Bible in 90 Days

David Is Anointed King

16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you go on grieving over Saul? I have rejected him as king of Israel. But now get some olive oil and go to Bethlehem, to a man named Jesse, because I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

² “How can I do that?” Samuel asked. “If Saul hears about it, he will kill me!”

The Lord answered, “Take a calf with you and say that you are there to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. ³ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will tell you what to do. You will anoint as king the man I tell you to.”

⁴ Samuel did what the Lord told him to do and went to Bethlehem, where the city leaders came trembling to meet him and asked, “Is this a peaceful visit, seer?”

⁵ “Yes,” he answered. “I have come to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. Purify yourselves and come with me.” He also told Jesse and his sons to purify themselves, and he invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they arrived, Samuel saw Jesse's son Eliab and said to himself, “This man standing here in the Lord's presence is surely the one he has chosen.” ⁷ But the Lord said to him, “Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.”

⁸ Then Jesse called his son Abinadab and brought him to Samuel. But Samuel said, “No, the Lord hasn't chosen him either.” ⁹ Jesse then brought Shammah. “No, the Lord hasn't chosen him either,” Samuel said. ¹⁰ In this way Jesse brought seven of his sons to Samuel. And Samuel said to him, “No, the Lord hasn't chosen any of these.” ¹¹ Then he asked him, “Do you have any more sons?”

Jesse answered, “There is still the youngest, but he is out taking care of the sheep.”

“Tell him to come here,” Samuel said. “We won't offer the sacrifice until he comes.” ¹² So Jesse sent for him. He was a handsome, healthy young man, and his eyes sparkled. The Lord said to Samuel, “This is the one—anoint him!” ¹³ Samuel took the olive oil and anointed David in front of his brothers. Immediately the spirit of the Lord took control of David and was with him from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.

David in Saul's Court

¹⁴ The Lord's spirit left Saul, and an evil spirit sent by the Lord tormented him. ¹⁵ His servants said to him, “We know that an evil spirit sent by God is tormenting you. ¹⁶ So give us the order, sir, and we will look for a man who knows how to play the harp. Then when the evil spirit comes on you, the man can play his harp, and you will be all right again.”

¹⁷ Saul ordered them, “Find me a man who plays well and bring him to me.”

¹⁸ One of his attendants said, “Jesse of the town of Bethlehem has a son who is a good musician. He is also a brave and handsome man, a good soldier, and an able speaker. The Lord is with him.”

¹⁹ So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, the one who takes care of the sheep.” ²⁰ Jesse sent David to Saul with a young goat, a donkey loaded with bread, and a leather bag full of wine. ²¹ David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much and chose him as the man to carry his weapons. ²² Then Saul sent a message to Jesse: “I like David. Let him stay here in my service.” ²³ From then on, whenever the evil spirit sent by God came on Saul, David would get his harp and play it. The evil spirit would leave, and Saul would feel better and be all right again.

Goliath Challenges the Israelites

17 The Philistines gathered for battle in Socoh, a town in Judah; they camped at a place called Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. ² Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in Elah Valley, where they got ready to fight the Philistines. ³ The Philistines lined up on one hill and the Israelites on another, with a valley between them.

⁴ A man named Goliath, from the city of Gath, came out from the Philistine camp to challenge the Israelites. He was over nine feet^[a] tall ⁵ and wore bronze armor that weighed about 125 pounds and a bronze helmet. ⁶ His legs were also protected by bronze armor, and he carried a bronze javelin slung over his shoulder. ⁷ His spear was as thick as the bar on a weaver's loom, and its iron head weighed about fifteen pounds. A soldier walked in front of him carrying his shield. ⁸ Goliath stood and shouted at the Israelites, “What are you doing there, lined up for battle? I am a Philistine, you slaves of Saul! Choose one of your men to fight me. ⁹ If he wins and kills me, we will be your slaves; but if I win and kill him, you will be our slaves. ¹⁰ Here and now I challenge the Israelite army. I dare you to pick someone to fight me!” ¹¹ When Saul and his men heard this, they were terrified.

David in Saul's Camp

¹² David was the son of Jesse, who was an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and at the time Saul was king, he was already a very old man.^{[b] 13} His three oldest sons had gone with Saul to war. The oldest was Eliab, the next was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. ¹⁴ David was the youngest son, and while the three oldest brothers stayed with Saul, ¹⁵ David would go back to Bethlehem from time to time, to take care of his father's sheep.

¹⁶ Goliath challenged the Israelites every morning and evening for forty days.

¹⁷ One day Jesse said to David, “Take a half-bushel of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and hurry with them to your brothers in the camp. ¹⁸ And take these ten cheeses to the commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are getting along and bring back something to show that you saw them and that they are well. ¹⁹ King Saul, your brothers, and all the other Israelites are in Elah Valley fighting the Philistines.”

²⁰ David got up early the next morning, left someone else in charge of the sheep, took the food, and went as Jesse had told him to. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelites were going out to their battle line, shouting the war cry. ²¹ The Philistine and the Israelite armies took positions for battle, facing each other. ²² David left the food with the officer in charge of the supplies, ran to the battle line, went to his brothers, and asked how they were getting along. ²³ As he was talking with them, Goliath came forward and challenged the Israelites as he had done before. And David heard him. ²⁴ When the Israelites saw Goliath, they ran away in terror. ²⁵ “Look at him!” they said to each other. “Listen to his challenge! King Saul has promised to give a big reward to the man who kills him; the king will also give him his daughter to marry and will not require his father's family to pay taxes.”^[c]

²⁶ David asked the men who were near him, “What will the man get who kills this Philistine and frees Israel from this disgrace? After all, who is this heathen Philistine to defy the army of the living God?” ²⁷ They told him what would be done for the man who killed Goliath.

