Bible in 90 Days

16 Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “How much longer are you going to go on grieving for Sha’ul, now that I have rejected him as king over Isra’el? Fill your horn with oil, and set out; I will send you to Yishai the Beit-Lachmi, because I have chosen myself a king from among his sons.” ² Sh’mu’el said, “How can I go? If Sha’ul hears of it, he will have me killed.” Adonai said, “Take a female cow with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to Adonai.’ ³ Summon Yishai to the sacrifice. I will tell you what to do, and you are to anoint for me the person I point out to you.”

⁴ Sh’mu’el did what Adonai said and arrived at Beit-Lechem. The leaders of the city came trembling to meet him and asked, “Are you coming in peace?” ⁵ He answered, “In peace. I have come to sacrifice to Adonai. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” He consecrated Yishai and his sons and summoned them to the sacrifice. ⁶ When they had come, he looked at Eli’av and said, “This has to be Adonai’s anointed one, here before him.” ⁷ But Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “Don’t pay attention to how he looks or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. Adonai doesn’t see the way humans see — humans look at the outward appearance, but Adonai looks at the heart.” ⁸ Then Yishai called Avinadav and presented him to Sh’mu’el; but he said, “Adonai hasn’t chosen this one either.” ⁹ Yishai presented Shammah; again Sh’mu’el said, “Adonai hasn’t chosen this one either.” ¹⁰ Yishai presented seven of his sons to Sh’mu’el; but Sh’mu’el told Yishai, “Adonai has not chosen these. ¹¹ Are all your sons here?” Sh’mu’el asked Yishai. He replied, “There is still the youngest; he’s out there tending the sheep.” Sh’mu’el said to Yishai, “Send and bring him back, because we won’t sit down to eat until he gets here.” ¹² He sent and brought him in. With ruddy cheeks, red hair and bright eyes, he was a good-looking fellow. Adonai said, “Stand up and anoint him; he’s the one.” ¹³ Sh’mu’el took the horn of oil and anointed him there in his brothers’ presence. From that day on, the Spirit of Adonai would fall upon David with power. So Sh’mu’el set out and went to Ramah.

¹⁴ Now the Spirit of Adonai had left Sha’ul; instead, an evil spirit from Adonai would suddenly come over him. ¹⁵ Sha’ul’s servants said to him, “Do you notice that there’s an evil spirit from God that suddenly comes over you? ¹⁶ Let our lord now command your servants who are here with you to look for a man who knows how to play the lyre. Then, if the evil spirit from God comes over you, he will play; and it will do you good.” ¹⁷ Sha’ul said to his servants, “Find me a man who can play well, and bring him to me.” ¹⁸ One of the young men answered, “Here, I’ve seen one of the sons of Yishai the Beit-Lachmi who knows how to play. He’s a brave soldier, he can fight, he chooses his words carefully and he’s pleasant-looking. Besides, Adonai is with him.” ¹⁹ So Sha’ul sent messengers to Yishai saying, “Send me David your son, who is out with the sheep.” ²⁰ Yishai took a donkey, loaded it with bread, a bottle of wine and a kid, and sent them with David his son to Sha’ul. ²¹ David came to Sha’ul and presented himself to him. Sha’ul took a great liking to him and made him his armor-bearer. ²² Sha’ul sent a message to Yishai: “Please let David stay in my service, because I’m pleased with him.” ²³ So it was that whenever the [evil] spirit from God came over Sha’ul, David would take the lyre and play it, with the result that Sha’ul would find relief and feel better, as the evil spirit left him.

17 The P’lishtim rallied their troops for war, assembling at Sokhoh in Y’hudah and setting up camp between Sokhoh and ‘Azekah in Efes-Damim. ² Sha’ul and the men of Isra’el assembled, set up camp in the Elah Valley and drew up their battle line opposite the P’lishtim. ³ The P’lishtim occupied a position on one hill and Isra’el a position on another hill, with a valley between them.

⁴ There came out a champion from the camp of the P’lishtim named Golyat, from Gat, who was nine feet nine inches tall. ⁵ He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore a bronze armor plate weighing 120 pounds. ⁶ He had bronze armor protecting his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. ⁷ The shaft of his spear was as big as a weaver’s beam, and the iron spearhead weighed fifteen pounds. His shield-bearer went ahead of him. ⁸ He stood and yelled at the armies of Isra’el, “Why come out and draw up a battle line? I’m a P’lishti, and you are servants of Sha’ul, so choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. ⁹ If he can fight me and kill me, we’ll be your slaves; but if I beat him and kill him, you will become slaves and serve us.” ¹⁰ The P’lishti added, “I challenge Isra’el’s armies today — give me a man, and we’ll fight it out!” ¹¹ When Sha’ul and all Isra’el heard those words of the P’lishti, they were shaken and terrified.

¹² Now David was the son of that Efrati from Beit-Lechem in Y’hudah named Yishai. He had eight sons; and in the time of Sha’ul he was old — the years had taken their toll. ¹³ Yishai’s three oldest sons had followed Sha’ul to battle; the names of his three sons who went to battle were Eli’av the firstborn, next to him Avinadav, and the third Shammah. ¹⁴ David was the youngest; the three oldest followed Sha’ul. ¹⁵ David went back and forth from Sha’ul to pasture his father’s sheep at Beit-Lechem. ¹⁶ Meanwhile, the P’lishti approached with his challenge every morning and evening for forty days.

¹⁷ Yishai said to David his son, “Please take your brothers five bushels of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread; hurry, and carry them to your brothers at the camp. ¹⁸ Also bring these ten cheeses to their field officer. Find out if your brothers are well, and bring back some token from them. ¹⁹ Sha’ul and your brothers, with all the army of Isra’el, are in the Elah Valley, fighting the P’lishtim.”

