1SA 1:1 Now there
was a certain man from Ramathaim-zophim from the
hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah
the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of
Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
1SA 1:2 And he had two wives: the name of one
was Hannah and the name of the other Peninnah; and
Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
1SA 1:3 Now this man would go up from his
city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord
of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni
and Phinehas were priests to the Lord there.
1SA 1:4 And when the day came that Elkanah
sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his
wife and to all her sons and her daughters;
1SA 1:5 but to Hannah he would give a double
portion, for he loved Hannah, but the Lord had
closed her womb.
1SA 1:6 Her rival, however, would provoke her
bitterly to irritate her, because the Lord had
closed her womb.
1SA 1:7 And it happened year after year, as
often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she
would provoke her, so she wept and would not eat.
1SA 1:8 Then Elkanah her husband said to her,
"Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and
why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than
ten sons?"
1SA 1:9 Then Hannah rose after eating and
drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting
on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the
Lord.
1SA 1:10 And she, greatly distressed, prayed
to the Lord and wept bitterly.
1SA 1:11 And she made a vow and said, "O Lord
of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction
of Thy maidservant and remember me, and not forget
Thy maidservant, but wilt give Thy maidservant a
son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days
of his life, and a razor shall never come on his
head."
1SA 1:12 Now it came about, as she continued
praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her
mouth.
1SA 1:13 As for Hannah, she was speaking in
her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice
was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk.
1SA 1:14 Then Eli said to her, "How long will
you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from
you."
1SA 1:15 But Hannah answered and said, "No,
my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have
drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have
poured out my soul before the Lord.
1SA 1:16 "Do not consider your maidservant as
a worthless woman; for I have spoken until now out
of my great concern and provocation."
1SA 1:17 Then Eli answered and said, "Go in
peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition
that you have asked of Him."
1SA 1:18 And she said, "Let your maidservant
find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way
and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
1SA 1:19 Then they arose early in the morning
and worshiped before the Lord, and returned again to
their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with
Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her.
1SA 1:20 And it came about in due time, after
Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son;
and she named him Samuel, saying, "Because I have
asked him of the Lord."
1SA 1:21 Then the man Elkanah went up with
all his household to offer to the Lord the yearly
sacrifice and pay his vow.
1SA 1:22 But Hannah did not go up, for she
said to her husband, "I will not go up until the
child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may
appear before the Lord and stay there forever."
1SA 1:23 And Elkanah her husband said to her,
"Do what seems best to you. Remain until you have
weaned him; only may the Lord confirm His word." So
the woman remained and nursed her son until she
weaned him.
1SA 1:24 Now when she had weaned him, she
took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and
one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought
him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, although the
child was young.
1SA 1:25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and
brought the boy to Eli.
1SA 1:26 And she said, "Oh, my lord! As your
soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here
beside you, praying to the Lord.
1SA 1:27 "For this boy I prayed, and the Lord
has given me my petition which I asked of Him.
1SA 1:28 "So I have also dedicated him to the
Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the
Lord." And he worshiped the Lord there.
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1SA 2:1 Then
Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in the
Lord; My horn is exalted in the Lord, My mouth
speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice
in Thy salvation.
1SA 2:2 "There is no one holy like the Lord,
Indeed, there is no one besides Thee, Nor is there
any rock like our God.
1SA 2:3 "Boast no more so very proudly, Do
not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the
Lord is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are
weighed.
1SA 2:4 "The bows of the mighty are
shattered, But the feeble gird on strength.
1SA 2:5 "Those who were full hire themselves
out for bread, But those who were hungry cease to
hunger. Even the barren gives birth to seven, But
she who has many children languishes.
1SA 2:6 "The Lord kills and makes alive; He
brings down to Sheol and raises up.
1SA 2:7 "The Lord makes poor and rich; He
brings low, He also exalts.
1SA 2:8 "He raises the poor from the dust, He
lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit
with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the
pillars of the earth are the Lord's, And He set the
world on them.
1SA 2:9 "He keeps the feet of His godly ones,
But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For
not by might shall a man prevail.
1SA 2:10 "Those who contend with the Lord
will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in
the heavens, The Lord will judge the ends of the
earth; And He will give strength to His king, And
will exalt the horn of His anointed."
1SA 2:11 Then Elkanah went to his home at
Ramah. But the boy ministered to the Lord before Eli
the priest.
1SA 2:12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless
men; they did not know the Lord
1SA 2:13 and the custom of the priests with
the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice,
the priest's servant would come while the meat was
boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand.
1SA 2:14 Then he would thrust it into the
pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the
fork brought up the priest would take for himself.
Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who
came there.
1SA 2:15 Also, before they burned the fat,
the priest's servant would come and say to the man
who was sacrificing, "Give the priest meat for
roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you,
only raw."
1SA 2:16 And if the man said to him, "They
must surely burn the fat first, and then take as
much as you desire," then he would say, "No, but you
shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it
by force."
1SA 2:17 Thus the sin of the young men was
very great before the Lord, for the men despised the
offering of the Lord.
1SA 2:18 Now Samuel was ministering before
the Lord, as a boy wearing a linen ephod.
1SA 2:19 And his mother would make him a
little robe and bring it to him from year to year
when she would come up with her husband to offer the
yearly sacrifice.
1SA 2:20 Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his
wife and say, "May the Lord give you children from
this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the
Lord." And they went to their own home.
1SA 2:21 And the Lord visited Hannah; and she
conceived and gave birth to three sons and two
daughters. And the boy Samuel grew before the Lord.
1SA 2:22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard
all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how
they lay with the women who served at the doorway of
the tent of meeting.
1SA 2:23 And he said to them, "Why do you do
such things, the evil things that I hear from all
these people?
1SA 2:24 "No, my sons; for the report is not
good which I hear the Lord's people circulating.
1SA 2:25 "If one man sins against another,
God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against
the Lord, who can intercede for him?" But they would
not listen to the voice of their father, for the
Lord desired to put them to death.
1SA 2:26 Now the boy Samuel was growing in
stature and in favor both with the Lord and with
men.
1SA 2:27 Then a man of God came to Eli and
said to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Did I not indeed
reveal Myself to the house of your father when they
were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house?
1SA 2:28 'And did I not choose them from all
the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to go up to
My altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before
Me; and did I not give to the house of your father
all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel?
1SA 2:29 'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and
at My offering which I have commanded in My
dwelling, and honor your sons above Me, by making
yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering
of My people Israel?'
1SA 2:30 "Therefore the Lord God of Israel
declares, 'I did indeed say that your house and the
house of your father should walk before Me forever';
but now the Lord declares, 'Far be it from Me - -
for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who
despise Me will be lightly esteemed.
1SA 2:31 'Behold, the days are coming when I
will break your strength and the strength of your
father's house so that there will not be an old man
in your house.
1SA 2:32 'And you will see the distress of My
dwelling, in spite of all that I do good for Israel;
and an old man will not be in your house forever.
1SA 2:33 'Yet I will not cut off every man of
yours from My altar that your eyes may fail from
weeping and your soul grieve, and all the increase
of your house will die in the prime of life.
1SA 2:34 'And this will be the sign to you
which shall come concerning your two sons, Hophni
and Phinehas: on the same day both of them shall
die.
1SA 2:35 'But I will raise up for Myself a
faithful priest who will do according to what is in
My heart and in My soul; and I will build him an
enduring house, and he will walk before My anointed
always.
1SA 2:36 'And it shall come about that
everyone who is left in your house shall come and
bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of
bread, and say, "Please assign me to one of the
priest's offices so that I may eat a piece of
bread."'"
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1SA 3:1 Now the
boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli.
And word from the Lord was rare in those days,
visions were infrequent.
1SA 3:2 And it happened at that time as Eli
was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had
begun to grow dim and he could not see well),
1SA 3:3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone
out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the
Lord where the ark of God was,
1SA 3:4 that the Lord called Samuel; and he
said, "Here I am."
1SA 3:5 Then he ran to Eli and said, "Here I
am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not
call, lie down again." So he went and lay down.
1SA 3:6 And the Lord called yet again,
"Samuel!" So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said,
"Here I am, for you called me." But he answered, "I
did not call, my son, lie down again."
1SA 3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord,
nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to
him.
1SA 3:8 So the Lord called Samuel again for
the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and
said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli
discerned that the Lord was calling the boy.
1SA 3:9 And Eli said to Samuel, "Go lie down,
and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say,
'Speak, Lord, for Thy servant is listening.'" So
Samuel went and lay down in his place.
1SA 3:10 Then the Lord came and stood and
called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And
Samuel said, "Speak, for Thy servant is listening."
1SA 3:11 And the Lord said to Samuel,
"Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which
both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
1SA 3:12 "In that day I will carry out
against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his
house, from beginning to end.
1SA 3:13 "For I have told him that I am about
to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he
knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves
and he did not rebuke them.
1SA 3:14 "And therefore I have sworn to the
house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall
not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever."
1SA 3:15 So Samuel lay down until morning.
Then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord.
But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
1SA 3:16 Then Eli called Samuel and said,
"Samuel, my son." And he said, "Here I am."
1SA 3:17 And he said, "What is the word that
He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May
God do so to you, and more also, if you hide
anything from me of all the words that He spoke to
you."
1SA 3:18 So Samuel told him everything and
hid nothing from him. And he said, "It is the Lord;
let Him do what seems good to Him."
1SA 3:19 Thus Samuel grew and the Lord was
with him and let none of his words fail.
1SA 3:20 And all Israel from Dan even to
Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a
prophet of the Lord.
1SA 3:21 And the Lord appeared again at
Shiloh, because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel
at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
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1SA 4:1 Thus the
word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went
out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped
beside Ebenezer while the Philistines camped in
Aphek.
1SA 4:2 And the Philistines drew up in battle
array to meet Israel. When the battle spread, Israel
was defeated before the Philistines who killed about
four thousand men on the battlefield.
1SA 4:3 When the people came into the camp,
the elders of Israel said, "Why has the Lord
defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us
take to ourselves from Shiloh the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, that it may come among us and
deliver us from the power of our enemies."
1SA 4:4 So the people sent to Shiloh, and
from there they carried the ark of the covenant of
the Lord of hosts who sits above the cherubim; and
the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there
with the ark of the covenant of God.
1SA 4:5 And it happened as the ark of the
covenant of the Lord came into the camp, that all
Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth
resounded.
1SA 4:6 And when the Philistines heard the
noise of the shout, they said, "What does the noise
of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews
mean?" Then they understood that the ark of the Lord
had come into the camp.
1SA 4:7 And the Philistines were afraid, for
they said, "God has come into the camp." And they
said, "Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened
before.
1SA 4:8 "Woe to us! Who shall deliver us from
the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods
who smote the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in
the wilderness.
1SA 4:9 "Take courage and be men, O
Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews,
as they have been slaves to you; therefore, be men
and fight."
1SA 4:10 So the Philistines fought and Israel
was defeated, and every man fled to his tent, and
the slaughter was very great; for there fell of
Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.
1SA 4:11 And the ark of God was taken; and
the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
1SA 4:12 Now a man of Benjamin ran from the
battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with his
clothes torn and dust on his head.
1SA 4:13 When he came, behold, Eli was
sitting on his seat by the road eagerly watching,
because his heart was trembling for the ark of God.
So the man came to tell it in the city, and all the
city cried out.
1SA 4:14 When Eli heard the noise of the
outcry, he said, "What does the noise of this
commotion mean?" Then the man came hurriedly and
told Eli.
1SA 4:15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old,
and his eyes were set so that he could not see.
1SA 4:16 And the man said to Eli, "I am the
one who came from the battle line. Indeed, I escaped
from the battle line today." And he said, "How did
things go, my son?"
1SA 4:17 Then the one who brought the news
answered and said, "Israel has fled before the
Philistines and there has also been a great
slaughter among the people, and your two sons also,
Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God
has been taken."
1SA 4:18 And it came about when he mentioned
the ark of God that Eli fell off the seat backward
beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he
died, for he was old and heavy. Thus he judged
Israel forty years.
1SA 4:19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas'
wife, was pregnant and about to give birth; and when
she heard the news that the ark of God was taken and
that her father-in-law and her husband had died, she
kneeled down and gave birth, for her pains came upon
her.
1SA 4:20 And about the time of her death the
women who stood by her said to her, "Do not be
afraid, for you have given birth to a son." But she
did not answer or pay attention.
1SA 4:21 And she called the boy Ichabod,
saying, "The glory has departed from Israel,"
because the ark of God was taken and because of her
father-in-law and her husband.