²⁸ Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. He became angry with David and said, “What are you doing here? Who is taking care of those sheep of yours out there in the wilderness? You smart aleck, you! You just came to watch the fighting!”

²⁹ “Now what have I done?” David asked. “Can't I even ask a question?” ³⁰ He turned to another man and asked him the same question, and every time he asked, he got the same answer.

³¹ Some men heard what David had said, and they told Saul, who sent for him. ³² David said to Saul, “Your Majesty, no one should be afraid of this Philistine! I will go and fight him.”

³³ “No,” answered Saul. “How could you fight him? You're just a boy, and he has been a soldier all his life!”

³⁴ “Your Majesty,” David said, “I take care of my father's sheep. Any time a lion or a bear carries off a lamb, ³⁵ I go after it, attack it, and rescue the lamb. And if the lion or bear turns on me, I grab it by the throat and beat it to death. ³⁶ I have killed lions and bears, and I will do the same to this heathen Philistine, who has defied the army of the living God. ³⁷ The Lord has saved me from lions and bears; he will save me from this Philistine.”

“All right,” Saul answered. “Go, and the Lord be with you.” ³⁸ He gave his own armor to David for him to wear: a bronze helmet, which he put on David's head, and a coat of armor. ³⁹ David strapped Saul's sword over the armor and tried to walk, but he couldn't, because he wasn't used to wearing them. “I can't fight with all this,” he said to Saul. “I'm not used to it.” So he took it all off. ⁴⁰ He took his shepherd's stick and then picked up five smooth stones from the stream and put them in his bag. With his sling ready, he went out to meet Goliath.

David Defeats Goliath

⁴¹ The Philistine started walking toward David, with his shield bearer walking in front of him. He kept coming closer, ⁴² and when he got a good look at David, he was filled with scorn for him because he was just a nice, good-looking boy. ⁴³ He said to David, “What's that stick for? Do you think I'm a dog?” And he called down curses from his god on David. ⁴⁴ “Come on,” he challenged David, “and I will give your body to the birds and animals to eat.”

⁴⁵ David answered, “You are coming against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the Israelite armies, which you have defied. ⁴⁶ This very day the Lord will put you in my power; I will defeat you and cut off your head. And I will give the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds and animals to eat. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a God, ⁴⁷ and everyone here will see that the Lord does not need swords or spears to save his people. He is victorious in battle, and he will put all of you in our power.”

⁴⁸ Goliath started walking toward David again, and David ran quickly toward the Philistine battle line to fight him. ⁴⁹ He reached into his bag and took out a stone, which he slung at Goliath. It hit him on the forehead and broke his skull, and Goliath fell face downward on the ground. ^50 (A)And so, without a sword, David defeated and killed Goliath with a sling and a stone! ^51 (B)He ran to him, stood over him, took Goliath's sword out of its sheath, and cut off his head and killed him.

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran away. ⁵² The men of Israel and Judah shouted and ran after them, pursuing them all the way to Gath^[d] and to the gates of Ekron. The Philistines fell wounded all along the road that leads to Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ When the Israelites came back from pursuing the Philistines, they looted their camp. ⁵⁴ David got Goliath's head and took it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's weapons in his own tent.

David Is Presented to Saul

⁵⁵ When Saul saw David going out to fight Goliath, he asked Abner, the commander of his army, “Abner, whose son is he?”

“I have no idea, Your Majesty,” Abner answered.

⁵⁶ “Then go and find out,” Saul ordered.

⁵⁷ So when David returned to camp after killing Goliath, Abner took him to Saul. David was still carrying Goliath's head. ⁵⁸ Saul asked him, “Young man, whose son are you?”

“I am the son of your servant Jesse from Bethlehem,” David answered.

18 Saul and David finished their conversation. After that, Saul's son Jonathan was deeply attracted to David and came to love him as much as he loved himself. ² Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him go back home. ³ Jonathan swore eternal friendship with David because of his deep affection for him. ⁴ He took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, together with his armor and also his sword, bow, and belt. ⁵ David was successful in all the missions on which Saul sent him, and so Saul made him an officer in his army. This pleased all of Saul's officers and men.

Saul Becomes Jealous of David

⁶ As David was returning after killing Goliath and as the soldiers were coming back home, women from every town in Israel came out to meet King Saul. They were singing joyful songs, dancing, and playing tambourines and lyres. ^7 (C)In their celebration the women sang, “Saul has killed thousands, but David tens of thousands.” ⁸ Saul did not like this, and he became very angry. He said, “For David they claim tens of thousands, but only thousands for me. They will be making him king next!” ⁹ And so he was jealous and suspicious of David from that day on.

¹⁰ The next day an evil spirit from God suddenly took control of Saul, and he raved in his house like a madman. David was playing the harp, as he did every day, and Saul was holding a spear. ¹¹ “I'll pin him to the wall,” Saul said to himself, and he threw the spear at him twice; but David dodged each time.

¹² Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with David but had abandoned him. ¹³ So Saul sent him away and put him in command of a thousand men. David led his men in battle ¹⁴ and was successful in all he did, because the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ Saul noticed David's success and became even more afraid of him. ¹⁶ But everyone in Israel and Judah loved David because he was such a successful leader.