²⁰ David got up early in the morning, left the sheep with a helper, took his load and set out, as Yishai had ordered him. He arrived at the barricade of the camp just as the troops were going out to their battle stations and shouting the war cry. ²¹ Isra’el and the P’lishtim had set up their battle lines facing each other. ²² David left his equipment in charge of the equipment guard, ran to the troops, went to his brothers and asked if they were well. ²³ As he was talking with them, there came the champion, the P’lishti from Gat named Golyat, from the ranks of the P’lishtim, saying the same words as before; and David heard them. ²⁴ When the soldiers from Isra’el saw the man, they all ran away from him, terrified. ²⁵ The soldiers from Isra’el said [to each other], “You saw that man who just came up? He has come to challenge Isra’el. To whoever kills him, the king will give a rich reward; he’ll also give him his daughter and exempt his father’s family from all service and taxes in Isra’el.” ²⁶ David said to the men standing with him, “What reward will be given to the man who kills this P’lishti and removes this disgrace from Isra’el? Who is this uncircumcised P’lishti anyway, that he challenges the armies of the living God?” ²⁷ The people answered with what they had been saying, adding, “That’s what will be done for the man who kills him.” ²⁸ Eli’av his oldest brother heard when David spoke to the men, and it made Eli’av angry at him. He asked, “Why did you come down here? With whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is! You just came down to watch the fighting.” ²⁹ David said, “What have I done now? I only asked a question.” ³⁰ He turned away from him to someone else and asked the same question, and the people gave him the same answer.

³¹ David’s words were overheard and told to Sha’ul, who summoned him. ³² David said to Sha’ul, “No one should lose heart because of him; your servant will go and fight this P’lishti.” ³³ Sha’ul said to David, “You can’t go to fight this P’lishti — you’re just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth!” ³⁴ David answered Sha’ul, “Your servant used to guard his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear would come and grab a lamb from the flock, ³⁵ I would go after it, hit it, and snatch the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned on me, I would catch it by the jaw, smack it and kill it. ³⁶ Your servant has defeated both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised P’lishti will be like one of them, because he has challenged the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ Then David said, “Adonai, who rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will rescue me from the paw of this P’lishti!” Sha’ul said to David, “Go; may Adonai be with you.”

³⁸ Sha’ul dressed David in his own armor — he put a bronze helmet on his head and gave him armor plate to wear. ³⁹ David buckled his sword on his armor and tried to walk, but he wasn’t used to such equipment. David said to Sha’ul, “I can’t move wearing these things, because I’m not used to them.” So David took them off. ⁴⁰ Then he took his stick in his hand and picked five smooth stones from the riverbed, putting them in his shepherd’s bag, in his pouch. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the P’lishti. ⁴¹ The P’lishti, with his shield-bearer ahead of him, came nearer and nearer to David. ⁴² The P’lishti looked David up and down and had nothing but scorn for what he saw — a boy with ruddy cheeks, red hair and good looks. ⁴³ The P’lishti said to David, “Am I a dog? Is that why you’re coming at me with sticks?” — and the P’lishti cursed David by his god. ⁴⁴ Then the P’lishti said to David, “Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds in the air and the wild animals.” ⁴⁵ David answered the P’lishti, “You’re coming at me with a sword, a spear and a javelin. But I’m coming at you in the name of Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of the armies of Isra’el, whom you have challenged. ⁴⁶ Today Adonai will hand you over to me. I will attack you, lop your head off, and give the carcasses of the army of the P’lishtim to the birds in the air and the animals in the land. Then all the land will know that there is a God in Isra’el, ⁴⁷ and everyone assembled here will know that Adonai does not save by sword or spear. For this is Adonai’s battle, and he will hand you over to us.” ⁴⁸ When the P’lishti got up, approached and came close to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the P’lishti. ⁴⁹ David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, and hurled it with his sling. It struck the P’lishti in his forehead and buried itself in his forehead, so that he fell face down on the ground. ⁵⁰ Thus David defeated the P’lishti with a sling and a stone, striking the P’lishti and killing him; but David had no sword in his hand. ⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the P’lishti, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and finished killing him, cutting off his head with it.

When the P’lishtim saw that their hero was dead, they fled. ⁵² The men of Isra’el and Y’hudah got up, shouting, and pursued the P’lishtim all the way to Gat and the gates of ‘Ekron. The wounded P’lishtim fell down all along the road from Sha‘arayim to Gat and ‘Ekron. ⁵³ After chasing the P’lishtim, the army of Isra’el returned and plundered their camp.

⁵⁴ David took the head of the P’lishti and brought it to Yerushalayim, but he put the armor of the P’lishti in his tent.

⁵⁵ When Sha’ul saw David go out to fight the P’lishti, he said to Avner, the army’s commander, “Avner, whose son is this boy?” “By your life, O king,” Avner replied, “I don’t know.” ⁵⁶ The king said, “Find out whose son this boy is.” ⁵⁷ As David returned from killing the P’lishti, Avner took him and brought him to Sha’ul with the head of the P’lishti in his hand. ⁵⁸ Sha’ul asked him, “Young man, whose son are you?” David answered, “I am the son of your servant Yishai the Beit-Lachmi.”

18 By the time David had finished speaking to Sha’ul, Y’honatan found himself inwardly drawn by David’s character, so that Y’honatan loved him as he did himself. ² That day, Sha’ul took David into his service and would not let him go home to his father’s house any more. ³ Y’honatan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as he did himself. ⁴ Y’honatan removed the cloak he was wearing and gave it to David, his armor too, including his sword, bow and belt. ⁵ David would go out, and no matter where Sha’ul sent him, he was successful. Sha’ul put him in charge of the fighting men; all the people thought it good, and so did Sha’ul’s servants.

⁶ As David and the others were returning from the slaughter of the P’lishti, the women came out of all the cities of Isra’el to meet King Sha’ul, singing and dancing joyfully with tambourines and three-stringed instruments. ⁷ In their merrymaking the women sang,

⁸ Sha’ul became very angry, because this song displeased him. He said, “They give David credit for tens of thousands, but me they give credit for only thousands. Now all he lacks is the kingdom!” ⁹ From that day on, Sha’ul viewed David with suspicion.

¹⁰ The following day an evil spirit from God came powerfully over Sha’ul, so that he fell into a frenzy in the house. David was there, playing his lyre as on other occasions. This time Sha’ul had his spear in his hand; ¹¹ and he threw the spear, thinking, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David dodged out of the way twice. ¹² Sha’ul became afraid of David, because Adonai was with him and had left Sha’ul. ¹³ Therefore Sha’ul put him at a distance from himself by making him commander over a thousand; his goings and comings became public knowledge. ¹⁴ David had great success in all his ways; Adonai was with him. ¹⁵ When Sha’ul saw how very successful he was, he became afraid of him. ¹⁶ But all Isra’el and Y’hudah loved David, because they knew about all his campaigns.

