The First Book Of

Samuel
The Argument

According as God had ordained, Deut. 17:14; that when the Israelites
should be in the land of Canaan, he would appoint them a king: so here in
the first book of Samuel is declared the state of this people under their first
king Saul, who not content with that order which God had for a time
appointed for the government of his Church, demanded a king, to the intent
they might be as other nations, and in a greater assurance as they thought:
not because they might the better thereby serve God, as being under the
safeguard of him which did represent Jesus Christ the true deliverer,
therefore he gave them a tyrant and an hypocrite to rule over them, that they
might learn that the person of a king is not sufficient to defend them, except
God by his power preserve and keep them. And therefore he punisheth the
ingratitude of his people, and sendeth them continual wars both at home and
abroad. And because Saul, whom of nothing God had preferred to the honor
of a king, did not acknowledge God’s mercy toward him, but rather
disobeyed the word of God, and was not zealous of his glory, he was by the
voice of God put down from his estate, and David the true figure of Messiah
placed in his stead, whose patience, modesty, constancy, persecution by open
enemies, feigned friends, and dissembling flatterers, are left to the Church
and to every member of the same, as a pattern and example to behold their
state and vocation.
1 Samuel 1 ............................................................................................................................. 3
1 Samuel 2 ............................................................................................................................. 6
1 Samuel 3 ............................................................................................................................. 9
1 Samuel 4 ........................................................................................................................... 11
1 Samuel 5 ........................................................................................................................... 13
1 Samuel 6 ........................................................................................................................... 15
1 Samuel 7 ........................................................................................................................... 17
1 Samuel 8 ........................................................................................................................... 19
1 Samuel 9 ........................................................................................................................... 21
1 Samuel 10 ......................................................................................................................... 24
1 Samuel 11 ......................................................................................................................... 27
1 Samuel 12 ......................................................................................................................... 29
1 Samuel 13 ......................................................................................................................... 31
1 Samuel 14 ......................................................................................................................... 33
1 Samuel 15 ......................................................................................................................... 38
1 Samuel 16 ......................................................................................................................... 41
1 Samuel 17 ......................................................................................................................... 43
1 Samuel 18 ......................................................................................................................... 48
1 Samuel 19 ......................................................................................................................... 51
1 Samuel 20 ......................................................................................................................... 53
1 Samuel 21 ......................................................................................................................... 57
1 Samuel 22 ......................................................................................................................... 59
1 Samuel 23 ......................................................................................................................... 61
1 Samuel 24 ......................................................................................................................... 64
1 Samuel 25 ......................................................................................................................... 66
1 Samuel 26 ......................................................................................................................... 70
1 Samuel 27 ......................................................................................................................... 73
1 Samuel 28 ......................................................................................................................... 74
1 Samuel 29 ......................................................................................................................... 77
1 Samuel 30 ......................................................................................................................... 78
1 Samuel 31 ......................................................................................................................... 81
1 Samuel 1
1
There was a man of one of the two Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim,
whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu,
the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:
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.
3
And this man went up out of his city every year, to worship and to sacrifice unto
the Lord of hosts in Shiloh, where were the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas
Priests of the Lord.
4
And on a day, when Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah his wife and to all
her sons and daughters portions,
5
But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion: for he loved Hannah, and the Lord
had made her barren.
6
And her adversary vexed her sore, forasmuch as she upbraided her, because
the Lord had made her barren.
7
(And so did he year by year) and as oft as she went up to the house of the
Lord, thus she vexed her, that she wept and did not eat.
8
Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? And why
eatest thou not? And why is thine heart troubled? Am not I better to thee than ten
sons?
9
So Hannah rose up after that they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh (and Eli the
Priest sat upon a stool by one of the posts of the Temple of the Lord)
10
And she was troubled in her mind, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore:
11
Also she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt look on the
trouble of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but
give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the
days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
12
And as she continued praying before the Lord, Eli marked her mouth.
13
For Hannah spake in her heart: her lips did move only, but her voice was not
heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.
14
And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy
drunkenness from thee.
15
Then Hannah answered and said, Nay my lord, but I am a woman troubled in
spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul
before the Lord.
16
Count not thine handmaid for a wicked woman: for of the abundance of my
complaint and my grief have I spoken hitherto.
17
Then Eli answered, and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thy
petition that thou hast asked of him.
18
She said again, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight: so the woman went
her way, and did eat, and looked no more sad.
19
Then they rose up early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and
came to their house to Ramah. Now Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the
Lord remembered her.
20
For in process of time Hannah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his
name Samuel, Because, said she, I have asked him of the Lord.
21
So the man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer unto the Lord the yearly
sacrifice, and his vow:
22
But Hannah went not up: for she said unto her husband, I will tarry until the
child be weaned, then I will bring him that he may appear before the Lord, and
there abide forever.
23
And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee best: tarry
until thou hast weaned him: only the Lord accomplish his word. So the woman
abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.
24
And when she had weaned him, she took him with her with three bullocks and
an Ephah of flour and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the
Lord in Shiloh, and the child was young.
25
And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli.
26
And she said, Oh my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that
stood with thee here praying unto the Lord.
27
I prayed for this child, and the Lord hath given me my desire which I asked of
him.
28
Therefore also I have given him unto the Lord: as long as he liveth he shall be
given unto the Lord: and he worshipped the Lord there.
1 Samuel 2
1
And Hannah prayed, and said, Mine heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is
exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice
in thy salvation.
2
There is none holy as the Lord: yea, there is none besides thee, and there is no
god like our God.
3
Speak no more presumptuously: let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for
the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him enterprises are established.
4
The bow and the mighty men are broken, and the weak have girded
themselves with strength.
5
They that were full, are hired forth for bread, and the hungry are no more hired,
so that the barren hath born seven: and she that had many children, is feeble.
6
The Lord killeth and maketh alive: bringeth down to the grave and raiseth up.
7
The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich: bringeth low, and exalteth.
8
He raiseth up ye poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the
dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the seat of glory:
for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them.
9
He will keep the feet of his Saints, and the wicked shall keep silence in
darkness: for in his own might shall no man be strong.
10
The Lord’s adversaries shall be destroyed, and out of heaven shall he thunder
upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the world, and shall give power unto
his King, and exalt the horn of his Anointed.
11
And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house, and the child did minister unto the
Lord before Eli the Priest.
12
Now the sons of Eli were wicked men, and knew not the Lord.
13
For the Priest’s custom toward the people was this: when any man offered
sacrifice, the Priest’s boy came, while the flesh was seething, and a fleshhook
with three teeth, in his hand,
14
And thrust it into the kettle, or into the caldron, or into the pan, or into the pot:
all that the fleshhook brought up, the Priest took for himself: thus they did unto all
the Israelites, that came thither to Shiloh.
15
Yea, before they burnt the fat, the priest’s boy came and said to the man that
offered, Give me flesh to roast for the priest: for he will not have sodden flesh of
thee, but raw.
16
And if any man said unto him, Let them burn the fat according to the custom,
then take as much as thine heart desireth: then he would answer, No, but thou
shalt give it now: and if thou wilt not, I will take it by force.
17
Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men
abhorred the offering of the Lord.
18
Now Samuel being a young child ministered before the Lord, girded with a
linen Ephod.
19
And his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year,
when she came up with her husband, to offer the yearly sacrifice.
20
And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The Lord give thee seed of
this woman, for the petition that she asked of the Lord: and they departed unto
their place.
21
And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons, and
two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord.
22
So Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel, and how
they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the
Congregation.
23
And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? For of all this people I hear
evil reports of you.
24
Do no more, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear, which is, that ye
make the Lord’s people to trespass.
25
If one man sin against another, the Judge shall judge it: but if a man sin
against the Lord, who will plead for him? Notwithstanding they obeyed not the
voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.
26
(Now the child Samuel profited and grew, and was in favor both with the Lord
and also with men)
27
And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the
Lord, Did not I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in
Egypt in Pharaoh’s house?
28
And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my Priest, to offer upon
mine altar, and to burn incense, and to wear an Ephod before me, and I gave
unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel.
29
Wherefore have you kicked against my sacrifice and mine offering, which I
commanded in my Tabernacle, and honorest thy children above me, to make
yourselves fat of the firstfruits of all the offerings of Israel my people?
30
Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said, that thine house and the house
of thy father should walk before me forever: but now the Lord saith, It shall not be
so: for them that honor me, I will honor, and they that despise me, shall be
despised.
31
Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s
house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house.
32
And thou shalt see thine enemy in the habitation of the Lord in all things
wherewith God shall bless Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thine
house forever.
33
Nevertheless, I will not destroy every one of thine from mine altar, to make
thine eyes to fail, and to make thine heart sorrowful: and all ye multitude of thine
house shall die when they be men.
34
And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons Hophni
and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both.
35
And I will stir me up a faithful Priest, that shall do according to mine heart and
according to my mind: and I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before
mine Anointed forever.
36
And all that are left in thine house, shall come and bow down to him for a
piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Appoint me, I pray thee, to
one of the priest’s offices, that I may eat a morsel of bread.
1 Samuel 3
1
Now the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli: and the word of the
Lord was precious in those days: for there was no manifest vision.
2
And at that time, as Eli lay in his place, his eyes began to wax dim that he
could not see.
3
And yet the light of God went out, Samuel slept in the temple of the Lord,
where the Ark of God was.
4
Then the Lord called Samuel: and he said, Here I am.
5
And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I, for thou calledst me. But he said, I
called thee not: go again and sleep. And he went and slept.
6
And the Lord called once again, Samuel. And Samuel arose, and went to Eli,
and said, I am here: for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called thee not,
my son: go again and sleep.
7
Thus did Samuel, before he knew the Lord, and before the word of the Lord
was revealed unto him.
8
And the Lord called Samuel again the third time: and he arose, and went to Eli,
and said, I am here: for thou hast called me. Then Eli perceived that the Lord had
called the child.
9
Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go and sleep: and if he call thee, then say,
Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went, and slept in his place.
10
And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel.
Then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant heareth.
11
Then the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, whereof
whosoever shall hear, his two ears shall tingle.
12
In that day I will raise up against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning
his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.
13
And I have told him that I will judge his house forever, for the iniquity which he
knoweth, because his sons ran into a slander, and he stayed them not.
14
Now therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the wickedness of Eli’s
house, shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever.