David Marries Saul's Daughter

¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you as your wife on condition that you serve me as a brave and loyal soldier, and fight the Lord's battles.” (Saul was thinking that in this way the Philistines would kill David, and he would not have to do it himself.)

¹⁸ David answered, “Who am I and what is my family that I should become the king's son-in-law?” ¹⁹ But when the time came for Merab to be given to David, she was given instead to a man named Adriel from Meholah.

²⁰ Saul's daughter Michal, however, fell in love with David, and when Saul heard of this, he was pleased. ²¹ He said to himself, “I'll give Michal to David; I will use her to trap him, and he will be killed by the Philistines.” So for the second time Saul said to David, “You will be my son-in-law.” ²² He ordered his officials to speak privately with David and tell him, “The king is pleased with you and all his officials like you; now is a good time for you to marry his daughter.”

²³ So they told this to David, and he answered, “It's a great honor to become the king's son-in-law, too great for someone poor and insignificant like me.”

²⁴ The officials told Saul what David had said, ²⁵ and Saul ordered them to tell David: “All the king wants from you as payment for the bride are the foreskins of a hundred dead Philistines, as revenge on his enemies.” (This was how Saul planned to have David killed by the Philistines.) ²⁶ Saul's officials reported to David what Saul had said, and David was delighted with the thought of becoming the king's son-in-law. Before the day set for the wedding, ²⁷ David and his men went and killed two hundred Philistines. He took their foreskins to the king and counted them all out to him, so that he might become his son-in-law. So Saul had to give his daughter Michal in marriage to David.

²⁸ Saul realized clearly that the Lord was with David and also that his daughter Michal loved him. ²⁹ So he became even more afraid of David and was his enemy as long as he lived.

³⁰ The Philistine armies would come and fight, but in every battle David was more successful than any of Saul's other officers. As a result David became very famous.

David Is Persecuted by Saul

19 Saul told his son Jonathan and all his officials that he planned to kill^[e] David. But Jonathan was very fond of David, ² and so he told him, “My father is trying to kill you. Please be careful tomorrow morning; hide in some secret place and stay there. ³ I will go and stand by my father in the field where you are hiding, and I will speak to him about you. If I find out anything, I will let you know.”

⁴ Jonathan praised David to Saul and said, “Sir, don't do wrong to your servant David. He has never done you any wrong; on the contrary, everything he has done has been a great help to you. ⁵ He risked his life when he killed Goliath, and the Lord won a great victory for Israel. When you saw it, you were glad. Why, then, do you now want to do wrong to an innocent man and kill David for no reason at all?”

⁶ Saul was convinced by what Jonathan said and made a vow in the Lord's name that he would not kill David. ⁷ So Jonathan called David and told him everything; then he took him to Saul, and David served the king as he had before.

⁸ War with the Philistines broke out again. David attacked them and defeated them so thoroughly that they fled.

⁹ One day an evil spirit from the Lord took control of Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was there, playing his harp. ¹⁰ Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, but David dodged, and the spear stuck in the wall. David ran away and escaped.

^11 (D)That same night Saul sent some men to watch David's house and kill him the next morning. Michal, David's wife, warned him, “If you don't get away tonight, tomorrow you will be dead.” ¹² She let him down from a window, and he ran away and escaped. ¹³ Then she took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a pillow made of goats' hair at its head, and put a cover over it. ¹⁴ When Saul's men came to get David, Michal told them that he was sick. ¹⁵ But Saul sent them back to see David for themselves. He ordered them, “Carry him here in his bed, and I will kill him.” ¹⁶ They went inside and found the household idol in the bed and the goats' hair pillow at its head. ¹⁷ Saul asked Michal, “Why have you tricked me like this and let my enemy escape?”

She answered, “He said he would kill me if I didn't help him escape.”

¹⁸ David escaped and went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. ¹⁹ Saul was told that David was in Naioth in Ramah, ²⁰ so he sent some men to arrest him. They saw^[f] the group of prophets dancing and shouting, with Samuel as their leader. Then the spirit of God took control of Saul's men, and they also began to dance and shout. ²¹ When Saul heard of this, he sent more messengers, and they also began to dance and shout. He sent messengers the third time, and the same thing happened to them. ²² Then he himself started out to Ramah. When he came to the large well in Secu, he asked where Samuel and David were and was told that they were at Naioth. ²³ As he was going there, the spirit of God took control of him also, and he danced and shouted all the way to Naioth. ^24 (E)He took off his clothes and danced and shouted in Samuel's presence, and lay naked all that day and all that night. (This is how the saying originated, “Has even Saul become a prophet?”)

Jonathan Helps David

20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and went to Jonathan. “What have I done?” he asked. “What crime have I committed? What wrong have I done to your father to make him want to kill me?”

² Jonathan answered, “God forbid that you should die! My father tells me everything he does, important or not, and he would not hide this from me. It just isn't so!”

³ But David answered,^[g] “Your father knows very well how much you like me, and he has decided not to let you know what he plans to do, because you would be deeply hurt. I swear to you by the living Lord that I am only a step away from death!”

⁴ Jonathan said, “I'll do anything you want.”