¹⁷ Sha’ul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merav. I will give her to you as your wife; only continue displaying your courage for me, and fight Adonai’s battles.” Sha’ul was thinking, “I don’t dare touch him, so let the P’lishtim do away with him.” ¹⁸ David’s response to Sha’ul was, “Who am I, that I should become the king’s son-in-law? I don’t have any kind of a life, and my father’s family has no rank in Isra’el.” ¹⁹ However, when it was time for Merav Sha’ul’s daughter to be given to David, she was given to Adri’el the Mecholati as his wife. ²⁰ But Mikhal Sha’ul’s daughter fell in love with David. They told Sha’ul, and it pleased him. ²¹ Sha’ul said, “I’ll give her to him, so that she can entrap him, and the P’lishtim can do away with him.” So Sha’ul said to David, “Today you will become my son-in-law through the second [daughter].” ²² Sha’ul ordered his servants to speak privately with David and say, “Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants like you; so become the king’s son-in-law.” ²³ Sha’ul’s servants said this to David; but David replied, “Do you think being the king’s son-in-law is something to be treated so casually, given that I’m a poor man without social standing?” ²⁴ Sha’ul’s servants reported back to him how David had responded. ²⁵ Sha’ul said, “Here’s what you are to say to David: ‘The king doesn’t want any dowry; he wants a hundred foreskins of the P’lishtim, so that he can have vengeance on the king’s enemies.” For Sha’ul was hoping to have David killed by the P’lishtim. ²⁶ When his servants said these words to David, it pleased David to become the king’s son-in-law. Even before the time [for him to be married], ²⁷ David got up and set out, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the P’lishtim. He brought their foreskins and gave all of them to the king in order to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Sha’ul gave him Mikhal his daughter as his wife.

²⁸ Sha’ul saw and understood that Adonai was with David and that Mikhal Sha’ul’s daughter loved him. ²⁹ This only made Sha’ul the more afraid of David, so that Sha’ul became David’s enemy for the rest of his life.

³⁰ The leaders of the P’lishtim would attack; but whenever they attacked, David was more successful than any of Sha’ul’s servants; so that David acquired a great reputation.

19 Sha’ul told Y’honatan his son and all his servants that they should have David killed. But because Y’honatan was very fond of David, ² he told him, “My father Sha’ul is out to have you killed. Therefore you must be very cautious tomorrow morning. Find a well-concealed place to hide in. ³ I will go out and stand next to my father in the countryside where you’re hiding. I will talk with my father about you; and if I learn anything, I’ll tell you.”

⁴ Y’honatan spoke well of David to Sha’ul his father and said to him, “The king shouldn’t sin against his servant David, because he hasn’t sinned against you. On the contrary, his work for you has been very good indeed. ⁵ He put his life in his hands to attack the P’lishtim, and Adonai accomplished a great victory for all Isra’el. You yourself saw it, and you were happy about it. So why do you want to sin against innocent blood by killing David without any reason?” ⁶ Sha’ul heeded Y’honatan’s advice and swore, “As Adonai lives, he will not be put to death.” ⁷ Y’honatan called David and told him all these things. Then Y’honatan brought David to Sha’ul to be in attendance on the king, as before.

⁸ War broke out again, and David went and fought the P’lishtim. He defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled before him. ⁹ Then an evil spirit from Adonai came upon Sha’ul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. David was playing his lyre, ¹⁰ when Sha’ul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear. But he dodged it and moved out of Sha’ul’s way, so that the spear stuck in the wall. David fled, so that night he escaped.

¹¹ But Sha’ul sent messengers to David’s house to watch for him and kill him in the morning. Mikhal David’s wife told him, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be dead.” ¹² So Mikhal let David down through the window; and he left, fled and escaped. ¹³ Mikhal took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a goat’s-hair quilt at its head and covered it with a cloth. ¹⁴ When Sha’ul sent messengers to capture David, she said, “He’s ill.” ¹⁵ Sha’ul sent the messengers to see David with the order, “Bring him up to me, bed and all, so that I can kill him.” ¹⁶ But when the messengers entered, there before them was the household idol in the bed, with the goat’s-hair quilt at its head. ¹⁷ Sha’ul asked Mikhal, “Why did you deceive me this way and let my enemy go and escape?” Mikhal answered Sha’ul, “He threatened me, ‘Let me go, or I’ll kill you.’”

¹⁸ David fled and escaped, then came to Sh’mu’el in Ramah and told him everything Sha’ul had done to him. So he and Sh’mu’el went and stayed in the prophets’ dormitory. ¹⁹ The news reached Sha’ul that David had been seen at the prophets’ dormitory in Ramah. ²⁰ Sha’ul sent messengers to capture David. But when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Sh’mu’el standing and leading them, the Spirit of God fell on Sha’ul’s messengers; and they too began prophesying. ²¹ When Sha’ul was told, he sent other messengers; but they too began prophesying. Sha’ul sent messengers a third time, and they also prophesied. ²² Then he himself went to Ramah. When he arrived at the big cistern in Sekhu, he asked, “Where are Sh’mu’el and David?” Someone answered, “They’re at the prophets’ dormitory in Ramah.” ²³ While on his way to the prophets’ dormitory in Ramah, the Spirit of God fell on him too; and he went on, prophesying, until he arrived at the prophets’ dormitory in Ramah. ²⁴ He also stripped off his clothes, prophesied in Sh’mu’el’s presence and lay there naked all that day and all that night. Hence it continues to be an expression, “Is Sha’ul a prophet, too?”