15
Afterward Samuel slept until the morning, and opened the doors of the house
of the Lord, and Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.
16
Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel my son. And he answered, Here I
am.
17
Then he said, What is it, that the Lord said unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not
from me. God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide anything from me, of all
that he said unto thee.
18
So Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. Then he said, It is
the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.
19
And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to
the ground.
20
And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that faithful Samuel was the
Lord’s Prophet.
21
And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to
Samuel in Shiloh by his word.
1 Samuel 4
1
And Samuel spake unto all Israel: and Israel went out against the Philistines to
battle and pitched beside Eben-ezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek.
2
And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined
the battle, Israel was smitten down before the Philistines: who slew of the army in
the field about four thousand men.
3
So when the people were come into the camp, the Elders of Israel said,
Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us this day before ye Philistines? Let us bring
the Ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that when it cometh
among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
4
Then the people sent to Shiloh, and brought from thence the Ark of the
covenant of the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth between the Cherubims: and there
were the two sons of Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas, with the Ark of the covenant of
God.
5
And when the Ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the host, all Israel
shouted a mighty shout, so that the earth rang again.
6
And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What
meaneth the sound of this mighty shout in the host of the Hebrews? And they
understood, that the Ark of the Lord was come into the host.
7
And the Philistines were afraid, and said, God is come into the host: therefore
said they, Woe unto us: for it hath not been so heretofore.
8
Woe unto us, who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods?
These are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the
wilderness.
9
Be strong and play the men, O Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the
Hebrews, as they have served you: be valiant therefore, and fight.
10
And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten down, and fled every man
into his tent: and there was an exceeding great slaughter: for there fell of Israel
thirty thousand footmen.
11
And the Ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas
died.
12
And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the
same day with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head.
13
And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside, waiting: for his
heart feared for the Ark of God and when the man came into the city to tell it, all
the city cried out.
14
And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth this noise
of the tumult? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli.
15
(Now Eli was fourscore and eighteen years old, and his eyes were dim that he
could not see)
16
And the man said unto Eli, I came from the army, and I fled this day out of the
host: and he said, What thing is done, my son?
17
Then the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines,
and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people: and moreover thy
two sons, Hophni and Phinehas are dead, and the Ark of God is taken.
18
And when he had made mention of the Ark of God, Eli fell from his seat
backward by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken, and he died: for he
was an old man and heavy: and he had judged Israel forty years.
19
And his daughter in law Phinehas’ wife was with child near her travail: and
when she heard the report that the Ark of God was taken, and that her father in
law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself, and travailed: for her pains
came upon her.
20
And about the time of her death, the women that stood about her, said unto
her, Fear not: for thou hast born a son: but she answered not, nor regarded it.
21
And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel,
because the Ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her
husband.
22
She said again, The glory is departed from Israel: for the Ark of God is taken.
1 Samuel 5
1
Then the Philistines took the Ark of God and carried it from Eben-ezer unto
Ashdod,
2
Even the Philistines took ye Ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon,
and set it by Dagon.
3
And when they of Ashdod rose the next day in the morning, behold, Dagon was
fallen upon his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord, and they took up
Dagon, and set him in his place again.
4
Also they rose up early in the morning the next day, and behold, Dagon was
fallen upon his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord, and the head of
Dagon and the two palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold: only the
stump of Dagon was left to him.
5
Therefore the Priests of Dagon, and all that come into Dagon’s house tread not
on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, unto this day.
6
But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and destroyed
them, and smote them with the emerods, both Ashdod, and the coasts thereof.
7
And when the men of Ashdod saw this, they said, Let not the Ark of the God of
Israel abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon our god.
8
They sent therefore and gathered all the princes of the Philistines unto them,
and said, What shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel? And they answered,
Let the Ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath: and they carried the
Ark of the God of Israel about.
9
And when they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city
with a very great destruction, and he smote the men of the city both small and
great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.
10
Therefore they sent the Ark of God to Ekron: and as soon as the Ark of God
came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought the Ark of the
God of Israel to us to slay us and our people.
11
Therefore they sent, and gathered together all the princes of the Philistines
and said, Send away the Ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to his own
place, that it slay us not and our people: for there was a destruction and death
throughout all the city, and the hand of God was very sore there.
12
And the men that died not, were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the
city went up to heaven.
1 Samuel 6
1
So the Ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
2
And the Philistines called the priests and the soothsayers, saying, What shall
we do with the Ark of the Lord? Tell us wherewith we shall send it home again.
3
And they said, If you send away the Ark of the God of Israel, send it not away
empty, but give unto it a sin offering: then shall ye be healed, and it shall be
known to you, why his hand departeth not from you.
4
Then said they, What shall be the sin offering, which we shall give unto it? And
they answered, Five golden emerods and five golden mice, according to the
number of the princes of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on
your princes.
5
Wherefore ye shall make the similitudes of your emerods, and the similitudes of
your mice that destroy the land: so ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel, that
he may take his hand from you, and from your gods, and from your land.
6
Wherefore then should ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh
hardened their hearts? When he wrought wonderfully among them, did they not
let them go, and they departed?
7
Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on whom there hath
come no yoke: and tie the kine to the cart, and bring the calves home from them.
8
Then take the Ark of the Lord, and set it upon the cart, and put the jewels of
gold which ye give it for a sin offering in a coffer by the side thereof, and send it
away, that it may go.
9
And take heed, if it go up by the way of his own coast to Beth-shemesh, it is he
that did us this great evil: but if not, we shall know then, that it is not his hand that
smote us, but it was a chance that happened to us.
10
And the men did so: for they took two kine that gave milk, and tied them to the
cart, and shut the calves at home.
11
So they set the Ark of the Lord upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of
gold, and with the similitudes of their emerods.
12
And the kine went the straight way to Beth-shemesh, and kept one path and
lowed as they went, and turned neither to the right hand nor to the left: also the
Princes of the Philistines went after them, unto the borders of Beth-shemesh.
13
Now they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and
they lifted up their eyes, and spied the Ark, and rejoiced when they saw it.
14
And the cart came into the field of Joshua a Beth-shemite, and stood still
there. There was also a great stone, and they clave the wood of the cart, and
offered the kine for a burnt offering unto the Lord.
15
And the Levites took down the Ark of the Lord, and the coffer that was with it,
wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone, and the men of
Beth-shemesh offered burnt offering, and sacrificed sacrifices that same day unto
the Lord.
16
And when the five Princes of ye Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron
the same day.
17
So these are the golden emerods, which the Philistines gave for a sin offering
to the Lord: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, and for
Ekron one,
18
And golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines,
belonging to the five princes, both of walled towns, and of towns unwalled, unto
the great stone of Abel, whereon they set the Ark of the Lord: which stone
remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.
19
And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked in the
Ark of the Lord: he slew even among the people fifty thousand men and three
score and ten men: and the people lamented, because the Lord had slain the
people with so great a slaughter.
20
Wherefore the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this
holy Lord God? And to whom shall he go from us?
21
And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim, saying, The
Philistines have brought again the Ark of the Lord: come ye down and take it up
to you.
1 Samuel 7
1
Then the men of Kirjath-jearim came, and took up the Ark of the Lord, and
brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill: and they sanctified Eleazar his
son, to keep the Ark of the Lord.
2
(For while the Ark abode in Kirjath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty
years) and all the house of Israel lamented after ye Lord.
3
Then Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye be come again
unto the Lord with all your heart, put away the strange gods from among you,
and Ashteroth, and direct your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and he
shall deliver you out of the hand of ye Philistines.
4
Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashteroth, and served the
Lord only.
5
And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the
Lord.
6
And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water and poured it out before
the Lord, and fasted the same day, and said there, We have sinned against the
Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.
7
When the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to
Mizpeh, the princes of the Philistines went up against Israel: and when the
children of Israel heard that, they were afraid of the Philistines.
8
And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our
God for us, that he may save us out of the hand of the Philistines.
9
Then Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it all together for a burnt offering
unto the Lord, and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him.
10
And as Samuel offered the burnt offering, the Philistines came to fight against
Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder that day upon the Philistines,
and scattered them: so they were slain before Israel.
11
And the men of Israel went from Mizpeh and pursued the Philistines, and
smote them until they came under Beth-car.
12
Then Samuel took a stone and pitched it between Mizpeh and Shen, and
called the name thereof, Eben-ezer, and he said, Hitherto hath the Lord helped
us.
13
So the Philistines were brought under, and they came no more again into the
coasts of Israel: and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days
of Samuel.
14
Also the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel, were restored to
Israel, from Ekron even to Gath: and Israel delivered the coasts of the same out
of the hands of the Philistines: and there was peace between Israel and the
Amorites.
15
And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life,
16
And went about year by year to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged
Israel in all those places.
17
Afterward he returned to Ramah: for there was his house, and there he judged
Israel: also he built an altar there unto the Lord.
1 Samuel 8
1
When Samuel was now become old, he made his sons Judges over Israel.
2
(And the name of his eldest son was Joel, and the name of the second Abiah)
even Judges in Beer-sheba.
3
And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took
rewards, and perverted the judgment.
4
Wherefore all the Elders of Israel gathered them together, and came to Samuel
unto Ramah,
5
And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways:
make us now a King to judge us like all nations.
6
But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a King to judge us:
and Samuel prayed unto the Lord.
7
And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hear the voice of the people in all that they
shall say unto thee: for they have not cast thee away, but they have cast me
away, that I should not reign over them.
8
As they have ever done since I brought them out of Egypt even unto this day,
(and have forsaken me, and served other gods) even so do they unto thee.
9
Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet testify unto them, and
shew them the manner of ye King that shall reign over them.
10
So Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked a King of
him.
11
And he said, This shall be the manner of the King that shall reign over you: he
will take your sons, and appoint them to his chariots, and to be his horsemen,
and some shall run before his chariot.
12
Also he will make them his captains over thousands, and captains over fifties,
and to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make instruments of war,
and the things that serve for his chariots.
13
He will also take your daughters and make them apothecaries, and cooks, and
bakers.
14
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best Olive trees, and
give them to his servants.
15
And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give it to
his Eunuchs, and to his servants.
16
And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and the chief of
your young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
17
He will take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants.
18
And ye shall cry out at that day, because of your King, whom ye have chosen
you, and the Lord will not hear you at that day.
19
But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, but did say, Nay, but there
shall be a King over us.
20
And we also will be like all other nations, and our King shall judge us, and go
out before us, and fight our battles.
