Bible in 90 Days

16 And the Lord said to Samuel, How long bewailest thou Saul, since I have cast him away, that he reign not upon Israel(?); fill thine horn with oil, and come, that I send thee to Jesse of Bethlehem; for among his sons I have purveyed a king to me (for I have chosen myself a king from among his sons).

² And Samuel said, How shall I go? for Saul shall hear (of it), and he shall slay me. And the Lord said, Thou shalt take a calf of the drove in thy hand (Thou shalt take a calf from the herd with thee), and thou shalt say, I came to make sacrifice to the Lord.

³ And thou shalt call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I shall show to thee (and I shall tell thee), what thou shalt do; and thou shalt anoint whomever I shall show to thee.

⁴ Then Samuel did, as the Lord spake to him; and he came into Bethlehem, and the elder men of the city wondered, and came to him, and said, Whether thine entry be peaceable? (Hast thou come in peace?/Is all well?)

⁵ And he said, It is peaceable; I came to make sacrifice to the Lord; be ye hallowed, and come ye with me, that I make sacrifice. Therefore he hallowed Jesse, and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. (And he said, Yea, I have come in peace/all is well; I have come to offer a sacrifice to the Lord; be ye hallowed, and then come ye with me, and make ye also the sacrifice. Then he hallowed Jesse, and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.)

⁶ And when they had entered, he saw Eliab, and said, in his heart, Whether before the Lord is his christ? (Is this the Lord’s anointed?)

⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold thou not his cheer (Look thou not at his face), neither the highness of his stature; for I have cast him away, and I deem not by man’s sight; for man seeth those things that be open, but the Lord beholdeth the heart.

⁸ And Jesse called Abinadab, and brought him before Samuel; and he said, Neither the Lord hath chosen this (and he said, The Lord hath not chosen this man either).

⁹ And Jesse brought forth Shammah; of whom Samuel said, Also the Lord hath not chosen this (man).

¹⁰ And so Jesse brought forth his seven sons before Samuel (And so Jesse brought forth seven of his sons before Samuel); and Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord hath chosen none of these.

¹¹ And Samuel said to Jesse, Whether thy sons be now filled? And Jesse answered, Yet there is another little child, and he pastureth sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send ye, and bring him hither; for we shall not sit to meat, before that he come hither. (And Samuel said to Jesse, Be these all thy sons? And Jesse answered, There is still another young boy, and he pastureth the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send ye for him, and bring him here; for we shall not sit to the meal, before that he come here.)

¹² Therefore Jesse sent, and brought him (And so Jesse sent for him, and brought him forth); soothly he was ruddy, and fair in sight, and of seemly face. And the Lord said, Rise thou, and anoint him; for it is he.

¹³ Therefore Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the Spirit of the Lord was directed into David from that day forth. And (then) Samuel rose up, and went into Ramah.

¹⁴ And so the Spirit of the Lord went away from Saul, and a wicked spirit of the Lord travailed Saul (and then a wicked spirit from the Lord tormented him).

¹⁵ And the servants of Saul said to him, Lo! an evil spirit of the Lord travaileth thee; (And Saul’s servants said to him, Lo! an evil spirit from the Lord tormenteth thee;)

¹⁶ our lord the king command, and thy servants, that be before thee, shall seek a man, that can sing with an harp, and when the evil spirit of the Lord taketh thee, he harp with his hand, and thou bear it more easily. (let our lord the king command, and then thy servants, who be before thee, shall seek out a man who can play a harp, and so when the evil spirit from the Lord taketh hold of thee, he shall play his harp, and then thou shalt be able to bear it more easily.)

¹⁷ And Saul said to his servants, Purvey ye to me some man singing well (Find ye some man for me who can play well), and bring ye him to me.

¹⁸ And one of his servants answered and said, Lo! I saw a son of Jesse of Bethlehem, cunning to sing (who knoweth how to play), and (a) most strong man, and a man able to (do) battle, and prudent in words, and a fair man; and the Lord is with him.

¹⁹ Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send thou to me David thy son, that is keeping thy beasts. (And so Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send thou to me thy son David, who is keeping watch over thy sheep.)

²⁰ And so Jesse took an ass charged with loaves, and a gallon of wine, and a goat kid; and he sent those by the hand of David his son to Saul. (And so Jesse took a donkey loaded with loaves, and a gallon of wine, and a goat kid; and he sent them to Saul with his son David.)

²¹ And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and Saul loved him greatly (and Saul greatly loved him), and he was made his squire.

²² And Saul sent to Jesse, and said, (Let) David stand in my sight, for he hath found grace in mine eyes.

²³ Then whenever the evil spirit of the Lord travailed Saul (And whenever the evil spirit from the Lord tormented Saul), David took his harp, and harped with his hand, and Saul was comforted, and he had it more lightly; for (then) the evil spirit went away from him.

17 Soothly the Philistines gathered together their companies into battle, and came together in Shochoh of Judah, and they setted tents betwixt Shochoh and Azekah, in the coasts of Dammim (in Ephesdammim).

² And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and came into the valley of Terebinth, and they dressed (the) battle array to fight against [the] Philistines. (And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and came into the Elah Valley, and they directed the battle array to fight against the Philistines.)

³ And the Philistines stood above the hill on this part, and Israel stood on the hill on the tother part of the valley, that was betwixt them. (And the Philistines stood on a hill on one side, and Israel stood on a hill on the other side, and the valley was between them.)

⁴ And a man in the midst, that is, a strong man, and hardy, that goeth before the host, and is ready to fight against one of the enemies in singular battle, (that is, man-to-man,) went out of the Philistines’ tents, Goliath by name, of Gath, of six cubits high and a span; (And a champion went out from the Philistines’ camp, whose name was Goliath, and was from Gath, and he was six cubits and a span in height;)

⁵ and a brazen basinet on his head; and he was clothed with a mailed habergeon; and the weight of his habergeon was five thousand shekels of brass; (and he had a bronze helmet on his head; and was clothed with a breastplate of mail; and the weight of his breastplate was equal to five thousand brass shekels;)

⁶ and he had on his thighs brazen boots, and a brazen shield covered his shoulders. (and he wore bronze boots up to his thighs, and a bronze shield covered his shoulders.)

⁷ Forsooth the shaft of his spear was as the beam of webs (And his spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam); and the iron of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his squire went before him.

⁸ And he stood, and cried (out) against the companies of (the) armed men of Israel, and said to them, Why came ye ready to (do) battle? Whether I am not a Philistine, and ye be the servants of Saul? Choose ye a man of you, and come he down to a singular battle, (that is, man-to-man);

⁹ if he may fight with me, and slay me, we shall be your servants; forsooth if I have the mastery, and slay him, ye shall be bond (ye shall be our bondsmen, or our slaves), and serve us.

¹⁰ And the Philistine said, I have said shame today to the companies of Israel; give ye [to me] a man, and begin he singular battle with me. (And the Philistine said, I have shamed Israel’s companies this day; now give ye to me a man, and let him fight with me man-to-man.)

¹¹ Soothly Saul and all men of Israel heard such words of the Philistine, and they were astonished, and dreaded greatly (and were greatly afraid).

¹² Forsooth David was the son of a man of Ephrath, of whom it is said before, of Bethlehem of Judah, to whom the name was Jesse, and he had eight sons; and in the days of Saul, Jesse was an old man, and of great age among men. (And David was the son of a man of Ephrath, of whom it was spoken of before, of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse, and he had eight sons; and Jesse was an old man in the days of Saul, and of great age among men.)

¹³ And the three eldest sons of Jesse went after Saul into battle; and the names of his three sons, that went to battle (who went to battle), were Eliab, the first begotten, and the second, Abinadab, and the third, Shammah.

¹⁴ And David was the youngest. Then while the three eldest sons followed Saul,

¹⁵ David went, and turned again from Saul, that he should keep the flock of his father in Bethlehem. (David returned home from Saul, so that he could care for his father’s flock in Bethlehem.)

¹⁶ Forsooth the Philistine came forth in the morrowtide, and [at] eventide; and stood by forty days. [Forsooth the Philistine came forth early, and at even, standing (and) reproving the children of Israel (for) forty days.]

¹⁷ And Jesse said to David his son, Take thou to thy brethren meat made of meal, the measure of ephah, and these ten loaves, and run thou in to the tents to thy brethren; (And Jesse said to his son David, Take thou to thy brothers this meal of roasted grain, an ephah in measure, and these ten loaves, and run thou to thy brothers’ camp;)

¹⁸ and thou shalt bare to the tribune these ten small cheeses; and thou shalt visit thy brethren, whether they do rightly (and see if all is well), and learn thou, with which men they be ordained.

¹⁹ Forsooth Saul, and they, and all the sons of Israel in the valley of Terebinth fought against the Philistines. (Now Saul, and David’s brothers, and all the Israelites were in the Elah Valley fighting against the Philistines.)

²⁰ And so David rose (up) early, and he betook the flock to a keeper, and he went charged, as Jesse commanded to him; and he came to the place of Magal, and to the host, the which host went out to the fight, and it cried [out] in the fighting (and he came to the place of the circle of the camp, and to the army, who were going out to the battle, and were shouting out the war-cry).

²¹ For Israel had ordained (the) battle array; and even against them, the Philistines were ready also (and opposite them, the Philistines were also ready).

²² Then David left the vessels, that he had brought, under the hand of a keeper at the fardels, and he ran to the place of [the] battle, and he asked, if all things were done rightly with his brethren (and he asked his brothers if all was well).

²³ And when he spake yet to them, that bastard appeared, Goliath by name, the Philistine of Gath, and he went up from the tents of the Philistines; and while he spake these same words, David heard. (And while he spoke to them, that champion appeared, Goliath by name, the Philistine of Gath, and he went up from the Philistines’ camp; and when he spoke the same words as before, then David heard them.)

²⁴ And when all the men of Israel had seen the man, they fled from his sight, and dreaded him greatly (and were greatly afraid of him).

²⁵ And each man of Israel said to (the) other, Whether thou hast seen this man that hath gone up? forsooth he went up to say shame, or reproof, to Israel; therefore the king shall make rich with great riches the man that slayeth that Philistine; and the king shall give his daughter to that man, and shall make the house of his father without (having to pay) tribute in Israel (and he shall let his father’s family be exempt from paying any taxes in Israel).

²⁶ And David spake to the men that stood with him, and said, What shall be given to the man that slayeth this Philistine, and doeth away shame from Israel? for who is this Philistine uncircumcised, that despiseth the battle arrays of God living? (for who is this uncircumcised Philistine who despiseth the battle arrays of the living God?)

