they all met each other. ²¹ David had just said to his men, ‘I kept Nabal's people and all his things safe in the desert. We did not take anything from him. But that has not helped us. I was kind to him, but he has done an evil thing to me in return. ²² I pray that God will punish me if I do not kill all the men in Nabal's family by tomorrow morning.’

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey. She bent her body down low on the ground to respect David. ²⁴ She lay down at his feet. She said to David, ‘My master, I am the one who is guilty. I am your servant. Please let me say something and please listen to me. ²⁵ Please sir, do not think about that wicked man Nabal. His name means “fool” and he really is a fool. But as for me, I did not see the young men that you sent.

²⁶ I know this as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live: The Lord has stopped you from killing anyone today. You could have done that, but he has not let you do it. I pray that God will punish all your enemies in the same way that he will punish Nabal. ²⁷ My master, please accept these gifts that I have brought for you and for your men. ²⁸ I am your servant. Please forgive me for any sin. I know that the Lord will always choose someone from your family to be Israel's king. The Lord will do that because you fight battles on his behalf. I pray that you will not do any evil thing in your whole life. ²⁹ People may chase after you and try to kill you. But the Lord your God will always keep you safe. He will throw your enemies away like someone who throws a stone from his sling. ³⁰ The Lord will surely do for you all the good things that he has promised to do. He will make you the ruler of the Israelites. ³¹ When that happens, you will not feel sorry for something bad that you might have done today. You could have killed people today for no good reason. You could have tried to punish these people yourself. So please remember me when the Lord has helped you to rule as king.’

³² David said to Abigail, ‘I praise the Lord, Israel's God. He has sent you to meet me here today. ³³ I thank you for your wisdom. May the Lord bless you because of what you have done to help me. You have stopped me from killing people today. I would have punished these people myself. ³⁴ But the Lord has not let me hurt you. As surely as the Lord, Israel's God, lives, I would have killed all the men in Nabal's family before dawn. But you came quickly to meet me.’

³⁵ David accepted Abigail's gifts that she had brought with her. He said to her, ‘Go back to your home and do not be afraid. I have listened to what you have said. I will do what you have asked for.’

Nabal dies

³⁶ Abigail returned to her husband, Nabal. He was eating a big feast with people in his house. It was as good as a king's feast. Nabal was happy and drunk. So Abigail did not tell him anything until the next morning.

³⁷ The next morning, Nabal was no longer drunk. So Abigail told him about everything that she had done. Nabal's heart failed. His body became like a stone. ³⁸ About ten days after that, the Lord caused Nabal to die.

³⁹ David heard the news that Nabal had died. He said, ‘I praise the Lord. He has shown that I was right. Nabal insulted me but the Lord has punished him for that. The Lord stopped me from doing an evil thing. Now he has punished Nabal for the evil thing that he did.’

Then David sent a message to Abigail to ask her to marry him. ⁴⁰ David's servants went to Carmel. They said to Abigail, ‘David has sent us to you. We must take you back with us to become his wife.’

⁴¹ Abigail bent her body down low so that her face touched the ground. She said, ‘I am happy to be David's servant. I am ready to wash the feet of his servants.’

⁴² Abigail quickly prepared her donkey to go with David's men. She took with her five young girls to be her servants. Abigail went to David and she became his wife.

⁴³ David had already married Ahinoam from Jezreel town. So these two women became his wives. ⁴⁴ Saul's daughter Michal had been David's wife. But Saul had then given her to Palti as his wife. Palti was the son of Laish, who came from Gallim town.

David again refuses to kill Saul

26 Some men from Ziph went to visit Saul at Gibeah. They said to him, ‘David is hiding on Hakilah hill, which is across the valley from Jeshimon.’

² So Saul went to the desert of Ziph to look for David. He took 3,000 strong Israelite soldiers with him. ³ Saul and his men arrived at Hakilah hill, near Jeshimon, where David was hiding. They put up their tents beside the road. David heard the news that Saul had followed him into the desert. ⁴ So David sent some men to see if that was true. They discovered that Saul had arrived at Hakilah.

⁵ One night, David went secretly to Saul's camp. Saul was asleep in the middle of the tents. The leader of his army, Ner's son Abner, was with him. He was asleep too. The army was all around them. David could see all this.