1SA 4:22 And she said, "The glory has
departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken."
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1SA 5:1 Now the
Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from
Ebenezer to Ashdod.
1SA 5:2 Then the Philistines took the ark of
God and brought it to the house of Dagon, and set it
by Dagon.
1SA 5:3 When the Ashdodites arose early the
next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face
to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they
took Dagon and set him in his place again.
1SA 5:4 But when they arose early the next
morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the
ground before the ark of the Lord. And the head of
Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off
on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left
to him.
1SA 5:5 Therefore neither the priests of
Dagon nor all who enter Dagon's house tread on the
threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
1SA 5:6 Now the hand of the Lord was heavy on
the Ashdodites, and He ravaged them and smote them
with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories.
1SA 5:7 When the men of Ashdod saw that it
was so, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel
must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on
us and on Dagon our god."
1SA 5:8 So they sent and gathered all the
lords of the Philistines to them and said, "What
shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" And
they said, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be
brought around to Gath." And they brought the ark of
the God of Israel around.
1SA 5:9 And it came about that after they had
brought it around, the hand of the Lord was against
the city with very great confusion; and He smote the
men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors
broke out on them.
1SA 5:10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.
And it happened as the ark of God came to Ekron that
the Ekronites cried out, saying, "They have brought
the ark of the God of Israel around to us, to kill
us and our people."
1SA 5:11 They sent therefore and gathered all
the lords of the Philistines and said, "Send away
the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to
its own place, that it may not kill us and our
people." For there was a deadly confusion throughout
the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.
1SA 5:12 And the men who did not die were
smitten with tumors and the cry of the city went up
to heaven.
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1SA 6:1 Now the
ark of the Lord had been in the country of the
Philistines seven months.
1SA 6:2 And the Philistines called for the
priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do
with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we shall send
it to its place."
1SA 6:3 And they said, "If you send away the
ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but
you shall surely return to Him a guilt offering.
Then you shall be healed and it shall be known to
you why His hand is not removed from you."
1SA 6:4 Then they said, "What shall be the
guilt offering which we shall return to Him?" And
they said, "Five golden tumors and five golden mice
according to the number of the lords of the
Philistines, for one plague was on all of you and on
your lords.
1SA 6:5 "So you shall make likenesses of your
tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the
land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel;
perhaps He will ease His hand from you, your gods,
and your land.
1SA 6:6 "Why then do you harden your hearts
as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts?
When He had severely dealt with them, did they not
allow the people to go, and they departed?
1SA 6:7 "Now therefore take and prepare a new
cart and two milch cows on which there has never
been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take
their calves home, away from them.
1SA 6:8 "And take the ark of the Lord and
place it on the cart; and put the articles of gold
which you return to Him as a guilt offering in a box
by its side. Then send it away that it may go.
1SA 6:9 "And watch, if it goes up by the way
of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has
done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall
know that it was not His hand that struck us; it
happened to us by chance."
1SA 6:10 Then the men did so, and took two
milch cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up
their calves at home.
1SA 6:11 And they put the ark of the Lord on
the cart, and the box with the golden mice and the
likenesses of their tumors.
1SA 6:12 And the cows took the straight way
in the direction of Beth-shemesh; they went along
the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn
aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of
the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.
1SA 6:13 Now the people of Beth-shemesh were
reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and they
raised their eyes and saw the ark and were glad to
see it.
1SA 6:14 And the cart came into the field of
Joshua the Beth-shemite and stood there where there
was a large stone; and they split the wood of the
cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the
Lord.
1SA 6:15 And the Levites took down the ark of
the Lord and the box that was with it, in which were
the articles of gold, and put them on the large
stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt
offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the
Lord.
1SA 6:16 And when the five lords of the
Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.
1SA 6:17 And these are the golden tumors
which the Philistines returned for a guilt offering
to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for
Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron;
1SA 6:18 and the golden mice, according to
the number of all the cities of the Philistines
belonging to the five lords, both of fortified
cities and of country villages. The large stone on
which they set the ark of the Lord is a witness to
this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.
1SA 6:19 And He struck down some of the men
of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark
of the Lord. He struck down of all the people,
50,070 men, and the people mourned because the Lord
had struck the people with a great slaughter.
1SA 6:20 And the men of Beth-shemesh said,
"Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy
God? And to whom shall He go up from us?"
1SA 6:21 So they sent messengers to the
inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, "The
Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord;
come down and take it up to you."
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1SA 7:1 And the
men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the
Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab on
the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep
the ark of the Lord.
1SA 7:2 And it came about from the day that
the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim that the time was
long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of
Israel lamented after the Lord.
1SA 7:3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of
Israel, saying, "If you return to the Lord with all
your heart, remove the foreign gods and the
Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to
the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver
you from the hand of the Philistines."
1SA 7:4 So the sons of Israel removed the
Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the Lord alone.
1SA 7:5 Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel
to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you."
1SA 7:6 And they gathered to Mizpah, and drew
water and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted
on that day, and said there, "We have sinned against
the Lord." And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at
Mizpah.
1SA 7:7 Now when the Philistines heard that
the sons of Israel had gathered to Mizpah, the lords
of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when
the sons of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the
Philistines.
1SA 7:8 Then the sons of Israel said to
Samuel, "Do not cease to cry to the Lord our God for
us, that He may save us from the hand of the
Philistines."
1SA 7:9 And Samuel took a suckling lamb and
offered it for a whole burnt offering to the Lord;
and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel and the Lord
answered him.
1SA 7:10 Now Samuel was offering up the burnt
offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle
against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a great
thunder on that day against the Philistines and
confused them, so that they were routed before
Israel.
1SA 7:11 And the men of Israel went out of
Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them
down as far as below Beth-car.
1SA 7:12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it
between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer,
saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us."
1SA 7:13 So the Philistines were subdued and
they did not come anymore within the border of
Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the
Philistines all the days of Samuel.
1SA 7:14 And the cities which the Philistines
had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from
Ekron even to Gath; and Israel delivered their
territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there
was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
1SA 7:15 Now Samuel judged Israel all the
days of his life.
1SA 7:16 And he used to go annually on
circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and he
judged Israel in all these places.
1SA 7:17 Then his return was to Ramah, for
his house was there, and there he judged Israel; and
he built there an altar to the Lord.
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1SA 8:1 And it
came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his
sons judges over Israel.
1SA 8:2 Now the name of his first-born was
Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were
judging in Beersheba.
1SA 8:3 His sons, however, did not walk in
his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and
took bribes and perverted justice.
1SA 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel
gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah;
1SA 8:5 and they said to him, "Behold, you
have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your
ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all
the nations."
1SA 8:6 But the thing was displeasing in the
sight of Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to
judge us." And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
1SA 8:7 And the Lord said to Samuel, "Listen
to the voice of the people in regard to all that
they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but
they have rejected Me from being king over them.
1SA 8:8 "Like all the deeds which they have
done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt
even to this day - - in that they have forsaken Me
and served other gods - - so they are doing to you
also.
1SA 8:9 "Now then, listen to their voice;
however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them
of the procedure of the king who will reign over
them."
1SA 8:10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the
Lord to the people who had asked of him a king.
1SA 8:11 And he said, "This will be the
procedure of the king who will reign over you: he
will take your sons and place them for himself in
his chariots and among his horsemen and they will
run before his chariots.
1SA 8:12 "And he will appoint for himself
commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to
do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make
his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
1SA 8:13 "He will also take your daughters
for perfumers and cooks and bakers.
1SA 8:14 "And he will take the best of your
fields and your vineyards and your olive groves, and
give them to his servants.
1SA 8:15 "And he will take a tenth of your
seed and of your vineyards, and give to his officers
and to his servants.
1SA 8:16 "He will also take your male
servants and your female servants and your best
young men and your donkeys, and use them for his
work.
1SA 8:17 "He will take a tenth of your
flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants.
1SA 8:18 "Then you will cry out in that day
because of your king whom you have chosen for
yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that
day."
1SA 8:19 Nevertheless, the people refused to
listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, "No,
but there shall be a king over us,
1SA 8:20 that we also may be like all the
nations, that our king may judge us and go out
before us and fight our battles."
1SA 8:21 Now after Samuel had heard all the
words of the people, he repeated them in the Lord's
hearing.
1SA 8:22 And the Lord said to Samuel, "Listen
to their voice, and appoint them a king." So Samuel
said to the men of Israel, "Go every man to his
city."
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1SA 9:1 Now there
was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of
Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the
son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man
of valor.
1SA 9:2 And he had a son whose name was Saul,
a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more
handsome person than he among the sons of Israel;
from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of
the people.
1SA 9:3 Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's
father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul,
"Take now with you one of the servants, and arise,
go search for the donkeys."
1SA 9:4 And he passed through the hill
country of Ephraim and passed through the land of
Shalishah, but they did not find them. Then they
passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were
not there. Then he passed through the land of the
Benjamites, but they did not find them.
1SA 9:5 When they came to the land of Zuph,
Saul said to his servant who was with him, "Come,
and let us return, lest my father cease to be
concerned about the donkeys and become anxious for
us."
1SA 9:6 And he said to him, "Behold now,
there is a man of God in this city, and the man is
held in honor; all that he says surely comes true.
Now let us go there, perhaps he can tell us about
our journey on which we have set out."
1SA 9:7 Then Saul said to his servant, "But
behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For
the bread is gone from our sack and there is no
present to bring to the man of God. What do we
have?"
1SA 9:8 And the servant answered Saul again
and said, "Behold, I have in my hand a fourth of a
shekel of silver; I will give it to the man of God
and he will tell us our way."
1SA 9:9 (Formerly in Israel, when a man went
to inquire of God, he used to say, "Come, and let us
go to the seer"; for he who is called a prophet now
was formerly called a seer.)
1SA 9:10 Then Saul said to his servant, "Well
said; come, let us go." So they went to the city
where the man of God was.
1SA 9:11 As they went up the slope to the
city, they found young women going out to draw
water, and said to them, "Is the seer here?"
1SA 9:12 And they answered them and said, "He
is; see, he is ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has
come into the city today, for the people have a
sacrifice on the high place today.
1SA 9:13 "As soon as you enter the city you
will find him before he goes up to the high place to
eat, for the people will not eat until he comes,
because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward those
who are invited will eat. Now therefore, go up for
you will find him at once."
1SA 9:14 So they went up to the city. As they
came into the city, behold, Samuel was coming out
toward them to go up to the high place.
1SA 9:15 Now a day before Saul's coming, the
Lord had revealed this to Samuel saying,
1SA 9:16 "About this time tomorrow I will
send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you
shall anoint him to be prince over My people Israel;
and he shall deliver My people from the hand of the
Philistines. For I have regarded My people, because
their cry has come to Me."
1SA 9:17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said
to him, "Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you!
This one shall rule over My people."
1SA 9:18 Then Saul approached Samuel in the
gate, and said, "Please tell me where the seer's
house is."
1SA 9:19 And Samuel answered Saul and said,
"I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place,
for you shall eat with me today; and in the morning
I will let you go, and will tell you all that is on
your mind.
1SA 9:20 "And as for your donkeys which were
lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them,
for they have been found. And for whom is all that
is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for
all your father's household?"
1SA 9:21 And Saul answered and said, "Am I
not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of
Israel, and my family the least of all the families
of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to
me in this way?"
1SA 9:22 Then Samuel took Saul and his
servant and brought them into the hall, and gave
them a place at the head of those who were invited,
who were about thirty men.
1SA 9:23 And Samuel said to the cook, "Bring
the portion that I gave you, concerning which I said
to you, 'Set it aside.'"
1SA 9:24 Then the cook took up the leg with
what was on it and set it before Saul. And Samuel
said, "Here is what has been reserved! Set it before
you and eat, because it has been kept for you until
the appointed time, since I said I have invited the
people." So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
1SA 9:25 When they came down from the high
place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the
roof.
1SA 9:26 And they arose early; and it came
about at daybreak that Samuel called to Saul on the
roof, saying, "Get up, that I may send you away." So
Saul arose, and both he and Samuel went out into the
street.
1SA 9:27 As they were going down to the edge
of the city, Samuel said to Saul, "Say to the
servant that he might go ahead of us and pass on,
but you remain standing now, that I may proclaim the
word of God to you."
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1SA 10:1 Then
Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head,
kissed him and said, "Has not the Lord anointed you
a ruler over His inheritance?