^5 (F)“Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival,” David replied, “and I am supposed to eat with the king. But if it's all right with you, I will go and hide in the fields until the evening of the day after tomorrow. ⁶ If your father notices that I am not at the table, tell him that I begged your permission to hurry home to Bethlehem, since it's the time for the annual sacrifice there for my whole family. ⁷ If he says, ‘All right,’ I will be safe; but if he becomes angry, you will know that he is determined to harm me. ⁸ Please do me this favor, and keep the sacred promise you made to me. But if I'm guilty, kill me yourself Why take me to your father to be killed?”

⁹ “Don't even think such a thing!” Jonathan answered. “If I knew for sure that my father was determined to harm you, wouldn't I tell you?”

¹⁰ David then asked, “Who will let me know if your father answers you angrily?”

¹¹ “Let's go out to the fields,” Jonathan answered. So they went, ¹² and Jonathan said to David, “May the Lord God of Israel be our witness!^[h] At this time tomorrow and on the following day I will question my father. If his attitude toward you is good, I will send you word. ¹³ If he intends to harm you, may the Lord strike me dead if I don't let you know about it and get you safely away. May the Lord be with you as he was with my father! ¹⁴ And if I remain alive, please keep your sacred promise and be loyal to me; but if I die,^{[i] 15 (G)}show the same kind of loyalty to my family forever. And when the Lord has completely destroyed all your enemies, ¹⁶ may our promise to each other still be unbroken. If it is broken, the Lord will punish you.”^[j]

¹⁷ Once again Jonathan made David promise to love him, for Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself. ¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to him, “Since tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, your absence will be noticed if you aren't at the meal. ¹⁹ The day after tomorrow your absence will be noticed^[k] even more; so go to the place where you hid yourself the other time, and hide behind the pile of stones there.^{[l] 20} I will then shoot three arrows at it, as though it were a target. ²¹ Then I will tell my servant to go and find them. And if I tell him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get them,’ that means that you are safe and can come out. I swear by the living Lord that you will be in no danger. ²² But if I tell him, ‘The arrows are on the other side of you,’ then leave, because the Lord is sending you away. ²³ As for the promise we have made to each other, the Lord will make sure that we will keep it forever.”

²⁴ So David hid in the fields. At the New Moon Festival, King Saul came to the meal ²⁵ and sat in his usual place by the wall. Abner sat next to him, and Jonathan sat across the table from him.^[m] David's place was empty, ²⁶ but Saul said nothing that day, because he thought, “Something has happened to him, and he is not ritually pure.” ²⁷ On the following day, the day after the New Moon Festival, David's place was still empty, and Saul asked Jonathan, “Why didn't David come to the meal either yesterday or today?”

²⁸ Jonathan answered, “He begged me to let him go to Bethlehem. ²⁹ ‘Please let me go,’ he said, ‘because our family is celebrating the sacrificial feast in town, and my brother ordered me to be there. So then, if you are my friend, let me go and see my relatives.’ That is why he isn't in his place at your table.”

³⁰ Saul became furious with Jonathan and said to him, “How rebellious and faithless your mother was! Now I know you are taking sides with David and are disgracing yourself and that mother of yours! ³¹ Don't you realize that as long as David is alive, you will never be king of this country? Now go and bring him here—he must die!”

³² “Why should he die?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”

³³ At that, Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him, and Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David. ³⁴ Jonathan got up from the table in a rage and ate nothing that day—the second day of the New Moon Festival. He was deeply distressed about David, because Saul had insulted him. ³⁵ The following morning Jonathan went to the fields to meet David, as they had agreed. He took a young boy with him ³⁶ and said to him, “Run and find the arrows I'm going to shoot.” The boy ran, and Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. ³⁷ When the boy reached the place where the arrow had fallen, Jonathan shouted to him, “The arrow is farther on! ³⁸ Don't just stand there! Hurry up!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master, ³⁹ not knowing what it all meant; only Jonathan and David knew. ⁴⁰ Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and told him to take them back to town.

⁴¹ After the boy had left, David got up from behind the pile of stones,^[n] fell on his knees and bowed with his face to the ground three times. Both he and Jonathan were crying as they kissed each other; David's grief was even greater than Jonathan's.^{[o] 42} Then Jonathan said to David, “God be with you. The Lord will make sure that you and I, and your descendants and mine, will forever keep the sacred promise we have made to each other.” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

David Flees from Saul

21 ^(H)David went to the priest Ahimelech in Nob. Ahimelech came out trembling to meet him and asked, “Why did you come here all by yourself?”

² “I am here on the king's business,” David answered. “He told me not to let anyone know what he sent me to do. As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. ³ Now, then, what supplies do you have? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have.”

⁴ The priest said, “I don't have any ordinary bread, only sacred bread; you can have it if your men haven't had sexual relations recently.”

⁵ “Of course they haven't,” answered David. “My men always keep themselves ritually pure even when we go out on an ordinary mission; how much more this time when we are on a special mission!”

^6 (I)So the priest gave David the sacred bread, because the only bread he had was the loaves offered to God, which had been removed from the sacred table and replaced by fresh bread.

(⁷ Saul's chief herdsman, Doeg, who was from Edom, happened to be there that day, because he had to fulfill a religious obligation.)

⁸ David said to Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or a sword you can give me? The king's orders made me leave in such a hurry that I didn't have time to get my sword or any other weapon.”

^9 (J)Ahimelech answered, “I have the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in Elah Valley; it is behind the ephod, wrapped in a cloth. If you want it, take it—it's the only weapon here.”

“Give it to me,” David said. “There is not a better sword anywhere!”

