1 Samuel 19:1 Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his slaves to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much,
1 Samuel 19:2 so he told him: “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning and hide in a secret place and stay there.
1 Samuel 19:3 I’ll go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are and talk to him about you. When I see what he says, I’ll tell you.”
1 Samuel 19:4 Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul. He said to him: “The king should not sin against his slave David. He hasn’t sinned against you; in fact, his actions have been a great advantage to you.
1 Samuel 19:5 He took his throat in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and Yahveh brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”
1 Samuel 19:6 Saul listened to Jonathan’s advice and swore an oath: “As surely as Yahveh lives, David will not be killed.”
1 Samuel 19:7 So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served him as he did before.
1 Samuel 19:8 When war broke out again, David went out and fought against the Philistines. He defeated them with such great force that they fled from him.
1 Samuel 19:9 Now an evil breath sent from Yahveh came on Saul as he was sitting in his palace holding a spear. David was playing the lyre,
1 Samuel 19:10 and Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear. As the spear struck the wall, David eluded Saul, ran away, and escaped that night.
1 Samuel 19:11 Saul sent agents to David’s house to watch for him and kill him in the morning. But his wife Michal warned David, “If you don’t save your throat tonight, you will be dead tomorrow!”
1 Samuel 19:12 So she lowered David from the window, and he fled and escaped.
1 Samuel 19:13 Then Michal took the household idol and put it on the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment.
1 Samuel 19:14 When Saul sent agents to seize David, Michal said, “He’s sick.”
1 Samuel 19:15 Saul sent the agents back to see David and said, “Bring him on his bed so I can kill him.”
1 Samuel 19:16 When the agents arrived, they noticed the household idol was on the bed with some goat hair on its head.
1 Samuel 19:17 Saul asked Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!” She answered him, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you? ‘”
1 Samuel 19:18 So David fled and escaped and went to Samuel at Ramah and told him everything Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel left and stayed at Naioth.
1 Samuel 19:19 When they told Saul “Notice, David is at Naioth in Ramah”,
1 Samuel 19:20 he sent agents to seize David. However, when they saw the group of prophets prophesying with Samuel leading them, the Breath of God came on Saul’s agents, and they also started prophesying.
1 Samuel 19:21 When they reported to Saul, he sent other agents, and they also began prophesying. So Saul tried again and sent a third group of agents, and even they began prophesying.
1 Samuel 19:22 Then Saul himself went to Ramah. He came to the large cistern at Secu and asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “Notice, at Naioth in Ramah,” someone said.
1 Samuel 19:23 So he went to Naioth in Ramah. The Breath of God also came on him, and as he walked along, he prophesied until he entered Naioth in Ramah.
1 Samuel 19:24 Saul then removed his clothes and also prophesied before Samuel; he collapsed and lay naked all that day and all that night. That is why they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
1 Samuel 18:1 When David had finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan’s throay was bound to David’s throat, and he loved him as much as he loved his throat.
1 Samuel 18:2 Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him return to his father’s house.
1 Samuel 18:3 Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as much as his throat..
1 Samuel 18:4 Then Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his military tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.
1 Samuel 18:5 David marched out with the army and was successful in everything Saul sent him to do. Saul put him in command of the fighting men, which pleased all the people and Saul’s slaves as well.
1 Samuel 18:6 As the troops were coming back, when David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments.
1 Samuel 18:7 As they danced, the women sang: Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.
1 Samuel 18:8 Saul was furious and resented this song. “They credited tens of thousands to David,” he complained, “but they only credited me with thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?”
1 Samuel 18:9 So Saul watched David jealously from that day forward.
1 Samuel 18:10 The next day an evil breath sent from God came powerfully on Saul, and he began to rave inside the palace. David was playing the lyre as usual, but Saul was holding a spear,
1 Samuel 18:11 and he threw it, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David got away from him twice.
1 Samuel 18:12 Saul was afraid of David, because Yahveh was with David but had left Saul.
1 Samuel 18:13 Therefore, Saul sent David away from him and made him commander over a thousand men. David led the troops
1 Samuel 18:14 and continued to be successful in all his activities because Yahveh was with him.
1 Samuel 18:15 When Saul observed that David was very successful, he dreaded him.
1 Samuel 18:16 But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was leading their troops.
1 Samuel 18:17 Saul told David, “Notice my oldest daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you as a wife, if you will be a warrior for me and fight Yahveh’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I don’t need to raise a hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”
1 Samuel 18:18 Then David responded, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?”
1 Samuel 18:19 When it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.
1 Samuel 18:20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when it was reported to Saul, it pleased him.
1 Samuel 18:21 “I’ll give her to him,” Saul thought. “She’ll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You can now be my son-in-law.”