1SA 10:2 "When you go from me today, then you
will find two men close to Rachel's tomb in the
territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say
to you, 'The donkeys which you went to look for have
been found. Now behold, your father has ceased to be
concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you,
saying," What shall I do about my son?"'
1SA 10:3 "Then you will go on further from
there, and you will come as far as the oak of Tabor,
and there three men going up to God at Bethel will
meet you, one carrying three kids, another carrying
three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of
wine;
1SA 10:4 and they will greet you and give you
two loaves of bread, which you will accept from
their hand.
1SA 10:5 "Afterward you will come to the hill
of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it
shall be as soon as you have come there to the city,
that you will meet a group of prophets coming down
from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute,
and a lyre before them, and they will be
prophesying.
1SA 10:6 "Then the Spirit of the Lord will
come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with
them and be changed into another man.
1SA 10:7 "And it shall be when these signs
come to you, do for yourself what the occasion
requires; for God is with you.
1SA 10:8 "And you shall go down before me to
Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer
burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You
shall wait seven days until I come to you and show
you what you should do."
1SA 10:9 Then it happened when he turned his
back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all
those signs came about on that day.
1SA 10:10 When they came to the hill there,
behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit
of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied
among them.
1SA 10:11 And it came about, when all who
knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with
the prophets, that the people said to one another,
"What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also
among the prophets?"
1SA 10:12 And a man there answered and said,
"Now, who is their father?" Therefore it became a
proverb: "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
1SA 10:13 When he had finished prophesying,
he came to the high place.
1SA 10:14 Now Saul's uncle said to him and
his servant, "Where did you go?" And he said, "To
look for the donkeys. When we saw that they could
not be found, we went to Samuel."
1SA 10:15 And Saul's uncle said, "Please tell
me what Samuel said to you."
1SA 10:16 So Saul said to his uncle, "He told
us plainly that the donkeys had been found." But he
did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom
which Samuel had mentioned.
1SA 10:17 Thereafter Samuel called the people
together to the Lord at Mizpah;
1SA 10:18 and he said to the sons of Israel,
"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'I brought
Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the
hand of the Egyptians, and from the power of all the
kingdoms that were oppressing you.'
1SA 10:19 "But you today rejected your God,
who delivers you from all your calamities and your
distresses; yet you have said, 'No, but set a king
over us!' Now therefore, present yourselves before
the Lord by your tribes and by your clans."
1SA 10:20 Thus Samuel brought all the tribes
of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken
by lot.
1SA 10:21 Then he brought the tribe of
Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite
family was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was
taken; but when they looked for him, he could not be
found.
1SA 10:22 Therefore they inquired further of
the Lord, "Has the man come here yet?" So the Lord
said, "Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage."
1SA 10:23 So they ran and took him from
there, and when he stood among the people, he was
taller than any of the people from his shoulders
upward.
1SA 10:24 And Samuel said to all the people,
"Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? Surely
there is no one like him among all the people." So
all the people shouted and said, "Long live the
king!"
1SA 10:25 Then Samuel told the people the
ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the
book and placed it before the Lord. And Samuel sent
all the people away, each one to his house.
1SA 10:26 And Saul also went to his house at
Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had
touched went with him.
1SA 10:27 But certain worthless men said,
"How can this one deliver us?" And they despised him
and did not bring him any present. But he kept
silent.
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1SA 11:1 Now
Nahash the Ammonite came up and besieged
Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to
Nahash, "Make a covenant with us and we will serve
you."
1SA 11:2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to
them, "I will make it with you on this condition,
that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of
you, thus I will make it a reproach on all Israel."
1SA 11:3 And the elders of Jabesh said to
him, "Let us alone for seven days, that we may send
messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then,
if there is no one to deliver us, we will come out
to you."
1SA 11:4 Then the messengers came to Gibeah
of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the
people, and all the people lifted up their voices
and wept.
1SA 11:5 Now behold, Saul was coming from the
field behind the oxen; and he said, "What is the
matter with the people that they weep?" So they
related to him the words of the men of Jabesh.
1SA 11:6 Then the Spirit of God came upon
Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he
became very angry.
1SA 11:7 And he took a yoke of oxen and cut
them in pieces, and sent them throughout the
territory of Israel by the hand of messengers,
saying, "Whoever does not come out after Saul and
after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen." Then
the dread of the Lord fell on the people, and they
came out as one man.
1SA 11:8 And he numbered them in Bezek; and
the sons of Israel were 300,000, and the men of
Judah 30,000.
1SA 11:9 And they said to the messengers who
had come, "Thus you shall say to the men of
Jabesh-gilead, 'Tomorrow, by the time the sun is
hot, you shall have deliverance.'" So the messengers
went and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.
1SA 11:10 Then the men of Jabesh said,
"Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to
us whatever seems good to you."
1SA 11:11 And it happened the next morning
that Saul put the people in three companies; and
they came into the midst of the camp at the morning
watch, and struck down the Ammonites until the heat
of the day. And it came about that those who
survived were scattered, so that no two of them were
left together.
1SA 11:12 Then the people said to Samuel,
"Who is he that said, 'Shall Saul reign over us?'
Bring the men, that we may put them to death."
1SA 11:13 But Saul said, "Not a man shall be
put to death this day, for today the Lord has
accomplished deliverance in Israel."
1SA 11:14 Then Samuel said to the people,
"Come and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom
there."
1SA 11:15 So all the people went to Gilgal,
and there they made Saul king before the Lord in
Gilgal. There they also offered sacrifices of peace
offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all
the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
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1SA 12:1 Then
Samuel said to all Israel, "Behold, I have listened
to your voice in all that you said to me, and I have
appointed a king over you.
1SA 12:2 "And now, here is the king walking
before you, but I am old and gray, and behold my
sons are with you. And I have walked before you from
my youth even to this day.
1SA 12:3 "Here I am; bear witness against me
before the Lord and His anointed. Whose ox have I
taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I
defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand
have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I
will restore it to you."
1SA 12:4 And they said, "You have not
defrauded us, or oppressed us, or taken anything
from any man's hand."
1SA 12:5 And he said to them, "The Lord is
witness against you, and His anointed is witness
this day that you have found nothing in my hand."
And they said, "He is witness."
1SA 12:6 Then Samuel said to the people, "It
is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and who
brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt.
1SA 12:7 "So now, take your stand, that I may
plead with you before the Lord concerning all the
righteous acts of the Lord which He did for you and
your fathers.
1SA 12:8 "When Jacob went into Egypt and your
fathers cried out to the Lord, then the Lord sent
Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of
Egypt and settled them in this place.
1SA 12:9 "But they forgot the Lord their God,
so He sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of
the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the
Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab,
and they fought against them.
1SA 12:10 "And they cried out to the Lord and
said, 'We have sinned because we have forsaken the
Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth;
but now deliver us from the hands of our enemies,
and we will serve Thee.'
1SA 12:11 "Then the Lord sent Jerubbaal and
Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you
from the hands of your enemies all around, so that
you lived in security.
1SA 12:12 "When you saw that Nahash the king
of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to
me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us,' although
the Lord your God was your king.
1SA 12:13 "Now therefore, here is the king
whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and
behold, the Lord has set a king over you.
1SA 12:14 "If you will fear the Lord and
serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel
against the command of the Lord, then both you and
also the king who reigns over you will follow the
Lord your God.
1SA 12:15 "And if you will not listen to the
voice of the Lord, but rebel against the command of
the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against
you, as it was against your fathers.
1SA 12:16 "Even now, take your stand and see
this great thing which the Lord will do before your
eyes.
1SA 12:17 "Is it not the wheat harvest today?
I will call to the Lord, that He may send thunder
and rain. Then you will know and see that your
wickedness is great which you have done in the sight
of the Lord by asking for yourselves a king."
1SA 12:18 So Samuel called to the Lord, and
the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and all the
people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
1SA 12:19 Then all the people said to Samuel,
"Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, so
that we may not die, for we have added to all our
sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king."
1SA 12:20 And Samuel said to the people, "Do
not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do
not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve
the Lord with all your heart.
1SA 12:21 "And you must not turn aside, for
then you would go after futile things which can not
profit or deliver, because they are futile.
1SA 12:22 "For the Lord will not abandon His
people on account of His great name, because the
Lord has been pleased to make you a people for
Himself.
1SA 12:23 "Moreover, as for me, far be it
from me that I should sin against the Lord by
ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in
the good and right way.
1SA 12:24 "Only fear the Lord and serve Him
in truth with all your heart; for consider what
great things He has done for you.
1SA 12:25 "But if you still do wickedly, both
you and your king shall be swept away."
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1SA 13:1 Saul was
forty years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned thirty}-two years over Israel.
1SA 13:2 Now Saul chose for himself 3,000 men
of Israel, of which 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash
and in the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were
with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. But he sent
away the rest of the people, each to his tent.
1SA 13:3 And Jonathan smote the garrison of
the Philistines that was in Geba, and the
Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet
throughout the land, saying, "Let the Hebrews hear."
1SA 13:4 And all Israel heard the news that
Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines,
and also that Israel had become odious to the
Philistines. The people were then summoned to Saul
at Gilgal.
1SA 13:5 Now the Philistines assembled to
fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000
horsemen, and people like the sand which is on the
seashore in abundance; and they came up and camped
in Michmash, east of Beth-aven.
1SA 13:6 When the men of Israel saw that they
were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed),
then the people hid themselves in caves, in
thickets, in cliffs, in cellars, and in pits.
1SA 13:7 Also some of the Hebrews crossed the
Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. But as for
Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people
followed him trembling.
1SA 13:8 Now he waited seven days, according
to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did
not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering
from him.
1SA 13:9 So Saul said, "Bring to me the burnt
offering and the peace offerings." And he offered
the burnt offering.
1SA 13:10 And it came about as soon as he
finished offering the burnt offering, that behold,
Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to
greet him.
1SA 13:11 But Samuel said, "What have you
done?" And Saul said, "Because I saw that the people
were scattering from me, and that you did not come
within the appointed days, and that the Philistines
were assembling at Michmash,
1SA 13:12 therefore I said,' Now the
Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and
I have not asked the favor of the Lord.' So I forced
myself and offered the burnt offering."
1SA 13:13 And Samuel said to Saul, "You have
acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment
of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for
now the Lord would have established your kingdom
over Israel forever.
1SA 13:14 "But now your kingdom shall not
endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man
after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him
as ruler over His people, because you have not kept
what the Lord commanded you."
1SA 13:15 Then Samuel arose and went up from
Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the
people who were present with him, about six hundred
men.
1SA 13:16 Now Saul and his son Jonathan and
the people who were present with them were staying
in Geba of Benjamin while the Philistines camped at
Michmash.
1SA 13:17 And the raiders came from the camp
of the Philistines in three companies: one company
turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual,
1SA 13:18 and another company turned toward
Beth-horon, and another company turned toward the
border which overlooks the valley of Zeboim toward
the wilderness.
1SA 13:19 Now no blacksmith could be found in
all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said,
"Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears."
1SA 13:20 So all Israel went down to the
Philistines, each to sharpen his plowshare, his
mattock, his axe, and his hoe.
1SA 13:21 And the charge was two-thirds of a
shekel for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks,
and the axes, and to fix the hoes.
1SA 13:22 So it came about on the day of
battle that neither sword nor spear was found in the
hands of any of the people who were with Saul and
Jonathan, but they were found with Saul and his son
Jonathan.
1SA 13:23 And the garrison of the Philistines
went out to the pass of Michmash.
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1SA 14:1 Now the
day came that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the
young man who was carrying his armor, "Come and let
us cross over to the Philistines' garrison that is
on yonder side." But he did not tell his father.
1SA 14:2 And Saul was staying in the
outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which
is in Migron. And the people who were with him were
about six hundred men,
1SA 14:3 and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub,
Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of
Eli, the priest of the Lord at Shiloh, was wearing
an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan
had gone.
1SA 14:4 And between the passes by which
Jonathan sought to cross over to the Philistines'
garrison, there was a sharp crag on the one side,
and a sharp crag on the other side, and the name of
the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
1SA 14:5 The one crag rose on the north
opposite Michmash, and the other on the south
opposite Geba.
1SA 14:6 Then Jonathan said to the young man
who was carrying his armor, "Come and let us cross
over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps
the Lord will work for us, for the Lord is not
restrained to save by many or by few."
1SA 14:7 And his armor bearer said to him,
"Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and
here I am with you according to your desire."
1SA 14:8 Then Jonathan said, "Behold, we will
cross over to the men and reveal ourselves to them.
1SA 14:9 "If they say to us, 'Wait until we
come to you'; then we will stand in our place and
not go up to them.