20 David fled from the prophets’ dormitory in Ramah, returned to Y’honatan and said, “What have I done? Where have I gone wrong? What sin have I committed that makes your father want to take my life?” ² Y’honatan replied, “Heaven forbid! You’re not going to die! Look, my father does nothing important or unimportant without telling me first; so why should my father hide this from me? It just won’t happen!” ³ In response David swore, “Your father knows very well that you have made me your friend. This is why he will say, ‘Y’honatan must not know this, or he will be unhappy.’ As truly as Adonai lives, and as truly as you are alive, there is only a step between me and death.” ⁴ Y’honatan said to David, “Anything you want me to do for you, I’ll do.” ⁵ David answered Y’honatan, “Look, tomorrow is Rosh-Hodesh, and I ought to be dining with the king. Instead, let me go and hide myself in the countryside until evening of the third day. ⁶ If your father misses me at all, say, ‘David begged me to let him hurry to Beit-Lechem, his city; because it’s the annual sacrifice there for his whole family.’ ⁷ If he says, ‘Very good,’ then your servant will be all right. But if he gets angry, you will know that he has planned something bad. ⁸ Therefore show kindness to your servant, for you bound your servant to yourself by a covenant before Adonai. But if I have done something wrong, kill me yourself! Why turn me over to your father?” ⁹ Y’honatan said, “Heaven forbid! If I ever were to learn that my father had definitely decided to do you harm, wouldn’t I tell you?” ¹⁰ Then David asked Y’honatan, “Who will tell me in the event your father gives you a harsh answer?” ¹¹ Y’honatan said to David, “Come, let’s go out in the countryside.”

They went out, both of them, to the countryside. ¹² Y’honatan said to David, “Adonai, the God of Isra’el [is witness]: after I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, then, if things look good for David, I will send and let you know. ¹³ But if my father intends to do you harm, may Adonai do as much and more to me if I don’t let you know and send you away, so that you can go in peace. And may Adonai be with you, just as he used to be with my father. ¹⁴ However, you are to show me Adonai’s kindness not only while I am alive, so that I do not die; ¹⁵ but also, after Adonai has eliminated every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth, you are to continue showing kindness to my family forever.” ¹⁶ Thus Y’honatan made a covenant with the family of David, adding, “May Adonai seek its fulfillment even through David’s enemies.” ¹⁷ Y’honatan had David swear it again, because of the love he had for him — he loved him as he loved himself. ¹⁸ Y’honatan said to him, “Tomorrow is Rosh-Hodesh, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. ¹⁹ The third day, hide yourself well in the same place as you did before; stay by the Departure Stone. ²⁰ I will shoot three arrows to one side, as if I were shooting at a target. ²¹ Then I will send my boy to recover them. If I tell the boy, ‘They’re here on this side of you, take them,’ then come — it means that everything is peaceful for you; as Adonai lives, there’s nothing wrong. ²² But if I tell the boy, ‘The arrows are out there, beyond you,’ then get going, because Adonai is sending you away. ²³ As for the matter we discussed earlier, Adonai is between you and me forever.”

²⁴ So David hid himself in the countryside. When Rosh-Hodesh came, the king sat down to eat his meal. ²⁵ The king sat at his usual place by the wall. Y’honatan stood up, and Avner sat next to Sha’ul, but David’s place was empty. ²⁶ However, Sha’ul didn’t say anything that day; because he thought, “Something has happened to him, he is unclean. Yes, that’s it, he isn’t clean.” ²⁷ The day after Rosh-Hodesh, the second day, David’s place was empty; and Sha’ul said to Y’honatan his son, “Why hasn’t Yishai’s son come to the meal either yesterday or today?” ²⁸ Y’honatan answered Sha’ul, “David begged me to let him go to Beit-Lechem. ²⁹ He said, ‘Please let me go, because our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother demanded that I come. So now, if you look on me favorably, please let me get away and see my brothers.’ That’s why he hasn’t come to the king’s table.” ³⁰ At that Sha’ul flew into a rage at Y’honatan and said, “You crooked rebel! Don’t I know that you’ve made this son of Yishai your best friend? You don’t care that you’re shaming yourself and dishonoring your mother, do you? ³¹ Because as long as the son of Yishai lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be secure. Now send and bring him here to me — he deserves to die.” ³² Y’honatan answered Sha’ul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” ³³ But Sha’ul threw his spear at him, aiming to kill; Y’honatan could no longer doubt that his father was determined to put David to death. ³⁴ Y’honatan got up from the table in a fury, and he ate no food the second day of the month, both because he was upset over David and because his father had put him to shame.

³⁵ The next morning Y’honatan went out into the country at the time he had arranged with David, taking with him a young boy. ³⁶ He told the boy, “Now run and find the arrows I’m about to shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. ³⁷ When the boy reached the place where the arrow was that Y’honatan had shot, Y’honatan shouted at the boy, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?” ³⁸ Y’honatan continued shouting after the boy, “Quick! Hurry! Don’t just stand there!” Y’honatan’s boy gathered the arrows and returned to his master, ³⁹ but the boy didn’t understand anything about the matter — only Y’honatan and David understood. ⁴⁰ Y’honatan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, carry them to the city.”

⁴¹ As soon as the boy had gone, David got up from a place south of the stone, fell face down on the ground and prostrated himself three times; and they kissed one another and wept each with the other until it became too much for David. ⁴² Y’honatan said to David, “Go in peace; because we have sworn, both of us, in the name of Adonai, that Adonai will be between me and you, and between my descendants and yours, forever.”

21 ^(20:42b) So David got up and left, and Y’honatan went back to the city.

^2 (1) David went to see Achimelekh the cohen in Nov. Achimelekh came trembling to meet David and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?” ^3 (2) David said to Achimelekh the cohen, “The king has sent me on a mission and told me not to let anyone know its purpose or what I’ve been ordered to do. I’ve arranged a place where the guards are to meet me. ^4 (3) Now, what do you have on hand? If you can spare five loaves of bread, give them to me, or whatever there is.” ^5 (4) The cohen answered David, “I don’t have any regular bread; however, there is consecrated bread — but only if the guards have abstained from women. ^6 (5) David answered the cohen, “Of course women have been kept away from us, as on previous campaigns. Whenever I go out on campaign, the men’s gear is clean, even if it’s an ordinary trip. How much more, then, today, when they will be putting something consecrated in their packs!” ^7 (6) So the cohen gave him consecrated bread, because there was no bread there other than the showbread that had been removed from before Adonai to be replaced by freshly baked bread on the day the old bread was removed.

^8 (7) One of the servants of Sha’ul happened to be there that day, detained before Adonai. His name was Do’eg the Edomi, the head of Sha’ul’s shepherds. ^9 (8) David said to Achimelekh, “Perhaps you have here with you a spear or a sword? I brought neither my sword nor my other weapons, because the king’s mission was urgent.” ^10 (9) The cohen said, “The sword of Golyat the P’lishti you killed in the Elah Valley, is over there behind the ritual vest, wrapped in a cloth. If you want it, take it; it’s the only one here.” David said, “There’s nothing like it; give it to me.”