1 Samuel 18:22 Saul then ordered his slaves, “Speak to David in private and tell him, Notice, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Therefore, you should become the king’s son-in-law.'”
1 Samuel 18:23 Saul’s slaves reported these words directly to David, but he replied, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law? I am a poor commoner.”
1 Samuel 18:24 The slaves reported back to Saul, “These are the words David spoke.”
1 Samuel 18:25 Then Saul replied, “Say this to David: ‘The king desires no other bride-price except a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.'” Actually, Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.
1 Samuel 18:26 When the slaves reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived,
1 Samuel 18:27 David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as full payment to the king to become his son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife.
1 Samuel 18:28 Saul realized that Yahveh was with David and that his daughter Michal loved him,
1 Samuel 18:29 and he became even more afraid of David. As a result, Saul was David’s enemy from then on.
1 Samuel 18:30 Every time the Philistine commanders came out to fight, David was more successful than all of Saul’s slaves. So his name became well known.
1 Samuel 17:1 The Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.
1 Samuel 17:2 Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah; then they lined up in battle formation to face the Philistines.
1 Samuel 17:3 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them.
1 Samuel 17:4 Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall
1 Samuel 17:5 and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds.
1 Samuel 17:6 There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders.
1 Samuel 17:7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds. In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him.
1 Samuel 17:8 He stood and shouted to the Israelite battle formations: “Why do you come out to line up in battle formation?” He asked them, “Am I not a Philistine and are you not slaves of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me.
1 Samuel 17:9 If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your slaves. But if I win against him and kill him, then you will be our slaves and serve us.”
1 Samuel 17:10 Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel today. Send me a man so we can fight each other!”
1 Samuel 17:11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.
1 Samuel 17:12 Now David was the son of the Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah named Jesse. Jesse had eight sons and during Saul’s reign was already an old man.
1 Samuel 17:13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war, and their names were Eliab, the firstborn, Abinadab, the next, and Shammah, the third,
1 Samuel 17:14 and David was the youngest. The three oldest had followed Saul,
1 Samuel 17:15 but David kept going back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock in Bethlehem.
1 Samuel 17:16 Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand.
1 Samuel 17:17 One day Jesse had told his son David: “Take this half-bushel of roasted grain along with these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.
1 Samuel 17:18 Also take these ten portions of cheese to the field commander. Check on the well-being of your brothers and bring a confirmation from them.
1 Samuel 17:19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.”
1 Samuel 17:20 So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with someone to keep it, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had charged him. He arrived at the perimeter of the camp as the army was marching out to its battle formation shouting their battle cry.
1 Samuel 17:21 Israel and the Philistines lined up in battle formation facing each other.
1 Samuel 17:22 David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were.
1 Samuel 17:23 While he was speaking with them, notice suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words, which David heard.
1 Samuel 17:24 When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.
1 Samuel 17:25 Previously, an Israelite man had declared: “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter. The king will also make the family of that man’s father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.”
1 Samuel 17:26 David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
1 Samuel 17:27 The troops told him about the offer, concluding, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
1 Samuel 17:28 David’s oldest brother Eliab listened as he spoke to the men, and he became angry with him. “Why did you come down here?” he asked. “Who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your arrogance and your evil heart– you came down to see the battle!”
1 Samuel 17:29 “What have I done now?” protested David. “It was just a question.”
1 Samuel 17:30 Then he turned from those beside him to others in front of him and asked about the offer. The people gave him the same answer as before.