1SA 14:10 "But if they say, 'Come up to us,'
then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into
our hands; and this shall be the sign to us."
1SA 14:11 And when both of them revealed
themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the
Philistines said, "Behold, Hebrews are coming out of
the holes where they have hidden themselves."
1SA 14:12 So the men of the garrison hailed
Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, "Come up to
us and we will tell you something." And Jonathan
said to his armor bearer, "Come up after me, for the
Lord has given them into the hands of Israel."
1SA 14:13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his
hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him;
and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer
put some to death after him.
1SA 14:14 And that first slaughter which
Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty
men within about half a furrow in an acre of land.
1SA 14:15 And there was a trembling in the
camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even
the garrison and the raiders trembled, and the earth
quaked so that it became a great trembling.
1SA 14:16 Now Saul's watchmen in Gibeah of
Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude melted
away; and they went here and there.
1SA 14:17 And Saul said to the people who
were with him, "Number now and see who has gone from
us." And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan
and his armor bearer were not there.
1SA 14:18 Then Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring
the ark of God here." For the ark of God was at that
time with the sons of Israel.
1SA 14:19 And it happened while Saul talked
to the priest, that the commotion in the camp of the
Philistines continued and increased; so Saul said to
the priest, "Withdraw your hand."
1SA 14:20 Then Saul and all the people who
were with him rallied and came to the battle; and
behold, every man's sword was against his fellow,
and there was very great confusion.
1SA 14:21 Now the Hebrews who were with the
Philistines previously, who went up with them all
around in the camp, even they also turned to be with
the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.
1SA 14:22 When all the men of Israel who had
hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim
heard that the Philistines had fled, even they also
pursued them closely in the battle.
1SA 14:23 So the Lord delivered Israel that
day, and the battle spread beyond Beth-aven.
1SA 14:24 Now the men of Israel were
hard-pressed on that day, for Saul had put the
people under oath, saying, "Cursed be the man who
eats food before evening, and until I have avenged
myself on my enemies." So none of the people tasted
food.
1SA 14:25 And all the people of the land
entered the forest, and there was honey on the
ground.
1SA 14:26 When the people entered the forest,
behold, there was a flow of honey; but no man put
his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the
oath.
1SA 14:27 But Jonathan had not heard when his
father put the people under oath; therefore, he put
out the end of the staff that was in his hand and
dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his
mouth, and his eyes brightened.
1SA 14:28 Then one of the people answered and
said, "Your father strictly put the people under
oath, saying, 'Cursed be the man who eats food
today.'" And the people were weary.
1SA 14:29 Then Jonathan said, "My father has
troubled the land. See now, how my eyes have
brightened because I tasted a little of this honey.
1SA 14:30 "How much more, if only the people
had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies
which they found! For now the slaughter among the
Philistines has not been great."
1SA 14:31 And they struck among the
Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And
the people were very weary.
1SA 14:32 And the people rushed greedily upon
the spoil, and took sheep and oxen and calves, and
slew them on the ground; and the people ate them
with the blood.
1SA 14:33 Then they told Saul, saying,
"Behold, the people are sinning against the Lord by
eating with the blood." And he said, "You have acted
treacherously; roll a great stone to me today."
1SA 14:34 And Saul said, "Disperse yourselves
among the people and say to them, 'Each one of you
bring me his ox or his sheep, and slaughter it here
and eat; and do not sin against the Lord by eating
with the blood.'" So all the people that night
brought each one his ox with him, and slaughtered it
there.
1SA 14:35 And Saul built an altar to the
Lord; it was the first altar that he built to the
Lord.
1SA 14:36 Then Saul said, "Let us go down
after the Philistines by night and take spoil among
them until the morning light, and let us not leave a
man of them." And they said, "Do whatever seems good
to you." So the priest said, "Let us draw near to
God here."
1SA 14:37 And Saul inquired of God, "Shall I
go down after the Philistines? Wilt Thou give them
into the hand of Israel?" But He did not answer him
on that day.
1SA 14:38 And Saul said, "Draw near here, all
you chiefs of the people, and investigate and see
how this sin has happened today.
1SA 14:39 "For as the Lord lives, who
delivers Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he
shall surely die." But not one of all the people
answered him.
1SA 14:40 Then he said to all Israel, "You
shall be on one side and I and Jonathan my son will
be on the other side." And the people said to Saul,
"Do what seems good to you."
1SA 14:41 Therefore, Saul said to the Lord,
the God of Israel, "Give a perfect lot." And
Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people
escaped.
1SA 14:42 And Saul said, "Cast lots between
me and Jonathan my son." And Jonathan was taken.
1SA 14:43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell
me what you have done." So Jonathan told him and
said, "I indeed tasted a little honey with the end
of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I must
die!"
1SA 14:44 And Saul said, "May God do this to
me and more also, for you shall surely die,
Jonathan."
1SA 14:45 But the people said to Saul, "Must
Jonathan die, who has brought about this great
deliverance in Israel? Far from it! As the Lord
lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to
the ground, for he has worked with God this day." So
the people rescued Jonathan and he did not die.
1SA 14:46 Then Saul went up from pursuing the
Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own
place.
1SA 14:47 Now when Saul had taken the kingdom
over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on
every side, against Moab, the sons of Ammon, Edom,
the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines; and
wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment.
1SA 14:48 And he acted valiantly and defeated
the Amalekites, and delivered Israel from the hands
of those who plundered them.
1SA 14:49 Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan
and Ishvi and Malchi-shua; and the names of his two
daughters were these: the name of the first-born
Merab and the name of the younger Michal.
1SA 14:50 And the name of Saul's wife was
Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the
captain of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's
uncle.
1SA 14:51 And Kish was the father of Saul,
and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.
1SA 14:52 Now the war against the Philistines
was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw
any mighty man or any valiant man, he attached him
to his staff.
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1SA 15:1 Then
Samuel said to Saul, "The Lord sent me to anoint you
as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore,
listen to the words of the Lord.
1SA 15:2 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'I
will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he
set himself against him on the way while he was
coming up from Egypt.
1SA 15:3 'Now go and strike Amalek and
utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare
him; but put to death both man and woman, child and
infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' "
1SA 15:4 Then Saul summoned the people and
numbered them in Telaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and
10,000 men of Judah.
1SA 15:5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek,
and set an ambush in the valley.
1SA 15:6 And Saul said to the Kenites, "Go,
depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I
destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to
all the sons of Israel when they came up from
Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among the
Amalekites.
1SA 15:7 So Saul defeated the Amalekites,
from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of
Egypt.
1SA 15:8 And he captured Agag the king of the
Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the
people with the edge of the sword.
1SA 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag
and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings,
the lambs, and all that was good, and were not
willing to destroy them utterly; but everything
despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
1SA 15:10 Then the word of the Lord came to
Samuel, saying,
1SA 15:11 "I regret that I have made Saul
king, for he has turned back from following Me, and
has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was
distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.
1SA 15:12 And Samuel rose early in the
morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel,
saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up
a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on
down to Gilgal."
1SA 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul
said to him, "Blessed are you of the Lord! I have
carried out the command of the Lord."
1SA 15:14 But Samuel said, "What then is this
bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of
the oxen which I hear?"
1SA 15:15 And Saul said, "They have brought
them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the
best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord
your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed."
1SA 15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Wait,
and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last
night." And he said to him, "Speak!"
1SA 15:17 And Samuel said, "Is it not true,
though you were little in your own eyes, you were
made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord
anointed you king over Israel,
1SA 15:18 and the Lord sent you on a mission,
and said,' Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the
Amalekites, and fight against them until they are
exterminated.'
1SA 15:19 "Why then did you not obey the
voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did
what was evil in the sight of the Lord?"
1SA 15:20 Then Saul said to Samuel, "I did
obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission
on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back
Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed
the Amalekites.
1SA 15:21 "But the people took some of the
spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things
devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord
your God at Gilgal."
1SA 15:22 And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as
much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in
obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is
better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of
rams.
1SA 15:23 "For rebellion is as the sin of
divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and
idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the
Lord, He has also rejected you from being king."
1SA 15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have
sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of
the Lord and your words, because I feared the people
and listened to their voice.
1SA 15:25 "Now therefore, please pardon my
sin and return with me, that I may worship the
Lord."
1SA 15:26 But Samuel said to Saul, "I will
not return with you; for you have rejected the word
of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from
being king over Israel."
1SA 15:27 And as Samuel turned to go, Saul
seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.
1SA 15:28 So Samuel said to him, "The Lord
has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and
has given it to your neighbor who is better than
you.
1SA 15:29 "And also the Glory of Israel will
not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that
He should change His mind."
1SA 15:30 Then he said, "I have sinned; but
please honor me now before the elders of my people
and before Israel, and go back with me, that I may
worship the Lord your God."
1SA 15:31 So Samuel went back following Saul,
and Saul worshiped the Lord.
1SA 15:32 Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag,
the king of the Amalekites." And Agag came to him
cheerfully. And Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of
death is past."
1SA 15:33 But Samuel said, "As your sword has
made women childless, so shall your mother be
childless among women." And Samuel hewed Agag to
pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
1SA 15:34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul
went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul.
1SA 15:35 And Samuel did not see Saul again
until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over
Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul
king over Israel.
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1SA 16:1 Now the
Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over
Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over
Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send
you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a
king for Myself among his sons."
1SA 16:2 But Samuel said, "How can I go? When
Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the Lord
said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come
to sacrifice to the Lord.'
1SA 16:3 "And you shall invite Jesse to the
sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do;
and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I designate
to you."
1SA 16:4 So Samuel did what the Lord said,
and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city
came trembling to meet him and said, "Do you come in
peace?"
1SA 16:5 And he said, "In peace; I have come
to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and
come with me to the sacrifice." He also consecrated
Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the
sacrifice.
1SA 16:6 Then it came about when they
entered, that he looked at Eliab and thought,
"Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him."
1SA 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not
look at his appearance or at the height of his
stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees
not as man sees, for man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
1SA 16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made
him pass before Samuel. And he said, "Neither has
the Lord chosen this one."
1SA 16:9 Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And
he said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one."
1SA 16:10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons
pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, "The
Lord has not chosen these."
1SA 16:11 And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are
these all the children?" And he said, "There remains
yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the
sheep." Then Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring
him; for we will not sit down until he comes here."
1SA 16:12 So he sent and brought him in. Now
he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome
appearance. And the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him;
for this is he."
1SA 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil
and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and
the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from
that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to
Ramah.
1SA 16:14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed
from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord
terrorized him.
1SA 16:15 Saul's servants then said to him,
"Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing
you.
1SA 16:16 "Let our lord now command your
servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who
is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come
about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that
he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will
be well."
1SA 16:17 So Saul said to his servants,
"Provide for me now a man who can play well, and
bring him to me."
1SA 16:18 Then one of the young men answered
and said, "Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the
Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty
man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and
a handsome man; and the Lord is with him."
1SA 16:19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse,
and said, "Send me your son David who is with the
flock."
1SA 16:20 And Jesse took a donkey loaded with
bread and a jug of wine and a young goat, and sent
them to Saul by David his son.
1SA 16:21 Then David came to Saul and
attended him, and Saul loved him greatly; and he
became his armor bearer.
1SA 16:22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying,
"Let David now stand before me; for he has found
favor in my sight."
1SA 16:23 So it came about whenever the evil
spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the
harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be
refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would
depart from him.
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1SA 17:1 Now the
Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and
they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah,
and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in
Ephes-dammim.
1SA 17:2 And Saul and the men of Israel were
gathered, and camped in the valley of Elah, and drew
up in battle array to encounter the Philistines.
1SA 17:3 And the Philistines stood on the
mountain on one side while Israel stood on the
mountain on the other side, with the valley between
them.
1SA 17:4 Then a champion came out from the
armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath,
whose height was six cubits and a span.
1SA 17:5 And he had a bronze helmet on his
head, and he was clothed with scale-armor which
weighed five thousand shekels of bronze.
1SA 17:6 He also had bronze greaves on his
legs and a bronze javelin slung between his
shoulders.
1SA 17:7 And the shaft of his spear was like
a weaver's beam, and the head of his spear weighed
six hundred shekels of iron; his shield-carrier also
walked before him.
1SA 17:8 And he stood and shouted to the
ranks of Israel, and said to them, "Why do you come
out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the
Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man
for yourselves and let him come down to me.
1SA 17:9 "If he is able to fight with me and
kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I
prevail against him and kill him, then you shall
become our servants and serve us."