^11 (10) The same day, David took flight from Sha’ul and went to Akhish king of Gat. ^12 (11) The servants of Akhish said to him, “Isn’t this David, king of the land? Weren’t they dancing and singing to each other,

^13 (12) These remarks were not lost on David, and he became very much afraid of Akhish king of Gat. ^14 (13) So, as they were watching, he changed his behavior and acted like a madman when they had hold of him, scratching marks on the doors of the city gate and drooling down his beard. ^15 (14) Akhish said to his servants, “Here, you see that the man is meshugga; why bring him to me? ^16 (15) Am I short of meshugga‘im? Is that why you’ve brought this one to go crazy on me? Must I have this one in my house?”

22 David left there and took refuge in the Cave of ‘Adulam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s family heard of it, they went down to see him there. ² Then all the people in distress, in debt or embittered began gathering around him, and he became their leader; there were about four hundred with him.

³ David went from there to Mitzpeh of Mo’av and said to the king of Mo’av, “Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” ⁴ He presented them to the king of Mo’av, and they lived with him as long as David remained in his stronghold. ⁵ But the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Leave, and go to the land of Y’hudah.” So David left and went to the Forest of Heret.

⁶ Sha’ul heard that David and the men with him had been located. Sha’ul was sitting in Giv‘ah, under the tamarisk tree on the hill, with his spear in his hand and all his servants standing around him. ⁷ Sha’ul said to his servants standing around him, “Listen, you men of Binyamin! Is Yishai’s son going to give any of you fields and vineyards? Is he going to make you all commanders of thousands and hundreds? ⁸ Is this why you have all conspired against me, why none of you told me when my son went in league with Yishai’s son? None of you is concerned about me! Otherwise you would have told me that my son had incited my servant to become my enemy, as he is now.”

⁹ Then Do’eg the Edomi, who had been put in charge of Sha’ul’s servants, answered, “I saw Yishai’s son come to Nov, to Achimelekh the son of Achituv. ¹⁰ He consulted Adonai for him, gave him food and gave him the sword of Golyat the P’lishti.” ¹¹ The king sent to summon Achimelekh the cohen the son of Achituv, along with all his father’s family, the cohanim in Nov; and all of them went to the king. ¹² Sha’ul said, “Listen here, you son of Achituv!” He answered, “Here I am, my lord.” ¹³ Sha’ul said to him, “Why did you conspire against me, you and Yishai’s son? By giving him bread and a sword and consulting God for him, you helped him rebel against me and become my enemy, which he now is!” ¹⁴ Achimelekh answered the king, “Is there anyone among all your servants more trustworthy than David? He’s the king’s son-in-law, he carries out your every request, your household honors him. ¹⁵ I didn’t start consulting God for him just today. Heaven forbid! The king shouldn’t accuse me or my father’s family of anything! Your servant knows nothing at all about any of this!” ¹⁶ But the king said, “You must die, you and your father’s whole family.” ¹⁷ Then the king told the guards standing around him, “Go around, and kill the cohanim of Adonai, because they are siding with David, and because they knew he was escaping, yet they didn’t tell me.” But the king’s servants refused to lift their hands against the cohanim of Adonai. ¹⁸ So the king said to Do’eg, “You go around and kill the cohanim!” Do’eg the Edomi went around and fell on the cohanim; that day he killed eighty-five persons wearing linen ritual vests. ¹⁹ He also attacked Nov, the city of the cohanim, with the sword; he put to the sword both men and women, children and babies, cattle, donkeys and sheep.

²⁰ One of the sons of Achimelekh the son of Achituv, named Avyatar, escaped and fled to join David. ²¹ Avyatar told David that Sha’ul had killed the cohanim of Adonai. ²² David said to Avyatar, “I knew it! That day, when Do’eg the Edomi was there, I knew he would tell Sha’ul. I caused the death of every person in your father’s family. ²³ Stay with me; don’t be afraid; because the one who is seeking my life seeks yours too. You’ll be safe with me.”

23 David was told, “The P’lishtim are fighting Ke‘ilah and plundering the threshing-floors.” ² David consulted Adonai, asking, “Should I go and attack these P’lishtim?” Adonai answered David, “Go, and attack the P’lishtim, and save Ke‘ilah.” ³ David’s men said to him, “Look, we’re already afraid here in Y’hudah. How much more, then, if we go to Ke‘ilah to fight the armies of the P’lishtim!” ⁴ David consulted Adonai again; and Adonai answered him, “Set out, and go down to Ke‘ilah, because I will hand the P’lishtim over to you.” ⁵ David and his men went to Ke‘ilah and fought the P’lishtim. They defeated them in a great slaughter and led away their livestock. Thus David saved the inhabitants of Ke‘ilah.

⁶ When Avyatar the son of Achimelekh fled to David in Ke‘ilah, he had brought a ritual vest with him. ⁷ Now Sha’ul, on being informed that David had gone to Ke‘ilah, had said, “God has put him into my hands. He’s trapped himself by entering a town with gates and bars.” ⁸ So Sha’ul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Ke‘ilah and besiege David and his men. ⁹ David knew that Sha’ul was plotting something against him, so he told Avyatar the cohen, “Bring the ritual vest here.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “Adonai God of Isra’el, your servant has certainly heard that Sha’ul intends to come to Ke‘ilah and destroy the city just to get me. ¹¹ Will the men of Ke‘ilah turn me over to him? Will Sha’ul come down, as your servant has heard? Adonai God of Isra’el, please tell your servant!” Adonai said, “He will come down.” ¹² Then David asked, “Will the men of Ke‘ilah hand me and my men over to Sha’ul?” Adonai said, “They will hand you over.” ¹³ So David and his men, now around six hundred, got up, left Ke‘ilah and went wherever they could. It was told Sha’ul that David had escaped from Ke‘ilah, so he called off the expedition. ¹⁴ David stayed in the desert strongholds, remaining in the hills of the Zif Desert. Sha’ul kept trying to find him, but God did not hand him over to him.

¹⁵ David saw that Sha’ul had mounted another expedition to seek his life. David was then at Horesh in the Zif Desert. ¹⁶ Y’honatan Sha’ul’s son set out and went to David at Horesh to encourage him in God. ¹⁷ He said to him, “Don’t be afraid, because my father’s forces will not find you; you will be king over Isra’el, and I will be second to you. Sha’ul my father knows this, too.” ¹⁸ Then the two of them made a covenant in the presence of Adonai, after which David stayed at Horesh and Y’honatan returned home.