1 Samuel 17:31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, so he had David brought to him.
1 Samuel 17:32 David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your slave will go and fight this Philistine!”
1 Samuel 17:33 But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.”
1 Samuel 17:34 David answered Saul: “Your slave has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,
1 Samuel 17:35 I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it.
1 Samuel 17:36 Your slave has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
1 Samuel 17:37 Then David said, “Yahveh who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and may Yahveh be with you.”
1 Samuel 17:38 Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David. He put a bronze helmet on David’s head and had him put on armor.
1 Samuel 17:39 David strapped his sword on over the military clothes and tried to walk, but he was not used to them. “I can’t walk in these,” David said to Saul, “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off.
1 Samuel 17:40 Instead, he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pouch, in his shepherd’s bag. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
1 Samuel 17:41 The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.
1 Samuel 17:42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a boy, healthy and handsome.
1 Samuel 17:43 He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?” Then he cursed David by his gods.
1 Samuel 17:44 “Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!”
1 Samuel 17:45 David said to the Philistine: “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of Yahveh of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel– you have defied him.
1 Samuel 17:46 Today, Yahveh will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the land. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God,
1 Samuel 17:47 and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that Yahveh saves, for the battle is Yahveh’s. He will hand you over to us.”
1 Samuel 17:48 When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.
1 Samuel 17:49 David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown to the ground.
1 Samuel 17:50 David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword.
1 Samuel 17:51 David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled.
1 Samuel 17:52 The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry, and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. Philistine bodies were strewn all along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
1 Samuel 17:53 When the Israelites returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps.
1 Samuel 17:54 David took Goliath’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
1 Samuel 17:55 When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army, “Whose son is this boy, Abner?” “Your Majesty, as surely as your throat lives, I don’t know,” Abner replied.
1 Samuel 17:56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is!”
1 Samuel 17:57 When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand.
1 Samuel 17:58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, boy?” “The son of your slave Jesse of Bethlehem,” David answered.
1 Samuel 16:1 Yahveh said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected a king from his sons.”
1 Samuel 16:2 Samuel asked, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me!” Yahveh answered, “Take a young cow with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to Yahveh.’
1 Samuel 16:3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will let you know what you are to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate to you.”
1 Samuel 16:4 Samuel did what Yahveh directed and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?”
1 Samuel 16:5 “In peace,” he replied. “I’ve come to sacrifice to Yahveh. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
1 Samuel 16:6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Certainly Yahveh’s anointed one is here before him.”
1 Samuel 16:7 But Yahveh said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what Yahveh sees, for humans see what is visible, but Yahveh sees the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:8 Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. “Yahveh hasn’t chosen this one either,” Samuel said.
1 Samuel 16:9 Then Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “Yahveh hasn’t chosen this one either.”
1 Samuel 16:10 After Jesse presented seven of his sons to him, Samuel told Jesse, “Yahveh hasn’t chosen any of these.”
1 Samuel 16:11 Samuel asked him, “Are these all the boys you have?” “There is still the youngest,” he answered, “but notice right now he’s tending the sheep.” Samuel told Jesse, “Send for him. We won’t sit down to eat until he gets here.”
1 Samuel 16:12 So Jesse sent for him. He had beautiful eyes and a healthy, handsome appearance. Then Yahveh said, “Anoint him, for he is the one.”
1 Samuel 16:13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Breath of Yahveh came powerfully on David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 16:14 Now the Breath of Yahveh had left Saul, and an evil breath sent from Yahveh began to torment him,
1 Samuel 16:15 so Saul’s slaves said to him, “Notice that an evil breath from God is tormenting you.
1 Samuel 16:16 Let our lord command your servants here in your presence to look for someone who knows how to play the lyre. Whenever the evil breath from God comes on you, that person can play the lyre, and you will feel better.”
1 Samuel 16:17 Then Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well and bring him to me.”
1 Samuel 16:18 One of the boys answered, “Notice, I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is also a valiant man, a warrior, eloquent, handsome, and Yahveh is with him.”
1 Samuel 16:19 Then Saul dispatched messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”
1 Samuel 16:20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a wineskin, and one young goat and sent them by his son David to Saul.
1 Samuel 16:21 When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul loved him very much, and David became his armor-bearer.
1 Samuel 16:22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse: “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor with me.”