1SA 17:10 Again the Philistine said, "I defy
the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we
may fight together."
1SA 17:11 When Saul and all Israel heard
these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed
and greatly afraid.
1SA 17:12 Now David was the son of the
Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was
Jesse, and he had eight sons. And Jesse was old in
the days of Saul, advanced in years among men.
1SA 17:13 And the three older sons of Jesse
had gone after Saul to the battle. And the names of
his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the
first-born, and the second to him Abinadab, and the
third Shammah.
1SA 17:14 And David was the youngest. Now the
three oldest followed Saul,
1SA 17:15 but David went back and forth from
Saul to tend his father's flock at Bethlehem.
1SA 17:16 And the Philistine came forward
morning and evening for forty days, and took his
stand.
1SA 17:17 Then Jesse said to David his son,
"Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted
grain and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to
your brothers.
1SA 17:18 "Bring also these ten cuts of
cheese to the commander of their thousand, and look
into the welfare of your brothers, and bring back
news of them.
1SA 17:19 "For Saul and they and all the men
of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting with
the Philistines."
1SA 17:20 So David arose early in the morning
and left the flock with a keeper and took the
supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he
came to the circle of the camp while the army was
going out in battle array shouting the war cry.
1SA 17:21 And Israel and the Philistines drew
up in battle array, army against army.
1SA 17:22 Then David left his baggage in the
care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle
line and entered in order to greet his brothers.
1SA 17:23 As he was talking with them,
behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named
Goliath, was coming up from the army of the
Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and
David heard them.
1SA 17:24 When all the men of Israel saw the
man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid.
1SA 17:25 And the men of Israel said, "Have
you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is
coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the
king will enrich the man who kills him with great
riches and will give him his daughter and make his
father's house free in Israel."
1SA 17:26 Then David spoke to the men who
were standing by him, saying, "What will be done for
the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away
the reproach from Israel? For who is this
uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the
armies of the living God?"
1SA 17:27 And the people answered him in
accord with this word, saying, "Thus it will be done
for the man who kills him."
1SA 17:28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard
when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger burned
against David and he said, "Why have you come down?
And with whom have you left those few sheep in the
wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness
of your heart; for you have come down in order to
see the battle."
1SA 17:29 But David said, "What have I done
now? Was it not just a question?"
1SA 17:30 Then he turned away from him to
another and said the same thing; and the people
answered the same thing as before.
1SA 17:31 When the words which David spoke
were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for
him.
1SA 17:32 And David said to Saul, "Let no
man's heart fail on account of him; your servant
will go and fight with this Philistine."
1SA 17:33 Then Saul said to David, "You are
not able to go against this Philistine to fight with
him; for you are but a youth while he has been a
warrior from his youth."
1SA 17:34 But David said to Saul, "Your
servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion
or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,
1SA 17:35 I went out after him and attacked
him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose
up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck
him and killed him.
1SA 17:36 "Your servant has killed both the
lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine
will be like one of them, since he has taunted the
armies of the living God."
1SA 17:37 And David said, "The Lord who
delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the
paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of
this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and
may the Lord be with you."
1SA 17:38 Then Saul clothed David with his
garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he
clothed him with armor.
1SA 17:39 And David girded his sword over his
armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them.
So David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for
I have not tested them." And David took them off.
1SA 17:40 And he took his stick in his hand
and chose for himself five smooth stones from the
brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he
had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his
hand; and he approached the Philistine.
1SA 17:41 Then the Philistine came on and
approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of
him.
1SA 17:42 When the Philistine looked and saw
David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and
ruddy, with a handsome appearance.
1SA 17:43 And the Philistine said to David,
"Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And
the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
1SA 17:44 The Philistine also said to David,
"Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds
of the sky and the beasts of the field."
1SA 17:45 Then David said to the Philistine,
"You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a
javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord
of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you
have taunted.
1SA 17:46 "This day the Lord will deliver you
up into my hands, and I will strike you down and
remove your head from you. And I will give the dead
bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to
the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the
earth, that all the earth may know that there is a
God in Israel,
1SA 17:47 and that all this assembly may know
that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear;
for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you
into our hands."
1SA 17:48 Then it happened when the
Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet
David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line
to meet the Philistine.
1SA 17:49 And David put his hand into his bag
and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck
the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank
into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to
the ground.
1SA 17:50 Thus David prevailed over the
Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck
the Philistine and killed him; but there was no
sword in David's hand.
1SA 17:51 Then David ran and stood over the
Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its
sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.
When the Philistines saw that their champion was
dead, they fled.
1SA 17:52 And the men of Israel and Judah
arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far
as the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the
slain Philistines lay along the way to Shaaraim,
even to Gath and Ekron.
1SA 17:53 And the sons of Israel returned
from chasing the Philistines and plundered their
camps.
1SA 17:54 Then David took the Philistine's
head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his
weapons in his tent.
1SA 17:55 Now when Saul saw David going out
against the Philistine, he said to Abner the
commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this
young man?" And Abner said, "By your life, O king, I
do not know."
1SA 17:56 And the king said, "You inquire
whose son the youth is."
1SA 17:57 So when David returned from killing
the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him
before Saul with the Philistine's head in his hand.
1SA 17:58 And Saul said to him, "Whose son
are you, young man?" And David answered, "I am the
son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."
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1SA 18:1 Now it
came about when he had finished speaking to Saul,
that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of
David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.
1SA 18:2 And Saul took him that day and did
not let him return to his father's house.
1SA 18:3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with
David because he loved him as himself.
1SA 18:4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the
robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his
armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt.
1SA 18:5 So David went out wherever Saul sent
him, and prospered; and Saul set him over the men of
war. And it was pleasing in the sight of all the
people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.
1SA 18:6 And it happened as they were coming,
when David returned from killing the Philistine,
that the women came out of all the cities of Israel,
singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with
tambourines, with joy and with musical instruments.
1SA 18:7 And the women sang as they played,
and said, "Saul has slain his thousands, And David
his ten thousands."
1SA 18:8 Then Saul became very angry, for
this saying displeased him; and he said, "They have
ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have
ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but
the kingdom?"
1SA 18:9 And Saul looked at David with
suspicion from that day on.
1SA 18:10 Now it came about on the next day
that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon
Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while
David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual;
and a spear was in Saul's hand.
1SA 18:11 And Saul hurled the spear for he
thought, "I will pin David to the wall." But David
escaped from his presence twice.
1SA 18:12 Now Saul was afraid of David, for
the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.
1SA 18:13 Therefore Saul removed him from his
presence, and appointed him as his commander of a
thousand; and he went out and came in before the
people.
1SA 18:14 And David was prospering in all his
ways for the Lord was with him.
1SA 18:15 When Saul saw that he was
prospering greatly, he dreaded him.
1SA 18:16 But all Israel and Judah loved
David, and he went out and came in before them.
1SA 18:17 Then Saul said to David, "Here is
my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a
wife, only be a valiant man for me and fight the
Lord's battles." For Saul thought, "My hand shall
not be against him, but let the hand of the
Philistines be against him."
1SA 18:18 But David said to Saul, "Who am I,
and what is my life or my father's family in Israel,
that I should be the king's son-in-law?"
1SA 18:19 So it came about at the time when
Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to
David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite
for a wife.
1SA 18:20 Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved
David. When they told Saul, the thing was agreeable
to him.
1SA 18:21 And Saul thought, "I will give her
to him that she may become a snare to him, and that
the hand of the Philistines may be against him."
Therefore Saul said to David, "For a second time you
may be my son-in-law today."
1SA 18:22 Then Saul commanded his servants,
"Speak to David secretly, saying, 'Behold, the king
delights in you, and all his servants love you; now
therefore, become the king's son-in-law.'"
1SA 18:23 So Saul's servants spoke these
words to David. But David said, "Is it trivial in
your sight to become the king's son-in-law, since I
am a poor man and lightly esteemed?"
1SA 18:24 And the servants of Saul reported
to him according to these words which David spoke.
1SA 18:25 Saul then said, "Thus you shall say
to David, 'The king does not desire any dowry except
a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take
vengeance on the king's enemies.'" Now Saul planned
to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
1SA 18:26 When his servants told David these
words, it pleased David to become the king's
son-in-law. Before the days had expired
1SA 18:27 David rose up and went, he and his
men, and struck down two hundred men among the
Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and
they gave them in full number to the king, that he
might become the king's son-in-law. So Saul gave him
Michal his daughter for a wife.
1SA 18:28 When Saul saw and knew that the
Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul's
daughter, loved him,
1SA 18:29 then Saul was even more afraid of
David. Thus Saul was David's enemy continually.
1SA 18:30 Then the commanders of the
Philistines went out to battle, and it happened as
often as they went out, that David behaved himself
more wisely than all the servants of Saul. So his
name was highly esteemed.
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1SA 19:1 Now Saul
told Jonathan his son and all his servants to put
David to death. But Jonathan, Saul's son, greatly
delighted in David.
1SA 19:2 So Jonathan told David saying, "Saul
my father is seeking to put you to death. Now
therefore, please be on guard in the morning, and
stay in a secret place and hide yourself.
1SA 19:3 "And I will go out and stand beside
my father in the field where you are, and I will
speak with my father about you; if I find out
anything, then I shall tell you."
1SA 19:4 Then Jonathan spoke well of David to
Saul his father, and said to him, "Do not let the
king sin against his servant David, since he has not
sinned against you, and since his deeds have been
very beneficial to you.
1SA 19:5 "For he took his life in his hand
and struck the Philistine, and the Lord brought
about a great deliverance for all Israel; you saw it
and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent
blood, by putting David to death without a cause?"
1SA 19:6 And Saul listened to the voice of
Jonathan, and Saul vowed, "As the Lord lives, he
shall not be put to death."
1SA 19:7 Then Jonathan called David, and
Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan
brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as
formerly.
1SA 19:8 When there was war again, David went
out and fought with the Philistines, and defeated
them with great slaughter, so that they fled before
him.
1SA 19:9 Now there was an evil spirit from
the Lord on Saul as he was sitting in his house with
his spear in his hand, and David was playing the
harp with his hand.
1SA 19:10 And Saul tried to pin David to the
wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of
Saul's presence, so that he stuck the spear into the
wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
1SA 19:11 Then Saul sent messengers to
David's house to watch him, in order to put him to
death in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told
him, saying, "If you do not save your life tonight,
tomorrow you will be put to death."
1SA 19:12 So Michal let David down through a
window, and he went out and fled and escaped.
1SA 19:13 And Michal took the household idol
and laid it on the bed, and put a quilt of goats'
hair at its head, and covered it with clothes.
1SA 19:14 When Saul sent messengers to take
David, she said, "He is sick."
1SA 19:15 Then Saul sent messengers to see
David, saying, "Bring him up to me on his bed, that
I may put him to death."
1SA 19:16 When the messengers entered,
behold, the household idol was on the bed with the
quilt of goats' hair at its head.
1SA 19:17 So Saul said to Michal, "Why have
you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so
that he has escaped?" And Michal said to Saul, "He
said to me, 'Let me go! Why should I put you to
death?'"
1SA 19:18 Now David fled and escaped and came
to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had
done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in
Naioth.
1SA 19:19 And it was told Saul, saying,
"Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah."
1SA 19:20 Then Saul sent messengers to take
David, but when they saw the company of the prophets
prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over
them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of
Saul; and they also prophesied.
1SA 19:21 And when it was told Saul, he sent
other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul
sent messengers again the third time, and they also
prophesied.
1SA 19:22 Then he himself went to Ramah, and
came as far as the large well that is in Secu; and
he asked and said, "Where are Samuel and David?" And
someone said, "Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah."
1SA 19:23 And he proceeded there to Naioth in
Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so
that he went along prophesying continually until he
came to Naioth in Ramah.
1SA 19:24 And he also stripped off his
clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay
down naked all that day and all that night.
Therefore they say, "Is Saul also among the
prophets?"
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1SA 20:1 Then
David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said
to Jonathan, "What have I done? What is my iniquity?
And what is my sin before your father, that he is
seeking my life?"
1SA 20:2 And he said to him, "Far from it,
you shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing
either great or small without disclosing it to me.
So why should my father hide this thing from me? It
is not so!"
1SA 20:3 Yet David vowed again, saying, "Your
father knows well that I have found favor in your
sight, and he has said, 'Do not let Jonathan know
this, lest he be grieved.' But truly as the Lord
lives and as your soul lives, there is hardly a step
between me and death."