²⁷ Forsooth the people told to him the same word, and said, These things shall be given to the man that slayeth him.

²⁸ And when Eliab, his more brother/the elder brother of David, had heard this, while he spake with other men, he was wroth against David, and said, Why camest thou hither, and why hast thou left those few sheep in desert, (and why hast thou left those few sheep back in the wilderness)? I know thy pride, and the waywardness of thine heart; for thou camest down to see the battle.

²⁹ And David said, What have I done? Whether it is not but a word? (Did I not just ask a question?)

³⁰ And David went thence a little from him to another man; and David said the same word, and the people answered to him the word as they did before (and David asked the same question, and the people gave him the same answer).

³¹ And the words were heard, that David spake, and they were told before Saul. And when David was brought to Saul,

³² David spake to him thus, The heart of any man fall not down in him, for I thy servant shall go, and fight against the Philistine. (David spoke thus to him, Let not any man’s heart fall down because of that man, for I, thy servant, shall go, and fight against the Philistine.)

³³ And Saul said to David, Thou mayest not against-stand this Philistine, neither fight against him, for thou art a child (for thou art but a boy, that is, a young man); forsooth this man is a warrior from his young waxing age.

³⁴ And David said to Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s flock, and (when) a lion came, also a bear/either a bear, and took away a ram from the midst of the flock;

³⁵ I pursued, and killed them, and I ravished it from their mouth; and they rose against me, and I took their nether jowl, and I strangled, and killed them. (I pursued him, and killed him, and I delivered the ram out of his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I took his lower jaw, and I strangled him, and killed him dead.)

³⁶ For I thy servant killed both the lion and the bear; therefore and this Philistine uncircumcised shall be as one of them. Now I shall go, and I shall do away the shame/the reproof of the people; for who is this Philistine uncircumcised, that was hardy to curse the host of God living? (For I thy servant, killed both the lion and the bear; and so this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them. And now I shall go, and I shall do away the people’s shame, or their reproof; for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, who was fool-hardy enough to curse the army of the living God?)

³⁷ And again David said, The Lord that delivered me from the mouth of the lion, and from the hand, that is, (the) power, of the bear, he shall deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go thou, and the Lord be with thee.

³⁸ And Saul clothed David with his clothes, and he set a brazen basinet on his head, and clothed him with an habergeon.

³⁹ Therefore David was girded with his sword on his cloak, and began to assay if he might go armed; for he had not [the] custom. And David said to Saul, I may not go thus, for I have not the uses of it. And David put away (all) those [things],

⁴⁰ and he took his staff, that he had ever[more] in his hands. And he chose to him five full clear round stones, that is, hard, plain, and round, of the strand (And he chose out of the stream for himself five hard, round, plain stones); and he put those into his shepherd’s script, that he had with him; and he took a sling in his hand, and he went forth against the Philistine.

⁴¹ Soothly the Philistine went, going and nighing against David; and his squire went before him. (And the Philistine came forth toward David; and his squire went before him.)

⁴² And when the Philistine had beheld David, and saw him, he despised David; forsooth David was a young waxing man, ruddy, and fair in sight.

⁴³ And the Philistine said to David, Whether I am a dog, for thou comest to me with a staff? And the Philistine cursed David in his gods; (And the Philistine said to David, Am I but a dog, that thou comest to me with a staff? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods;)

⁴⁴ and he said to David, Come thou to me, and I shall give thy flesh to the fowls of the air, and to [the] beasts of the earth.

⁴⁵ And David said to Goliath, Thou comest to me with a sword and (a) spear, and (a) shield; but I come to thee in (the) name of the Lord of hosts, (the) God of the companies of Israel, to whom thou hast said reproof today.

⁴⁶ And the Lord shall give thee in(to) mine hand, and I shall slay thee, and I shall take thine head from thee; and today I shall give the dead bodies of the tents of Philistines to the fowls of (the) heaven(s), and to the beasts of the earth (and today I shall give the dead bodies of the Philistine’s host, or army, to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth); (so) that all the earth (shall) know, that the Lord God is in Israel,

⁴⁷ and that all this church know, that the Lord saveth not in sword neither in spear; for the battle is his, and he shall betake you into our hands. (and so that all this congregation shall know, that the Lord saveth not by sword or by spear; for the battle is his, and he shall deliver you into our hands.)

⁴⁸ Therefore when the Philistine had risen (up), and came, and nighed against David (and came toward David), David hasted, and ran to (the) battle against the Philistine.

⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his scrip, and he took out a stone, and he casted it with his sling, and led [it] about, and smote the Philistine in the forehead; and the stone was fastened in his forehead, and he felled down into his face on the earth. (And David put his hand into his bag, and he took out a stone, and he led it about, and threw it with his sling, and hit the Philistine in the forehead; and the stone stuck in his forehead, and he fell down on his face on the ground.)

⁵⁰ And David had the mastery against the Philistine in a sling and a stone, and he killed the Philistine smitten. And when David had no sword in his hand, (And so David had the mastery against the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck down the Philistine, and killed him. And when David had no sword in his hand,)

⁵¹ he ran, and stood on the Philistine, and took (hold of) his sword; and David drew out the sword of his sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head (and David drew the sword out of its sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head). And the Philistines saw, that the strongest of them was dead, and they fled.

⁵² And the sons of Israel and of Judah rose up together, and cried [out], and pursued the Philistines, till the time they came into the valley, and unto the gate(s) of Ekron. And the wounded men of the Philistines fell down in the way of Shaaraim, and unto Gath, and unto Ekron (And the wounded men of the Philistines fell down on the way to Shaaraim, and unto Gath, and unto Ekron).

⁵³ And the sons of Israel turned again, after that they had pursued the Philistines, and they assailed their tents. (And the Israelites returned, after that they had pursued the Philistines, and they looted their camp.)

⁵⁴ Forsooth David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it into Jerusalem; soothly he putted his armours in the tabernacle of the Lord (but he put Goliath’s arms, or his weapons, in his own tent).

⁵⁵ Forsooth in that time in which Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, [the] prince of his chivalry, Abner, of what generation is this young man? And Abner said, King, thy soul liveth, I know not. (Now at the time when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the leader of his cavalry, or his army, Abner, whose son is this young man? And Abner said, O king, as thy soul liveth, I do not know.)

⁵⁶ And the king said, Ask thou, whose son this boy is.

⁵⁷ And when David had come again, when the Philistine was slain, Abner took David, and brought him in, having in the hand the head of the Philistine, before Saul. (And when David had come back, after the Philistine was killed, Abner took David, and brought him in before Saul, with the head of the Philistine still in his hand.)

⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, Of what generation art thou, young man? And David said, I am the son of thy servant, Jesse of Bethlehem.

18 And it was done, when David had ended to speak to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was glued together to the soul of David, that is, (they were) joined together by the glue of charity, (or of love,) that may not be broken, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul (and Jonathan loved him as much as he loved his own life).

² And Saul took David in that day, and granted not to him, that he should turn again into the house of his father. (And from that day on, Saul kept David with him, and would not allow him to return to his father’s house.)

³ And Jonathan and David made a bond of peace; for Jonathan loved David as his own soul; (And Jonathan and David made a covenant; for Jonathan loved David as much as he loved his own life;)

⁴ for why Jonathan unclothed himself from the coat that he was clothed in, and he gave it to David, and his other clothes, unto his sword and his bow, and unto his girdle.

⁵ And David went forth to all things, to whatever things Saul sent him, and he governed himself prudently; and Saul setted him over the men of battle, and he was accepted in the eyes of all the people, and mostly in the sight of the servants of Saul (and even before Saul’s officers).

⁶ Forsooth when David turned again, when the Philistine was slain, and bare the head of the Philistine into Jerusalem, women went out of all the cities of Israel, and sang, and led dances, against the coming of king Saul, in tympans of gladness, and in trumps. (And when David returned, when the Philistine was killed, and carried the Philistine’s head into Jerusalem, women came out from all the cities of Israel, and sang, and danced, and greeted King Saul with joyful tambourines, and trumpets.)

⁷ And the women sang, playing, and saying, Saul hath slain a thousand, and David ten thousand. (And the women sang to one another as they danced, saying, Saul hath killed thousands, but David hath killed tens of thousands.)

⁸ And Saul was wroth greatly, and this word displeased before him; and he said, They have given ten thousand to David, and but one thousand to me; what leaveth to him, no but the realm alone? (And Saul was greatly angered, for these words displeased him; and he said, They have given tens of thousands to David, but only thousands to me; what is left for him now, but only the kingdom itself?)

⁹ Therefore Saul beheld David not with rightful eye, from that day and afterward. (And so from that day on, Saul did not look kindly upon David.)

¹⁰ Soothly after the tother day, a wicked spirit of God assailed Saul (And the next day, a wicked spirit from God tormented Saul), and he prophesied in the midst of his house. And David harped with his hand, as by all days before; and Saul held a spear,

¹¹ and (then he) cast it, and guessed that he might preen David with the wall, that is, pierce (right through him) with the spear, so that it should pass into the wall; and David bowed [aside] from his face the second time (and twice David veered away from the spear that Saul threw at him).

¹² And Saul dreaded David, (or feared him,) for the Lord was with David, and had gone away from him.

¹³ Then Saul removed David from himself (Then Saul removed David from his household), and made him (a) chieftain upon a thousand men; and David went out and he came in before the people.

¹⁴ And David did wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him;

¹⁵ and so Saul saw that David was full prudent/was full wise, and he began to beware of David.

¹⁶ And all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went in and out before them.

¹⁷ And Saul said to David, Lo! mine elder daughter Merab, I shall give her (for a) wife to thee; only be thou a strong man, and fight thou the Lord’s battles. Forsooth Saul areckoned, and said, Mine hand be not in him, but the hand of Philistines be on him (But Saul reckoned, and said to himself, My hand shall not be upon him, but the hands of the Philistines shall be upon him).

¹⁸ And David said to Saul, Who am I, either what is my life, either (what is) the family of my father in Israel, that I (should) be made the son-in-law of the king?

¹⁹ And when the time came that Merab, the daughter of Saul, should have been given wife to David, she was given wife to Adriel Meholathite. (But when the time came that Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given for a wife to David, instead she was given for a wife to Adriel the Meholathite.)

²⁰ Forsooth David loved Michal, the [tother] daughter of Saul; and it was told to Saul, and it pleased him.

²¹ And Saul said, I shall give her to him, that it be to him into cause of stumbling, and the hand of Philistines be upon him. Therefore Saul said to David, In (wedding one of my) two daughters thou shalt be my son-in-law today. (And Saul said, I shall give her to him, so that she shall become a cause of stumbling to him, and so that the hands of the Philistines shall be upon him. And so Saul said to David, By wedding my younger daughter, on that day thou shalt become my son-in-law.)