¹⁹ The people of Zif came to Sha’ul in Giv‘ah and said, “David is hiding himself with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on Hakhilah Hill, south of Yeshimon. ²⁰ So now, king, since you’ve wanted so much to come down, come down! Our part will be to turn him over to you.” ²¹ Sha’ul said, “May Adonai bless you for showing me compassion! ²² Please go and make still more certain exactly where he is and who has seen him there, because I’ve been told that he’s very tricky. ²³ So look closely, find out where all his hiding-places are, and come back when you’re sure. Then I will go with you, and if he is there in that territory, I’ll search till I find him among all the thousands of Y’hudah.”

²⁴ They set out and went to Zif before Sha’ul. But David and his men had gone on to the Ma‘on Desert, in the ‘Aravah south of Yeshimon. ²⁵ Sha’ul and his men went searching for him. David was told, so he came down to the rock and stayed in the Ma‘on Desert. When Sha’ul heard that, he pursued David in the Ma‘on Desert. ²⁶ Sha’ul went along one side of the mountain, while David and his men went along the other. David was hurrying to get away from Sha’ul, while Sha’ul and his men were trying to surround David and his men in order to capture them. ²⁷ But then a messenger came to Sha’ul, saying, “Hurry, come, because the P’lishtim are invading the country!” ²⁸ So Sha’ul stopped chasing David and went to fight the P’lishtim. Therefore they called that place Sela-Hamachlekot [rock of divisions].

24 ^(23:29) From there David went up and lived in the strongholds of ‘Ein-Gedi. ^2 (1) When Sha’ul returned from pursuing the P’lishtim, he was told that David was in the desert at ‘Ein-Gedi. ^3 (2) Sha’ul took three thousand men chosen from all Isra’el and went searching for David and his men on the cliffs where the mountain goats are. ^4 (3) Near some sheep pens along the way was a cave, and Sha’ul went inside to relieve himself. It happened that David and his men were sitting in the recesses at the back of the cave; ^5 (4) and David’s men said to him, “Look! The day has come that Adonai told you about when he said to you, ‘I will turn your enemy over to you, and you will do to him whatever seems good to you.’” Then David stole over unobserved and cut off the corner of Sha’ul’s cloak. ^6 (5) But after doing this, David felt remorse over cutting Sha’ul’s garment. ^7 (6) He said to his men, “Adonai forbid that I should do such a thing to my lord, Adonai’s anointed, as raise my hand against him! After all, he is Adonai’s anointed.” ^8 (7) By saying this, David stopped his men and would not let them do anything to Sha’ul. Sha’ul got up, left the cave and went on his way.

^9 (8) Then David too got up and went outside the cave, where he called after Sha’ul, “My lord the king!” When Sha’ul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself. ^10 (9) David said to Sha’ul, “Why do you listen to people who say, ‘David is out to harm you?’ ^11 (10) Here, today you have seen with your own eyes that Adonai put you in my power there in the cave. Some of my men said I should kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I won’t raise my hand against my lord, because he is Adonai’s anointed.’ ^12 (11) Moreover, my father, look! Here in my hand you see the corner of your cloak. By the fact that I only cut off a piece of your cloak and didn’t kill you, you can see and understand that I have no plan to do harm or rebel, and that I haven’t sinned against you — even though you are seeking every chance you get to take my life. ^13 (12) May Adonai judge between you and me, and may Adonai avenge me on you! But I will not lay a hand on you — ^14 (13) as the old saying has it, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness, but I will not lay a hand on you.’ ^15 (14) The king of Isra’el has come on a campaign — after whom? Whom are you chasing? A dead dog! A single flea! ^16 (15) Adonai be the judge; let him decide between you and me. May he take my side and rescue me from your power!”

^17 (16) After David had finished speaking to Sha’ul, Sha’ul said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” Then Sha’ul cried out and wept; ^18 (17) and he said to David, “You are more righteous than I, because you have treated me well, while I have been treating you badly. ^19 (18) You have made it clear to me today that you have done me good; for when Adonai put my fate in your hands, you didn’t kill me. ^20 (19) A man finds his enemy and lets him go unharmed?! May Adonai reward you well for what you did to me today. ^21 (20) Now I’m certain that you will indeed become king, and that the kingship of Isra’el will be established in your hands. ^22 (21) So swear to me by Adonai that you will not kill my descendants after I die or blot out my name from my father’s family.” ^23 (22) David swore to Sha’ul, and Sha’ul went home, but David and his men went back up to the stronghold.

25 Sh’mu’el died. All of Isra’el assembled to mourn him and bury him at his home in Ramah.

Then David set out and went down to the Pa’ran Desert. ² Now there was a man in Ma‘on who had property in Karmel. He was very rich, having three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep in Karmel. ³ The man’s name was Naval, and his wife was named Avigayil. The woman was intelligent and attractive, but the man was surly and mean in his actions; he belonged to the clan of Kalev. ⁴ David, there in the desert, heard that Naval was shearing his sheep. ⁵ David sent off ten young men with these orders: “Go up to Naval in Karmel, and bring him greetings from me. ⁶ Say, ‘Long life and shalom to you, shalom to your household, and shalom to everything that is yours! ⁷ I’ve heard that you now have shearers. Your shepherds were with us [for a while], we did them no harm, and they found nothing missing all the time they were in Karmel. ⁸ Ask your own men; they’ll tell you. Therefore, receive my men favorably, since we have come on a festive day. Please give what you can to your servants and to your son David.’”

⁹ On arrival, David’s men said all these things to Naval in David’s name. When they had finished, ¹⁰ Naval answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Yishai? There are many servants nowadays running away from their masters. ¹¹ Am I supposed to take my bread, my water and my meat that I slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men coming from who knows where?” ¹² So David’s men turned around, went back and came and told him everything Naval had said. ¹³ David said to his men, “Buckle your swords on, all of you!” Each one buckled on his sword, David too; and there went up after David about four hundred men, while two hundred stayed with the equipment.