1SA 20:4 Then Jonathan said to David,
"Whatever you say, I will do for you."
1SA 20:5 So David said to Jonathan, "Behold,
tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit down to
eat with the king. But let me go, that I may hide
myself in the field until the third evening.
1SA 20:6 "If your father misses me at all,
then say, 'David earnestly asked leave of me to run
to Bethlehem his city, because it is the yearly
sacrifice there for the whole family.'
1SA 20:7 "If he says, 'It is good,' your
servant shall be safe; but if he is very angry, know
that he has decided on evil.
1SA 20:8 "Therefore deal kindly with your
servant, for you have brought your servant into a
covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is
iniquity in me, put me to death yourself; for why
then should you bring me to your father?"
1SA 20:9 And Jonathan said, "Far be it from
you! For if I should indeed learn that evil has been
decided by my father to come upon you, then would I
not tell you about it?"
1SA 20:10 Then David said to Jonathan, "Who
will tell me if your father answers you harshly?"
1SA 20:11 And Jonathan said to David, "Come,
and let us go out into the field." So both of them
went out to the field.
1SA 20:12 Then Jonathan said to David, "The
Lord, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have
sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or
the third day, behold, if there is good feeling
toward David, shall I not then send to you and make
it known to you?
1SA 20:13 "If it please my father to do you
harm, may the Lord do so to Jonathan and more also,
if I do not make it known to you and send you away,
that you may go in safety. And may the Lord be with
you as He has been with my father.
1SA 20:14 "And if I am still alive, will you
not show me the lovingkindness of the Lord, that I
may not die?
1SA 20:15 "And you shall not cut off your
lovingkindness from my house forever, not even when
the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David
from the face of the earth."
1SA 20:16 So Jonathan made a covenant with
the house of David, saying, "May the Lord require it
at the hands of David's enemies."
1SA 20:17 And Jonathan made David vow again
because of his love for him, because he loved him as
he loved his own life.
1SA 20:18 Then Jonathan said to him,
"Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed
because your seat will be empty.
1SA 20:19 "When you have stayed for three
days, you shall go down quickly and come to the
place where you hid yourself on that eventful day,
and you shall remain by the stone Ezel.
1SA 20:20 "And I will shoot three arrows to
the side, as though I shot at a target.
1SA 20:21 "And behold, I will send the lad,
saying, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I specifically say
to the lad, 'Behold, the arrows are on this side of
you, get them,' then come; for there is safety for
you and no harm, as the Lord lives.
1SA 20:22 "But if I say to the youth,
'Behold, the arrows are beyond you,' go, for the
Lord has sent you away.
1SA 20:23 "As for the agreement of which you
and I have spoken, behold, the Lord is between you
and me forever."
1SA 20:24 So David hid in the field; and when
the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.
1SA 20:25 And the king sat on his seat as
usual, the seat by the wall; then Jonathan rose up
and Abner sat down by Saul's side, but David's place
was empty.
1SA 20:26 Nevertheless Saul did not speak
anything that day, for he thought, "It is an
accident, he is not clean, surely he is not clean."
1SA 20:27 And it came about the next day, the
second day of the new moon, that David's place was
empty; so Saul said to Jonathan his son, "Why has
the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either
yesterday or today?"
1SA 20:28 Jonathan then answered Saul, "David
earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem,
1SA 20:29 for he said,' Please let me go,
since our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my
brother has commanded me to attend. And now, if I
have found favor in your sight, please let me get
away that I may see my brothers.' For this reason he
has not come to the king's table."
1SA 20:30 Then Saul's anger burned against
Jonathan and he said to him, "You son of a perverse,
rebellious woman! Do I not know that you are
choosing the son of Jesse to your own shame and to
the shame of your mother's nakedness?
1SA 20:31 "For as long as the son of Jesse
lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom
will be established. Therefore now, send and bring
him to me, for he must surely die."
1SA 20:32 But Jonathan answered Saul his
father and said to him, "Why should he be put to
death? What has he done?"
1SA 20:33 Then Saul hurled his spear at him
to strike him down; so Jonathan knew that his father
had decided to put David to death.
1SA 20:34 Then Jonathan arose from the table
in fierce anger, and did not eat food on the second
day of the new moon, for he was grieved over David
because his father had dishonored him.
1SA 20:35 Now it came about in the morning
that Jonathan went out into the field for the
appointment with David, and a little lad was with
him.
1SA 20:36 And he said to his lad, "Run, find
now the arrows which I am about to shoot." As the
lad was running, he shot an arrow past him.
1SA 20:37 When the lad reached the place of
the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called
after the lad, and said, "Is not the arrow beyond
you?"
1SA 20:38 And Jonathan called after the lad,
"Hurry, be quick, do not stay!" And Jonathan's lad
picked up the arrow and came to his master.
1SA 20:39 But the lad was not aware of
anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the
matter.
1SA 20:40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to
his lad and said to him, "Go, bring them to the
city."
1SA 20:41 When the lad was gone, David rose
from the south side and fell on his face to the
ground, and bowed three times. And they kissed each
other and wept together, but David more.
1SA 20:42 And Jonathan said to David, "Go in
safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in
the name of the Lord, saying, 'The Lord will be
between me and you, and between my descendants and
your descendants forever.'" Then he rose and
departed, while Jonathan went into the city.
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1SA 21:1 Then
David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest; and
Ahimelech came trembling to meet David, and said to
him, "Why are you alone and no one with you?"
1SA 21:2 And David said to Ahimelech the
priest, "The king has commissioned me with a matter,
and has said to me, 'Let no one know anything about
the matter on which I am sending you and with which
I have commissioned you; and I have directed the
young men to a certain place.'
1SA 21:3 "Now therefore, what do you have on
hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can
be found."
1SA 21:4 And the priest answered David and
said, "There is no ordinary bread on hand, but there
is consecrated bread; if only the young men have
kept themselves from women."
1SA 21:5 And David answered the priest and
said to him, "Surely women have been kept from us as
previously when I set out and the vessels of the
young men were holy, though it was an ordinary
journey; how much more then today will their vessels
be holy?"
1SA 21:6 So the priest gave him consecrated
bread; for there was no bread there but the bread of
the Presence which was removed from before the Lord,
in order to put hot bread in its place when it was
taken away.
1SA 21:7 Now one of the servants of Saul was
there that day, detained before the Lord; and his
name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's
shepherds.
1SA 21:8 And David said to Ahimelech, "Now is
there not a spear or a sword on hand? For I brought
neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the
king's matter was urgent."
1SA 21:9 Then the priest said, "The sword of
Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the
valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth
behind the ephod; if you would take it for yourself,
take it. For there is no other except it here." And
David said, "There is none like it; give it to me."
1SA 21:10 Then David arose and fled that day
from Saul, and went to Achish king of Gath.
1SA 21:11 But the servants of Achish said to
him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did
they not sing of this one as they danced, saying,
'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten
thousands'?"
1SA 21:12 And David took these words to
heart, and greatly feared Achish king of Gath.
1SA 21:13 So he disguised his sanity before
them, and acted insanely in their hands, and
scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his
saliva run down into his beard.
1SA 21:14 Then Achish said to his servants,
"Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman. Why
do you bring him to me?
1SA 21:15 "Do I lack madmen, that you have
brought this one to act the madman in my presence?
Shall this one come into my house?"
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1SA 22:1 So David
departed from there and escaped to the cave of
Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father's
household heard of it, they went down there to him.
1SA 22:2 And everyone who was in distress,
and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was
discontented, gathered to him; and he became captain
over them. Now there were about four hundred men
with him.
1SA 22:3 And David went from there to Mizpah
of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, "Please
let my father and my mother come and stay with you
until I know what God will do for me."
1SA 22:4 Then he left them with the king of
Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that
David was in the stronghold.
1SA 22:5 And the prophet Gad said to David,
"Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go into
the land of Judah." So David departed and went into
the forest of Hereth.
1SA 22:6 Then Saul heard that David and the
men who were with him had been discovered. Now Saul
was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on
the height with his spear in his hand, and all his
servants were standing around him.
1SA 22:7 And Saul said to his servants who
stood around him, "Hear now, O Benjamites! Will the
son of Jesse also give to all of you fields and
vineyards? Will he make you all commanders of
thousands and commanders of hundreds?
1SA 22:8 "For all of you have conspired
against me so that there is no one who discloses to
me when my son makes a covenant with the son of
Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me
or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my
servant against me to lie in ambush, as it is this
day."
1SA 22:9 Then Doeg the Edomite, who was
standing by the servants of Saul, answered and said,
"I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech
the son of Ahitub.
1SA 22:10 "And he inquired of the Lord for
him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of
Goliath the Philistine."
1SA 22:11 Then the king sent someone to
summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and
all his father's household, the priests who were in
Nob; and all of them came to the king.
1SA 22:12 And Saul said, "Listen now, son of
Ahitub." And he answered, "Here I am, my lord."
1SA 22:13 Saul then said to him, "Why have
you and the son of Jesse conspired against me, in
that you have given him bread and a sword and have
inquired of God for him, that he should rise up
against me by lying in ambush as it is this day?"
1SA 22:14 Then Ahimelech answered the king
and said, "And who among all your servants is as
faithful as David, even the king's son-in-law, who
is captain over your guard, and is honored in your
house?
1SA 22:15 "Did I just begin to inquire of God
for him today? Far be it from me! Do not let the
king impute anything to his servant or to any of the
household of my father, for your servant knows
nothing at all of this whole affair."
1SA 22:16 But the king said, "You shall
surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's
household!"
1SA 22:17 And the king said to the guards who
were attending him, "Turn around and put the priests
of the Lord to death, because their hand also is
with David and because they knew that he was fleeing
and did not reveal it to me." But the servants of
the king were not willing to put forth their hands
to attack the priests of the Lord.
1SA 22:18 Then the king said to Doeg, "You
turn around and attack the priests." And Doeg the
Edomite turned around and attacked the priests, and
he killed that day eighty-five men who wore the
linen ephod.
1SA 22:19 And he struck Nob the city of the
priests with the edge of the sword, both men and
women, children and infants; also oxen, donkeys, and
sheep, he struck with the edge of the sword.
1SA 22:20 But one son of Ahimelech the son of
Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after
David.
1SA 22:21 And Abiathar told David that Saul
had killed the priests of the Lord.
1SA 22:22 Then David said to Abiathar, "I
knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there,
that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about
the death of every person in your father's
household.
1SA 22:23 "Stay with me, do not be afraid,
for he who seeks my life seeks your life; for you
are safe with me."
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1SA 23:1 Then
they told David, saying, "Behold, the Philistines
are fighting against Keilah, and are plundering the
threshing floors."
1SA 23:2 So David inquired of the Lord,
saying, "Shall I go and attack these Philistines?"
And the Lord said to David, "Go and attack the
Philistines, and deliver Keilah."
1SA 23:3 But David's men said to him,
"Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more
then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the
Philistines?"
1SA 23:4 Then David inquired of the Lord once
more. And the Lord answered him and said, "Arise, go
down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into
your hand."
1SA 23:5 So David and his men went to Keilah
and fought with the Philistines; and he led away
their livestock and struck them with a great
slaughter. Thus David delivered the inhabitants of
Keilah.
1SA 23:6 Now it came about, when Abiathar the
son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he
came down with an ephod in his hand.
1SA 23:7 When it was told Saul that David had
come to Keilah, Saul said, "God has delivered him
into my hand, for he shut himself in by entering a
city with double gates and bars."
1SA 23:8 So Saul summoned all the people for
war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his
men.
1SA 23:9 Now David knew that Saul was
plotting evil against him; so he said to Abiathar
the priest, "Bring the ephod here."
1SA 23:10 Then David said, "O Lord God of
Israel, Thy servant has heard for certain that Saul
is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on
my account.
1SA 23:11 "Will the men of Keilah surrender
me into his hand? Will Saul come down just as Thy
servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray,
tell Thy servant." And the Lord said, "He will come
down."
1SA 23:12 Then David said, "Will the men of
Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of
Saul?" And the Lord said, "They will surrender you."
1SA 23:13 Then David and his men, about six
hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they
went wherever they could go. When it was told Saul
that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the
pursuit.
1SA 23:14 And David stayed in the wilderness
in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country
in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every
day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.
1SA 23:15 Now David became aware that Saul
had come out to seek his life while David was in the
wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
1SA 23:16 And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and
went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God.
1SA 23:17 Thus he said to him, "Do not be
afraid, because the hand of Saul my father shall not
find you, and you will be king over Israel and I
will be next to you; and Saul my father knows that
also."