21
Therefore when Samuel heard all ye words of ye people, he rehearsed them
in ye ears of ye Lord.
22
And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a
King. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go every man unto his city.
1 Samuel 9
1
There was now a man of Benjamin, mighty in power named Kish, the son of
Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a man
of Jemini.
2
And he had a son called Saul, a goodly young man and a fair: so that among
the children of Israel there was none goodlier than he: from the shoulders upward
he was higher than any of the people.
3
And the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost: therefore Kish said to Saul his
son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go, and seek the asses.
4
So he passed through mount Ephraim, and went through the land of Shalishah,
but they found them not. Then they went through the land of Shalim, and there
they were not: he went also through ye land of Jemini, but they found them not.
5
When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said unto his servant that was with
him, Come and let us return, lest my father leave the care of asses, and take
thought for us.
6
And he said unto him, Behold now, in this city is a man of God, and he is an
honorable man: all that he saith cometh to pass: let us now go thither, if so be
that he can shew us what way we may go.
7
Then said Saul to his servant, Well then, let us go: but what shall we bring unto
the man? For the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is no present to bring
to the man of God: what have we?
8
And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have found about me
the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give the man of God, to tell us our
way.
9
(Beforetime in Israel when a man went to seek an answer of God, thus he
spake, Come, and let us go to the Seer: for he that is called now a Prophet, was
in the old time called a Seer)
10
Then said Saul to his servant, Well said, come, let us go: so they went into the
city where the man of God was.
11
And as they were going up the highway to the city, they found maids that
came out to draw water, and said unto them, Is there here a Seer?
12
And they answered them, and said, Yea: lo, he is before you: make haste
now, for he came this day to the city: for there is an offering of the people this
day in the high place.
13
When ye shall come into the city, ye shall find him straightway yet he come up
to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he will
bless the sacrifice: and then eat they that be bidden to the feast: now therefore
go up: for even now shall ye find him.
14
Then they went up into the city, and when they were come into the midst of
the city, Samuel came out against them, to go up to the high place.
15
But the Lord had revealed to Samuel secretly (a day before Saul came)
saying,
16
Tomorrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin:
him shalt thou anoint to be governor over my people Israel, that he may save my
people out of the hands of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, and
their cry is come unto me.
17
When Samuel therefore saw Saul, the Lord answered him, See, this is the
man whom I spake to thee of, he shall rule my people.
18
Then went Saul to Samuel in the midst of the gate, and said, Tell me, I pray
thee, where the Seer’s house is.
19
And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the Seer: go up before me unto
the high place: for ye shall eat with me today, and tomorrow I will let thee go, and
will tell thee all that is in thine heart.
20
And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, care not for them: for
they are found. And on whom is set all the desire of Israel? Is it not upon thee
and on all thy father’s house?
21
But Saul answered, and said, Am not I the son of Jemini of the smallest tribe
of Israel? And my family is the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin.
Wherefore then speakest thou so to me?
22
And Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the chamber,
and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden: which
were about thirty persons.
23
And Samuel said unto the cook, Bring forth the portion which I gave thee, and
whereof I said unto thee, Keep it with thee.
24
And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it
before Saul. And Samuel said, Behold, that which is left, set it before thee and
eat: for hitherto hath it been kept for thee, saying, Also I have called the people.
So Saul did eat with Samuel that day.
25
And when they were come down from the high place into the city, he
communed with Saul upon the top of the house.
26
And when they arose early about ye spring of the day, Samuel called Saul to
the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and
they went out, both he, and Samuel.
27
And when they were come down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul,
Bid the servant go before us, (and he went) but stand thou still now, that I may
shew thee the word of God.
1 Samuel 10
1
Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it upon his head, and kissed him,
and said, Hath not the Lord anointed thee to be governor over his inheritance?
2
When thou shalt depart from me this day, thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s
sepulcher in the border of Benjamin, even at Zelzah, and they will say unto thee,
The asses which thou wentest to seek, are found: and lo, thy father hath left the
care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?
3
Then shalt thou go forth from thence and shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and
there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel: one carrying three
kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of
wine:
4
And they will ask thee if all be well, and will give thee the two loaves of bread,
which thou shalt receive of their hands.
5
After that shalt thou come to the hill of God, where is the garrisons of the
Philistines: and when thou art come thither to the city, thou shalt meet a company
of Prophets coming down from the high place with a vial, and a timbrel, and a
pipe, and an harp before them, and they shall prophesy.
6
Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with
them, and shalt be turned into another man.
7
Therefore when these signs shall come unto thee, do as occasion shall serve:
for God is with thee.
8
And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal: and I also will come down unto
thee to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace. Tarry for me
seven days, till I come to thee and shew thee what thou shalt do.
9
And when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another
heart: and all those tokens came to pass that same day.
10
And when they came thither to the hill, behold, the company of Prophets met
him, and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.
11
Therefore all the people that knew him before, when they saw that he
prophesied among the Prophets, said each to other, What is come unto the son
of Kish? Is Saul also among the Prophets?
12
And one of the same place answered, and said, But who is their father?
Therefore it was a proverb, Is Saul also among the Prophets?
13
And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.
14
And Saul’s uncle said unto him, and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he
said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that they were nowhere, we came to
Samuel.
15
And Saul’s uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you.
16
Then Saul said to his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found: but
concerning the kingdom whereof Samuel spake, told he him not.
17
And Samuel assembled the people unto the Lord in Mizpeh,
18
And he said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith ye Lord God of Israel, I
have brought Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the
Egyptians, and out of the hands of all kingdoms that troubled you.
19
But ye have this day cast away your God, who only delivereth you out of all
your adversities and tribulations: and ye said unto him, No, but appoint a King
over us. Now therefore stand ye before the Lord according to your tribes, and
according to your thousands.
20
And when Samuel had gathered together all the tribes of Israel, the tribe of
Benjamin was taken.
21
Afterward he assembled the tribe of Benjamin according to their families, and
the family of Matri was taken. So Saul the son of Kish was taken, and when they
sought him, he could not be found.
22
Therefore they asked the Lord again, if that man should yet come thither. And
the Lord answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff.
23
And they ran, and brought him thence: and when he stood among the people,
he was higher than any of the people from the shoulders upward.
24
And Samuel said to all the people, See ye not him, whom the Lord hath
chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people
shouted and said, God save the King.
25
Then Samuel told the people the duty of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book,
and laid it up before the Lord, and Samuel sent all the people away every man to
his house.
26
Saul also went home to Gibeah, and there followed him a band of men, whose
heart God had touched,
27
But the wicked men said, How shall he save us? So they despised him, and
brought him no presents: but he held his tongue.
1 Samuel 11
1
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and besieged Jabesh Gilead: and all the
men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will be thy
servants.
2
And Nahash ye Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a
covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and bring that shame
upon all Israel.
3
To whom the Elders of Jabesh said, Give us seven days respite, that we may
send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then if no man deliver us, we
will come out to thee.
4
Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told these tidings in the
ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices and wept.
5
And behold, Saul came following the cattle out of the field, and Saul said, What
aileth this people, that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of
Jabesh.
6
Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul, when he heard those tidings, and he
was exceeding angry,
7
And took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout
all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh
not forth after Saul, and after Samuel, so shall his oxen be served. And the fear
of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.
8
And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three
hundred thousand men: and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
9
Then they said unto the messengers that came, So say unto the men of
Jabesh Gilead, Tomorrow by then the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the
messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh, which were glad.
10
Therefore the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out unto you, and
ye shall do with us all that pleaseth you.
11
And when the morrow was come, Saul put the people in three bands, and they
came in upon the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the
heat of the day: and they that remained, were scattered, so that two of them were
not left together.
12
Then the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over
us? Bring those men that we may slay them.
13
But Saul said, There shall no man die this day: for today the Lord hath saved
Israel.
14
Then said Samuel unto ye people, Come, that we may go to Gilgal, and renew
the kingdom there.
15
So all the people went to Gilgal, and made Saul King there before the Lord in
Gilgal: and there they offered peace offerings before the Lord: and there Saul
and all the men of Israel rejoiced exceedingly.
1 Samuel 12
1
Samuel then said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in
all that ye said unto me, and have appointed a King over you.
2
Now therefore behold, your King walketh before you, and I am old and gray
headed, and behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from
my childhood unto this day.
3
Behold, here I am: bear record of me before the Lord and before his Anointed.
Whose ox have I taken? Or whose ass have I taken? Or whom have I done
wrong to? Or whom have I hurt? Or of whose hand have I received any bribe, to
blind mine eyes therewith, and I will restore it you?
4
Then they said, Thou hast done us no wrong, nor hast hurt us, neither hast
thou taken ought of any man’s hand.
5
And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his Anointed is
witness this day, that ye have found nought in mine hands. And they answered,
He is witness.
6
Then Samuel said unto the people, It is the Lord that made Moses and Aaron,
and that brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt.
7
Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord according
to all the righteousness of the Lord, which he shewed to you and to your fathers.
8
After that Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the Lord,
then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron which brought your fathers out of Egypt,
and made them dwell in this place.
9
And when they forgot the Lord their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera
captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the
hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.
10
And they cried unto the Lord, and said, We have sinned, because we have
forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Ashteroth. Now therefore deliver
us out of the hands of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
11
Therefore the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah, and Samuel, and
delivered you out of the hands of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled
safe.
12
Notwithstanding when you saw, that Nahash the King of the children of
Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, No, but a King shall reign over us:
when yet the Lord your God was your King.
13
Now therefore behold the King whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have
desired: lo therefore, the Lord hath set a King over you.
14
If ye will fear the Lord and serve him, and hear his voice, and not disobey the
word of the Lord, both ye, and the King that reigneth over you, shall follow the
Lord your God.
15
But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but disobey the Lord’s mouth, then
shall the hand of the Lord be upon you, and on your fathers.
16
Now also stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your
eyes.
17
Is it not now wheat harvest? I will call unto the Lord, and he shall send thunder
and rain, that ye may perceive and see, how that your wickedness is great, which
ye have done in the sight of the Lord in asking you a King.
18
Then Samuel called unto the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain the
same day: and all the people feared the Lord and Samuel exceedingly.
19
And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy
God, that we die not: for we have sinned in asking us a King, beside all our other
sins.
