19Saul spoke to his son Jonathan and to all his servants about killing David. But Sauls son Jonathan took great delight in David. 2Jonathan told David, My father Saul is trying to kill you; therefore be on guard tomorrow morning; stay in a secret place and hide yourself. 3I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you; if I learn anything I will tell you. 4Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him, The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have been of good service to you; 5for he took his life in his hand when he attacked the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced; why then will you sin against an innocent person by killing David without cause? 6Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan; Saul swore, As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death. 7So Jonathan called David and related all these things to him. Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.
8 Again there was war, and David went out to fight the Philistines. He launched a heavy attack on them, so that they fled before him. 9Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing music. 10Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear; but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night.
11 Saul sent messengers to Davids house to keep watch over him, planning to kill him in the morning. Davids wife Michal told him, If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed. 12So Michal let David down through the window; he fled away and escaped. 13Michal took an idol* and laid it on the bed; she put a net* of goats hair on its head, and covered it with the clothes. 14When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. 15Then Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him. 16When the messengers came in, the idol* was in the bed, with the covering* of goats hair on its head. 17Saul said to Michal, Why have you deceived me like this, and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped? Michal answered Saul, He said to me, Let me go; why should I kill you?
18 Now David fled and escaped; he came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and settled at Naioth. 19Saul was told, David is at Naioth in Ramah. 20Then Saul sent messengers to take David. When they saw the company of the prophets in a frenzy, with Samuel standing in charge of * them, the spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also fell into a prophetic frenzy. 21When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they also fell into a frenzy. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also fell into a frenzy. 22Then he himself went to Ramah. He came to the great well that is in Secu;* he asked, Where are Samuel and David? And someone said, They are at Naioth in Ramah. 23He went there, towards Naioth in Ramah; and the spirit of God came upon him. As he was going, he fell into a prophetic frenzy, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24He too stripped off his clothes, and he too fell into a frenzy before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all that night. Therefore it is said, Is Saul also among the prophets?
20David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came before Jonathan and said, What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin against your father that he is trying to take my life? 2He said to him, Perish the thought! You shall not die. My father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me; and why should my father hide this from me? Never! 3But David also swore, Your father knows well that you like me; and he thinks, Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved. But truly, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death. 4Then Jonathan said to David, Whatever you say, I will do for you. 5David said to Jonathan, Tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at the meal; but let me go, so that I may hide in the field until the third evening. 6If your father misses me at all, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city; for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. 7If he says, Good! it will be well with your servant; but if he is angry, then know that evil has been determined by him. 8Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a sacred covenant* with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father? 9Jonathan said, Far be it from you! If I knew that it was decided by my father that evil should come upon you, would I not tell you? 10Then David said to Jonathan, Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly? 11Jonathan replied to David, Come, let us go out into the field. So they both went out into the field.
12 Jonathan said to David, By the Lord, the God of Israel! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or on the third day, if he is well disposed towards David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13But if my father intends to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more also, if I do not disclose it to you, and send you away, so that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father. 14If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the Lord; but if I die,* 15never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth. 16Thus Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, May the Lord seek out the enemies of David. 17Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life.
18 Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon; you will be missed, because your place will be empty. 19On the day after tomorrow, you shall go a long way down; go to the place where you hid yourself earlier, and remain beside the stone there.* 20I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. 21Then I will send the boy, saying, Go, find the arrows. If I say to the boy, Look, the arrows are on this side of you, collect them, then you are to come, for, as the Lord lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. 22But if I say to the young man, Look, the arrows are beyond you, then go; for the Lord has sent you away. 23As for the matter about which you and I have spoken, the Lord is witness* between you and me for ever.
24 So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat at the feast to eat. 25The king sat upon his seat, as at other times, upon the seat by the wall. Jonathan stood, while Abner sat by Sauls side; but Davids place was empty.
26 Saul did not say anything that day; for he thought, Something has befallen him; he is not clean, surely he is not clean. 27But on the second day, the day after the new moon, Davids place was empty. And Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the feast, either yesterday or today? 28Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem; 29he said, Let me go; for our family is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favour in your sight, let me get away, and see my brothers. For this reason he has not come to the kings table.
30 Then Sauls anger was kindled against Jonathan. He said to him, You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mothers nakedness? 31For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die. 32Then Jonathan answered his father Saul, Why should he be put to death? What has he done? 33But Saul threw his spear at him to strike him; so Jonathan knew that it was the decision of his father to put David to death. 34Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food on the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, and because his father had disgraced him.