1SA 23:18 So the two of them made a covenant
before the Lord; and David stayed at Horesh while
Jonathan went to his house.
1SA 23:19 Then Ziphites came up to Saul at
Gibeah, saying, "Is David not hiding with us in the
strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah,
which is on the south of Jeshimon?
1SA 23:20 "Now then, O king, come down
according to all the desire of your soul to do so;
and our part shall be to surrender him into the
king's hand."
1SA 23:21 And Saul said, "May you be blessed
of the Lord; for you have had compassion on me.
1SA 23:22 "Go now, make more sure, and
investigate and see his place where his haunt is,
and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is
very cunning.
1SA 23:23 "So look, and learn about all the
hiding places where he hides himself, and return to
me with certainty, and I will go with you; and it
shall come about if he is in the land that I will
search him out among all the thousands of Judah."
1SA 23:24 Then they arose and went to Ziph
before Saul. Now David and his men were in the
wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of
Jeshimon.
1SA 23:25 When Saul and his men went to seek
him, they told David, and he came down to the rock
and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul
heard it, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.
1SA 23:26 And Saul went on one side of the
mountain, and David and his men on the other side of
the mountain; and David was hurrying to get away
from Saul, for Saul and his men were surrounding
David and his men to seize them.
1SA 23:27 But a messenger came to Saul,
saying, "Hurry and come, for the Philistines have
made a raid on the land."
1SA 23:28 So Saul returned from pursuing
David, and went to meet the Philistines; therefore
they called that place the Rock of Escape.
1SA 23:29 And David went up from there and
stayed in the strongholds of Engedi.
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1SA 24:1 Now it
came about when Saul returned from pursuing the
Philistines, he was told, saying, "Behold, David is
in the wilderness of Engedi."
1SA 24:2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen
men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his
men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
1SA 24:3 And he came to the sheepfolds on the
way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to
relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting
in the inner recesses of the cave.
1SA 24:4 And the men of David said to him,
"Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to
you, 'Behold; I am about to give your enemy into
your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good
to you.'" Then David arose and cut off the edge of
Saul's robe secretly.
1SA 24:5 And it came about afterward that
David's conscience bothered him because he had cut
off the edge of Saul's robe.
1SA 24:6 So he said to his men, "Far be it
from me because of the Lord that I should do this
thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to stretch
out my hand against him, since he is the Lord's
anointed."
1SA 24:7 And David persuaded his men with
these words and did not allow them to rise up
against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and
went on his way.
1SA 24:8 Now afterward David arose and went
out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, "My
lord the king!" And when Saul looked behind him,
David bowed with his face to the ground and
prostrated himself.
1SA 24:9 And David said to Saul, "Why do you
listen to the words of men, saying, 'Behold, David
seeks to harm you'?
1SA 24:10 "Behold, this day your eyes have
seen that the Lord had given you today into my hand
in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye
had pity on you; and I said, 'I will not stretch out
my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord's
anointed.'
1SA 24:11 "Now, my father, see! Indeed, see
the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut
off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know
and perceive that there is no evil or rebellion in
my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though
you are lying in wait for my life to take it.
1SA 24:12 "May the Lord judge between you and
me, and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand
shall not be against you.
1SA 24:13 "As the proverb of the ancients
says, 'Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness';
but my hand shall not be against you.
1SA 24:14 "After whom has the king of Israel
come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, a
single flea?
1SA 24:15 "The Lord therefore be judge and
decide between you and me; and may He see and plead
my cause, and deliver me from your hand."
1SA 24:16 Now it came about when David had
finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul
said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" Then Saul
lifted up his voice and wept.
1SA 24:17 And he said to David, "You are more
righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me,
while I have dealt wickedly with you.
1SA 24:18 "And you have declared today that
you have done good to me, that the Lord delivered me
into your hand and yet you did not kill me.
1SA 24:19 "For if a man finds his enemy, will
he let him go away safely? May the Lord therefore
reward you with good in return for what you have
done to me this day.
1SA 24:20 "And now, behold, I know that you
shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel
shall be established in your hand.
1SA 24:21 "So now swear to me by the Lord
that you will not cut off my descendants after me,
and that you will not destroy my name from my
father's household."
1SA 24:22 And David swore to Saul. And Saul
went to his home, but David and his men went up to
the stronghold.
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1SA 25:1 Then
Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and
mourned for him, and buried him at his house in
Ramah. And David arose and went down to the
wilderness of Paran.
1SA 25:2 Now there was a man in Maon whose
business was in Carmel; and the man was very rich,
and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand
goats. And it came about while he was shearing his
sheep in Carmel
1SA 25:3 (now the man's name was Nabal, and
his wife's name was Abigail. And the woman was
intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man
was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a
Calebite),
1SA 25:4 that David heard in the wilderness
that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
1SA 25:5 So David sent ten young men, and
David said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel, visit
Nabal and greet him in my name;
1SA 25:6 and thus you shall say,' Have a long
life, peace be to you, and peace be to your house,
and peace be to all that you have.
1SA 25:7 'And now I have heard that you have
shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and
we have not insulted them, nor have they missed
anything all the days they were in Carmel.
1SA 25:8 'Ask your young men and they will
tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in
your eyes, for we have come on a festive day. Please
give whatever you find at hand to your servants and
to your son David.' "
1SA 25:9 When David's young men came, they
spoke to Nabal according to all these words in
David's name; then they waited.
1SA 25:10 But Nabal answered David's
servants, and said, "Who is David? And who is the
son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are
each breaking away from his master.
1SA 25:11 "Shall I then take my bread and my
water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my
shearers, and give it to men whose origin I do not
know?"
1SA 25:12 So David's young men retraced their
way and went back; and they came and told him
according to all these words.
1SA 25:13 And David said to his men, "Each of
you gird on his sword." So each man girded on his
sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about
four hundred men went up behind David while two
hundred stayed with the baggage.
1SA 25:14 But one of the young men told
Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Behold, David sent
messengers from the wilderness to greet our master,
and he scorned them.
1SA 25:15 "Yet the men were very good to us,
and we were not insulted, nor did we miss anything
as long as we went about with them, while we were in
the fields.
1SA 25:16 "They were a wall to us both by
night and by day, all the time we were with them
tending the sheep.
1SA 25:17 "Now therefore, know and consider
what you should do, for evil is plotted against our
master and against all his household; and he is such
a worthless man that no one can speak to him."
1SA 25:18 Then Abigail hurried and took two
hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and
five sheep already prepared and five measures of
roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and
two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on
donkeys.
1SA 25:19 And she said to her young men, "Go
on before me; behold, I am coming after you." But
she did not tell her husband Nabal.
1SA 25:20 And it came about as she was riding
on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of
the mountain, that behold, David and his men were
coming down toward her; so she met them.
1SA 25:21 Now David had said, "Surely in vain
I have guarded all that this man has in the
wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that
belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for
good.
1SA 25:22 "May God do so to the enemies of
David, and more also, if by morning I leave as much
as one male of any who belong to him."
1SA 25:23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried
and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face
before David, and bowed herself to the ground.
1SA 25:24 And she fell at his feet and said,
"On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let
your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the
words of your maidservant.
1SA 25:25 "Please do not let my lord pay
attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his
name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is
with him; but I your maidservant did not see the
young men of my lord whom you sent.
1SA 25:26 "Now therefore, my lord, as the
Lord lives, and as your soul lives, since the Lord
has restrained you from shedding blood, and from
avenging yourself by your own hand, now then let
your enemies, and those who seek evil against my
lord, be as Nabal.
1SA 25:27 "And now let this gift which your
maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the
young men who accompany my lord.
1SA 25:28 "Please forgive the transgression
of your maidservant; for the Lord will certainly
make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord
is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall
not be found in you all your days.
1SA 25:29 "And should anyone rise up to
pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of
my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living
with the Lord your God; but the lives of your
enemies He will sling out as from the hollow of a
sling.
1SA 25:30 "And it shall come about when the
Lord shall do for my lord according to all the good
that He has spoken concerning you, and shall appoint
you ruler over Israel,
1SA 25:31 that this will not cause grief or a
troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood
without cause and by my lord having avenged himself.
When the Lord shall deal well with my lord, then
remember your maidservant."
1SA 25:32 Then David said to Abigail,
"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you
this day to meet me,
1SA 25:33 and blessed be your discernment,
and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from
bloodshed, and from avenging myself by my own hand.
1SA 25:34 "Nevertheless, as the Lord God of
Israel lives, who has restrained me from harming
you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely
there would not have been left to Nabal until the
morning light as much as one male."
1SA 25:35 So David received from her hand
what she had brought him, and he said to her, "Go up
to your house in peace. See, I have listened to you
and granted your request."
1SA 25:36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and
behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like
the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry
within him, for he was very drunk; so she did not
tell him anything at all until the morning light.
1SA 25:37 But it came about in the morning,
when the wine had gone out of Nabal, that his wife
told him these things, and his heart died within him
so that he became as a stone.
1SA 25:38 And about ten days later, it
happened that the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
1SA 25:39 When David heard that Nabal was
dead, he said, "Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded
the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and
has kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has
also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own
head." Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to
take her as his wife.
1SA 25:40 When the servants of David came to
Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, "David
has sent us to you, to take you as his wife."
1SA 25:41 And she arose and bowed with her
face to the ground and said, "Behold, your
maidservant is a maid to wash the feet of my lord's
servants."
1SA 25:42 Then Abigail quickly arose, and
rode on a donkey, with her five maidens who attended
her; and she followed the messengers of David, and
became his wife.
1SA 25:43 David had also taken Ahinoam of
Jezreel, and they both became his wives.
1SA 25:44 Now Saul had given Michal his
daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish,
who was from Gallim.
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1SA 26:1 Then the
Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is not
David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is
before Jeshimon?"
1SA 26:2 So Saul arose and went down to the
wilderness of Ziph, having with him three thousand
chosen men of Israel, to search for David in the
wilderness of Ziph.
1SA 26:3 And Saul camped in the hill of
Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, beside the road,
and David was staying in the wilderness. When he saw
that Saul came after him into the wilderness,
1SA 26:4 David sent out spies, and he knew
that Saul was definitely coming.
1SA 26:5 David then arose and came to the
place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place
where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the
commander of his army; and Saul was lying in the
circle of the camp, and the people were camped
around him.
1SA 26:6 Then David answered and said to
Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of
Zeruiah, Joab's brother, saying, "Who will go down
with me to Saul in the camp?" And Abishai said, "I
will go down with you."
1SA 26:7 So David and Abishai came to the
people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping
inside the circle of the camp, with his spear stuck
in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people
were lying around him.
1SA 26:8 Then Abishai said to David, "Today
God has delivered your enemy into your hand; now
therefore, please let me strike him with the spear
to the ground with one stroke, and I will not strike
him the second time."
1SA 26:9 But David said to Abishai, "Do not
destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand
against the Lord's anointed and be without guilt?"
1SA 26:10 David also said, "As the Lord
lives, surely the Lord will strike him, or his day
will come that he dies, or he will go down into
battle and perish.
1SA 26:11 "The Lord forbid that I should
stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed; but
now please take the spear that is at his head and
the jug of water, and let us go."
1SA 26:12 So David took the spear and the jug
of water from beside Saul's head, and they went
away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake,
for they were all asleep, because a sound sleep from
the Lord had fallen on them.
1SA 26:13 Then David crossed over to the
other side, and stood on top of the mountain at a
distance with a large area between them.
1SA 26:14 And David called to the people and
to Abner the son of Ner, saying, "Will you not
answer, Abner?" Then Abner answered and said, "Who
are you who calls to the king?"
1SA 26:15 So David said to Abner, "Are you
not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then
have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of
the people came to destroy the king your lord.
1SA 26:16 "This thing that you have done is
not good. As the Lord lives, all of you must surely
die, because you did not guard your lord, the Lord's
anointed. And now, see where the king's spear is,
and the jug of water that was at his head."
1SA 26:17 Then Saul recognized David's voice
and said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" And
David said, "It is my voice, my lord the king."
1SA 26:18 He also said, "Why then is my lord
pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or what
evil is in my hand?
1SA 26:19 "Now therefore, please let my lord
the king listen to the words of his servant. If the
Lord has stirred you up against me, let Him accept
an offering; but if it is men, cursed are they
before the Lord, for they have driven me out today
that I should have no attachment with the
inheritance of the Lord, saying, 'Go, serve other
gods.'