20
And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not. (ye have indeed done all this
wickedness, yet depart not from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all
your heart,
21
Neither turn ye back: for that should be after vain things which cannot profit
you, nor deliver you, for they are but vanity)
22
For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great Name’s sake: because it
hath pleased the Lord to make you his people.
23
Moreover God forbid, that I should sin against the Lord, and cease praying for
you, but I will shew you the good and right way.
24
Therefore fear you the Lord, and serve him in the truth with all your hearts,
and consider how great things he hath done for you.
25
But if ye do wickedly, ye shall perish, both ye, and your King.
1 Samuel 13
1
Saul now had been King one year, and he reigned two years over Israel.
2
Then Saul chose him three thousand of Israel: and two thousand were with
Saul in Michmash, and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in
Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every one to his tent.
3
And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines, that was in the hill: and it
came to the Philistines ears: and Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land,
saying, Hear, O ye Hebrews.
4
And all Israel heard say, Saul hath destroyed a garrison of the Philistines:
wherefore Israel was had in abomination with the Philistines: and the people
gathered together after Saul to Gilgal.
5
The Philistines also gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty
thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen: for the people was like the sand
which is by the seaside in multitude, and came up, and pitched in Michmash
Eastward from Beth-aven.
6
And when the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were
in distress) the people hid themselves in caves, and in holds, and in rocks, and in
towers, and in pits.
7
And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan unto the land of Gad and Gilead:
and Saul was yet in Gilgal, and all the people for fear followed him.
8
And he tarried seven days, according unto the time that Samuel had appointed:
but Samuel came not to Gilgal, therefore the people were scattered from him.
9
And Saul said, Bring a burnt offering to me and peace offerings: and he offered
a burnt offering.
10
And as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold,
Samuel came: and Saul went forth to meet him, to salute him.
11
And Samuel said, What hast thou done? Then Saul said, Because I saw that
the people was scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days
appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together to Michmash,
12
Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I
have not made supplication unto the Lord. I was bold therefore and offered a
burnt offering.
13
And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the
commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for the Lord had
now established thy kingdom upon Israel forever.
14
But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after
his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be governor over his
people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord had commanded thee.
15
And Samuel arose, and got him up from Gilgal in Gibeah of Benjamin: and
Saul numbered the people that were found with him, about six hundred men.
16
And Saul and Jonathan his son, and the people that were found with them,
had their abiding in Gibeah of Benjamin: but the Philistines pitched in Michmash.
17
And there came out of the host of the Philistines three bands to destroy, one
band turned unto the way of Ophrah unto the land of Shual,
18
And another band turned toward the way to Beth-horon, and the third band
turned toward the way of the coast that looketh toward the valley of Zeboim,
toward the wilderness.
19
Then there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the
Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears.
20
Wherefore all ye Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man
his share, his mattock, and his axe, and his weeding hook.
21
Yet they had a file for the shares, and for the mattocks, and for the pickforks,
and for the axes, and for to sharpen the goads.
22
So when the day of battle was come, there was neither sword nor spear found
in the hands of any of the people that were with Saul and with Jonathan: but only
with Saul and Jonathan his son was there found.
23
And the garrison of the Philistines came out to the passage of Michmash.
1 Samuel 14
1
Then on a day Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his
armor, Come and let us go over toward the Philistines’ garrison, that is yonder on
the other side, but he told not his father.
2
And Saul tarried in the border of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree, which was
in Migron, and the people that were with him, were about six hundred men.
3
And Ahiah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of
Eli, was the Lord’s Priest in Shiloh, and wore an Ephod: and the people knew not
that Jonathan was gone.
4
Now in the way whereby Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines’
garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other
side: the name of the one was called Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
5
The one rock stretched from the North toward Michmash, and the other was
from the South toward Gibeah.
6
And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go
over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work
with us: for it is not hard to the Lord to save with many, or with few.
7
And he that bare his armor, said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: go where
it pleaseth thee: behold, I am with thee as thine heart desireth.
8
Then said Jonathan, Behold, we go over unto those men, and will shew
ourselves unto them.
9
If they say on this wise to us, Tarry until we come to you, then we will stand still
in our place, and not go up to them.
10
But if they say, Come up unto us, then we will go up: for the Lord hath
delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us.
11
So they both shewed themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the
Philistines said, See, the Hebrews come out of the holes wherein they had hid
themselves.
12
And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan, and his armor bearer, and
said, Come up to us: for we will shew you a thing. Then Jonathan said unto his
armor bearer, Come up after me: for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand
of Israel.
13
So Jonathan went up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armor bearer
after him: and some fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer slew others after
him.
14
So the first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about
twenty men, as it were within half an acre of land which two oxen plow.
15
And there was a fear in the host, and in the field, and among all the people:
the garrison also, and they that went out to spoil, were afraid themselves: and the
earth trembled: for it was stricken with fear by God.
16
Then the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin saw: and behold, the
multitude was discomfited, and smitten as they went.
17
Therefore said Saul unto the people that were with him, Search now and see,
who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his
armor bearer were not there.
18
And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the Ark of God (for the Ark of God was
at that time with the children of Israel)
19
And while Saul talked unto the Priest, the noise that was in the host of the
Philistines, spread farther abroad, and increased: therefore Saul said unto the
Priest, Withdraw thine hand.
20
And Saul was assembled with all the people that were with him, and they
came to the battle: and behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and
there was a very great discomfiture.
21
Moreover, the Hebrews that were with the Philistines beforetime, and were
come with them into all parts of the host, even they also turned to be with the
Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.
22
Also all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when
they heard, that the Philistines were fled, they followed after them in the battle.
23
And so the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle continued unto Beth-
aven.
24
And at that time the men of Israel were pressed with hunger: for Saul charged
the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth food till night, that
I may be avenged of mine enemies: so none of the people tasted any
sustenance.
25
And all they of the land came to a wood, where honey lay upon the ground.
26
And the people came into the wood, and behold, the honey dropped, and no
man moved his hand to his mouth: for the people feared the oath.
27
But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath:
wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an
honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes received sight.
28
Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father made the people to
swear, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth sustenance this day: and the
people were faint.
29
Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see now how mine eyes
are made clear, because I have tasted a little of this honey:
30
How much more, if the people had eaten today of the spoil of their enemies
which they found? For had there not been now a greater slaughter among the
Philistines?
31
And they smote the Philistines that day, from Michmash to Aijalon: and the
people were exceeding faint.
32
So the people turned to the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and
slew them on the ground, and the people did eat them with the blood.
33
Then men told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the Lord, in that
they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have trespassed: roll a great stone unto
me this day.
34
Again Saul said, Go abroad among the people, and bid them bring me every
man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat and sin not
against the Lord in eating with the blood. And ye people brought every man his
ox in his hand that night, and slew them there.
35
Then Saul made an altar unto the Lord, and that was the first altar that he
made unto the Lord.
36
And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them
until the morning shine, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do
whatsoever thou thinkest best. Then said the Priest, Let us draw near hither unto
God.
37
So Saul asked of God, saying, Shall I go down after ye Philistines? Wilt thou
deliver them into the hands of Israel? But he answered him not at that time.
38
And Saul said, All ye chief of the people, come ye hither, and know, and see
by whom this sin is done this day.
39
For as the Lord liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be done by Jonathan my
son, he shall die the death. But none of all the people answered him.
40
Then he said unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son
will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what thou thinkest
best.
41
Then Saul said unto the Lord God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Jonathan
and Saul were taken, but the people escaped.
42
And Saul said, Cast lot between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was
taken.
43
Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told
him, and said, I tasted a little honey with the end of the rod, that was in mine
hand, and lo, I must die.
44
Again Saul answered, God do so and more also, unless thou die the death,
Jonathan.
45
And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath so mightily
delivered Israel? God forbid. As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his
head fall to the ground: for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people
delivered Jonathan that he died not.
46
Then Saul came up from the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own
place.
47
So Saul held the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on
every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against
Edom, and against the Kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and
whithersoever he went, he handled them as wicked men.
48
He gathered also an host and smote Amalek, and delivered Israel out of the
hands of them that spoiled them.
49
Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishui, and Malchishua: and the
names of his two daughters, the elder was called Merab, and the younger was
named Michal.
50
And the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz: and the
name of his chief captain was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.
51
And Kish was Saul’s father: and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.
52
And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and
whomsoever Saul saw to be a strong man, and met for the war, he took him unto
him.
1 Samuel 15
1
Afterward Samuel said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee King over
his people, over Israel: now therefore obey the voice of the words of the Lord.
2
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how they
laid wait for them in ye way, as they came up from Egypt.
3
Now therefore go, and smite Amalek, and destroy ye all that pertaineth unto
them, and have no compassion on them, but slay both man and woman, both
infant and suckling, both ox, and sheep, both camel, and ass.
4
And Saul assembled ye people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred
thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5
And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and set watch at the river.
6
And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, and get you down from among the
Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed mercy to all the children
of Israel, when they came up from Egypt: and the Kenites departed from among
the Amalekites.
7
So Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah as thou comest to Shur, that is
before Egypt,
8
And took Agag the King of the Amalekites alive, and destroyed all the people
with the edge of the sword.
9
But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the better sheep, and the oxen, and
the fat beasts, and the lambs, and all that was good, and they would not destroy
them: but everything that was vile and nought worth, that they destroyed.
10
Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying,
11
It repenteth me that I have made Saul King: for he is turned from me, and hath
not performed my commandments. And Samuel was moved, and cried unto the
Lord all night.
12
And when Samuel arose early to meet Saul in the morning, one told Samuel,
saying, Saul is gone to Carmel: and behold, he hath made him there a place,
from whence he returned, and departed, and is gone down to Gilgal.
13
Then Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said unto him. Blessed be thou of the
Lord, I have fulfilled the commandment of the Lord.
14
But Samuel said, What meaneth then the bleating of the sheep in mine ears,
and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15
And Saul answered, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the
people spared the best of the sheep, and of the oxen to sacrifice them unto the
Lord thy God, and the remnant have we destroyed.
16
Again Samuel said to Saul, Let me tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this
night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17
Then Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not
made the head of the tribes of Israel? For the Lord anointed thee King over
Israel.
18
And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and destroy those sinners
the Amalekites, and fight against them, until thou destroy them.
19
Now wherefore hast thou not obeyed the voice of the Lord, but hast turned to
the prey, and hast done wickedly in the sight of the Lord?
20
And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and
have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the King of
Amalek, and have destroyed the Amalekites.