²² And Saul commanded to his servants, (and said,) Speak ye privily to David, as if it were me unwitting (Speak ye privately to David, as if I did not know it), and say ye to him, Lo! thou pleasest the king, and all his servants love thee; now therefore be thou [the] husband of the king’s daughter.

²³ And the servants of Saul spake all these words in the ears of David. And David said, Whether it seem little to you (for) me to be the king’s son-in-law? Forsooth I am a poor man, and a feeble (I am but a poor and feeble man).

²⁴ And the servants told to Saul, and said, David spake such words.

²⁵ Soothly Saul said, Thus speak ye to David, The king hath no need to gifts for spousals, no but only to an hundred prepuces, that is, men’s rods uncircumcised, of the Philistines, that vengeance be made of the king’s enemies. Certainly Saul thought to betake David into the hands of Philistines. (And Saul said, Speak ye thus to David, and say, The king hath no need for wedding gifts, but only for a hundred prepuces, that is, the rods of a hundred uncircumcised men, of the Philistines, so that vengeance be taken upon the king’s enemies. For Saul intended to deliver David into the hands of the Philistines.)

²⁶ And when the servants of Saul had told to David the words, which Saul had said, the word pleased in the eyes of David, that he should be made the king’s son-in-law. And after a few days, (And when Saul’s servants told David what Saul had said, it pleased him, that he could become the king’s son-in-law. And so, after a few days,)

²⁷ David rose up, and went into Ekron, with the men that were with him, and he killed of Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their prepuces, and he numbered those to the king, that he should be the king’s son-in-law. And so Saul gave Michal, his daughter, wife to him. (David rose up, and went to Ekron, with the men who were with him, and he killed two hundred of the Philistine men; and David brought their foreskins, and he counted those out to the king, so that he could be made the king’s son-in-law. And so Saul gave Michal, his daughter, for a wife to him.)

²⁸ And Saul saw, and understood, that the Lord was with David. Certainly Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David,

²⁹ and Saul began more to dread David (and then Saul began to fear David even more); and (so) Saul was made (an) enemy to David in all days.

³⁰ And the princes of (the) Philistines went out to fight; but from the beginning of their going out, David bare himself more wisely than all the men of Saul; and the name of David was made full solemn (and David’s name became very famous).

19 Soothly Saul spake to Jonathan, his son, and to all his servants, that they should slay David;

² certainly Jonathan, the son of Saul, loved David greatly. And Jonathan showed to David, and said, Saul, my father, seeketh to slay thee; wherefore, I beseech, keep thyself tomorrow early; and thou shalt dwell privily, and thou shalt be hid. (but Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly loved David. And Jonathan told David, My father Saul seeketh to kill thee; and so, I beseech thee, be careful tomorrow morning; remain thou in secret, and be thou hid.)

³ And I shall go out, and stand beside my father in the field, wherever he shall be; and I shall speak of thee to my father, and whatever thing I shall see/and whatever thing I shall understand of him, I shall tell thee (and whatever I shall learn from him, I shall tell thee).

⁴ Then Jonathan spake good things of David to Saul, his father, and said to him, King, do thou not sin against thy servant David, for he hath not sinned to thee, and his works be full good to thee; (Then Jonathan spoke good things about David to his father Saul, and said to him, O king, do not thou sin against thy servant David, for he hath not sinned against thee, and his works be very good towards thee;)

⁵ and he putted his life in his hand, and he killed the Philistine. And the Lord made great help to all Israel; thou sawest, and were glad; why therefore sinnest thou in guiltless blood, and wilt slay David, that is without guilt? (and he put his life in his hands, and he killed the Philistine. And the Lord won a great victory for all Israel; thou sawest this, and wast glad; and so why sinnest thou against innocent blood, and wilt kill David, who is without guilt?)

⁶ And when Saul had heard this, he was pleased with the speaking of Jonathan, and he swore, (As) The Lord liveth, for David shall not be slain.

⁷ And so Jonathan called David, and showed to him all these words (and told him all these things). And Jonathan brought in David to Saul, and he was before him as [he was] yesterday and the third day ago.

⁸ Forsooth (the) battle was moved again; and David went out, and fought against the Philistines, and he smote them with a great wound/with great fierceness, and they fled from his face.

⁹ And the evil spirit of the Lord was made upon Saul (And then again an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul); and he sat in his house, and held a spear; certainly David harped with his hand.

¹⁰ And Saul enforced to preen, that is pierce, with the spear (right through) David in(to) the wall; and David bowed [aside] from the face of Saul; and the spear without hurt of David was fixed into the wall; and David fled, and so he was saved in that night. (And Saul endeavoured to preen David with the spear, that is, to pierce right through him, into the wall; but David veered away from the spear thrown by Saul; and it was fixed into the wall without hurting him; and David fled, and so he was saved that night.)

¹¹ Therefore Saul sent his knights in the night into the house of David, that they should keep him, and that he should be slain in the morrowtide. And when Michal, the wife of David, had told this to David, and said, If thou savest not thee in this night, thou shalt die tomorrow; (And so Saul sent his sergeants in the night to David’s house, to keep watch over him, and then to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told this to David, and said, If thou savest not thyself this night, thou shalt die tomorrow;)

¹² and she let him down by a window. And David went, and fled thence, and (so) he was saved.

¹³ And Michal took an image (And Michal took an idol), and laid it on the bed of David, and she put a rough goatskin at the head thereof, and covered it with clothes.

¹⁴ Forsooth Saul sent sergeants, that should ravish David, and it was answered, that he was sick. (Then when Saul’s sergeants entered to take hold of David, she said that he was sick.)

¹⁵ And again Saul sent messengers, that they should see David, and he said, Bring ye him to me in the bed, that he be slain. (And Saul sent the men back to see David for themselves, and he said, Bring ye him to me in his bed, and then I shall kill him myself!)

¹⁶ And when the messengers had come, a simulacrum was found on the bed, and skins of goat at the head thereof. (And when the men had come in, they found the idol on the bed, with a goatskin at its head.)

¹⁷ And Saul said to Michal, Why scornedest thou me so (Why hast thou so scorned me), and deliveredest mine enemy, (so) that he fled? And Michal answered to Saul, For he spake to me, and said, Deliver thou me, (or) else I shall slay thee.

¹⁸ Forsooth David fled, and was saved; and he came to Samuel into Ramah, and told to him all things which Saul had done to him; and he and Samuel went, and dwelled in Naioth.

¹⁹ And it was told to Saul of men (And some men told this to Saul), saying to him, Lo! David is in Naioth in Ramah.

²⁰ Therefore Saul sent men-slayers, that they should ravish (from) thence David; and when they had seen the company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing over them, the Spirit of the Lord was made in them, and they also began to prophesy. (And so Saul sent some men-killers to take hold of David there; and when they had seen the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing at their head, the Spirit of the Lord was made upon them, and they also began to prophesy.)

²¹ And when this was told to Saul, he sent also other messengers; soothly and they prophesied. And again Saul sent the third messengers, and they prophesied. (And when this was told to Saul, he sent other men; and they also prophesied. And a third time Saul sent even more men, and they also prophesied.)

²² And Saul was wroth with irefulness; and he also went into Ramah (and then he went to Ramah), and he came unto the great cistern which is in Sechu, and he asked, and said, In what place be Samuel and David? And it was said to him, Lo! they be in Naioth in Ramah.

²³ And he went (thither) into Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of the Lord was made also on him (And he went on toward Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of the Lord was also made upon him); and he went (on), and entered, and prophesied, till the while he came into Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴ And Saul also unclothed him(self) of his clothes, and he prophesied with other men before Samuel, and he prophesied naked all that day and night. Wherefore a common saying went out, Whether and Saul be among [the] prophets? (And so a common saying went out, Is Saul now also among the prophets?)

20 Forsooth David fled from Naioth, which is in Ramah, and came and spake before Jonathan (and came and said to Jonathan), What have I done? what is my wickedness, and what is my sin against thy father, for (that) he seeketh my life?

² And Jonathan said to him, Far be it from thee, thou shalt not die, for my father shall not do anything great either little, no but he show first to me; therefore, (would) my father (have) kept privy from me this word only, forsooth it shall not be. And again he swore to David. (And Jonathan said to him, Far be it from thee, thou shalt not die, for my father shall not do anything great or small, no but first he tell it to me; would my father have only kept secret this word from me? no, it is not so. And again he swore to David.)

³ And David said, Truly thy father knoweth, that I have found grace in thine eyes, and he shall say, Jonathan know not this, lest peradventure he be sorry; certainly the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, for, that I say so, I and death be parted only by one degree. (And David said, Truly thy father knoweth that I have found favour in thy sight, and he shall say, I will not let Jonathan know this, lest he become angry, or upset; truly, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I say that I and death be separated by only one degree.)

⁴ And Jonathan said to David, Whatever thing thy soul shall say to me, I shall do it to thee. (And Jonathan said to David, Whatever thou shalt ask me, I shall do it for thee.)

⁵ And David said to Jonathan, Lo! calends be tomorrow, that is the feast of the new moon, and by custom I am wont to sit by the king to eat; therefore suffer thou me, that I be hid in the field till to [the] eventide of the third day (but instead, allow me to hide in the field until the evening of the third day).

⁶ And if thy father beholdeth, and asketh after me, thou shalt answer to him, David prayed me, that he might go at once into Bethlehem, his city, for solemn sacrifices be now there to all [the] men of his lineage (for now is the time of the annual sacrifice there for all the men of his family).

⁷ If he saith, Well, peace shall be to thy servant; forsooth if he is wroth, know thou, that his malice is filled. (And if he saith, Fine, then peace shall be to thy servant; but if he is angry, then know thou, that he is determined to harm me.)

⁸ Therefore do thou mercy into thy servant, for thou hast made me thy servant to make with thee (a) bond of peace of the Lord; but if any wickedness is in me, slay thou me, and bring thou not in me to thy father. (And so do thou mercy with me, thy servant, for thou hast made a covenant with me before the Lord; but if there is any wickedness in me, then thou kill me, and do not bring me in to thy father.)

⁹ And Jonathan said, Far be this from me, for it may not be done, that I tell (it) not to thee, if I know certainly, that the malice of my father is filled against thee. (And Jonathan said, Far be this from me, for it will not be done, that I do not tell it to thee, if I know with certainty, that my father is determined to harm thee.)

¹⁰ And David answered to Jonathan, Who shall tell me, if in case thy father answereth hard [to thee] anything of me? (And David asked Jonathan, Who shall tell me, if thy father saith anything hard to thee about me?)