1SA 26:20 "Now then, do not let my blood fall
to the ground away from the presence of the Lord;
for the king of Israel has come out to search for a
single flea, just as one hunts a partridge in the
mountains."
1SA 26:21 Then Saul said, "I have sinned.
Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again
because my life was precious in your sight this day.
Behold, I have played the fool and have committed a
serious error."
1SA 26:22 And David answered and said,
"Behold the spear of the king! Now let one of the
young men come over and take it.
1SA 26:23 "And the Lord will repay each man
for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the
Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I refused
to stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed.
1SA 26:24 "Now behold, as your life was
highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life
be highly valued in the sight of the Lord, and may
He deliver me from all distress."
1SA 26:25 Then Saul said to David, "Blessed
are you, my son David; you will both accomplish much
and surely prevail." So David went on his way, and
Saul returned to his place.
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1SA 27:1 Then
David said to himself, "Now I will perish one day by
the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me
than to escape into the land of the Philistines.
Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore
in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape
from his hand."
1SA 27:2 So David arose and crossed over, he
and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish
the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
1SA 27:3 And David lived with Achish at Gath,
he and his men, each with his household, even David
with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and
Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's widow.
1SA 27:4 Now it was told Saul that David had
fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him.
1SA 27:5 Then David said to Achish, "If now I
have found favor in your sight, let them give me a
place in one of the cities in the country, that I
may live there; for why should your servant live in
the royal city with you?"
1SA 27:6 So Achish gave him Ziklag that day;
therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah
to this day.
1SA 27:7 And the number of days that David
lived in the country of the Philistines was a year
and four months.
1SA 27:8 Now David and his men went up and
raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the
Amalekites; for they were the inhabitants of the
land from ancient times, as you come to Shur even as
far as the land of Egypt.
1SA 27:9 And David attacked the land and did
not leave a man or a woman alive, and he took away
the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and
the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish.
1SA 27:10 Now Achish said, "Where have you
made a raid today?" And David said, "Against the
Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the
Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites."
1SA 27:11 And David did not leave a man or a
woman alive, to bring to Gath, saying, "Lest they
should tell about us, saying, 'So has David done and
so has been his practice all the time he has lived
in the country of the Philistines.'"
1SA 27:12 So Achish believed David, saying,
"He has surely made himself odious among his people
Israel; therefore he will become my servant
forever."
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1SA 28:1 Now it
came about in those days that the Philistines gathered
their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel.
And Achish said to David, "Know assuredly that you
will go out with me in the camp, you and your men."
1SA 28:2 And David said to Achish, "Very
well, you shall know what your servant can do." So
Achish said to David, "Very well, I will make you my
bodyguard for life."
1SA 28:3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel
had lamented him and buried him in Ramah his own
city. And Saul had removed from the land those who
were mediums and spiritists.
1SA 28:4 So the Philistines gathered together
and came and camped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all
Israel together and they camped in Gilboa.
1SA 28:5 When Saul saw the camp of the
Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled
greatly.
1SA 28:6 When Saul inquired of the Lord, the
Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim
or by prophets.
1SA 28:7 Then Saul said to his servants,
"Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go
to her and inquire of her." And his servants said to
him, "Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at
En-dor."
1SA 28:8 Then Saul disguised himself by
putting on other clothes, and went, he and two men
with him, and they came to the woman by night; and
he said, "Conjure up for me, please, and bring up
for me whom I shall name to you."
1SA 28:9 But the woman said to him, "Behold,
you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off
those who are mediums and spiritists from the land.
Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring
about my death?"
1SA 28:10 And Saul vowed to her by the Lord,
saying, "As the Lord lives, there shall no
punishment come upon you for this thing."
1SA 28:11 Then the woman said, "Whom shall I
bring up for you?" And he said, "Bring up Samuel for
me."
1SA 28:12 When the woman saw Samuel, she
cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to
Saul, saying, "Why have you deceived me? For you are
Saul."
1SA 28:13 And the king said to her, "Do not
be afraid; but what do you see?" And the woman said
to Saul, "I see a divine being coming up out of the
earth."
1SA 28:14 And he said to her, "What is his
form?" And she said, "An old man is coming up, and
he is wrapped with a robe." And Saul knew that it
was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground
and did homage.
1SA 28:15 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have
you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul
answered, "I am greatly distressed; for the
Philistines are waging war against me, and God has
departed from me and answers me no more, either
through prophets or by dreams; therefore I have
called you, that you may make known to me what I
should do."
1SA 28:16 And Samuel said, "Why then do you
ask me, since the Lord has departed from you and has
become your adversary?
1SA 28:17 "And the Lord has done accordingly
as He spoke through me; for the Lord has torn the
kingdom out of your hand and given it to your
neighbor, to David.
1SA 28:18 "As you did not obey the Lord and
did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, so the
Lord has done this thing to you this day.
1SA 28:19 "Moreover the Lord will also give
over Israel along with you into the hands of the
Philistines, therefore tomorrow you and your sons
will be with me. Indeed the Lord will give over the
army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines!"
1SA 28:20 Then Saul immediately fell full
length upon the ground and was very afraid because
of the words of Samuel; also there was no strength
in him, for he had eaten no food all day and all
night.
1SA 28:21 And the woman came to Saul and saw
that he was terrified, and said to him, "Behold,
your maidservant has obeyed you, and I have taken my
life in my hand, and have listened to your words
which you spoke to me.
1SA 28:22 "So now also, please listen to the
voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of
bread before you that you may eat and have strength
when you go on your way."
1SA 28:23 But he refused and said, "I will
not eat." However, his servants together with the
woman urged him, and he listened to them. So he
arose from the ground and sat on the bed.
1SA 28:24 And the woman had a fattened calf
in the house, and she quickly slaughtered it; and
she took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened
bread from it.
1SA 28:25 And she brought it before Saul and
his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and went
away that night.
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1SA 29:1 Now the
Philistines gathered together all their armies to
Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the
spring which is in Jezreel.
1SA 29:2 And the lords of the Philistines
were proceeding on by hundreds and by thousands, and
David and his men were proceeding on in the rear
with Achish.
1SA 29:3 Then the commanders of the
Philistines said, "What are these Hebrews doing
here?" And Achish said to the commanders of the
Philistines, "Is this not David, the servant of Saul
the king of Israel, who has been with me these days,
or rather these years, and I have found no fault in
him from the day he deserted to me to this day?"
1SA 29:4 But the commanders of the
Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders
of the Philistines said to him, "Make the man go
back, that he may return to his place where you have
assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle
with us, lest in the battle he become an adversary
to us. For with what could this man make himself
acceptable to his lord? Would it not be with the
heads of these men?
1SA 29:5 "Is this not David, of whom they
sing in the dances, saying, 'Saul has slain his
thousands, And David his ten thousands'?"
1SA 29:6 Then Achish called David and said to
him, "As the Lord lives, you have been upright, and
your going out and your coming in with me in the
army are pleasing in my sight; for I have not found
evil in you from the day of your coming to me to
this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the
sight of the lords.
1SA 29:7 "Now therefore return, and go in
peace, that you may not displease the lords of the
Philistines."
1SA 29:8 And David said to Achish, "But what
have I done? And what have you found in your servant
from the day when I came before you to this day,
that I may not go and fight against the enemies of
my lord the king?"
1SA 29:9 But Achish answered and said to
David, "I know that you are pleasing in my sight,
like an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of
the Philistines have said, 'He must not go up with
us to the battle.'
1SA 29:10 "Now then arise early in the
morning with the servants of your lord who have come
with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in
the morning and have light, depart."
1SA 29:11 So David arose early, he and his
men, to depart in the morning, to return to the land
of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to
Jezreel.
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1SA 30:1 Then it
happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on
the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid
on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown
Ziklag and burned it with fire;
1SA 30:2 and they took captive the women and
all who were in it, both small and great, without
killing anyone, and carried them off and went their
way.
1SA 30:3 And when David and his men came to
the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their
wives and their sons and their daughters had been
taken captive.
1SA 30:4 Then David and the people who were
with him lifted their voices and wept until there
was no strength in them to weep.
1SA 30:5 Now David's two wives had been taken
captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the
widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
1SA 30:6 Moreover David was greatly
distressed because the people spoke of stoning him,
for all the people were embittered, each one because
of his sons and his daughters. But David
strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
1SA 30:7 Then David said to Abiathar the
priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Please bring me the
ephod." So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
1SA 30:8 And David inquired of the Lord,
saying, "Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake
them?" And He said to him, "Pursue, for you shall
surely overtake them, and you shall surely rescue
all."
1SA 30:9 So David went, he and the six
hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook
Besor, where those left behind remained.
1SA 30:10 But David pursued, he and four
hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted
to cross the brook Besor, remained behind.
1SA 30:11 Now they found an Egyptian in the
field and brought him to David, and gave him bread
and he ate, and they provided him water to drink.
1SA 30:12 And they gave him a piece of fig
cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; then
his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or
drunk water for three days and three nights.
1SA 30:13 And David said to him, "To whom do
you belong? And where are you from?" And he said, "I
am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite;
and my master left me behind when I fell sick three
days ago.
1SA 30:14 "We made a raid on the Negev of the
Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and
on the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with
fire."
1SA 30:15 Then David said to him, "Will you
bring me down to this band?" And he said, "Swear to
me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me
into the hands of my master, and I will bring you
down to this band."
1SA 30:16 And when he had brought him down,
behold, they were spread over all the land, eating
and drinking and dancing because of all the great
spoil that they had taken from the land of the
Philistines and from the land of Judah.
1SA 30:17 And David slaughtered them from the
twilight until the evening of the next day; and not
a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men
who rode on camels and fled.
1SA 30:18 So David recovered all that the
Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives.
1SA 30:19 But nothing of theirs was missing,
whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or
anything that they had taken for themselves; David
brought it all back.
1SA 30:20 So David had captured all the sheep
and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the
other livestock, and they said, "This is David's
spoil."
1SA 30:21 When David came to the two hundred
men who were too exhausted to follow David, who had
also been left at the brook Besor, and they went out
to meet David and to meet the people who were with
him, then David approached the people and greeted
them.
1SA 30:22 Then all the wicked and worthless
men among those who went with David answered and
said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not
give them any of the spoil that we have recovered,
except to every man his wife and his children, that
they may lead them away and depart."
1SA 30:23 Then David said, "You must not do
so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us,
who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band
that came against us.
1SA 30:24 "And who will listen to you in this
matter? For as his share is who goes down to the
battle, so shall his share be who stays by the
baggage; they shall share alike."
1SA 30:25 And so it has been from that day
forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance
for Israel to this day.
1SA 30:26 Now when David came to Ziklag, he
sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to
his friends, saying, "Behold, a gift for you from
the spoil of the enemies of the Lord:
1SA 30:27 to those who were in Bethel, and to
those who were in Ramoth of the Negev, and to those
who were in Jattir,
1SA 30:28 and to those who were in Aroer, and
to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were
in Eshtemoa,
1SA 30:29 and to those who were in Racal, and
to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites,
and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites,
1SA 30:30 and to those who were in Hormah,
and to those who were in Bor-ashan, and to those who
were in Athach,
1SA 30:31 and to those who were in Hebron,
and to all the places where David himself and his
men were accustomed to go."
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1SA 31:1 Now the
Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the
men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and
fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
1SA 31:2 And the Philistines overtook Saul
and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan
and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul.
1SA 31:3 And the battle went heavily against
Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly
wounded by the archers.
1SA 31:4 Then Saul said to his armor bearer,
"Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, lest
these uncircumcised come and pierce me through and
make sport of me." But his armor bearer would not,
for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword
and fell on it.
1SA 31:5 And when his armor bearer saw that
Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died
with him.
1SA 31:6 Thus Saul died with his three sons,
his armor bearer, and all his men on that day
together.
1SA 31:7 And when the men of Israel who were
on the other side of the valley, with those who were
beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had
fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they
abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines
came and lived in them.
1SA 31:8 And it came about on the next day
when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that
they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount
Gilboa.
1SA 31:9 And they cut off his head, and
stripped off his weapons, and sent them throughout
the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news
to the house of their idols and to the people.
1SA 31:10 And they put his weapons in the
temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to
the wall of Beth-shan.
1SA 31:11 Now when the inhabitants of
Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to
Saul,
1SA 31:12 all the valiant men rose and walked
all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies
of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they
came to Jabesh, and burned them there.
1SA 31:13 And they took their bones and
buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and
fasted seven days.