⁶ David spoke to two of his men. One of them was Ahimelech, a Hittite man. The other man was Abishai, who was Joab's brother (Zeruiah was their mother). David asked them, ‘Which one of you will go down into Saul's camp with me?’^[q]

Abishai said, ‘I will come with you.’

⁷ So David and Abishai went among Saul's army that night. They saw that Saul was asleep in the middle of the camp. He had pushed his spear into the ground near his head. Abner and the army were asleep around Saul. ⁸ Abishai said to David, ‘Tonight God has given your enemy into your power. I will push Saul's spear through his body and fix him to the ground. I will only have to do it once to kill him. I will not need to do it again.’

⁹ But David said to Abishai, ‘Do not kill Saul. He is the man that the Lord has chosen to be Israel's king. Anyone who attacks him will be guilty of a sin. ¹⁰ I know that the Lord himself will kill Saul one day. Saul may die when he has reached the age to die. Or someone may kill him in a battle. He will certainly come to his end. ¹¹ But I ask the Lord to stop me from hurting him, because he is the Lord's chosen king. Take the spear and the jar of water that are near Saul's head. We must leave here now!’

¹² So David took the spear and the jar of water from beside Saul's head. Then they left. Nobody saw them. Nobody knew that they had been in the camp. Nobody woke up. Saul's soldiers continued to sleep because the Lord caused it to happen.

¹³ David and Abishai then went across the valley to the other side of the hill. David stood on the top of the hill. He was far away from Saul's soldiers. ¹⁴ David shouted to Saul's army and to Ner's son, Abner, ‘Abner, wake up! Answer me!’

Abner replied, ‘Who is shouting to wake up the king? Who are you?’

¹⁵ David said to Abner, ‘Are you really the bravest soldier in Israel? You should have kept the king safe. Someone came into your camp to kill your master. ¹⁶ You have not done your job well. You and your men have not protected your master, who is the Lord's chosen king. As surely as the Lord lives, you all deserve to die. The king's spear and his water pot were beside his head. Look where they are now!’

¹⁷ Saul recognized David's voice. He said, ‘Is that you David, my son?’

David answered, ‘Yes, my master and my king, it is my voice that you can hear.’

¹⁸ David also said, ‘Why are you chasing after me, my master? What have I done that is wrong? Why am I guilty? ¹⁹ My master and my king, please listen to me. Has the Lord made you angry with me? If that is true, a sacrifice to him may change his thoughts. But if men have made you turn against me, I ask the Lord to curse them. They have chased me out of the land that belongs to the Lord's people. They have said to me, “Go away and worship other gods!” ²⁰ Do not let me die a long way away from the Lord's home. You are the king of Israel and I am like a small fly. But you are trying to catch me! You are like someone who is looking for a wild bird in the mountains!’

²¹ Then Saul said, ‘I have done a bad thing. Return home, David, my son. You chose not to kill me today, because you knew the value of my life. So I will not hurt you again. I have done foolish things. I have made a big mistake.’

²² David said, ‘Here is your own spear. Send one of your young men here to fetch it for you. ²³ The Lord wants everyone to do what is right and true. He blesses people who live like that. The Lord put you under my power today. But I would not agree to hurt the Lord's chosen king. ²⁴ Today I knew that your life is valuable. In the same way, I pray that the Lord will know that my life is valuable. I pray that he will keep me safe through all danger.’

²⁵ Then Saul said to David, ‘I pray that the Lord will bless you, my son. I know that you will do great things.’

So David left there and Saul returned to his home.

David lives among the Philistines

27 Then David thought, ‘I am sure that Saul will catch me one day. Then he will kill me. I must go to the country of the Philistines so that I will be safe from Saul. That is the best thing that I can do. When I am no longer in the land of Israel, Saul will stop looking for me here. I will escape from him.’

² So David and his 600 men went across the border of Israel to Gath town. Maoch's son Achish was the king there. ³ David and his men lived in Gath with King Achish. They had their families with them. David's two wives were with him: Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Abigail from Carmel. Abigail was Nabal's widow. ⁴ Saul heard the news that David had run away to Gath. So he stopped looking for David.

⁵ One day David said to Achish, ‘I hope that you are pleased with me. If you are, please choose a place for me to live in one of the small towns. I do not need to live in the same big city as the king.’