¹⁰ So David left, fleeing from Saul, and went to King Achish of Gath. ^11 (K)The king's officials said to Achish, “Isn't this David, the king of his country? This is the man about whom the women sang, as they danced, ‘Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.’”

^12 (L)Their words made a deep impression on David, and he became very much afraid of King Achish. ^13 (M)So whenever David was around them, he pretended to be insane and acted like a madman when they tried to restrain him; he would scribble on the city^[p] gates and let spit drool down his beard. ¹⁴ So Achish said to his officials, “Look! The man is crazy! Why did you bring him to me? ¹⁵ Don't I have enough madmen already? Why bring another one to bother me with his crazy actions right here in my own house?”

The Slaughter of the Priests

22 ^(N)David fled from the city of Gath and went to a cave near the town of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of the family heard that he was there, they joined him. ² People who were oppressed or in debt or dissatisfied went to him, about four hundred men in all, and he became their leader.

³ David went on from there to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I find out what God is going to do for me.” ⁴ So David left his parents with the king of Moab, and they stayed there as long as David was hiding out in the cave.

⁵ Then the prophet Gad came to David and said, “Don't stay here; go at once to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

⁶ One day Saul was in Gibeah, sitting under a tamarisk tree on a hill, with his spear in his hand, and all his officers were standing around him. He was told that David and his men had been located, ⁷ and he said to his officers, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Do you think that David will give fields and vineyards to all of you, and make you officers in his army? ⁸ Is that why you are plotting against me? Not one of you told me that my own son had made an alliance with David. No one is concerned about me or tells me that David, one of my own men, is right now looking for a chance to kill me, and that my son has encouraged him!”

^9 (O)Doeg was standing there with Saul's officers, and he said, “I saw David when he went to Ahimelech son of Ahitub in Nob. ¹⁰ Ahimelech asked the Lord what David should do, and then he gave David some food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ So King Saul sent for the priest Ahimelech and all his relatives, who were also priests in Nob, and they came to him. ¹² Saul said to Ahimelech, “Listen, Ahimelech!”

“At your service, sir,” he answered.

¹³ Saul asked him, “Why are you and David plotting against me? Why did you give him some food and a sword, and consult God for him? Now he has turned against me and is waiting for a chance to kill me!”

¹⁴ Ahimelech answered, “David is the most faithful officer you have! He is your own son-in-law, captain of^[q] your bodyguard, and highly respected by everyone in the royal court. ¹⁵ Yes, I consulted God for him, and it wasn't the first time.^[r] As for plotting against you, Your Majesty must not accuse me or anyone else in my family. I don't know anything about this matter!”

¹⁶ The king said, “Ahimelech, you and all your relatives must die.” ¹⁷ Then he said to the guards standing near him, “Kill the Lord's priests! They conspired with David and did not tell me that he had run away, even though they knew it all along.” But the guards refused to lift a hand to kill the Lord's priests. ¹⁸ So Saul said to Doeg, “You kill them!”—and Doeg killed them all. On that day he killed eighty-five priests who were qualified to carry the ephod. ¹⁹ Saul also had all the other inhabitants of Nob, the city of priests, put to death: men and women, children and babies, cattle, donkeys, and sheep—they were all killed.

²⁰ But Abiathar, one of Ahimelech's sons, escaped, and went and joined David. ²¹ He told him how Saul had slaughtered the priests of the Lord. ²² David said to him, “When I saw Doeg there that day, I knew that he would be sure to tell Saul. So I am responsible^[s] for the death of all your relatives. ²³ Stay with me and don't be afraid. Saul wants to kill both you and me, but you will be safe with me.”

David Saves the Town of Keilah

23 David heard that the Philistines were attacking the town of Keilah and were stealing the newly harvested grain. ² So he asked the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines?”

“Yes,” the Lord answered. “Attack them and save Keilah.”

³ But David's men said to him, “We have enough to be afraid of here in Judah; it will be much worse if we go to Keilah and attack the Philistine forces!” ⁴ So David consulted the Lord again, and the Lord said to him, “Go and attack Keilah, because I will give you victory over the Philistines.” ⁵ So David and his men went to Keilah and attacked the Philistines; they killed many of them and took their livestock. And so it was that David saved the town.

⁶ When Abiathar son of Ahimelech escaped and joined David in Keilah, he took the ephod with him.

⁷ Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, “God has put him in my power. David has trapped himself by going into a walled town with fortified gates.” ⁸ So Saul called his troops to war, to march against Keilah and besiege David and his men.

⁹ When David heard that Saul was planning to attack him, he said to the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “Lord, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come to Keilah and destroy it on account of me, your servant. ¹¹ Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to Saul? Will Saul really come, as I have heard? Lord, God of Israel, I beg you to answer me!”

The Lord answered, “Saul will come.”

¹² “And will the citizens of Keilah hand my men and me over to Saul?” David asked again.

“They will,” the Lord answered.

¹³ So David and his men—about six hundred in all—left Keilah at once and kept on the move. When Saul heard that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up his plan.

David in the Hill Country

¹⁴ David stayed in hiding in the hill country, in the wilderness near Ziph. Saul was always trying to find him, but God did not turn David over to him. ¹⁵ David saw that Saul was out to kill him.

David was at Horesh, in the wilderness near Ziph. ¹⁶ Jonathan went to him there and encouraged him with assurances of God's protection, ¹⁷ saying to him, “Don't be afraid. My father Saul won't be able to harm you. He knows very well that you are the one who will be the king of Israel and that I will be next in rank to you.” ^18 (P)The two of them made a sacred promise of friendship to each other. David stayed at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

^19 (Q)Some people from Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “David is hiding out in our territory at Horesh on Mount Hachilah, in the southern part of the Judean wilderness. ²⁰ We know, Your Majesty, how much you want to capture him; so come to our territory, and we will make sure that you catch him.”