1 Samuel 16:23 Whenever the breath from God came on Saul, David would pick up his lyre and play, and Saul would then be relieved, feel better, and the evil breath would leave him.
1 Samuel 15:1 Samuel told Saul, “Yahveh sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now, listen to the words of Yahveh.
1 Samuel 15:2 This is what Yahveh of Armies says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them along the way as they were coming out of Egypt.
1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.'”
1 Samuel 15:4 Then Saul summoned the troops and counted them at Telaim: two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah.
1 Samuel 15:5 Saul came to the city of Amalek and set up an ambush in the wadi.
1 Samuel 15:6 He warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came out of Egypt, go on and leave! Get away from the Amalekites, or I’ll sweep you away with them.” So the Kenites withdrew from the Amalekites.
1 Samuel 15:7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is next to Egypt.
1 Samuel 15:8 He captured King Agag of Amalek alive, but he completely destroyed all the rest of the people with the sword.
1 Samuel 15:9 Saul and the troops spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and choice animals, as well as the young rams and the best of everything else. They were not willing to destroy them, but they did destroy all the worthless and unwanted things.
1 Samuel 15:10 Then the word of Yahveh came to Samuel,
1 Samuel 15:11 “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from following me and has not carried out my instructions.” So Samuel became angry and cried out to Yahveh all night.
1 Samuel 15:12 Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but it was reported to Samuel, “Notice, Saul went to Carmel where he set up a monument for himself. Then he turned around and went down to Gilgal.”
1 Samuel 15:13 When Samuel came to him, Saul said, “May Yahveh bless you. I have carried out Yahveh’s instructions.”
1 Samuel 15:14 Samuel replied, “Then what is this sound of sheep, goats, and cattle I hear?”
1 Samuel 15:15 Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites and spared the best sheep, goats, and cattle in order to offer a sacrifice to Yahveh your God, but the rest we destroyed.”
1 Samuel 15:16 “Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what Yahveh said to me last night.” “Tell me,” he replied.
1 Samuel 15:17 Samuel continued, “Although you once considered yourself unimportant, have you not become the leader of the tribes of Israel? Yahveh anointed you king over Israel
1 Samuel 15:18 and then sent you on a mission and said: ‘Go and completely destroy the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have annihilated them.’
1 Samuel 15:19 So why didn’t you obey Yahveh? Why did you rush on the plunder and do what was evil in Yahveh’s sight?”
1 Samuel 15:20 “But I did obey Yahveh!” Saul answered. “I went on the mission Yahveh gave me: I brought back King Agag of Amalek, and I completely destroyed the Amalekites.
1 Samuel 15:21 The troops took sheep, goats, and cattle from the plunder – the first of what was set apart for destruction – to sacrifice to Yahveh your God at Gilgal.”
1 Samuel 15:22 Then Samuel said: Does Yahveh take pleasure in ascending offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying Yahveh? Notice: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.
1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of Yahveh, he has rejected you as king.
1 Samuel 15:24 Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned. I have transgressed Yahveh’s command and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them.
1 Samuel 15:25 Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship Yahveh.”
1 Samuel 15:26 Samuel replied to Saul, “I will not return with you. Because you rejected the word of Yahveh, Yahveh has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
1 Samuel 15:27 When Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the corner of his robe, and it tore.
1 Samuel 15:28 Samuel said to him, “Yahveh has torn the kingship of Israel away from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.
1 Samuel 15:29 Furthermore, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not man who changes his mind.”
1 Samuel 15:30 Saul said, “I have sinned. Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me so I can bow in worship to Yahveh your God.”
1 Samuel 15:31 Then Samuel went back, following Saul, and Saul bowed down to Yahveh.
1 Samuel 15:32 Samuel said, “Bring me King Agag of Amalek.” Agag came to him trembling, for he thought, “Certainly the bitterness of death has come.”
1 Samuel 15:33 Samuel declared: As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women. Then he hacked Agag to pieces before Yahveh at Gilgal.
1 Samuel 15:34 Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.
1 Samuel 15:35 Even to the day of his death, Samuel never saw Saul again. Samuel mourned for Saul, and Yahveh regretted he had made Saul king over Israel.
jeffersonvann 