⁶ So on that day King Achish gave Ziklag town to David.^[r] Since then, Ziklag has always belonged to Judah's king. ⁷ David lived in the country of the Philistines for one year and four months.

⁸ During that time David and his men attacked the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. These tribes had lived in that place for a very long time. Their land went as far as Shur and the border of Egypt. ⁹ Whenever David's men attacked them, they killed all the men and women. But they took all their sheep, cows, donkeys and camels, as well as their clothes. Then they would return to see King Achish.

¹⁰ Achish would ask David, ‘Which place did you go and attack today?’ Sometimes David would say, ‘We robbed the people of a town in Judah's desert.’ Or David might say, ‘We attacked a town in the desert where the people of Jerahmeel's clan live.’ Or he might say, ‘We attacked a town in the desert where the Kenites live.’

¹¹ David killed all the people in the places that he attacked. He never took anyone back to Gath. He thought, ‘If any of the people are still alive, they might go to Gath and tell people what we have done.’

That is what David did for the whole time that he lived among the Philistines. ¹² So King Achish trusted David. He thought, ‘The Israelites must now hate David very much. So David will have to be my servant for ever.’

28 At that time, the Philistine army joined together to fight against the Israelites. King Achish said to David, ‘I hope you know that you and your men must fight with me in the battle.’

² David said, ‘Yes, sir. Then you will see how well I can fight!’

Achish replied, ‘Good. Then you will always be my guard to keep me safe.’

King Saul visits a woman who uses magic

³ Samuel had died before this. All the Israelites had been very sad at his death. They had buried him in Ramah, the town where he had lived. When Samuel had been alive, Saul had removed magicians from Israel. Saul removed everyone who used magic to speak to the spirits of dead people.

⁴ The Philistine army came together and they put up their tents at Shunem. Saul called together the whole Israelite army. They put up their tents at Gilboa. ⁵ Saul saw the camp of the Philistine army. He became very afraid. ⁶ Saul asked the Lord what he should do. But the Lord did not answer him in any way. He did not give Saul a dream. He did not use the Urim. He did not give a message to the prophets. ⁷ So Saul said to his servants, ‘Look for a woman who can talk to dead people. Then I will go and ask her what will happen.’

His servants replied, ‘There is a woman at Endor who can do that.’

⁸ Saul changed his clothes so that no one would recognize him. At night, Saul and two of his men went to see the woman. Saul said to her, ‘Use your magic to bring up the spirit of a certain dead man. I will tell you his name.’

⁹ But the woman said to him, ‘You know what King Saul has done. He has removed all the magicians from Israel. Are you using a trap to catch me? Do you want me to die?’

¹⁰ Then Saul promised the woman very strongly. He said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, nobody will punish you if you do this.’^[s]

¹¹ The woman said, ‘Who is it that you want me to bring for you?’ Saul replied, ‘Bring Samuel to me.’

¹² The woman screamed when she saw Samuel. She said to Saul, ‘You have deceived me! You are King Saul!’

¹³ The king said to her, ‘Do not be afraid. Tell me what you can see.’

She replied, ‘I can see a spirit that is coming up from the ground.’

¹⁴ Saul asked, ‘What does he look like?’ She said, ‘I see an old man who is wearing a long coat.’

Saul realized that this was Samuel. He bent down low on his knees with his face towards the ground.

¹⁵ Samuel said to Saul, ‘Why have you caused this trouble for me? Why have you brought me back?’

Saul said, ‘I have a lot of trouble. The Philistines are fighting against me. God has turned away from me. He will not use the prophets or give me dreams to answer my questions. So I have called you to come here. Please tell me what I should do.’

¹⁶ Samuel said, ‘The Lord has turned away from you and he has become your enemy. So do not ask me what you should do. ¹⁷ I told you what the Lord would do. Now he has done it! The Lord has taken the kingdom away from you. He has given it to another Israelite, David. ¹⁸ The Lord has punished you today because you did not obey him. The Lord was very angry with the Amalekites. He told you to destroy them all. But you refused to do that. ¹⁹ The Lord will put you and the Israelites under the power of the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me in the place for dead people. The Lord will also let the Philistines win against Israel's army.’