²¹ Saul answered, “May the Lord bless you for being so kind to me! ²² Go and make sure once more; find out for certain where he is and who has seen him there. I hear that he is very cunning. ²³ Find out exactly the places where he hides, and be sure to bring back a report to me right away. Then I will go with you, and if he is still in the region, I will hunt him down, even if I have to search the whole land of Judah.”

²⁴ So they left and returned to Ziph ahead of Saul. David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in a desolate valley in the southern part of the Judean wilderness. ²⁵ Saul and his men set out to look for David, but he heard about it and went to a rocky hill in the wilderness of Maon and stayed there. When Saul heard about this, he went after David. ²⁶ Saul and his men were on one side of the hill, separated from David and his men, who were on the other side. They were hurrying to get away from Saul and his men, who were closing in on them and were about to capture them. ²⁷ Just then a messenger arrived and said to Saul, “Come back at once! The Philistines are invading the country!” ²⁸ So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to fight the Philistines. That is why that place is called Separation Hill. ²⁹ David left and went to the region of Engedi, where he stayed in hiding.

David Spares Saul's Life

24 When Saul came back from fighting the Philistines, he was told that David was in the wilderness near Engedi. ² Saul took three thousand of the best soldiers in Israel and went looking for David and his men east of Wild Goat Rocks. ^3 (R)He came to a cave close to some sheep pens by the road and went in to relieve himself. It happened to be the very cave in which David and his men were hiding far back in the cave. ⁴ They said to him, “This is your chance! The Lord has told you that he would put your enemy in your power and you could do to him whatever you wanted to.” David crept over and cut off a piece of Saul's robe without Saul's knowing it. ⁵ But then David's conscience began to hurt, ^6 (S)and he said to his men, “May the Lord keep me from doing any harm to my master, whom the Lord chose as king! I must not harm him in the least, because he is the king chosen by the Lord!” ⁷ So David convinced his men that they should not attack Saul.

Saul got up, left the cave, and started away. ⁸ Then David went out after him and called to him, “Your Majesty!” Saul turned around, and David bowed down to the ground in respect ⁹ and said, “Why do you listen to people who say that I am trying to harm you? ¹⁰ You can see for yourself that just now in the cave the Lord put you in my power. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I felt sorry for you and said that I would not harm you in the least, because you are the one whom the Lord chose to be king. ¹¹ Look, my father, look at the piece of your robe I am holding! I could have killed you, but instead I only cut this off. This should convince you that I have no thought of rebelling against you or of harming you. You are hunting me down to kill me, even though I have not done you any wrong. ¹² May the Lord judge which one of us is wrong! May he punish you for your action against me, for I will not harm you in the least. ¹³ You know the old saying, ‘Evil is done only by evil people.’ And so I will not harm you. ^14 (T)Look at what the king of Israel is trying to kill! Look at what he is chasing! A dead dog, a flea! ¹⁵ The Lord will judge, and he will decide which one of us is wrong. May he look into the matter, defend me, and save me from you.”

¹⁶ When David had finished speaking, Saul said, “Is that really you, David my son?” And he started crying. ¹⁷ Then he said to David, “You are right, and I am wrong. You have been so good to me, while I have done such wrong to you! ¹⁸ Today you have shown how good you are to me, because you did not kill me, even though the Lord put me in your power. ¹⁹ How often does someone catch an enemy and then let him get away unharmed? The Lord bless you for what you have done to me today! ²⁰ Now I am sure that you will be king of Israel and that the kingdom will continue under your rule. ²¹ But promise me in the Lord's name that you will spare my descendants, so that my name and my family's name will not be completely forgotten.” ²² David promised that he would.

Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went back to their hiding place.

The Death of Samuel

25 Samuel died, and all the Israelites came together and mourned for him. Then they buried him at his home in Ramah.

David and Abigail

After this, David went to the wilderness of Paran. ^2-3 There was a man of the clan of Caleb named Nabal, who was from the town of Maon, and who owned land near the town of Carmel. He was a very rich man, the owner of three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. His wife Abigail was beautiful and intelligent, but he was a mean, bad-tempered man.

Nabal was shearing his sheep in Carmel, ⁴ and David, who was in the wilderness, heard about it, ⁵ so he sent ten young men with orders to go to Carmel, find Nabal, and give him his greetings. ⁶ He instructed them to say to Nabal: “David sends you greetings, my friend, with his best wishes for you, your family, and all that is yours. ⁷ He heard that you were shearing your sheep, and he wants you to know that your shepherds have been with us and we did not harm them. Nothing that belonged to them was stolen all the time they were at Carmel. ⁸ Just ask them, and they will tell you. We have come on a feast day, and David asks you to receive us kindly. Please give what you can to us your servants and to your dear friend David.”

⁹ David's men delivered this message to Nabal in David's name. Then they waited there, ¹⁰ and Nabal finally answered, “David? Who is he? I've never heard of him! The country is full of runaway slaves nowadays! ¹¹ I'm not going to take my bread and water, and the animals I have butchered for my sheepshearers, and give them to people who come from I don't know where!”