¹¹ And Jonathan said to David, Come thou, and go we forth into the field. And when they both had gone into the field,

¹² Jonathan said (out loud) to David, Thou Lord God of Israel, if I inquire the sentence of my father tomorrow, either in the next day after (O Lord God of Israel, if I inquire about my father’s thoughts tomorrow, or the next day), and any good thing be said of thee, (David,) and I send not at once to thee, and make it known to thee,

¹³ God do these things to Jonathan, and add these (other) things. And if the malice of my father continue against thee, I shall show it to thine ear (I shall tell it to thee), and I shall deliver thee, (so) that thou go in peace; and the Lord be with thee, as he was with my father.

¹⁴ And if I live, do thou the mercies of the Lord to me; forsooth if I am dead, (And while I live, do thou the Lord’s mercies to me; but if I should die,)

¹⁵ take thou not away thy mercy from mine house unto without end; and if I do it not, when the Lord shall draw out by the root the enemies of David, each man from the land, take he away Jonathan from his house, and seek the Lord of the hand of the enemies of David. (take thou not away thy mercy from my family forevermore; and even when the Lord shall draw out David’s enemies by the root, yea, each man from the land, let the Lord call David to account, if he and his household, or his family, no longer be my friends.)

¹⁶ Therefore Jonathan made [a] bond of peace with the house of David, and the Lord sought (it) of the hand of [the] enemies of David. (And so Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the Lord seek justice for me at the hands of David’s enemies.)

¹⁷ And Jonathan added to swear steadfastly to David, for he loved him; for he loved so David, as his own soul. (And Jonathan added to steadfastly swear to David, for he loved him; yea, he loved David as much as his own life.)

¹⁸ And Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the first day of the month, that is solemn (and that is a feast day), and thou shalt be sought (after);

¹⁹ and thy sitting shall be asked (of) till after the morrow. Therefore thou shalt go down hastily, and thou shalt come into a place, where thou shalt be hid in the day, when it is leaveful to work (while this business is at hand); and thou shalt sit beside the stone, that is called Ezel.

²⁰ And I shall shoot three arrows beside that stone, and I shall cast (those) as (if) exercising, either playing me at a sign. (And I shall shoot three arrows toward that stone, and I shall shoot them as if I were aiming at a mark, or at a target.)

²¹ I shall send my child, and I shall say to him, Go thou, and bring to me the arrows. If I say to the child, Lo! the arrows be on this side (of) thee, take thou those; then come thou to me, for peace is to thee, and nothing is of evil, the Lord liveth. (And I shall send my boy, and I shall say to him, Go thou, and bring me the arrows. Now if I say to the boy, Lo! the arrows be on this side of thee, take thou them; then come thou to me, for all is well for thee, and nothing is of evil, as the Lord liveth.)

²² But if I speak thus to the child, Lo! the arrows be beyond thee; go thou in peace, for the Lord hath delivered thee. (But if I speak thus to the boy, Lo! the arrows be beyond thee; then go thou away to save thy own life, for the Lord hath sent thee away.)

²³ Certainly of the word that thou and I have spoken, that is, of the bond of peace betwixt us and our heirs (that is, of the covenant between us and our heirs), the Lord be witness betwixt me and thee till into without end.

²⁴ Therefore David was hid in the field; and the calends/the solemn feast came, and the king sat to eat bread (and the king sat down to eat his meal).

²⁵ And when the king had set on his chair (as) by custom, which chair was beside the wall, Jonathan rose, and sat after Abner, and Abner sat at the side of Saul, and the place of David appeared void (and David’s place was empty).

²⁶ And Saul spake not anything in that day; for he thought, that in hap it befelled to him, that he was not clean, neither purified. (And Saul did not say anything about David that day; for he thought perhaps it befell that David was not clean, or purified.)

²⁷ And when the second day after the calends had shined, again the place of David appeared void. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why cometh not the son of Jesse, neither yesterday, neither today, to eat? (And when the second day came after that the new moon had shone, again David’s place was empty. And Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why cometh not the son of Jesse to eat, not yesterday, or today?)

²⁸ And Jonathan answered to Saul, He prayed me meekly that he should go into Bethlehem (He humbly asked me if he could go to Bethlehem);

²⁹ and he said, Suffer thou me, for solemn sacrifice is (now) in my city; one of my brethren [hath] called me; now therefore, if I [have] found grace in thine eyes, I shall go soon, and I shall see my brethren (I shall go swiftly, and I shall see my brothers); for this cause he cometh not to the table of the king.

³⁰ And Saul was wroth against Jonathan, and said to him, Thou son of the woman willfully ravishing a man (Thou son of the woman who willfully robbeth a man), whether I know not, that thou lovest the son of Jesse into thy [own] confusion, and into the confusion of thy shameful mother?

³¹ For in all the days in which the son of Jesse liveth on [the] earth, thou shalt not be stablished, neither thy realm (thou shalt not be secure, nor shall thy kingdom); therefore right now/at once send thou, and bring him to me, for he is the son of death.

³² And Jonathan answered to Saul his father, and said, Why shall he die? what hath he done?

³³ And Saul took a spear, that he should smite him, and Jonathan understood, that it was determined of his father, that David should be slain (and Jonathan understood that his father was determined to kill David).

³⁴ Then Jonathan rose (up) from the table in full fierce wrath, and he ate not bread in the second day of calends (and he ate nothing on the second day of the feast); for he was sorry for David, for his father had shamed him.

³⁵ And when the morrowtide had shined, Jonathan came into the field, and a little child with him, by the covenant made of David. (And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the field, and had a young boy with him, as by the pact which he had made with David.)

³⁶ And Jonathan said to his child, Go thou, and bring to me the arrows that I shoot. And when the child had run forth, he shot another arrow beyond the child. (And Jonathan said to his boy, Go thou, and bring me back the arrows that I shoot. And as the boy ran forth, he shot the arrows beyond the boy.)

³⁷ Therefore when the child came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried behind the back of the child, and said, Lo! the arrow is not there, certainly it is beyond thee. (And so when the boy came to the place where the arrows were that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried behind the boy’s back, and said, Lo! the arrows be not there, but they be beyond thee.)

³⁸ And Jonathan cried again behind the back of the child, Haste thou swiftly, stand thou not. Soothly the child gathered up the arrows of Jonathan, and brought them to his lord, (And Jonathan cried again behind the back of the boy, Run thou quickly, do not thou stand still. And the boy gathered up the arrows of Jonathan, and brought them back to his lord,)

³⁹ and utterly the child knew not what was done; for only Jonathan and David knew the thing. (and utterly the boy could not understand what had happened; but Jonathan and David knew what the words really meant.)

⁴⁰ Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the child, and said to him, Go thou, bear these into the city. (Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy, and said to him, Go thou, carry these back to the city.)

⁴¹ And when the child had gone, David rose from the place that went to the south; and he felled low upon the earth, and worshipped the third time, and they kissed themselves together, and wept together; but David wept more. (And when the boy had gone, David rose up from a place toward the south; and he fell low on the ground, and bowed three times, and then they kissed one another, and wept together; but David wept more.)

⁴² Then Jonathan said to David, Go thou in peace; whatever things we both have sworn in the name of the Lord, and said, The Lord be betwixt me and thee, and betwixt my seed and thy seed, till into without end, be steadfast, (or certain). And David rose up, and went forth, but and Jonathan went into the city.

21 Forsooth David came into Nob to Ahimelech, the priest; and Ahimelech wondered, for David had come (and Ahimelech wondered why David had come there); and he said to David, Why art thou alone, and no man is with thee?

² And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded to me a word, and said, No man know this thing, for which thou art sent from me, and what manner behests I have given to thee; for I said also to my young men, that they should go into that and that place (and so I said to my young men, that they should go to such and such a place);

³ now therefore if thou hast anything at hand, either five loaves (even five loaves), give thou (them) to me, either whatever thing thou findest.

⁴ And the priest answered to David, and said to him, I have not lay, that is, common, loaves at hand, but only holy bread; whether the young men be clean, and mostly of women? (And the priest answered David, and said to him, I do not have any lay loaves, or common bread, at hand, only holy bread; thy young men, be they clean, at least from women?)

⁵ And David answered to the priest, and said to him, And soothly if it is done of women, we have abstained us from yesterday and the third day ago, when we went out, and the vessels, that is, (the) bodies, of the young men were clean; certainly this way is defouled, but and it shall be hallowed today in the vessels. (And David answered the priest, and said to him, If it is asked of women, we have abstained ourselves from yesterday and the third day ago, when we went out, and so the young men’s bodies be clean; truly, that way is defiled, but their bodies remain pure.)

⁶ Therefore the priest gave to him hallowed bread, for none other bread was there, but only loaves of setting forth, that were taken away from the face of the Lord, that hot loaves shall be set forth. (And so the priest gave him the consecrated bread, for there was no other bread there, but only the loaves of setting forth, that is, the loaves of proposition, or the showbread, which had been taken away from before the Lord, and replaced with fresh hot loaves.)

⁷ And a man of the servants of Saul was there that day, within in the tabernacle of the Lord; and his name was Doeg of Idumea, the mightiest man of the herds(men) of Saul.

⁸ And David said to Ahimelech, If thou hast here at hand (a) spear, either (a) sword, give it to me; for I took not with me my sword, neither mine armours (nor my own arms, or my own weapons); for why the king’s word constrained me to go in haste.

⁹ And the priest said, Lo! the sword of Goliath (the) Philistine, whom thou killedest in the valley of Terebinth, is wrapped in a cloth next after [the] ephod; if thou wilt take this, take it; for (t)here is none other except that. And David said, None other is like this, give thou it to me. (And the priest said, Lo! the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou killedest in the Elah Valley, is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if thou wilt have it, then take it; for there is nothing else here except that. And David said, There is no other like it, give it to me.)

¹⁰ And so David rose up, and fled in that day from the face of Saul, and came to Achish, the king of Gath.

¹¹ And the servants of Achish said to him, when they had seen David, Whether this is not David, [the] king of the land? Whether they sang not to him by quires/by carols, and said, Saul smote a thousand, and David smote ten thousand? (Did they not sing about him as they danced, saying, Saul struck down thousands, but David struck down tens of thousands?)

¹² And David took these words in his heart, and he dreaded greatly of the face of Achish, king of Gath. (And David took these words to heart, and so he greatly feared King Achish of Gath.)

¹³ And David changed his mouth before Achish, and felled down betwixt their hands, and he painted on the doors of the gate, and his dribbles, that is, spittles, flowed down into his beard.

¹⁴ And Achish said to his servants, See ye the mad man? (See ye not that the man is mad?) why brought ye him to me?