21
But the people took of the spoil, sheep, and oxen, and the chiefest of the
things which should have been destroyed, to offer unto the Lord thy God in
Gilgal.
22
And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great pleasure in burnt offerings and
sacrifices, as when the voice of the Lord is obeyed? Behold, to obey is better
than sacrifice, and to hearken is better than the fat of rams.
23
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and transgression is wickedness and
idolatry. Because thou hast cast away the word of the Lord, therefore he hath
cast away thee from being King.
24
Then Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the
commandment of the Lord, and thy words, because I feared the people, and
obeyed their voice.
25
Now therefore I pray thee, take away my sin, and turn again with me, that I
may worship the Lord.
26
But Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast cast away
the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath cast away thee, that thou shalt not be
King over Israel.
27
And as Samuel turned himself to go away, he caught the lap of his coat, and it
rent.
28
Then Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from
thee this day, and hath given it to thy neighbor, that is better than thou.
29
For indeed the strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man that
he should repent.
30
Then he said, I have sinned: but honor me, I pray thee, before the Elders of
my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord
thy God.
31
So Samuel turned again, and followed Saul: and Saul worshipped the Lord.
32
Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag ye King of the Amalekites: and
Agag came unto him pleasantly, and Agag said, Truly the bitterness of death is
passed.
33
And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy
mother be childless among other women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces
before the Lord in Gilgal.
34
So Samuel departed to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of
Saul.
35
And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: but Samuel
mourned for Saul, and the Lord repented that he made Saul King over Israel.
1 Samuel 16
1
The Lord then said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I
have cast him away from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil and come, I
will send thee to Ishai the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a King among his
sons.
2
And Samuel said, How can I go? For if Saul shall hear it, he will kill me. Then
the Lord answered, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to do sacrifice
to the Lord.
3
And call Ishai to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do, and thou
shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.
4
So Samuel did that the Lord bade him, and came to Beth-lehem, and the
Elders of the town were astonied at his coming, and said, Comest thou
peaceably?
5
And he answered, Yea: I am come to do sacrifice unto the Lord: sanctify
yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Ishai and his
sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
6
And when they were come, he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s
Anointed is before him.
7
But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, nor on the height
of his stature, because I have refused him: for God seeth not as man seeth: for
man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord beholdeth the heart.
8
Then Ishai called Abinadab, and made him come before Samuel. And he said,
Neither hath the Lord chosen this.
9
Then Ishai made Shammah come. And he said, Neither yet hath the Lord
chosen him.
10
Again Ishai made his seven sons to come before Samuel: and Samuel said
unto Ishai, The Lord hath chosen none of these.
11
Finally, Samuel said unto Ishai, Are there no more children but these? And he
said, There remaineth yet a little one behind, that keepeth the sheep. Then
Samuel said unto Ishai, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down, till he be
come hither.
12
And he sent, and brought him in: and he was ruddy, and of a good
countenance, and comely visage. And the Lord said, Arise, and anoint him: for
this is he.
13
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his
brethren. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David, from that day forward: then
Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
14
But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit sent of the Lord
vexed him.
15
And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, the evil spirit of God vexeth
thee.
16
Let our Lord therefore command thy servants, that are before thee, to seek a
man that is a cunning player upon the harp: that when the evil spirit of God
cometh upon thee, he may play with his hand, and thou mayest be eased.
17
Saul then said unto his servants, Provide me a man, I pray you, that can play
well, and bring him to me.
18
Then answered one of his servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of
Ishai, a Bethlehemite, that can play, and is strong, valiant and a man of war and
wise in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him.
19
Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Ishai, and said, Send me David thy son
which is with the sheep.
20
And Ishai took an ass laden with bread and a flagon of wine and a kid, and
sent them by the hand of David his son unto Saul.
21
And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him very well,
and he was his armor bearer.
22
And Saul sent to Ishai, saying, Let David now remain with me: for he hath
found favor in my sight.
23
And so when the evil spirit of God came upon Saul, David took an harp and
played with his hand, and Saul was refreshed, and was eased: for the evil spirit
departed from him.
1 Samuel 17
1
Now the Philistines gathered their armies to battle, and came together to
Shochoh, which is in Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in the
coast of Dammim.
2
And Saul, and the men of Israel assembled, and pitched in the valley of Elah,
and put themselves in battle array to meet the Philistines.
3
And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a
mountain on the other side: so a valley was between them.
4
Then came a man between them both out of the tents of the Philistines, named
Goliath of Gath: his height was six cubits and an hand breadth,
5
And had an helmet of brass upon his head, and a brigandine upon him: and the
weight of his brigandine was five thousand shekels of brass.
6
And he had boots of brass upon his legs, and a shield of brass upon his
shoulders.
7
And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam: and his spear head
weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.
8
And he stood, and cried against the host of Israel, and said unto them, Why are
ye come to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and you servants to
Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
9
If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I
overcome him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.
10
Also the Philistine said, I defy the host of Israel this day: give me a man, that
we may fight together.
11
When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were
discouraged, and greatly afraid.
12
Now this David was the son of an Ephrathite of Beth-lehem Judah, named
Ishai, which had eight sons: and this man was taken for an old man in the days of
Saul.
13
And the three eldest sons of Ishai went and followed Saul to the battle: and
the names of his three sons that went to battle, were Eliab the Eldest, and the
next Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
14
So David was the least: and the three eldest went after Saul.
15
David also went, but he returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep in Beth-
lehem.
16
And the Philistine drew near in the morning, and evening, and continued forty
days.
17
And Ishai said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an Ephah of this
parched corn, and these ten cakes, and run to the host to thy brethren.
18
Also carry these ten fresh cheeses unto the captain, and look how thy
brethren fare, and receive their pledge.
19
(Then Saul and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah,
fighting with the Philistines)
20
So David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and
took and went as Ishai had commanded him, and came within the compass of
the host: and the host went out in array, and shouted in the battle.
21
For Israel and the Philistines had put themselves in array, army against army.
22
And David left the things, which he bare, under the hands of the keeper of the
carriage, and ran into the host, and came, and asked his brethren how they did.
23
And as he talked with them, behold, the man that was between the two
armies, came up, (whose name was Goliath ye Philistine of Gath) out of the army
of the Philistines, and spake such words, and David heard them.
24
And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, ran away from him, and
were sore afraid.
25
For every man of Israel said, Saw ye not this man that cometh up? Even to
revile Israel is he come up: and to him that killeth him, will the king give great
riches, and will give him his daughter, yea, and make his father’s house free in
Israel.
26
Then David spake to the men that stood with him, and said, What shall be
done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the shame from
Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should revile the host of
the living God?
27
And the people answered him after this manner, saying, Thus shall it be done
to the man that killeth him.
28
And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men, and Eliab
was very angry with David, and said, Why camest thou down hither? And with
whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the
malice of thine heart, that thou art come down to see the battle.
29
Then David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
30
And he departed from him into the presence of another, and spake of the
same manner, and the people answered him according to the former words.
31
And they that heard the words which David spake, rehearsed them before
Saul, which caused him to be brought.
32
So David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail him, because of him: thy servant
will go, and fight with this Philistine.
33
And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight
with him: for thou art a boy, and he is a man of war from his youth.
34
And David answered unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there
came a lion, and likewise a bear, and took a sheep out of the flock,
35
And I went out after him and smote him, and took it out of his mouth: and
when he arose against me, I caught him by the beard, and smote him, and slew
him.
36
So thy servant slew both the lion, and the bear: therefore this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath railed on the host of the living
God.
37
Moreover David said, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion,
and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.
Then Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.
38
And Saul put his raiment upon David, and put an helmet of brass upon his
head, and put a brigandine upon him.
39
Then girded David his sword upon his raiment, and began to go: for he never
proved it: and David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these: for I am not
accustomed. Wherefore David put them off him.
40
Then took he his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of a
brook, and put them in his shepherd’s bag or scrip, and his sling was in his hand,
and he drew near to the Philistine.
41
And the Philistine came and drew near unto David, and the man that bare the
shield went before him.
42
Now when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him: for he
was but young, ruddy, and of a comely face.
43
And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with
staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44
And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the
fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the field.
45
Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a
spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the Name of the Lord of hosts, the
God of the host of Israel, whom thou hast railed upon.
46
This day shall the Lord close thee in mine hand, and I shall smite thee, and
take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the host of the
Philistines this day unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth,
that all the world may know that Israel hath a God,
47
And that all this assembly may know, that the Lord saveth not with sword nor
with spear (for the battle is the Lord’s) and he will give you into our hands.
48
And when the Philistine arose to come and draw near unto David, David
hasted and ran to fight against the Philistine.
49
And David put his hand in his bag, and took out a stone, and slang it, and
smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sticked in his forehead, and he
fell groveling to the earth.
50
So David overcame the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the
Philistine, and slew him, when David had no sword in his hand.
51
Then David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword and drew it
out of his sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. So when the
Philistines saw, that their champion was dead, they fled.
52
And the men of Israel and Judah arose, and shouted, and followed after the
Philistines, until they came to the valley, and unto the gates of Ekron: and the
Philistines fell down wounded by the way of Shaaraim, even to Gath and to
Ekron.
53
And the children of Israel returned from pursuing the Philistines, and spoiled
their tents.
54
And David took the head of ye Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem, and put
his armor in his tent.
55
When Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner the
captain of his host, Abner, whose son is this young man? And Abner answered,
As thy soul liveth, O King, I cannot tell.
56
Then the King said, Enquire thou whose son this young man is.
57
And when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, then Abner
took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
58
And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David
answered, I am the son of thy servant Ishai the Bethlehemite.
1 Samuel 18
1
And when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, the soul of Jonathan
was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him, as his own soul.
2
And Saul took him that day, and would not let him return to his father’s house.
3
Then Jonathan and David made a covenant: for he loved him as his own soul.
4
And Jonathan put off the robe that was upon him, and gave it David, and his
garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.
5
And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely:
so that Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all
the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
6
When they came again, and David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine,
the women came out of all cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet king Saul,
with timbrels, with instruments of joy, and with rebecks.
7
And the women sang by course in their play, and said, Saul hath slain his
thousand, and David his ten thousand.
8
Therefore Saul was exceeding wroth, and the saying displeased him, and he
said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousand, and to me they have ascribed
but a thousand, and what can he have more save the kingdom?