¹² David's men went back to him and told him what Nabal had said. ¹³ “Buckle on your swords!” he ordered, and they all did. David also buckled on his sword and left with about four hundred of his men, leaving two hundred behind with the supplies.

¹⁴ One of Nabal's servants said to Nabal's wife Abigail, “Have you heard? David sent some messengers from the wilderness with greetings for our master, but he insulted them. ¹⁵ Yet they were very good to us; they never bothered us, and all the time we were with them in the fields, nothing that belonged to us was stolen. ¹⁶ They protected us day and night the whole time we were with them looking after our flocks. ¹⁷ Please think this over and decide what to do. This could be disastrous for our master and all his family. He is so mean that he won't listen to anybody!”

¹⁸ Abigail quickly gathered two hundred loaves of bread, two leather bags full of wine, five roasted sheep, two bushels of roasted grain, a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dried figs, and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ Then she said to the servants, “You go on ahead and I will follow you.” But she said nothing to her husband.

²⁰ She was riding her donkey around a bend on a hillside when suddenly she met David and his men coming toward her. ²¹ David had been thinking, “Why did I ever protect that fellow's property out here in the wilderness? Not a thing that belonged to him was stolen, and this is how he pays me back for the help I gave him! ²² May God strike me^[t] dead if I don't kill every last one of those men before morning!”

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted and threw herself on the ground ²⁴ at David's feet, and said to him, “Please, sir, listen to me! Let me take the blame. ²⁵ Please, don't pay any attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing! He is exactly what his name means—a fool!^[u] I wasn't there when your servants arrived, sir. ²⁶ It is the Lord who has kept you from taking revenge and killing your enemies. And now I swear to you by the living Lord that your enemies and all who want to harm you will be punished like Nabal. ²⁷ Please, sir, accept this present I have brought you, and give it to your men. ²⁸ Please forgive me, sir, for any wrong I have done. The Lord will make you king, and your descendants also, because you are fighting his battles; and you will not do anything evil^[v] as long as you live. ²⁹ If anyone should attack you and try to kill you, the Lord your God will keep you safe, as someone guards a precious treasure. As for your enemies, however, he will throw them away, as someone hurls stones with a sling. ³⁰ And when the Lord has done all the good things he has promised you and has made you king of Israel, ³¹ then you will not have to feel regret or remorse, sir, for having killed without cause or for having taken your own revenge. And when the Lord has blessed you, sir, please do not forget me.”

³² David said to her, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me! ³³ Thank God for your good sense and for what you have done today in keeping me from the crime of murder and from taking my own revenge. ³⁴ The Lord has kept me from harming you. But I swear by the living God of Israel that if you had not hurried to meet me, all of Nabal's men would have been dead by morning!” ³⁵ Then David accepted what she had brought him and said to her, “Go back home and don't worry. I will do what you want.”

³⁶ Abigail went back to Nabal, who was at home having a feast fit for a king. He was drunk and in a good mood, so she did not tell him anything until the next morning. ³⁷ Then, after he had sobered up, she told him everything. He suffered a stroke and was completely paralyzed. ³⁸ Some ten days later the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, “Praise the Lord! He has taken revenge on Nabal for insulting me and has kept me his servant from doing wrong. The Lord has punished Nabal for his evil.”

Then David sent a proposal of marriage to Abigail. ⁴⁰ His servants went to her at Carmel and said to her, “David sent us to take you to him to be his wife.”

⁴¹ Abigail bowed down to the ground and said, “I am his servant, ready to wash the feet of his servants.” ⁴² She rose quickly and mounted her donkey. Accompanied by her five maids, she went with David's servants and became his wife.

⁴³ David had married Ahinoam from Jezreel, and now Abigail also became his wife. ^44 (U)Meanwhile, Saul had given his daughter Michal, who had been David's wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from the town of Gallim.

David Spares Saul's Life Again

26 ^(V)Some men from Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah and told him that David was hiding on Mount Hachilah at the edge of the Judean wilderness. ² Saul went at once with three thousand of the best soldiers in Israel to the wilderness of Ziph to look for David, ³ and camped by the road on Mount Hachilah. David was still in the wilderness, and when he learned that Saul had come to look for him, ⁴ he sent spies and found out that Saul was indeed there. ⁵ He went at once and located the exact place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, slept. Saul slept inside the camp, and his men camped around him.

⁶ Then David asked Ahimelech the Hittite, and Abishai the brother of Joab (their mother was Zeruiah), “Which of you two will go to Saul's camp with me?”

“I will,” Abishai answered.

⁷ So that night David and Abishai entered Saul's camp and found Saul sleeping in the center of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the troops were sleeping around him. ⁸ Abishai said to David, “God has put your enemy in your power tonight. Now let me plunge his own spear through him and pin him to the ground with just one blow—I won't have to strike twice!”

⁹ But David said, “You must not harm him! The Lord will certainly punish whoever harms his chosen king. ¹⁰ By the living Lord,” David continued, “I know that the Lord himself will kill Saul, either when his time comes to die a natural death or when he dies in battle. ^11 (W)The Lord forbid that I should try to harm the one whom the Lord has made king! Let's take his spear and his water jar, and go.” ¹² So David took the spear and the water jar from right beside Saul's head, and he and Abishai left. No one saw it or knew what had happened or even woke up—they were all sound asleep, because the Lord had sent a heavy sleep on them all.

¹³ Then David crossed over to the other side of the valley to the top of the hill, a safe distance away, ¹⁴ and shouted to Saul's troops and to Abner, “Abner! Can you hear me?”