¹⁵ whether mad men fail to us? why have ye brought in him, that he should be mad, while I am present? Deliver ye him from hence, lest he enter into mine house. (do we not have enough mad men here already? why have ye brought him in, so that he can be deranged right in front of me! Get ye him away from here, lest he enter into my house, and touch things!)

22 Therefore David went from thence, and fled into the den of Adullam (And so David went from there, and fled to the cave of Adullam); and when his brethren, and all the house of his father had heard this, they came down thither to him.

² And all men that were set in anguish, and oppressed with other men’s debt, and in bitter soul, came together to him; and he was made the prince of them, and as four hundred men were with him. (And all men who were set in anguish, and were oppressed with owing debt to other men, and were bitter in soul, came together to him; and so about four hundred men were with him.)

³ And David went forth from thence into Mizpeh, that is in Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, I pray, dwell my father and my mother with you, till I know what thing God shall do to me. (And David went forth from there to Mizpeh, which is in Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, I pray thee, let my father and my mother stay with you, until I know what God shall do for me.)

⁴ And he left them there before the face of the king of Moab; and they dwelled at him in all the days, that David was in stronghold. (And so he left them there with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the days that David was in his stronghold.)

⁵ And Gad, the prophet, said to David, Do not thou dwell in the forcelet, or the stronghold; go thou forth, and go into the land of Judah. And David went forth, and came into the forest of Hareth.

⁶ And Saul heard, that David appeared, and the men that were with him. And when Saul dwelled in Gibeah, and was in a wood that is in Ramah, and he held a spear in his hand, and all his servants stood about him, (And Saul heard that David, and the men who were with him, had appeared. And Saul then lived in Gibeah, and was in a forest that is in Ramah, and he held a spear in his hand, and all his servants stood about him,)

⁷ he said to his servants that stood nigh [to] him, Ye sons of Benjamin, hear me now; whether the son of Jesse shall give to all you fields and vineries, and he shall make all you chieftains upon thousands, and upon hundreds of men? (and he said to his officers who stood about him, Ye sons of Benjamin, hear me now; will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards, and will he make all of you chieftains over thousands, and chieftains over hundreds?)

⁸ For all ye have sworn, either conspired, together against me, and none is that telleth to me; mostly since also my son hath joined (in a) bond of peace with the son of Jesse; none is of you, that sorroweth for my stead, or my while, neither that telleth to me, for my son hath raised my servant against me, setting treason to me, unto this day. (Is that why all of you have conspired together against me, and no one told me that my son hath made a covenant with the son of Jesse; yea, none of you hath concern for me, nor even telleth me that my own son hath raised up my servant against me, setting treason for me, unto this day.)

⁹ Soothly Doeg of Idumea answered, that stood nigh, and was the first among the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse in Nob, at Ahimelech, the priest, the son of Ahitub; (And Doeg of Idumea, who stood near, and was the first among Saul’s officers, answered, and said, I saw Jesse’s son in Nob, with Ahimelech, the priest, the son of Ahitub;)

¹⁰ and Ahimelech counselled with the Lord for David, and gave him meats, (and gave him food, or sustenance), but also he gave to David the sword of Goliath (the) Philistine.

¹¹ Therefore the king sent to call Ahimelech, the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all the house of his father, of [the] priests that were in Nob; which all came to the king. (And so the king sent for Ahimelech, the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all those in his family, who were also priests in Nob; and they all came to the king.)

¹² And Saul said to Ahimelech, Hear me, thou son of Ahitub. Which answered, Lord, I am ready. (And Saul said to Ahimelech, Listen to me, O son of Ahitub. Who answered, My lord, I am listening.)

¹³ And Saul said to him, Why hast thou conspired against me, thou, and the son of Jesse, and [thou] hast given loaves and a sword to him, and hast counselled with the Lord for him, that he should rise (up) against me, and he dwelleth a traitor (now) unto this day?

¹⁴ And Ahimelech answered to the king, and said, Who among all thy servants is so faithful as David, and he is thy son-in-law, and going at thy behest, and glorious in all thine house? (And Ahimelech answered the king, and said, Who among all thy servants is as faithful as David, and he is the king’s son-in-law, and doeth thy bidding, and who is more honourable in all thy household?)

¹⁵ Whether I began today to counsel (with) the Lord for him? Far be this from me; suppose not the king such (a) thing against his servant, (or) in all the house of my father (or in all my family); for thy servant knew not anything, either little, either great, of this cause.

¹⁶ And the king said, Ahimelech, thou shalt die by death, thou, and all the house of thy father. (And the king said, Ahimelech, thou shalt die, thou, and all thy family.)

¹⁷ And the king said to (the) men able to be sent out (to do his bidding), that stood about him, Turn ye, and slay the priests of the Lord, for the hand of them is with David; and they knew that he fled, and they showed not to me. Soothly the servants of the king would not hold forth their hand into the priests of the Lord (But the king’s guards would not put their hands against the Lord’s priests).

¹⁸ And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and hurtle into the priests of the Lord. And Doeg of Idumea turned, and hurtled into the priests, and strangled in that day fourscore and five men, clothed with ephods of linen cloth, or linen priests’ capes (and killed eighty-five men that day, each of whom could carry the ephod).

¹⁹ Forsooth he smote Nob (And then he struck Nob), the city of the priests, by the sharpness of (the) sword, men and women, little children and (those) sucking, and ox, and ass, and sheep, (all) by the sharpness of (the) sword.

²⁰ But one son of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, escaped, of which son the name was Abiathar; and he fled to David,

²¹ and (he) told him that Saul had slain the priests of the Lord.

²² And David said to Abiathar, Soothly I knew in that day, that when Doeg of Idumea was there, he would tell without doubt to Saul; I am guilty of all the lives that be slain of thy father(’s) house. (And David said to Abiathar, Truly I knew on that day, when Doeg the Idumean was there, that without a doubt he would tell Saul; yea, I am guilty for all the lives that be lost in thy father’s family.)

²³ Dwell thou with me, dread thou not; if any man seeketh thy life, he shall seek also my life, and thou shalt be kept with me. (Stay thou with me, and fear thou not; if any man seeketh thy life, he shall also seek my life, but thou shalt be kept safe with me.)

23 And they told to David, and said, Lo! The Philistines fight against Keilah, and ravish the cornfloors (and steal the harvest/and rob the threshing floors).

² Therefore David counselled (with) the Lord, and said, Whether I shall go, and smite these Philistines? (And so David counselled with the Lord, and asked, Shall I go, and strike down these Philistines?) And the Lord said to David, Go forth, and thou shalt smite the Philistines, and thou shalt save Keilah.

³ And (the) men, that were with David, said to him, Lo! we be here in Judah, and have dread (and be afraid); how much more if we shall go into Keilah against the companies of (the) Philistines.

⁴ Therefore again David counselled with the Lord; the which answered (who answered), and said to David, Rise thou up, and go into Keilah; for I shall betake [the] Philistines into thine hand.

⁵ Therefore David went, and his men, into Keilah, and fought against the Philistines; and he drove away their work beasts, and smote them with [a] great wound; and David saved the dwellers of Keilah. (And so David and his men went to Keilah, and fought against the Philistines; and he took away their work beasts, and struck them down with a great slaughter; and so David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.)

⁶ And in that time, wherein Abiathar, [the] son of Ahimelech, fled to David into Keilah, he came down, and had with him (the) ephod, that is, the cloak of the highest priest. (And when Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, joined David at Keilah, he brought the ephod with him.)

⁷ And it was told to Saul, that David had come into Keilah; and Saul said, The Lord hath taken him into mine hands, and he is (en)closed, and entered into a city, in which be gates and locks. (And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah; and Saul said, The Lord hath delivered him into my hands, and now he is enclosed, for he hath gone into a city, where there be gates and locks.)

⁸ And Saul commanded to all the people, that it should go down to battle into Keilah (that they should go down to do battle at Keilah), and besiege David and his men.

⁹ And when David perceived, that Saul made ready evil privily to him, he said to Abiathar, the priest, Bring hither [the] ephod. (And when David understood, that Saul planned to attack him, he said to Abiathar, the priest, Bring the ephod here.)

¹⁰ And David said, Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath heard say, that Saul disposeth to come to Keilah, that he destroy the city for me; (Then David said, Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath heard say, that Saul disposeth to come to Keilah, to destroy the city because of me;)

¹¹ if the men of Keilah shall betake me into his hands, and if Saul shall come down, as thy servant hath heard, thou Lord God of Israel, show to thy servant? And the Lord said, He shall come down. (will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hands? and will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, He shall come down.)

¹² And David said again, Whether the men of Keilah shall betake me, and the men that be with me, into the hands of Saul? And the Lord said, They shall betake thee to Saul, if thou abidest him there. (And David asked, Shall the men of Keilah deliver me, and my men, into the hands of Saul? And the Lord said, They shall deliver thee to Saul, if thou waitest here for him.)

¹³ Therefore David rose, and his men, as six hundred; and they went out of Keilah, and wandered uncertain hither and thither. And it was told to Saul, that David had fled from Keilah, and was saved; wherefore Saul dissembled to go out. (And so David and his men, about six hundred in all, rose up; and they went out of Keilah, and wandered about with uncertainty. And it was told to Saul, that David had fled from Keilah, and so he was saved; and for a short while Saul left off going after him.)

¹⁴ But David dwelled in the desert, in full strong places, and he dwelled in the hill of (the) wilderness of Ziph, in a dark hill; nevertheless Saul sought him in all days, and the Lord betook not him into the hands of Saul. (And David lived in the wilderness, in secure places, and he stayed in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph, on a dark hill; and Saul continued to seek after him in all days, but the Lord did not deliver him into Saul’s hands.)

¹⁵ And David saw, that Saul went out, that he would seek his life. And David was in the desert of Ziph, in a wood. (And David saw, that Saul went out to seek his life. And David was in the wilderness of Ziph, in a forest.)

¹⁶ And Jonathan, the son of Saul, rose up, and went to David into the wood, and comforted his hands in God. (And Saul’s son Jonathan rose up, and went to David in the forest, and strengthened his hand in God/and encouraged him in the name of God.)

¹⁷ And he said to David, Dread thou not; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee, and thou shalt reign on Israel, and I shall be the second to thee; but also Saul my father knoweth this. (And he said to David, Fear not; for the hand of my father Saul shall not find thee, and thou shalt reign upon Israel, and I shall be second to thee; and my father Saul knoweth this.)

¹⁸ Therefore ever either smote (a) bond of peace before the Lord. And David dwelled in the wood; and Jonathan turned again into his house. (And so they both struck a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in the forest; and Jonathan returned home.)