9
Wherefore Saul had an eye on David from that day forward.
10
And on the morrow, the evil spirit of God came upon Saul, and he prophesied
in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand like as at other times,
and there was a spear in Saul’s hand.
11
And Saul took the spear, and said, I will smite David through to the wall. But
David avoided twice out of his presence.
12
And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was
departed from Saul.
13
Therefore Saul put him from him, and made him a captain over a thousand,
and he went out and in before the people.
14
And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways: for the Lord was with him.
15
Wherefore when Saul saw that he was very wise, he was afraid of him.
16
For all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and in before them.
17
Then Saul said to David, Behold mine eldest daughter Merab, her I will give
thee to wife: only be a valiant son unto me, and fight the Lord’s battles: for Saul
thought, Mine hand shall not be upon him, but the hand of the Philistines shall be
upon him.
18
And David answered Saul, What am I? And what is my life, or the family of my
father in Israel, that I should be son in law to the King?
19
Howbeit when Merab Saul’s daughter should have been given to David, she
was given unto Adriel a Meholathite to wife.
20
Then Michal Saul’s daughter loved David: and they shewed Saul, and the
thing pleased him.
21
Therefore Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and
that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to
David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain.
22
And Saul commanded his servants, Speak with David secretly, and say,
Behold, ye King hath a favor to thee, and all his servants love thee: be now
therefore the King’s son in law.
23
And Saul’s servants spake these words in the ears of David. And David said,
Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a King’s son in law, seeing that I am a poor
man and of small reputation?
24
And then Saul’s servants brought him word again, saying, Such words spake
David.
25
And Saul said, This wise shall ye say to David, The King desireth no dowry,
but an hundred foreskin’s of the Philistines, to be avenged of the King’s enemies:
for Saul thought to make David fall into the hands of the Philistines.
26
And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well, to be the
King’s son in law: and the days were not expired.
27
Afterward David arose with his men, and went and slew of the Philistines two
hundred men: and David brought their foreskin’s, and they gave them wholly to
the King that he might be the King’s son in law: therefore Saul gave him Michal
his daughter to wife.
28
Then Saul saw, and understood that the Lord was with David, and that Michal
the daughter of Saul loved him.
29
Then Saul was more and more afraid of David, and Saul became alway
David’s enemy.
30
And when the Princes of the Philistines went forth, at their going forth David
behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was
much set by.
1 Samuel 19
1
Then Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should
kill David: but Jonathan Saul’s son had a great favor to David.
2
And Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father goeth about to slay thee: now
therefore, I pray thee, take heed unto thyself unto the morning, and abide in a
secret place, and hide thyself.
3
And I will go out, and stand by my father in the field where thou art, and will
commune with my father of thee, and I will see what he saith, and will tell thee.
4
And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let
not the King sin against his servant, against David: for he hath not sinned against
thee, but his works have been to thee very good.
5
For he did put his life in danger, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a
great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and thou rejoicedst: wherefore then
wilt thou sin against innocent blood, and slay David without a cause?
6
Then Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan, and Saul sware, As the Lord
liveth, he shall not die.
7
So Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those words, and
Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past.
8
Again the war began, and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and
slew them with a great slaughter, and they fled from him.
9
And the evil spirit of the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house having his
spear in his hand, and David played with his hand.
10
And Saul intended to smite David to the wall with the spear: but he turned
aside out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the spear against the wall: but David
fled, and escaped the same night.
11
Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him
in the morning: and Michal David’s wife told it him, saying, If thou save not thyself
this night, tomorrow thou shalt be slain.
12
So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and
escaped.
13
Then Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow stuffed with
goat’s hair under the head of it, and covered it with a cloth.
14
And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.
15
And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him to me in
the bed, that I may slay him.
16
And when the messengers were come in, behold, an image was in the bed,
with a pillow of goat’s hair under the head of it.
17
And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou mocked me so, and sent away mine
enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me
go, or else I will kill thee.
18
So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all
that Saul had done to him: and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.
19
But one told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.
20
And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw a company of
Prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit
of God fell upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
21
And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied
likewise: again Saul sent the third messengers, and they prophesied also.
22
Then went he himself to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu,
and he asked, and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold,
they be at Naioth in Ramah.
23
And he went thither, even to Naioth in Ramah, and the Spirit of God came
upon him also, and he went prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah.
24
And he stripped off his clothes, and he prophesied also before Samuel, and
fell down naked all that day and all that night: therefore they say, Is Saul also
among the Prophets?
1 Samuel 20
1
And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan,
What have I done? What is mine iniquity? And what sin have I committed before
thy father, that he seeketh my life?
2
And he said unto him, God forbid, thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do
nothing great nor small, but he will shew it me: and why should my father hide
this thing from me? He will not do it.
3
And David sware again and said, Thy father knoweth that I have found grace in
thine eyes: therefore he thinketh, Jonathan shall not know it, lest he be sorry: but
indeed, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me
and death.
4
Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul requireth, that I will do
unto thee.
5
And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the first day of the month,
and I should sit with the King at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the
fields unto the third day at even.
6
If thy father make mention of me, then say, David asked leave of me, that he
might go to Beth-lehem to his own city: for there is a yearly sacrifice for all that
family.
7
And if he say thus, It is well, thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry,
be sure that wickedness is concluded of him.
8
So shalt thou shew mercy unto thy servant: for thou hast joined thy servant into
a covenant of the Lord with thee, and if there be in me iniquity, slay thou me: for
why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?
9
And Jonathan answered, God keep that from thee: for if I knew that
wickedness were concluded of my father to come upon thee, would not I tell it
thee?
10
Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? How shall I know, if thy father
answer thee cruelly?
11
And Jonathan said to David, Come and let us go out into the field: and they
twain went out into the field.
12
Then Jonathan said to David, O Lord God of Israel, when I have groped my
father’s mind tomorrow at this time, or within this three days, and if it be well with
David, and I then send not unto thee, and shew it thee,
13
The Lord do so and much more unto Jonathan: but if my father have mind to
do thee evil, I will shew thee also, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in
peace: and the Lord be with thee as he hath been with my father.
14
Likewise I require not while I live: for I doubt not but thou wilt shew me the
mercy of the Lord, that I die not.
15
But I require that thou cut not off thy mercy from mine house forever: no, not
when the Lord hath destroyed the enemies of David, every one from the earth.
16
So Jonathan made a bond with the house of David, saying, Let the Lord
require it at the hands of David’s enemies.
17
And again Jonathan sware unto David, because he loved him (for he loved
him as his own soul)
18
Then said Jonathan to him, Tomorrow is the first day of the month: and thou
shalt be looked for, for thy place shall be empty.
19
Therefore thou shalt hide thyself three days, then thou shalt go down quickly
and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself, when this matter was in
hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.
20
And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.
21
And after I will send a boy, saying, Go, seek the arrows. If I say unto the boy,
See, the arrows are on this side thee, bring them, and come thou: for it is well
with thee and no hurt, as the Lord liveth.
22
But if I say thus unto the boy, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee, go thy way:
for the Lord hath sent thee away.
23
As touching the thing which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the Lord be
between thee and me forever.
24
So David hid himself in the field: and when the first day of the month came,
the King sat to eat meat.
25
And the King sat, as at other times upon his seat, even upon his seat by the
wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was
empty.
26
And Saul said nothing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him,
though he were clean, or else because he was not purified.
27
But on the morrow which was the second day of the month, David’s place was
empty again: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the
son of Ishai to meat, neither yesterday nor today?
28
And Jonathan answered unto Saul, David required of me, that he might go to
Beth-lehem.
29
For he said, Let me go, I pray thee: for our family offereth a sacrifice in the
city, and my brother hath sent for me: therefore now if I have found favor in thine
eyes, let me go, I pray thee, and see my brethren: this is the cause that he
cometh not unto the King’s table.
30
Then was Saul angry with Jonathan, and said unto him, Thou son of the
wicked rebellious woman, do not I know, that thou hast chosen the son of Ishai to
thy confusion, and to the confusion and shame of thy mother?
31
For as long as the son of Ishai liveth upon the earth, thou shalt not be
established, nor thy kingdom: wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he
shall surely die.
32
And Jonathan answered unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore
shall he die? What hath he done?
33
And Saul cast a spear at him to hit him, whereby Jonathan knew, that it was
determined of his father to slay David.
34
So Jonathan arose from the table in a great anger, and did eat no meat the
second day of the month: for he was sorry for David, and because his father had
reviled him.
35
On the next morning therefore Jonathan then went out into the field, at the
time appointed with David, and a little boy with him.
36
And he said unto his boy, Run now, seek the arrows which I shoot, and as the
boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
37
And when the boy was come to the place where the arrow was that Jonathan
had shot, Jonathan cried after the boy, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?
38
And Jonathan cried after the boy, Make speed, haste and stand not still: and
Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows, and came to his master,
39
But the boy knew nothing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40
Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows unto the boy that was with him, and
said unto him, Go, carry them into the city.
41
As soon as the boy was gone, David arose out of a place that was toward the
South, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and
they kissed one another, and wept both twain, till David exceeded.
42
Therefore Jonathan said to David, Go in peace: that which we have sworn
both of us in the Name of the Lord, saying, The Lord be between me and thee,
and between my seed and between thy seed, let it stand forever.
43
And he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
1 Samuel 21
1
Then came David to Nob, to Ahimelech the Priest, and Ahimelech was
astonied at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no
man with thee?
2
And David said to Ahimelech the Priest, The King hath commanded me a
certain thing, and hath said unto me, Let no man know where about I send thee,
and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such
and such places.
3
Now therefore if thou hast ought under thine hand, give me five cakes of bread,
or what cometh to hand.
4
And the Priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under
mine hand, but here is hallowed bread, if the young men have kept themselves,
at least from women.
5
David then answered the Priest, and said unto him, Certainly women have
been separate from us these two or three days since I came out: and the vessels
of the young men were holy, though the way were profane, and how much more
then shall every one be sanctified this day in the vessel?
6
So the Priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there, save the
shewbread that was taken from before the Lord, to put hot bread there, the day
that it was taken away.
7
(And there was the same day one of the servants of Saul abiding before the
Lord, named Doeg the Edomite, the chiefest of Saul’s heardmen)
8
And David said unto Ahimelech, Is there not here under thine hand a spear or a
sword? For I have neither brought my sword nor mine harness with me, because
the King’s business required haste.