¹⁴ But one of Naval’s men told Avigayil his wife, “David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master, and he flew on them in a rage, ¹⁵ even though the men had been very good to us — they didn’t harm us, and we found nothing missing during the entire time we went with them, while we were out in the countryside. ¹⁶ They served as a wall protecting us day and night all the time we were with them caring for the sheep. ¹⁷ So now decide what you are going to do, for clearly harm is on its way to our master and all his household, but he’s so mean that no one can tell him anything.”

¹⁸ Avigayil wasted no time in taking 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already prepared, six quarts of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins and 200 fig cakes, and having them loaded on donkeys. ¹⁹ Then she said to her young men, “Go on ahead of me, and I’ll come along after you.” But she didn’t tell her husband Naval.

²⁰ She was riding her donkey down past the hiding-place in the mountain, when David and his men descended toward her, and she met them. ²¹ David had said, “What a waste it has been guarding everything this fellow has in the desert, so that nothing of his was missing! He has repaid me bad for good!” ²² Then he swore, “May God do the same and more to David’s enemies if I leave alive even one male of everything he owns.”

²³ When Avigayil saw David, she hurried to dismount from her donkey, fell on her face in front of David and bowed down to the ground. ²⁴ Having fallen at his feet, she said, “It’s all my fault, my lord, all my fault! Please let your servant speak in your ears, and listen to what your servant says. ²⁵ Please! My lord shouldn’t pay any attention to this worthless fellow Naval, because he’s just like his name — ‘Naval’ means ‘boor,’ and his boorishness stays with him. But I, your servant, did not see my lord’s men, whom you sent. ²⁶ Therefore, my lord, as Adonai lives, and as you live, inasmuch as Adonai has kept you from the guilt of shedding blood and from taking vengeance into your own hands — therefore, may your enemies and anyone seeking your harm be [as worthless] as Naval. ²⁷ Meanwhile, let this present which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the men in my lord’s service. ²⁸ And please forgive the offense your servant has caused; because Adonai will certainly establish my lord’s dynasty, for my lord fights Adonai’s battles, and nothing bad has been found in you all your life long. ²⁹ Even if someone comes along searching for you and seeking your life, your life will be bound in the bundle of life with Adonai your God. But the lives of your enemies he will fling away as if from the pouch of a slingshot. ³⁰ Then, when Adonai has done all the good to my lord that he has said about you and made you ruler over Isra’el, ³¹ what happens here will not have become an obstacle to you or a cause for remorse to my lord, neither that you shed blood without cause nor that my lord took vengeance into his own hands. Finally, when Adonai has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

³² David said to Avigayil, “Blessed be Adonai the God of Isra’el, who sent you today to meet me; ³³ and blessed be your tactfulness, and blessed be yourself for having kept me today from the guilt of shedding blood and taking vengeance into my own hands. ³⁴ For as Adonai the God of Isra’el, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you hadn’t rushed to meet me, not even one male would have been left to Naval by morning!” ³⁵ So David received from her what she had brought him, then said to her, “Go up in peace to your home. I have listened to what you said and granted your request.”

³⁶ Avigayil came to Naval; there he was in his house, holding a feast fit for a king. He was in high spirits, because he was very drunk. So she told him nothing whatever until the next morning. ³⁷ In the morning, when he was sober and his wife told him what had happened, he had a stroke and became as motionless as a stone. ³⁸ Some ten days later Adonai struck Naval, and he died.

³⁹ When David heard that Naval was dead, he said, “Blessed be Adonai for having taken my side in the matter of Naval’s insult and for having prevented his servant from doing anything bad. On the contrary, Adonai has caused Naval’s bad deeds to return on his own head.” Then David sent a message that he wanted to make Avigayil his own wife. ⁴⁰ When David’s servants reached Avigayil in Karmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to bring you to him to be his wife.” ⁴¹ She got up, bowed with her face to the ground, and said, “Your servant is here to serve you, to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” ⁴² Avigayil then hurried, set out and rode off on a donkey, with five of her female servants following her; she went after David’s messengers; and she became his wife. ⁴³ David also took Achino‘am of Yizre‘el; both of them became his wives.

⁴⁴ Meanwhile, Sha’ul had given Mikhal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Layish, who came from Gallim.

26 The people from Zif went to Sha’ul in Giv‘ah and said, “David is hiding himself on Hakhilah Hill, across from Yeshimon.” ² Then Sha’ul set out and went down to the Zif Desert with three thousand men chosen from Isra’el, to search for David in the Zif Desert. ³ Sha’ul pitched camp on Hakhilah Hill, across from Yeshimon, near the road. David was staying in the desert, and he saw that Sha’ul was coming into the desert after him. ⁴ So David dispatched spies and determined that Sha’ul had definitely come.

⁵ David set out and went to where Sha’ul had pitched his camp. He saw where Sha’ul and Avner the son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping. Sha’ul was lying inside the barricade with the troops asleep all around him. ⁶ David said to Achimelekh the Hitti and Avishai the son of Tz’ruyah, Yo’av’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Sha’ul in the camp?” Avishai said, “I will go down with you.” ⁷ So David and Avishai went to the soldiers by night. Sha’ul was lying there asleep inside the barricade. His spear was stuck in the ground next to his head, with Avner and the troops asleep all around him. ⁸ Avishai said to David, “God has handed your enemy over to you today; so now, please, let me pin him to the ground with just one stroke of the spear. I won’t strike him a second time.” ⁹ But David said to Avishai, “Don’t destroy him! Nobody can raise his hand against Adonai’s anointed without becoming guilty!” ¹⁰ David then added, “As Adonai lives, Adonai will strike him down, or the day will come for him to die, or he will go down to battle and be swept away. ¹¹ Adonai forbid that I should raise my hand against Adonai’s anointed! But now, we’ll take the spear by his head and the jug of water, and get out of here.” ¹² So David took the spear and the water jug from Sha’ul’s head and got away. Nobody saw or knew about it, and no one awoke, because they were all asleep — a deep sleep from Adonai had fallen over them.

¹³ David crossed to the other side and climbed to the top of the distant ridge, leaving a considerable space between them. ¹⁴ Then David called out to the troops and to Avner the son of Ner. “Avner! Aren’t you going to answer?” Avner answered, “Who are you, calling to the king?” ¹⁵ David said to Avner, “Aren’t you the brave one! Who is there in Isra’el to compare with you? So why haven’t you kept watch over your lord the king? Someone came in to kill the king, your lord! ¹⁶ It’s not good, what you’ve done! As Adonai lives, you deserve to die; because you didn’t keep watch over your lord, Adonai’s anointed. And now, see where the king’s spear is, and the jug of water that was next to his head!”