²⁰ Saul immediately fell down on the ground and he lay there. He was very afraid because of what Samuel had said. Saul was also very weak because he had eaten nothing all that day and night.

²¹ Then the woman came to Saul. She saw that he was very afraid. She said, ‘I have obeyed you, sir. I did what you asked me to do. I might have died because I did that. ²² Please listen to me now. I will give you some food to eat. Then you will be strong enough to travel back.’

²³ Saul refused and he said, ‘I will not eat.’ But the woman and Saul's servants continued to say that he must eat some food. So Saul agreed. He got up from the ground and he sat down on a bed.

²⁴ The woman had a fat calf at her home. She went quickly and she killed it. Then she took some flour and she cooked some flat bread without yeast. ²⁵ She gave the food to Saul and to his men and they ate it. Then they left her house that night.

The Philistine leaders will not have David in their army

29 The Philistine army put up their tents at Aphek. The Israelites made their camp near the spring of water at Jezreel. ² The Philistine rulers marched out with their groups of soldiers. They were in groups of 100 soldiers and 1,000 soldiers. David and his men were marching with King Achish at the back of the army. ³ The Philistine leaders asked, ‘Why are these Hebrew people here?’

Achish said to them, ‘This is David. He was the servant of Israel's King Saul. But he came to me more than a year ago. Since he turned against King Saul and came to me, he has always been faithful to me.’

⁴ But the Philistine leaders were angry with Achish. They said to him, ‘Send David back to the town that you gave to him. He must not go with us to fight the battle. He might turn against us and become our enemy. Then he would start to kill our own soldiers. That would make his master, Saul, very happy! ⁵ Remember who this man David is! The Israelites sing this about him when they dance:

⁶ So Achish called David to come to him. He said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, I know that I can trust you. I would like you to go with me to fight the battle. Since the first day that you came to me, I have never found anything wrong with you. But the other leaders do not trust you. ⁷ So return to your home and have peace in your mind. Do not do anything that will make the other Philistine leaders angry.’

⁸ David said to King Achish, ‘What have I done that is wrong? You say that you have found nothing wrong with me all the time that I have been with you. You are my master and king. So why should I not go with you to fight your enemies?’

⁹ Achish replied, ‘I believe that you are as good as an angel from God. But the Philistine leaders have said, “David must not go with us to fight the battle.” ¹⁰ So you must all get up early tomorrow morning. As soon as there is light at dawn, you must leave with the men who came with you.’

¹¹ So David and his men got up early in the morning. They returned along the road back to Ziklag. The Philistine army went to Jezreel.

David fights against the Amalekites

30 David and his men arrived at Ziklag three days after they left King Achish. They found that the Amalekites had attacked Ziklag and towns in the south of Judah. The Amalekites had destroyed Ziklag with fire. ² They had caught the women and the other people who were in the town, both young people and old people. They did not kill any of them, but they took them away as prisoners.^[t]

³ So when David and his men arrived at Ziklag, they saw that the Amalekites had destroyed the city. The Amalekites had taken away their wives, their sons and their daughters as prisoners. ⁴ David and his men wept loudly. They continued to weep until they had no strength to weep any more. ⁵ The Amalekites had taken both of David's wives: Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail from Carmel, who was Nabal's widow. ⁶ David was very upset because his men were complaining. They wanted to kill him with stones. His men were very upset because they had lost their sons and their daughters. But David trusted the Lord his God to make him strong.

⁷ Then David spoke to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son. David said to him, ‘Bring the priests' ephod to me.’ So Abiathar took the ephod to David. ⁸ David asked the Lord, ‘Should I chase after the men who attacked our town? Will I catch them?’

The Lord answered, ‘Yes, chase after them and you will certainly catch them. You will rescue your families.’^[u]

^9-10 So David and his 600 men left Ziklag. They arrived at Besor stream. Some of the men were too tired to go across the valley. So 200 men remained there.^[v] David and the other 400 men continued to chase after the Amalekites.

¹¹ David's men found an Egyptian man in a field. They took him to David. They gave the man some water to drink and food to eat. ¹² They gave him some dried figs and some raisins. Then he became stronger, because he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days.

¹³ David asked the man, ‘Who is your master? Where do you come from?’