9
And the Priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in
the valley of Elah, behold, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the Ephod: if thou wilt
take that to thee, take it: for there is none other save that here: And David said,
There is none to that, give it me.
10
And David arose and fled the same day from the presence of Saul, and went
to Achish the King of Gath.
11
And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the King of the
land? Did they not sing unto him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousand,
and David his ten thousand?
12
And David considered these words, and was sore afraid of Achish the King of
Gath.
13
And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their
hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon
his beard.
14
Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is beside himself,
wherefore have ye brought him to me?
15
Have I need of madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman
in my presence? Shall he come into mine house?
1 Samuel 22
1
David therefore departed thence, and saved himself in the cave of Adullam:
and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither
to him.
2
And there gathered unto him all men that were in trouble and all men that were
in debt, and all those that were vexed in mind, and he was their prince, and there
were with him about four hundred men.
3
And David went thence to Mizpeh in Moab, and said unto the King of Moab, I
pray thee, let my father and my mother come and abide with you, till I know what
God will do for me.
4
And he brought them before the King of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the
while that David was in the hold.
5
And the Prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold, but depart and go
into the land of Judah. Then David departed and came into the forest of Hareth.
6
And Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him,
and Saul remained in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his
hand, and all his servants stood about him.
7
And Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye sons of
Jemini, will the son of Ishai give every one of you fields and vineyards: will he
make you all captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds:
8
That all ye have conspired against me, and there is none that telleth me that
my son hath made a covenant with the son of Ishai? And there is none of you
that is sorry for me, or sheweth me, that my son hath stirred up my servant to lie
in wait against me, as appeareth this day?
9
Then answered Doeg the Edomite (who was appointed over the servants of
Saul) and said, I saw the son of Ishai when he came to Nob, to Ahimelech the
son of Ahitub,
10
Who asked counsel of the Lord for him and gave him vitailles, and he gave
him also the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
11
Then the King sent to call Ahimelech the Priest the son of Ahitub, and all his
father’s house, to wit, the Priests that were in Nob: and they came all to the King.
12
And Saul said, Hear now thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my
lord.
13
Then Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the
son of Ishai, in that thou hast given him vitaille, and a sword, and hast asked
counsel of God for him, that he should rise against me, and lie in wait as
appeareth this day?
14
And Ahimelech answered the King, and said, Who is so faithful among all thy
servants as David, being also the King’s son in law, and goeth at thy
commandment, and is honorable in thine house?
15
Have I this day first begun to ask counsel of God for him? Be it far from me, let
not the King impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father:
for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less nor more.
16
Then the King said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father’s
house.
17
And the King said unto the sergeants that stood about him, Turn, and slay the
Priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they
knew when he fled, and shewed it not unto me. But the servants of the King
would not move their hands to fall upon the Priests of the Lord.
18
Then the King said to Doeg, Turn thou and fall upon the Priests. And Doeg the
Edomite turned, and ran upon the Priests, and slew that same day four score and
five persons that did wear a linen Ephod.
19
Also Nob the city of the Priests smote he with the edge of the sword, both man
and woman, both child and suckling, both ox and ass, and sheep with the edge
of the sword.
20
But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub (whose name was
Abiathar) escaped and fled after David.
21
And Abiathar shewed David, that Saul had slain the Lord’s Priests.
22
And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it the same day, when Doeg the Edomite
was there, that he would tell Saul. I am the cause of the death of all the persons
of thy father’s house.
23
Abide thou with me, and fear not: for he that seeketh my life, shall seek thy life
also: for with me thou shalt be in safeguard.
1 Samuel 23
1
Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and
spoil the barns.
2
Therefore David asked counsel of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and smite these
Philistines? And the Lord answered David, Go and smite the Philistines, and
save Keilah.
3
And David’s men said unto him, See, we be afraid here in Judah, how much
more if we come to Keilah against the host of ye Philistines?
4
Then David asked counsel of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, and
said, Arise, go down to Keilah: for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
5
So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and
brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter: thus David
saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
6
(And when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, he brought an
Ephod with him)
7
And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah, and Saul said, God hath
delivered him into mine hand: for he is shut in, seeing he is come into a city that
hath gates and bars.
8
Then Saul called all the people together to war, for to go down to Keilah, and to
besiege David and his men.
9
And David having knowledge that Saul imagined mischief against him, said to
Abiathar the Priest, Bring the Ephod.
10
Then said David, O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath heard, that Saul is
about to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake.
11
Will the lords of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? And will Saul come down,
as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant.
And the Lord said, He will come down.
12
Then said David, Will the lords of Keilah deliver me up, and the men that are
with me, into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up.
13
Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose, and departed
out of Keilah, and went whither they could. And it was told Saul, that David was
fled from Keilah, and he left off his journey.
14
And David abode in the wilderness in holds, and remained in a mountain in
the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him
not into his hand.
15
And David saw that Saul was come out for to seek his life: and David was in
the wilderness of Ziph in the wood.
16
And Jonathan Saul’s son arose and went to David into the wood, and
comforted him in God,
17
And said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee,
and thou shalt be King over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee: and also Saul
my father knoweth it.
18
So they twain made a covenant before ye Lord: and David did remain in the
wood: but Jonathan went to his house.
19
Then came up the Ziphims to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doeth not David hide
himself by us in holds, in the wood in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the right
side of Jeshimon?
20
Now therefore, O King, come down according to all that thine heart can desire,
and our part shall be to deliver him into the King’s hands.
21
Then Saul said, Be ye blessed of the Lord: for ye have had compassion on
me.
22
Go, I pray you, and prepare ye yet better: know and see his place where he
haunteth, and who hath seen him there: for it is said to me, He is subtil, and
crafty.
23
See therefore and know all the secret places where he hideth himself, and
come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and if he be in the
land, I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.
24
Then they arose and went to Ziph before Saul, but David and his men were in
the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the right hand of Jeshimon.
25
Saul also and his men went to seek him, and they told David: wherefore he
came down unto a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul
heard that, he followed after David in the wilderness of Maon.
26
And Saul and his men went on the one side of the mountain, and David and
his men on the other side of the mountain: and David made haste to get from the
presence of Saul: for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round
about, to take them.
27
But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come: for the
Philistines have invaded the land.
28
Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the
Philistines. Therefore they called that place, Sela-hammahlekoth.
1 Samuel 24
1
And David went thence, and dwelt in holds at En-gedi.
2
When Saul was turned from ye Philistines, they told him, saying, Behold, David
is in the wilderness of En-gedi.
3
Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek
David and his men upon the rocks among the wild goats.
4
And he came to the sheepcotes by the way where there was a cave, and Saul
went in to do his easement: and David and his men sat in the inward parts of the
cave.
5
And the men of David said unto him, See, the day is come, whereof the Lord
said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, and thou shalt
do to him as it shall seem good to thee. Then David arose and cut off the lap of
Saul’s garment privily.
6
And afterward David was touched in his heart, because he had cut off the lap
which was on Saul’s garment.
7
And he said unto his men, The Lord keep me from doing that thing unto my
master the Lord’s Anointed, to lay mine hand upon him: for he is the Anointed of
the Lord.
8
So David overcame his servants with these words, and suffered them not to
arise against Saul: so Saul rose up out of the cave and went away.
9
David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul,
saying, O my lord the King. And when Saul looked behind him, David inclined his
face to the earth, and bowed himself.
10
And David said to Saul, Wherefore givest thou an ear to men’s words, that
say, Behold, David seeketh evil against thee?
11
Behold, this day thine eyes have seen, that the Lord had delivered thee this
day into mine hand in the cave, and some bade me kill thee, but I had
compassion on thee, and said, I will not lay mine hand on my master: for he is
the Lord’s Anointed.
12
Moreover my father, behold: behold, I say, the lap of thy garment in mine
hand: for when I cut off the lap of thy garment, I killed thee not. Understand and
see, that there is neither evil nor wickedness in me, neither have I sinned against
thee, yet thou huntest after my soul to take it.
13
The Lord be judge between thee and me, and the Lord avenge me of thee,
and let not mine hand be upon thee.
14
According as the old proverb saith, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked,
but mine hand be not upon thee.
15
After whom is the King of Israel come out? After whom doest thou pursue?
After a dead dog, and after a flea?
16
The Lord therefore be judge, and judge between thee and me, and see, and
plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.
17
When David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, Is
this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept,
18
And said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rendered me
good, and I have rendered thee evil.
19
And thou hast shewed this day, that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch
as when the Lord had closed me in thine hands, thou killedst me not.
20
For who shall find his enemy, and let him depart free? Wherefore the Lord
render thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day.
21
For now behold, I know that thou shalt be King, and that the kingdom of Israel
shall be established in thine hand.
22
Swear now therefore unto me by the Lord, that thou wilt not destroy my seed
after me, and that thou wilt not abolish my name out of my father’s house.
23
So David sware unto Saul, and Saul went home: but David and his men went
up unto ye hold.
1 Samuel 25
1
Then Samuel died, and all Israel assembled, and mourned for him, and buried
him in his own house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the
wilderness of Paran.
2
Now in Maon was a man, who had his possession in Carmel, and the man was
exceeding mighty and had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he
was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3
The name also of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and
she was a woman of singular wisdom, and beautiful, but the man was churlish,
and evil conditioned, and was of the family of Caleb.
4
And David heard in the wilderness, that Nabal did shear his sheep.
5
Therefore David sent ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Go
up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and ask him in my name how he doeth.
6
And thus shall ye say for salutation, Both thou, and thine house, and all that
thou hast, be in peace, wealth and prosperity.
7
Behold, I have heard, that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds were with us,
and we did them no hurt, neither did they miss anything all the while they were in
Carmel.
8
Ask thy servants and they will shew thee. Wherefore let these young men find
favor in thine eyes: (for we come in a good season) give, I pray thee, whatsoever
cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
9
And when David’s young men came, they told Nabal all those words in the
name of David, and held their peace.
10
Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? And who is
the son of Ishai? There be many servants now a days, that break away every
man from his master.
11
Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for
my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
12
So David’s servants turned their way, and went again, and came, and told him
all those things.
13
And David said unto his men, Gird every man his sword about him. And they
girded every man his sword: David also girded his sword. And about four
hundred men went up after David, and two hundred abode by the carriage.
14
Now one of the servants told Abigail Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent
messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed on them.