¹⁹ Certainly men of Ziph went up to Saul in Gibeah, and said, Lo! whether not David is hid with us in the full secure places in the thick wood(s), in the hill of Hachilah, that is at the right side of desert? (Then men of Ziph went up to Saul in Gibeah, and said, Lo! David is hid among us in the most secure places, in the thick forest on Mount Hachilah, which is to the south of Jeshimon.)

²⁰ Now therefore come thou down, as thy soul desired, that thou shouldest come down; forsooth it shall be our doing, that we betake him into the hands of the king. (And so now come thou down, as thy soul truly desireth to come down; and it shall be our doing that we deliver him into thy hands.)

²¹ And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the Lord, for ye [have] sorrowed for my stead/for my while (for ye be concerned about my situation).

²² Therefore, I pray you, go ye, and make ready more diligently, and do ye more curiously, either attentively, and behold ye swiftly, where his foot is, either who saw him there, where ye said; for he thinketh on me, that fellily I ambush him. (And so, I pray you, go ye, and more diligently, yea, most attentively, seek ye him out, and quickly see ye, where his foot is, and who saw him there, where ye said; for he thinketh, that I am foolish to even try to ambush him.)

²³ Behold ye, and see all his hiding places, in which he is hid, and then turn ye again to me at a certain thing, that I go with you; that if he encloseth himself yea in [the] earth, I shall seek him with(in) all the thousands of Judah. (Seek ye out, and see all his hiding places, where he can be hid, and return to me with this certain information, and then I shall go back with you; yea, if he is hid there in the land, I shall seek him out among all the thousands of Judah.)

²⁴ And they rose up, and went into Ziph before Saul. And David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the field places, at the right half of Jeshimon (And David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, to the south of Jeshimon).

²⁵ Therefore Saul went and his fellows to seek David, and it was told to David; and anon he went down to the stone, and lived in the desert of Maon; and when Saul had heard this, he pursued David in the desert of Maon. (And so Saul and his fellows went to seek out David, and this was told to David; and at once he went down to a rocky hill, and lived there in the wilderness of Maon; and when Saul had heard this, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.)

²⁶ And Saul went and his men at the side of the hill on [the] one part; forsooth David and his men were in the side of the hill on the tother part; soothly David despaired, that he might (not) escape from the face of Saul. And so Saul and his men compassed by the manner of a crown round about David and his men, that they should take them. (And Saul and his men went on one side of the hill; and David and his men were on the other side of the hill; and David truly despaired that he might not escape from Saul. And Saul and his men encompassed David and his men round about like a crown, in order to capture them.)

²⁷ And (then) a messenger came to Saul, and said, Haste thou, and come, for the Philistines have spread themselves on the land.

²⁸ Therefore Saul turned again, and ceased to pursue David; and went against the coming of (the) Philistines. For this thing they called that place The Stone of Parting (And because of this they called that place Selahammahlekoth).

²⁹ Therefore David went up from thence, and dwelled in the most secure places of Engedi.

24 And when Saul turned again, after that he pursued [the] Philistines, they told to him, and said, Lo! David is in the desert of Engedi (Lo! David is in the wilderness of Engedi).

² Therefore Saul took three thousand chosen men of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men, yea upon the most broken rocks, the which be thorough-ways to wild goats alone (which be thoroughfares only for wild goats).

³ And he came to the folds of sheep, that offered themselves to the way-goer. And there was a cave, into which Saul entered, that he would purge his womb; forsooth David and his men were hid in the inner part of the den. (And he came to the sheepfolds, or the pens, that offered themselves to the way-goer. And there was a cave, into which Saul entered, where he could empty his bowels; and David and his men were hid in the inner part of that cave.)

⁴ And the servants of David said to him, Lo! the day of which the Lord spake to thee, (and said,) I shall betake to thee thine enemy, that thou do to him as it pleaseth in thine eyes. Therefore David rose up, and cutted the hem off the mantle of Saul privily. (And David’s servants said to him, Lo! this is the day of which the Lord spoke to thee, and said, I shall deliver thy enemy to thee, so that thou can do to him as it pleaseth thee. And David rose up, and secretly cut off the hem of Saul’s mantle.)

⁵ After these things, David smote his heart, that is, his conscience reproved him, for he had cut away the hem of the mantle of Saul. (But after doing this, David’s heart struck him, that is, his conscience reproved him, for he had cut away the hem of Saul’s mantle.)

⁶ And David said to his men, The Lord be merciful to me, lest I do this thing to my lord, the anointed of the Lord, or that I send mine hand on him, for he is the christ of the Lord. (And David said to his men, The Lord forbid that I do this to my lord, who is the Lord’s anointed, or that I put my hand against him, for he is the Lord’s anointed.)

⁷ The Lord liveth, for but the Lord smite him, either his day come, that he die, either he go down into battle, and perish, the Lord be merciful to me, that I send not mine hand into the christ of the Lord; and David brake his men by such words, and suffered not them, that they rised against Saul. And Saul rose out of the den, and went in the way begun. (As the Lord liveth, but the Lord strike him down, or his day come that he die, or that he go down to the battle, and perish, the Lord forbid that I put my hand against the Lord’s anointed; and David convicted his men with such words, and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And so Saul left the cave without any harm, and went on the way begun.)

⁸ And David rose up after him, and he went out of the den, and cried after the back of Saul, and said, My lord, the king! And Saul beheld behind himself; and David bowed himself low to the earth, and worshipped him (and David bowed low to the ground, and honoured him).

⁹ And David said to Saul, Why hearest thou the words of men speaking, David seeketh evil against thee? (And David said to Saul, Why hearest thou the words of men who say that David seeketh to harm thee.)

¹⁰ Lo! today thine eyes saw, that the Lord betook thee in mine hand in the den, and I thought that I would slay thee, but mine eye spared thee; for I said, I shall not hold forth mine hand into my lord, for he is the anointed of the Lord. (Lo! today thine eyes can see that the Lord delivered thee into my hands in the cave, and I thought that I would kill thee, but instead, I spared thee; for I said, I shall not put my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.)

¹¹ But rather, my father, see thou, and know the hem of thy mantle in mine hand; for when I cutted away the hem off thy mantle, I would not hold forth mine hand against thee (for when I cut off the hem of thy mantle, I would not put forth my hand against thee); perceive thou, and see, for neither evil neither wickedness is in mine hand, neither I have sinned against thee; but thou ambushest my life, that thou do it away.

¹² The Lord deem betwixt me and thee, and the Lord venge me of thee (and the Lord avenge me upon thee); but mine (own) hand be not against thee,

¹³ as it is said in [the] eld proverb, Wickedness shall go out of wicked men; therefore mine hand be not against thee (and so my hand shall not be against thee).

¹⁴ Whom pursuest thou, king of Israel, whom pursuest thou? Thou pursuest a dead hound, and a quick flea.

¹⁵ The Lord be judge, and the Lord deem betwixt me and thee, and see, and deem my cause, and deliver me from thine hand.

¹⁶ And when David had filled, or ended, speaking such manner words to Saul, Saul said, Whether this is thy voice, my son David? And Saul raised up his voice, and wept.

¹⁷ And he said to David, Thou art more just than I; for thou gavest good things to me; but I have yielded evils to thee. (And he said to David, Thou art more in the right than I; for thou gavest good to me; but I yielded only evil to thee.)

¹⁸ And thou hast showed to me today, what goods thou hast done to me, how the Lord betook me in thine hand, and thou killedest not me. (And thou hast shown me today the good that thou hast done for me, yea, how the Lord delivered me into thy hands, but thou didest not kill me.)

¹⁹ For who, when he findeth his enemy, shall deliver him into (a) good way? But the Lord yield to thee this while, for that, (that) thou hast wrought today in me (for what thou hast done for me today).

²⁰ And now, for I know, that thou shalt reign most certainly, and shalt have in thine hand the realm of Israel, (And now, for I know, that most certainly thou shalt reign, and shalt have in thy hands the kingdom of Israel,)

²¹ swear thou to me in the Lord, that thou do not away my seed after me, neither take away my name from the house of my father. (swear thou to me by the Lord, that thou shalt not do away my descendants after me, nor take away my name from my father’s house.)

²² And David swore to Saul. Therefore Saul went into his house (And then Saul went back to his house), and David and his men went up to (the) secure places.

25 Forsooth Samuel was dead; and all Israel was gathered together, and they bewailed him greatly, and buried him in his house in Ramah. And David rose up, and went down into the desert of Paran. (And then Samuel died; and all Israel was gathered together, and they greatly bewailed him, and buried him at his house in Ramah. And David rose up, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.)

² And in Maon there was a man, and his possession was in Carmel; and that man was full great, and there were to him three thousand sheep, and a thousand of goats; and it befelled that his flock was shorn in Carmel. (And in Maon there was a man, and his possession was in Carmel; and that man was very rich, and there were to him three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and it befell that his flock was clipped in Carmel.)

³ And the name of that man was Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigail; and that woman was most prudent and fair, (and that woman was very intelligent, and beautiful); but her husband was hard and full wicked and malicious; and he was of the kin of Caleb.

⁴ Therefore when David had heard in desert, that Nabal clipped his flock, (And when David had heard in the wilderness, that Nabal clipped his flock,)

⁵ he sent ten young men, and said to them, Go ye up into Carmel, and ye shall come to Nabal, and ye shall greet him of my name peaceably (and ye shall give him a friendly greeting in my name);

⁶ and ye shall say thus (and so ye shall say), Peace be to my brethren and to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be to all things, whatever thou hast.

⁷ I have heard that thy shepherds, that were with us in desert, have shorn thy flocks; we were never dis-easeful to them, neither any time anything of the flock failed to them, in all the time in which they were with us in Carmel; (I have heard that thy shepherds, who were with us in the wilderness, have clipped thy flocks; we never threatened them, nor at any time did anything of theirs go missing, in all the time when they were with us in Carmel;)

⁸ ask thy young men, and they shall show to thee. Now therefore thy young men find grace in thine eyes; for in a good day we come to thee; whatever thing thine hand findeth, or (it) pleaseth to thee, give it to thy servants, and to thy son David. (ask thy young men, and they shall tell thee. And so now let my young men find favour in thine eyes, for we come to thee on a good day; and whatever thing that thy hand findeth, or it pleaseth thee, give it to thy servants, and to thy son David.)

⁹ And when the young men of David had come, they spake to Nabal all these words in the name of David, and held [their] peace (and then they were silent).

¹⁰ Forsooth Nabal answered to the young men of David, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? Today servants [have] increased that flee their lords (Today too many servants have fled from their lords).