¹⁷ Sha’ul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” David said, “It is my voice, my lord king!” ¹⁸ and continued, “Why is my lord chasing his servant? What have I done? What evil am I planning? ¹⁹ Please, now, may my lord the king hear what his servant is saying. If it is Adonai who has stirred you up against me, let him receive an offering. But if it’s human beings, then a curse on them before Adonai! — because, as things stand today, they have driven me out, so that I can no longer share in Adonai’s inheritance — they’ve said, ‘Go, serve other gods!’ ²⁰ Now don’t let my blood fall on the ground away from the presence of Adonai. The king of Isra’el has gone out in search of a single flea, as if he were hunting partridge in the mountains!”

²¹ Then Sha’ul said, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David. I won’t harm you any longer, because you regarded my life as precious today. Yes, I have behaved like a fool. I was altogether in the wrong.” ²² David answered, “Here is the king’s spear. Send one of the men over to bring it back. ²³ Adonai will give every person a reward suited to his uprightness and faithfulness. Adonai put you in my power today, but I would not raise my hand against Adonai’s anointed. ²⁴ Look: just as I put great value on your life today, so may my life be given great value by Adonai. May he deliver me from every kind of trouble!” ²⁵ Sha’ul answered David, “Blessings on you, my son David! No question that you will accomplish everything you set out to do!” So David went on his way, and Sha’ul returned to his place.

27 But David said to himself, “One day Sha’ul will sweep me away. The best thing for me to do is to escape into the territory of the P’lishtim. Then Sha’ul will give up trying to find me here or there in Isra’el’s territory, and at last I’ll be free of him.” ² So David set out with his six hundred men and passed on to Akhish the son of Ma‘okh, king of Gat. ³ David lived with Akhish, he and his men, each man with his household — including David with his two wives Achino‘am from Yizre‘el and Avigayil from Karmel, Naval’s widow. ⁴ Sha’ul was told that David had escaped to Gat, whereupon he stopped searching for him.

⁵ David said to Akhish, “If you are now favorably disposed toward me, let me have a place to live in one of the cities in the countryside. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” ⁶ That very day Akhish gave him Ziklag, and that’s why to this day Ziklag belongs to the kings of Y’hudah.

⁷ After David had been living in the country of the P’lishtim for a year and four months, ⁸ he and his men began going up and raiding the G’shuri, the Gizri and the ‘Amaleki (from ancient times these people had lived in the land in the direction of Shur, all the way to Egypt). ⁹ David would attack the land, leaving alive neither men nor women, but taking the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and clothing. Then he would return and go to Akhish. ¹⁰ Akhish would ask, “Where were you raiding today?” and David would answer, “Against the Negev of Y’hudah,” or “Against the Negev of the Yerachme’eli,” or “Against the Negev of the Keni.” ¹¹ The reason David spared neither men nor women to be brought to Gat is that he thought, “We don’t want them telling on us, saying, ‘David did so-and-so.’” That’s how he conducted his raids for as long as he lived in the country of the P’lishtim. ¹² And Akhish believed him; he said, “David has caused his own people Isra’el to despise him utterly; he will be my servant forever.”

28 In due time the P’lishtim assembled their armies for war against Isra’el. Akhish told David, “You know, of course, that you and your men will join me and the army in battle.” ² David answered Akhish, “I see that you already know what your servant will do.” Akhish said to David, “For that answer, I am making you my personal bodyguard for life.”

³ Now Sh’mu’el was dead; all Isra’el had mourned him and buried him in his city, Ramah. Also Sha’ul had expelled from the land those who tell the future by communicating with the dead or with a demonic spirit.

⁴ The P’lishtim assembled; then they went and pitched camp at Shunem; while Sha’ul gathered all Isra’el together and pitched camp at Gilboa. ⁵ When Sha’ul saw the army of the P’lishtim, he became afraid — it struck terror in his heart. ⁶ But when he consulted Adonai, Adonai didn’t answer him — not by dreams, not by urim and not by prophets.

⁷ Then Sha’ul said to his servants, “Try to find a woman who tells the future by communicating with the dead; I want to go and consult with her.” His servants answered him, “Yes, there’s a woman in ‘Ein-Dor who tells the future by communicating with the dead.” ⁸ So Sha’ul disguised himself by wearing different clothing, went with two men, came to the woman by night and said, “Tell me the future, please. Bring up from the dead the person I name to you.” ⁹ The woman answered, “Here, you know what Sha’ul did, how he expelled from the land those who tell the future by communicating with the dead or with a demonic spirit. Why are you trying to entrap me into causing my own death?” ¹⁰ But Sha’ul swore to her by Adonai, “As Adonai lives, you will not be punished for doing this.” ¹¹ Then the woman asked, “Whom should I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up for me Sh’mu’el.” ¹² When the woman saw Sh’mu’el, she let out a shriek. Then the woman said to Sha’ul, “Why have you deceived me? You yourself are Sha’ul!” ¹³ The king replied, “Don’t be afraid. Just tell me what you see.” The woman said to Sha’ul, “I see a god-like being coming up out of the earth.” ¹⁴ He asked her, “What does he look like?” She said, “An old man is coming up; he’s wearing a cloak.” Sha’ul realized it was Sh’mu’el, so he bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself.

¹⁵ Sh’mu’el asked Sha’ul, “Why have you disturbed me and brought me up?” Sha’ul answered, “I’m very upset; because the P’lishtim are making war against me; and God has left me and doesn’t answer me any more, neither by prophets nor by dreams. This is why I’ve called you, so that you can let me know what to do.” ¹⁶ Sh’mu’el said, “Why ask me, if Adonai has left you and become your enemy? ¹⁷ Adonai has done for himself what he foretold through me — Adonai has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to your fellow countryman David, ¹⁸ because you didn’t obey what Adonai said and execute his furious anger toward ‘Amalek. That’s why Adonai is doing this to you today. ¹⁹ Adonai is giving Isra’el as well as yourself over into the power of the P’lishtim, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Adonai will hand over Isra’el’s army to the power of the P’lishtim.”