The young man answered, ‘I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite man. My master left me here three days ago because I was ill. ¹⁴ We had attacked the south part of Judah, where the Kerethites live.^[w] We also attacked the land where the people of Caleb's clan live. We destroyed Ziklag with fire too.’

¹⁵ David said to him, ‘Can you take me to find these men?’

The man said, ‘Please promise me in God's name that you will not kill me. Promise me that you will not take me back to my master. If you do that, I will lead you to find them.’

¹⁶ So the Egyptian man took David to find the Amalekites. The men were sitting everywhere, all over the ground. They were having a party, eating and drinking. They were happy because they had taken so many things from the towns of the Philistines and from the people in Judah.

¹⁷ That evening, David attacked the Amalekites. The fight continued until the next evening. David and his men killed all the Amalekites except for 400 young men. Those 400 men rode away on their camels. ¹⁸ David got back everything that the Amalekites had taken. And he rescued his two wives. ¹⁹ The people had lost nothing. David brought everyone back, the young people and the old people, the sons and the daughters. He brought back all the valuable things and everything that the Amalekites had taken. ²⁰ David took all the sheep, goats and cows from the Amalekites. His men led these animals in front of the other animals. They said, ‘These animals will belong to David!’

²¹ David returned to the 200 men who had stayed beside the Besor stream. These men had been too tired to go with David. They came to meet David and the men who were with him. When David met them, he happily said ‘hello’ to them. ²² But some of the men who had gone with David were wicked and stupid. They said, ‘These men did not come with us to attack the Amalekites. So we will not give them any of the things that we have brought back. Each man can have only his wife and his children. Then they must take them back home.’

²³ David said, ‘No, my brothers. You cannot do that. The Lord has given all these things to us. He has kept us safe. He has helped us to win against the enemies who attacked us. ²⁴ Nobody will agree with what you say. Each person will receive an equal part. The men who stayed here with our things and the men who went to fight will all receive the same amount.’

²⁵ David made this a rule for the Israelites, and they still obey it.

²⁶ David arrived back at Ziklag with all the things that they had taken from the Amalekites. He sent some of the things to the leaders of Judah who were his friends. David sent this message, ‘Here is a gift for you. We took these things from the Lord's enemies.’

²⁷ David sent gifts to the leaders in these towns:

David also sent gifts to the people in the towns that he and his men had visited.

Saul and his sons die in the battle

31 The Philistines fought against the Israelites. The Israelites ran away, and the Philistines killed many of them on Gilboa mountain. ² The Philistines chased after Saul and his sons to catch them. They killed Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua.

³ The Philistines were fighting the battle all around Saul. Some of their soldiers saw Saul and they shot their arrows at him. The arrows hurt Saul very much and he was nearly dead. ⁴ He said to the young man who carried his armour, ‘Kill me now with your sword. I do not want these foreign men to be cruel to me as they kill me.’ But the young man would not agree to kill Saul because he was too afraid. So Saul took his own sword and he threw himself onto it so that he died. ⁵ The young man saw that Saul was dead. So he threw himself onto his own sword and he also died.

⁶ So Saul died there, with his three sons. The young man who carried Saul's armour and all Saul's men died too.

⁷ The Israelites who lived in the Jezreel valley and on the other side of the Jordan River saw what happened. They saw that the Israelite army had run away from the Philistines. They saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their towns and they ran away. Then the Philistines came to live in those towns.

⁸ The day after the battle, the Philistines came to take all the valuable things from the dead soldiers. They found the dead bodies of Saul and his three sons on Gilboa mountain. ⁹ They cut off Saul's head and they removed his armour. Then they sent men through all the country of the Philistines with the news of Saul's death. These men told the news everywhere that the Philistine people lived and in the temples of their idols. ¹⁰ They put Saul's armour in the temple of their god Ashtoreth. Then they hung Saul's dead body on the wall of Beth Shan town.^[x]

¹¹ The Israelites who lived in Jabesh Gilead heard about what the Philistines had done to Saul's body.^{[y] 12} So all their brave soldiers left Jabesh Gilead and they marched all night to Beth Shan. They removed the dead bodies of Saul and his sons from the town's wall. Then they took them to Jabesh Gilead. They burned the dead bodies there. ¹³ Then they took the bones and they buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh Gilead. The men did not eat any food for seven days because they were so sad.