¹¹ Therefore shall I take my loaves, and my waters, and the flesh of (my) beasts, which I have slain to my shearers (which I have killed for my shearers), and shall I give (it) to men, that I know not of whence they be?

¹² Therefore the young men of David went again by their way; and they turned again, and came, and told to him all (the) words which Nabal had said.

¹³ Then David said to his young men, (Let) Each man be gird with his sword. And all (his) men were girded with their swords, and David also was girded with his sword; and as four hundred men followed David, for two hundred (were) left at the fardels (and about four hundred men followed David, for two hundred were left behind with the bundles, or the supplies).

¹⁴ And one of the young men told to Abigail, the wife of Nabal, and said, Lo! David sent messengers from desert, that they should bless our lord, and he turned them away (Lo! David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our lord, but he turned them away);

¹⁵ these men were good enough, and not dis-easeful to us, and nothing of ours perished in all the time in which we were with them in desert, (or in the wilderness);

¹⁶ they were to us for a wall, both in night and day, in all the days in which we pastured flocks with them. (they were like a wall for us, both night and day, all the days in which we pastured the flocks with them.)

¹⁷ Wherefore behold thou, and think, what thou shalt do; for malice is full-filled against thine husband, and against thine house (for malice is now filled full against thy husband, and against all thy family); and he is the son of Belial, so that no man may speak (sense) to him.

¹⁸ Therefore Abigail hasted, and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five wethers sodden, and seven bushels and an half of flour (and five roasted sheep, and seven and a half bushels of flour), and an hundred bundles of dried grapes, or raisins, and two hundred pieces of dried figs; and she put all this upon asses,

¹⁹ and said to her servants, Go ye before me; lo! I shall follow you behind your back. And she showed not this to her husband Nabal (But she did not say anything about this to her husband Nabal).

²⁰ Therefore when she had gone upon an ass, and came down to the foot of the hill, David and his men came down into her coming; the which she met (and she met them).

²¹ And (earlier) David (had) said, Verily in vain I have kept all these things that were of this Nabal in the desert, and nothing perished of all things that pertained to him, and (yet) he hath yielded to me evil for good. (And earlier David had said, Truly in vain have I kept watch over all those things that were Nabal’s in the wilderness, and though nothing perished of all the things that pertained to him, yet he hath yielded to me evil for good.)

²² The Lord do these things, and add he these things to the enemies of David, if I shall leave (anything) undestroyed of all things that pertain to him till tomorrow (yea, even) a pisser to a wall. (May the Lord do these things, and add he other things, to David’s enemies, if I leave anything unwasted until tomorrow out of all the things that pertain to him, yea, even a pisser on the wall.)

²³ And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and went down off the ass; and she fell down before David on her face, and worshipped him on the earth (bowing low to the ground before him).

²⁴ And she felled down to his feet, and said, My lord the king, this wickedness be in me; I beseech thee, speak thine handmaid in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy servantess; (And she fell down at his feet, and said, My lord the king, let this wickedness be upon me; I beseech thee, let thy servantess speak to thee, and listen thou to the words of thy servantess;)

²⁵ I pray (thee), my lord the king, set not his heart on this wicked man Nabal, for by his name he is a fool, and folly is with him; but, my lord, I thine handmaid saw not thy young men, which thou sentest (but my lord, I thy servantess, did not see thy young men, whom thou sentest).

²⁶ Now therefore, my lord, the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, the which Lord hath forbidden thee, that thou shouldest come into blood, and the Lord saved thy life to thee; and now thine enemies, and they that seek evil to thee my lord, be they made as Nabal. (And so now, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, the which Lord hath forbidden thee, that thou shouldest come to shed blood, and so to avenge thyself with thy own hand; yea, now let thy enemies, and they who seek evil for thee my lord, be they made like Nabal.)

²⁷ Wherefore receive thou this blessing, (or this gift,) which thine handmaid [hath] brought to thee, my lord, and give it to the young men that follow thee, my lord.

²⁸ (And) Do thou away the wickedness of thy servantess; for the Lord making shall make a faithful house to thee, my lord (for the Lord shall make a faithful family for thee, my lord), for thou, my lord, fightest the battles of the Lord; therefore malice be not found in thee in all the days of thy life.

²⁹ For if a man riseth any time, and pursueth thee, and seeketh thy life, the life of my lord shall be kept (safe) as in a bundle of living trees, at thy Lord God (with the Lord thy God); but the soul of thine enemies shall be hurled round about as in [the] fierceness, and [the] circle of a sling.

³⁰ Therefore when the Lord hath done to thee, my lord, all these good things, which he hath spoken of thee, and hath ordained thee duke upon Israel (and hath ordained thee ruler upon Israel),

³¹ this shall not be into sighing, that is, into mourning of soul, and into remorse of conscience, and into doubt of heart to thee, my lord, that thou hast shed out guiltless blood, either that thou hast (a)venged thyself. And when the Lord hath done well to thee, my lord, thou shalt have mind on thine handmaid (thou shalt remember thy servantess), and thou shalt do well to her.

³² And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that sent thee today into my coming (who sent thee today to meet me),

³³ and blessed be thy speech; and blessed be thou, that hast forbade me, lest I went today to (shed) blood, and had venged me with mine hand (and had avenged myself with my own hands);

³⁴ else the Lord God of Israel liveth, which forbade me, lest I did evil to thee, if thou haddest not soon come into meeting to me, (yea, even) a pisser to the wall should not have (been) left to Nabal till to the morrow light. (else as the Lord God of Israel liveth, who forbade me, lest I did evil to thee, if thou haddest not swiftly come to meet me, yea, even a pisser on the wall would not have been left to Nabal by the morning light.)

³⁵ Therefore David received (out) of her hand all (the) things which she had brought to him; and he said to her, Go thou in peace into thine house; lo! I have heard thy voice, and I honoured thy face (and I grant thy request).

³⁶ Forsooth Abigail came to Nabal; and lo! a feast was to him in his house, as the feast of a king; and the heart of Nabal was merry, certainly he was full drunken; and she showed not to him a word, little or great, till the morrow. (And Abigail came back to Nabal; and lo! he was giving a feast in his house, a feast fit for a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry, for he was very drunk; and so she did not tell him anything, little or great, until the morning.)

³⁷ But in the morrowtide, when Nabal had voided the wine, his wife showed to him all these words; and his heart was almost dead within, and he was made as a stone. (But in the morning, when Nabal had voided the wine, his wife told him everything; and his heart was almost dead within, and he was made like a stone.)

³⁸ And when ten days had passed, the Lord smote Nabal, and he was dead (and he died).

³⁹ The which thing when David had heard, Nabal to be dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord God, that hath venged the cause of my shame of the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil, and the Lord hath yielded the malice of Nabal into the head of him. Therefore David sent, and spake to Abigail, that he would take her (as a) wife to him. (Which thing when David had heard, that is, that Nabal had died, he said, Blessed be the Lord God, who hath avenged the cause of my shame at the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil; yea, the Lord hath yielded the malice of Nabal onto his own head. Then David sent word to Abigail that he would take her for his wife.)

⁴⁰ And the servants of David came to Abigail into Carmel, and spake to her, and said, David sent us to thee, that he take thee into wife to him. (And so David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, and spoke to her, and said, David sent us to tell thee, that he would take thee as his wife.)

⁴¹ And she rose up, and worshipped low to the earth (and bowed low to the ground), and said, Lo! (let) thy servantess be into an handmaid, that she wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

⁴² And Abigail hasted, and rose (up), and ascended on an ass (and mounted her donkey); and five damsels, (the) followers of her feet, went with her, and she followed the messengers of David, and (so) was made [a] wife to him.

⁴³ But also David took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and ever either was wife to him (and they both became his wives);

⁴⁴ and Saul gave Michal his daughter, [the] wife of David, to Phalti, the son of Laish, that was of Gallim.

26 And Ziphites came to Saul into Gibeah, and said, Lo! David is hid in the hill of Hachilah, which is even against the wilderness. (And the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, and said, Lo! David is hid on Mount Hachilah, overlooking Jeshimon.)

² And Saul rose up, and went down into the desert of Ziph, and with him three thousand of men of the chosen of Israel, that he should seek David in the desert of Ziph. (And Saul rose up, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, and three thousand chosen men of Israel went with him, to help him seek out David in the wilderness of Ziph.)

³ And Saul setted his tents in the hill of Hachilah, that was even against the wilderness, in the way. And David dwelled in the desert. Forsooth David saw that Saul had come after him into desert; (And Saul pitched his tents on Mount Hachilah, on the way overlooking Jeshimon. And David stayed in the wilderness. And David knew that Saul had come after him into the wilderness;)

⁴ and David sent spyers, and learned most certainly, that Saul had come thither.

⁵ And David rose up privily, and came to the place where Saul was. And when David had seen the place, wherein Saul slept, and Abner, the son of Ner, the prince of his chivalry; and Saul sleeping in the tent, and the tother common people by his compass; (And David rose up quickly, and came to the place where Saul was. And when David had seen the place where Saul slept, and Abner, the son of Ner, the leader of his cavalry, or his army; and Saul was sleeping in his tent, and the other common people were all around him;)

⁶ David said to Ahimelech, (the) Hittite, and to Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, saying, Who shall go down with me to Saul into his tents? And Abishai said, I shall go down with thee.

⁷ Therefore David and Abishai came to the people in the night, and they found Saul lying and sleeping in the tent, and a spear set fast in the earth at his head; forsooth they found Abner and the people sleeping in his compass (and they found Abner and the other people sleeping all around him).

⁸ And Abishai said to David, God hath closed today thine enemy into thine hands; now therefore I shall pierce him with the spear once (through, and) in(to) the earth, and no need shall be (for) the second time. (And Abishai said to David, God hath enclosed thy enemy in thy hands today; and so now I shall pierce him once through with the spear, and into the ground, and there shall be no need for a second thrust.)

⁹ And David said to Abishai, Slay thou not him, for who shall hold forth his hand into the christ of the Lord, and shall be innocent? (And David said to Abishai, Kill thou him not, for who shall put his hand against the anointed of the Lord, and still be innocent?)

¹⁰ And David said, (As) The Lord liveth, for no but the Lord smite him, either his day come that he die, either he go down into battle, and perish;

¹¹ the Lord be merciful to me, that I hold not forth mine hand into the christ of the Lord; now therefore take thou the spear, that is at his head, and the cup of water, and go we away. (the Lord forbid/God forbid that I put my hand against the Lord’s anointed; and so now, let us take the spear, that is at his head, and the cup of water, and go we away.)