“Who is that shouting and waking up the king?” Abner asked.

¹⁵ David answered, “Abner, aren't you the greatest man in Israel? So why aren't you protecting your master, the king? Just now someone entered the camp to kill your master. ¹⁶ You failed in your duty, Abner! I swear by the living Lord that all of you deserve to die, because you have not protected your master, whom the Lord made king. Look! Where is the king's spear? Where is the water jar that was right by his head?”

¹⁷ Saul recognized David's voice and asked, “David, is that you, my son?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” David answered. ¹⁸ And he added, “Why, sir, are you still pursuing me, your servant? What have I done? What crime have I committed? ¹⁹ Your Majesty, listen to what I have to say. If it is the Lord who has turned you against me, an offering to him will make him change his mind; but if some people have done it, may the Lord's curse fall on them. For they have driven me out from the Lord's land to a country where I can only worship foreign gods. ²⁰ Don't let me be killed on foreign soil, away from the Lord. Why should the king of Israel come to kill a flea like me? Why should he hunt me down like a wild bird?”

²¹ Saul answered, “I have done wrong. Come back, David, my son! I will never harm you again, because you have spared my life tonight. I have been a fool! I have done a terrible thing!”

²² David replied, “Here is your spear, Your Majesty. Let one of your men come over and get it. ²³ The Lord rewards those who are faithful and righteous. Today he put you in my power, but I did not harm you, whom the Lord made king. ²⁴ Just as I have spared your life today, may the Lord do the same to me and free me from all troubles!”

²⁵ Saul said to David, “God bless you, my son! You will succeed in everything you do!”

So David went on his way, and Saul returned home.

David among the Philistines

27 David said to himself, “One of these days Saul will kill me. The best thing for me to do is to escape to Philistia. Then Saul will give up looking for me in Israel, and I will be safe.” ² So David and his six hundred men went over at once to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³ David and his men settled there in Gath with their families. David had his two wives with him, Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Abigail, Nabal's widow, from Carmel. ⁴ When Saul heard that David had fled to Gath, he gave up trying to find him.

⁵ David said to Achish, “If you are my friend, let me have a small town to live in. There is no need, sir, for me to live with you in the capital city.” ⁶ So Achish gave him the town of Ziklag, and for this reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. ⁷ David lived in Philistia for sixteen months.

⁸ During that time David and his men would attack the people of Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek, who had been living in the region a very long time. He would raid their land as far as Shur, all the way down to Egypt, ⁹ killing all the men and women and taking the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and even the clothes. Then he would come back to Achish, ¹⁰ who would ask him, “Where did you go on a raid this time?” and David would tell him that he had gone to the southern part of Judah or to the territory of the clan of Jerahmeel or to the territory where the Kenites lived. ¹¹ David would kill everyone, men and women, so that no one could go back to Gath and report what he and his men had really done. This is what David did the whole time he lived in Philistia. ¹² But Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He is hated so much by his own people the Israelites that he will have to serve me all his life.”

28 Some time later the Philistines gathered their troops to fight Israel, and Achish said to David, “Of course you understand that you and your men are to fight on my side.”

² “Of course,” David answered. “I am your servant, and you will see for yourself what I can do.”

Achish said, “Good! I will make you my permanent bodyguard.”

Saul Consults a Medium

^3 (X)Now Samuel had died, and all the Israelites had mourned for him and had buried him in his hometown of Ramah. Saul had forced all the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel.

⁴ The Philistine troops assembled and camped near the town of Shunem; Saul gathered the Israelites and camped at Mount Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was terrified, ^6 (Y)and so he asked the Lord what to do. But the Lord did not answer him at all, either by dreams or by the use of Urim and Thummim or by prophets. ⁷ Then Saul ordered his officials, “Find me a woman who is a medium, and I will go and consult her.”

“There is one in Endor,” they answered.

⁸ So Saul disguised himself; he put on different clothes, and after dark he went with two of his men to see the woman. “Consult the spirits for me and tell me what is going to happen,” he said to her. “Call up the spirit of the man I name.”

⁹ The woman answered, “Surely you know what King Saul has done, how he forced the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel.^[w] Why, then, are you trying to trap me and get me killed?”

¹⁰ Then Saul made a sacred vow. “By the living Lord I promise that you will not be punished for doing this,” he told her.

^11 (Z)“Whom shall I call up for you?” the woman asked.

“Samuel,” he answered.

¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed and said to Saul, “Why have you tricked me? You are King Saul!”

¹³ “Don't be afraid!” the king said to her. “What do you see?”

“I see a spirit coming up from the earth,” she answered.

¹⁴ “What does it look like?” he asked.

“It's an old man coming up,” she answered. “He is wearing a cloak.”

Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed to the ground in respect.

¹⁵ Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me? Why did you make me come back?”

Saul answered, “I am in great trouble! The Philistines are at war with me, and God has abandoned me. He doesn't answer me any more, either by prophets or by dreams. And so I have called you, for you to tell me what I must do.”

¹⁶ Samuel said, “Why do you call me when the Lord has abandoned you and become your enemy? ^17 (AA)The Lord has done to you what he told you through me: he has taken the kingdom away from you and given it to David instead. ^18 (AB)You disobeyed the Lord's command and did not completely destroy the Amalekites and all they had. That is why the Lord is doing this to you now. ¹⁹ He will give you and Israel over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will join me, and the Lord will also give the army of Israel over to the Philistines.”