35 In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him was a little boy. 36He said to the boy, Run and find the arrows that I shoot. As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 37When the boy came to the place where Jonathans arrow had fallen, Jonathan called after the boy and said, Is the arrow not beyond you? 38Jonathan called after the boy, Hurry, be quick, do not linger. So Jonathans boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. 39But the boy knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement. 40Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said to him, Go and carry them to the city. 41As soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap* and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. He bowed three times, and they kissed each other, and wept with each other; David wept the more.* 42Then Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, since both of us have sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants, for ever. He got up and left; and Jonathan went into the city.*
21
7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord; his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Sauls shepherds.
8 David said to Ahimelech, Is there no spear or sword here with you? I did not bring my sword or my weapons with me, because the kings business required haste. 9The priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if you will take that, take it, for there is none here except that one. David said, There is none like it; give it to me.
10 David rose and fled that day from Saul; he went to King Achish of Gath.
11The servants of Achish said to him, Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,
Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands?
12David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of King Achish of Gath.
13So he changed his behaviour before them; he pretended to be mad when in their presence.* He scratched marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle run down his beard.
14Achish said to his servants, Look, you see the man is mad; why then have you brought him to me?
15Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?
22David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; when his brothers and all his fathers house heard of it, they went down there to him. 2Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Those who were with him numbered about four hundred.
3 David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, Please let my father and mother come* to you, until I know what God will do for me. 4He left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. 5Then the prophet Gad said to David, Do not remain in the stronghold; leave, and go into the land of Judah. So David left, and went into the forest of Hereth.
6 Saul heard that David and those who were with him had been located. Saul was sitting at Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him. 7Saul said to his servants who stood around him, Hear now, you Benjaminites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? 8Is that why all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a league with the son of Jesse, none of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as he is doing today. 9Doeg the Edomite, who was in charge of Sauls servants, answered, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech son of Ahitub; 10he inquired of the Lord for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
11 The king sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and for all his fathers house, the priests who were at Nob; and all of them came to the king. 12Saul said, Listen now, son of Ahitub. He answered, Here I am, my lord. 13Saul said to him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, by giving him bread and a sword, and by inquiring of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as he is doing today?
14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, Who among all your servants is so faithful as David? He is the kings son-in-law, and is quick* to do your bidding, and is honoured in your house. 15Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? By no means! Do not let the king impute anything to his servant or to any member of my fathers house; for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little. 16The king said, You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your fathers house. 17The king said to the guard who stood around him, Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David; they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me. But the servants of the king would not raise their hand to attack the priests of the Lord. 18Then the king said to Doeg, You, Doeg, turn and attack the priests. Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests; on that day he killed eighty-five who wore the linen ephod. 19Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep, he put to the sword.
20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. 21Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22David said to Abiathar, I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I am responsible* for the lives of all your fathers house. 23Stay with me, and do not be afraid; for the one who seeks my life seeks your life; you will be safe with me.
23Now they told David, The Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing-floors. 2David inquired of the Lord, Shall I go and attack these Philistines? The Lord said to David, Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah. 3But Davids men said to him, Look, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? 4Then David inquired of the Lord again. The Lord answered him, Yes, go down to Keilah; for I will give the Philistines into your hand. 5So David and his men went to Keilah, fought with the Philistines, brought away their livestock, and dealt them a heavy defeat. Thus David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah.
6 When Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand. 7Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, God has given* him into my hand; for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars. 8Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 9When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to the priest Abiathar, Bring the ephod here. 10David said, O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11And now, will* Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, I beseech you, tell your servant. The Lord said, He will come down. 12Then David said, Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul? The Lord said, They will surrender you. 13Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, set out and left Keilah; they wandered wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. 14David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but the Lord * did not give him into his hand.
15 David was in the Wilderness of Ziph at Horesh when he learned that* Saul had come out to seek his life. 16Sauls son Jonathan set out and came to David at Horesh; there he strengthened his hand through the Lord.* 17He said to him, Do not be afraid; for the hand of my father Saul shall not find you; you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be second to you; my father Saul also knows that this is so. 18Then the two of them made a covenant before the Lord; David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.
19 Then some Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, David is hiding among us in the strongholds of Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon. 20Now, O king, whenever you wish to come down, do so; and our part will be to surrender him into the kings hand. 21Saul said, May you be blessed by the Lord for showing me compassion! 22Go and make sure once more; find out exactly where he is, and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very cunning. 23Look around and learn all the hiding-places where he lurks, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you; and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah. 24So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul.
David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon.
25Saul and his men went to search for him. When David was told, he went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard that, he pursued David into the wilderness of Maon.
26Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.
27Then a messenger came to Saul, saying, Hurry and come; for the Philistines have made a raid on the land.
28So Saul stopped pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape.*
29
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New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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v 2.9.2
30 June 2021