¹² Then David took the spear, and the cup of water, that was at the head of Saul, and they went forth, and no man was that saw, and understood, and waked, but all men slept (and there was no one who saw it, or knew it, or even awoke, but all the men slept); for the sleep of the Lord had fallen [up]on them.

¹³ And when David had passed [over] even against, and had stood on the top of the hill afar (off), and a great space was betwixt them,

¹⁴ David cried to the people, and to Abner, the son of Ner, and said, Abner, whether thou wilt not answer? (Abner, wilt thou not answer me?) And Abner answered, and said, Who art thou, that criest, and dis-easest the king?

¹⁵ And David said to Abner, Whether thou art not a man (Art thou not a man), and what other man is like thee in Israel? why therefore hast thou not kept thy lord the king (safe)? For one man of the company entered, that he should slay thy lord the king;

¹⁶ this that thou hast done, is not good; the Lord liveth, for ye be sons of death, that kept not your lord, the christ of the Lord (this is not good, what thou hast done; as the Lord liveth, for ye be the sons of death, who kept not your lord safe, yea, the Lord’s anointed). Now therefore see thou, where is the spear of the king, and where is the cup of water, that was at his head.

¹⁷ Forsooth Saul knew the voice of David, and said, Whether this voice is thine, my son David? (Is this thy voice, David my son?) And David said, My lord the king, it is my voice.

¹⁸ And David said, For what cause pursueth my lord his servant? What have I done, either what evil is in mine hand?

¹⁹ Now therefore, my lord the king, I pray, hear the words of thy servant; if the Lord stirreth thee against me, the sacrifice be smelled; forsooth if [the] sons of men stir thee, they be cursed in the sight of the Lord, which have cast me out today, that I dwell not in the heritage of the Lord, and say, Go thou, serve thou alien gods. (And so now, my lord the king, I pray thee, listen to the words of thy servant; if the Lord stirreth thee against me, let the sacrifice be smelled; but if the sons of men stir thee, be they cursed before the Lord, they who have thrown me out today, so that I live not in the inheritance of the Lord, and who say to me, Go thou, serve thou foreign, or other, gods.)

²⁰ And now my blood be not shed out in the earth before the Lord; for the king of Israel hath gone out, that he seek a quick flea, as a partridge is pursued in hills. (And now let not my blood be shed out on the ground before the Lord; for the king of Israel hath gone out, so that he can seek after a quick, or an insignificant, flea, like a partridge is pursued over the hills.)

²¹ And Saul said, I have sinned; turn thou again, my son David, for I shall no more do evil to thee, for my life was precious today in thine eyes; for it seemeth, that I have done follily (that I have done foolishly), and I have unknown full many things.

²² And David answered and said, Lo! the spear of the king, one of the young men of the king pass (over hither), and take it; (And David replied, Lo! the spear of the king; one of the king’s young men come over here, and take it back;)

²³ forsooth the Lord shall yield to each man after his rightfulness and his faith; for the Lord betook thee today into mine hand, and I would not hold forth mine hand into the christ of the Lord; (and the Lord shall yield to each man after his uprightness and his faithfulness, or his loyalty; for the Lord delivered thee today into my hands, but I would not put my hand against the Lord’s anointed;)

²⁴ and as thy life is magnified today in mine eyes, so (let) my life be magnified in the eyes of the Lord, and deliver he me from all anguish.

²⁵ Therefore Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David; and soothly thou doing shalt do, and thou mighty shalt be mighty. Then David went forth into his way, and Saul turned again into his place (Then David went forth on his way, and Saul returned home).

27 And David said in his heart, Sometime I shall fall in one day in the hand of Saul (One day I shall fall by Saul’s hand); whether it is not better, that I flee, and be saved in the land of (the) Philistines, (so) that Saul despair, and cease to seek me in all the ends of Israel; therefore flee we his hands.

² And (so) David rose up, and went forth, he and six hundred men with him, to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

³ And David dwelled with Achish in Gath, he, and his men, and his house(hold) (And David lived with Achish in Gath, he, and his men, and his family); that is, David, and his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

⁴ And it was told to Saul, that David (had) fled into Gath; and he added no more that he should seek (after) David [and he added no more for to seek him].

⁵ Forsooth David said to Achish, If I have found grace in thine eyes, (let) a place be given to me in one of the cities of this country, that I dwell there; for why dwelleth thy servant in the city of the king with thee? (for why should thy servant remain with thee in the king’s city?)

⁶ Therefore Achish gave him Ziklag in that day (And so Achish gave him Ziklag that day), for the which cause Ziklag was made into (a) possession of the kings of Judah unto this day.

⁷ And the number of days, in which David dwelled in the country of (the) Philistines, was days, that is a year, and four months.

⁸ And David went up, and his men, and they took preys of Geshurites, and of Gezrites, and of men of Amalek; for these towns were inhabited by (them in) eld time(s) in the land, to men going to Shur, unto the land of Egypt. (And David and his men went up, and they took prey from the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites; for these people inhabited the land in old times, unto Shur, and the land of Egypt.)

⁹ And David smote all the land of them, and he left not man nor woman living (and he left no man or woman alive); and he took sheep, and oxen, and asses, and camels, and clothes, and turned again, and came to Achish.

¹⁰ And Achish said to him, Into whom hurled ye today?/Against whom have ye hurled today? And David answered, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of Jerahmeel, and against the south of Kenites. (And Achish would say to him, Where did ye attack today? And David would answer, In the south of Judah, or, In the south of Jerahmeel, or, To the south of the Kenites.)

¹¹ David left not quick man and woman (David left no man or woman alive), neither brought (them back) into Gath, and said, Lest peradventure they speak against us. David did these things, and this was his doom, in all [the] days in which he dwelled in the country of (the) Philistines.

¹² Therefore Achish believed to David (And so Achish trusted David), and said, Certainly he hath wrought many evils against his people Israel, therefore he shall be a servant to me for evermore.

28 Forsooth it was done in those days, the Philistines gathered together their companies, that they should be made ready against Israel to battle. And Achish said to David, Thou witting know now, for thou shalt go out with me in tents, thou and thy men. (And it was done in those days, the Philistines gathered together the companies of their troops, to prepare for battle against Israel. And Achish said to David, Thou must know, that thou shalt go out with me to the battle, thou and thy men.)

² And David said to Achish, (And) Now thou shalt know what things thy servant shall do. And Achish said to David, And I shall set thee (the) keeper of mine head in all days.

³ Forsooth Samuel was dead, and all Israel bewailed him, and they buried him in Ramah, his city. And Saul did away from the land witches and false diviners.

⁴ And (the) Philistines were gathered, and came, and setted tents in Shunem; soothly and Saul gathered all Israel, and came into Gilboa.

⁵ And Saul saw the castles of Philistines [And Saul saw the tents of (the) Philistines], and he dreaded, and his heart dreaded greatly. (And Saul saw the army of the Philistines, and he was afraid, and his heart greatly dreaded/and his heart greatly feared.)

⁶ And he counselled (with) the Lord; and the Lord answered not to him (but the Lord did not answer him), neither by priests, nor by dreams, nor by prophets.

⁷ And Saul said to his servants, Seek ye to me a woman having a fiend speaking in the womb; and I shall go to her, and I shall inquire by her. And his servants said to him, A woman having a fiend speaking in the womb is in Endor. (And Saul said to his servants, Seek ye out for me a woman who hath a familiar spirit; and I shall go to her, and I shall inquire through her. And his servants said to him, There is a woman who hath a familiar spirit in Endor.)

⁸ Therefore Saul changed his clothing, and he was clothed with other clothes; and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman in the night. And he said, Divine thou to me in a fiend speaking in the womb, and raise thou up to me whom I shall say to thee (And he said, Call thou for me thy familiar spirit, and raise thou up for me whom I shall name to thee).

⁹ And the woman said to him, Lo! thou knowest how great things Saul hath done, and how he hath done away from the land witches, and false diviners (and how he hath done away with witches, and false diviners, from the land); why therefore settest thou treason to my life, that I be slain?

¹⁰ And Saul swore to her in the Lord, and said, The Lord liveth; for nothing of evil shall come to thee for this thing. (And Saul swore to her by the Lord, and said, As the Lord liveth; nothing of evil shall come to thee for this thing.)

¹¹ And the woman said to him, Whom shall I raise up to thee? And he said, Raise thou Samuel up to me. (And the woman said to him, Whom shall I raise up for thee? And he said, Raise thou up Samuel for me.)

¹² Soothly when the woman had seen Samuel, she cried with [a] great voice, and said to Saul, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

¹³ And the king said to her, Do not thou dread (Fear not); what hast thou seen? And the woman said to Saul, I saw gods ascending from [the] earth.

¹⁴ And Saul said to her, What manner form is of him? [What manner is the form of him?] And she said, An eld man goeth up, and he is clothed with a mantle. And Saul understood that it was Samuel; and Saul bowed himself on his face to the earth, and worshipped. (And Saul said to her, What is his form? And she said, An old man goeth up, and he is clothed with a mantle. And Saul understood that it was Samuel; and Saul bowed himself low to the ground, and honoured him.)

¹⁵ And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou dis-eased me, that I should be raised? And Saul said, I am constrained greatly; for the Philistines fight against me, and God hath gone away from me, and he would not hear me, neither by the hand of prophets, nor by dreams; therefore I called thee, that thou shouldest show to me what I shall do. (And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disturbed me, so that I am raised up? And Saul said, I am in great trouble; for the Philistines fight against me, and God hath gone away from me, and he will not answer me, not by prophets, nor by dreams; and so I called thee, so that thou couldest tell me what I should do.)

¹⁶ And Samuel said, What askest thou me, when God hath gone away from thee, and hath passed to thine enemy? (And Samuel said, Why askest thou me, when God hath gone away from thee, and hath become thy enemy?)

¹⁷ For the Lord shall do to thee as he spake in mine hand (For the Lord shall do to thee as he spoke through me), and he shall cut away thy realm from thine hand, and he shall give it to David, thy neighbour;

¹⁸ for thou obeyedest not the voice of the Lord, neither thou didest the fierce wrath of the Lord in Amalek. Therefore the Lord hath done to thee today that that thou sufferest (And so the Lord hath done to thee what thou sufferest today);

¹⁹ and the Lord shall give also Israel with thee in the hand of Philistines. Forsooth tomorrow thou and thy sons shall be with me; but also the Lord shall betake the castles of Israel in the hand of the Philistines [but and the Lord shall take the tents of Israel in the hand of the Philistines]. (and the Lord shall also give Israel along with thee into the hands of the Philistines. Yea, tomorrow thou and thy sons shall be with me; and the Lord shall deliver the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.)