15
Notwithstanding the men were very good unto us, and we had no displeasure,
neither missed we anything as long as we were conversant with them, when we
were in the fields.
16
They were as a wall unto us both by night and by day, all the while we were
with them keeping sheep.
17
Now therefore take heed, and see what thou shalt do: for evil will surely come
upon our master, and upon all his family: for he is so wicked that a man cannot
speak to him.
18
Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred cakes, and two bottles of
wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an
hundred frails of raisins, and two hundred of figs, and laid them on asses.
19
Then she said unto her servants, Go ye before me: behold, I will come after
you: yet she told not her husband Nabal.
20
And as she rode on her ass, she came down by a secret place of the
mountain, and behold, David and his men came down against her, and she met
them.
21
And David said, Indeed I have kept all in vain that this fellow had in the
wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: for he hath
requited me evil for good.
22
So and more also do God unto the enemies of David: for surely I will not leave
of all that he hath, by the dawning of the day, any that pisseth against the wall.
23
And when Abigail saw David, she hasted and lighted off her ass, and fell
before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
24
And fell at his feet, and said, Oh, my lord, I have committed the iniquity, and I
pray thee, let thine handmaid speak to thee, and hear thou the words of thine
handmaid.
25
Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this wicked man Nabal: for as his name is,
so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not
the young men of my lord whom thou sentest.
26
Now therefore my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth (the Lord, I
say, that hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and that thine hand
should not save thee) so now thine enemies shall be as Nabal, and they that
intend to do my lord evil.
27
And now, this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it
be given unto the young men, that follow my lord.
28
I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will make my
lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and none evil
hath been found in thee in all thy life.
29
Yet a man hath risen up to persecute thee, and to seek thy soul, but the soul
of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God: and the soul
of thine enemies shall God cast out, as out of the middle of a sling.
30
And when the Lord shall have done to my lord all the good that he hath
promised thee, and shall have made thee ruler over Israel,
31
Then shall it be no grief unto thee, nor offence of mind unto my lord, that he
hath not shed blood causeless, nor that my lord hath not preserved himself: and
when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, remember thine handmaid.
32
Then David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee
this day to meet me.
33
And blessed be thy counsel, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day
from coming to shed blood, and that mine hand hath not saved me.
34
For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, who hath kept me back from
hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and met me, surely there had not been
left unto Nabal by the dawning of the day, any that pisseth against the wall.
35
Then David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said to
her, Go up in peace to thine house: behold, I have heard thy voice, and have
granted thy petition.
36
So Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he made a feast in his house, like the
feast of a King, and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken:
wherefore she told him nothing, neither less nor more, until the morning arose.
37
Then in the morning when the wine was gone out of Nabal, his wife told him
those words, and his heart died within him, and he was like a stone.
38
And about ten days after, the Lord smote Nabal, that he died.
39
Now when David heard, that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord
that hath judged the cause of my rebuke of ye hand of Nabal, and hath kept his
servant from evil: for the Lord hath recompensed the wickedness of Nabal upon
his own head. Also David sent to commune with Abigail to take her to his wife.
40
And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake
unto her, saying, David sent us to thee, to take thee to his wife.
41
And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold,
let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
42
And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, and her five maids
followed her, and she went after the messengers of David, and was his wife.
43
David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they were both his wives.
44
Now Saul had given Michal his daughter David’s wife to Phalti the son of
Laish, which was of Gallim.
1 Samuel 26
1
Again the Ziphims came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doeth not David hide
himself in the hill of Hachilah before Jeshimon?
2
Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three
thousand chosen men of Israel with him, for to seek David in the wilderness of
Ziph.
3
And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon by the
wayside. Now David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after
him into the wilderness.
4
(For David had sent out spies, and understood, that Saul was come in very
deed)
5
Then David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched, and when
David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner which was his
chief captain, (for Saul lay in the fort, and the people pitched round about him)
6
Then spake David, and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of
Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the host?
Then Abishai said, I will go down with thee.
7
So David and Abishai came down to the people by night: and behold, Saul lay
sleeping within the fort, and his spear did stick in the ground at his head: and
Abner and the people lay round about him.
8
Then said Abishai to David, God hath closed thine enemy into thine hand this
day: now therefore, I pray thee, let me smite him once with a spear to the earth,
and I will not smite him again.
9
And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can lay his hand on the
Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?
10
Moreover David said, As the Lord liveth, either the Lord shall smite him, or his
day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle, and perish.
11
The Lord keep me from laying mine hand upon the Lord’s anointed: but, I pray
thee, take now the spear that is at his head, and the pot of water, and let us go
hence.
12
So David took the spear and the pot of water from Saul’s head, and they got
them away, and no man saw it, nor marked it, neither did any awake, but they
were all asleep: for the Lord had sent a dead sleep upon them.
13
Then David went unto the other side, and stood on the top of an hill afar off, a
great space being between them.
14
And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Hearest
thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered, and said, Who art thou that cryest to the
King?
15
And David said to Abner, Art not thou a man? And who is like thee in Israel?
Wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the King? For there came one of the
folk in to destroy the King thy lord.
16
This is not well done of thee: as the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because
ye have not kept your master the Lord’s Anointed: and now see where the King’s
spear is, and the pot of water that was at his head.
17
And Saul knew David’s voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And
David said, It is my voice, my lord O King.
18
And he said, Wherefore doeth my lord thus persecute his servant? For what
have I done? Or what evil is in mine hand?
19
Now therefore, I beseech thee, let my lord the King hear the words of his
servant. If the Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him smell the savor of a
sacrifice: but if the children of men have done it, cursed be they before the Lord:
for they have cast me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord,
saying, Go, serve other gods.
20
Now therefore let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord: for
the King of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as one would hunt a partridge in the
mountains.
21
Then said Saul, I have sinned: come again, my son David: for I will do thee no
more harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have
done foolishly, and have erred exceedingly.
22
Then David answered, and said, Behold the King’s spear, let one of the young
men come over and fetch it.
23
And let the Lord reward every man according to his righteousness and
faithfulness: for the Lord had delivered thee into mine hands this day, but I would
not lay mine hand upon the Lord’s anointed.
24
And behold, like as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes: so let my
life be set by in the eyes of the Lord, that he may deliver me out of all tribulation.
25
Then Saul said to David, Blessed art thou, my son David: for thou shalt do
great things, and also prevail. So David went his way, and Saul returned to his
place.
1 Samuel 27
1
And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: is it
not better for me that I save myself in the land of the Philistines, and that Saul
may have no hope of me to seek me anymore in all the coasts of Israel, and so
escape out of his hand?
2
David therefore arose, and he, and the six hundred men that were with him,
went unto Achish the son of Maoch King of Gath.
3
And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he, and his men, every man with his
household, David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite, and Abigail Nabal’s
wife the Carmelite.
4
And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: so he sought no more for him.
5
And David said unto Achish, If I have now found peace in thine eyes, let them
give me a place in some other city of the country, that I may dwell there: for why
should thy servant dwell in ye head city of the kingdom with thee?
6
Then Achish gave him Ziklag that same day: therefore Ziklag pertaineth unto
the kings of Judah unto this day.
7
And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines, was four months
and certain days.
8
Then David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the
Girzites, and the Amalekites: for they inhabited the land from the beginning, from
the way, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.
9
And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took
sheep, and oxen, and asses, and camels, and apparel, and returned and came
to Achish.
10
And Achish said, Where have ye been a roving this day? And David
answered, Against the South of Judah, and against the South of the
Jerahmeelites, and against the South of ye Kenites.
11
And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring them to Gath, saying,
Lest they should tell on us, and say, So did David, and so will be his manner all
the while that he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.
12
And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people of Israel utterly
to abhor him: therefore he shall be my servant forever.
1 Samuel 28
1
Now at that time the Philistines assembled their bands and army to fight with
Israel: therefore Achish said to David, Be sure, thou shalt go out with me to the
battle, thou, and thy men.
2
And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know, what thy servant can do.
And Achish said to David, Surely I will make thee keeper of mine head forever.
3
(Samuel was then dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in
Ramah his own city: and Saul had put away the sorcerers, and the soothsayers
out of the land)
4
Then the Philistines assembled themselves, and came, and pitched in
Shunem: and Saul assembled all Israel, and they pitched in Gilboa.
5
And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart was
sore astonied.
6
Therefore Saul asked counsel of the Lord, and the Lord answered him not,
neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor yet by Prophets.
7
Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit,
that I may go to her, and ask of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there
is a woman at En-dor that hath a familiar spirit.
8
Then Saul changed himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two
men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee,
conjecture unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up whom I shall name
unto thee.
9
And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how
he hath destroyed the sorcerers, and the soothsayers out of the land: wherefore
then seekest thou to take me in a snare to cause me to die?
10
And Saul sware to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, no harm shall
come to thee for this thing.
11
Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he answered,
Bring me up Samuel.
12
And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice, and the
woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? For thou art Saul.
13
And the King said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the
woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending up out of the earth.
14
Then he said unto her, What fashion is he of? And she answered, An old man
cometh up lapped in a mantel: and Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he inclined
his face to the ground, and bowed himself.
15
And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? Then
Saul answered, I am in great distress: for the Philistines make war against me,
and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by Prophets,
neither by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest tell me, what I
shall do.
16
Then said Samuel, Wherefore then doest thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is
gone from thee, and is thine enemy?
17
Even the Lord hath done to him, as he spake by mine hand: for the Lord will
rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and give it thy neighbor David.
18
Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his fierce
wrath upon the Amalekites, therefore hath the Lord done this unto thee this day.
19
Moreover the Lord will deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines:
and tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me, and the Lord shall give the
host of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.
20
Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid because
of the words of Samuel, so that there was no strength in him: for he had eaten no
bread all the day nor all the night.
21
Then the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and
said unto him, See, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my
soul in mine hand, and have obeyed thy words which thou saidest unto me.
22
Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto ye voice of thine handmaid,
and let me set a morsel of bread before thee, that thou mayest eat and get thee
strength, and go on thy journey.
23
But he refused, and said, I will not eat: but his servants and the woman
together compelled him, and he obeyed their voice: so he arose from the earth,
and sat on the bed.
24
Now the woman had a fat calf in the house, and she hasted, and killed it, and
took flour and kneaded it, and baked of it unleavened bread.
25
Then she brought them before Saul, and before his servants: and when they
had eaten, they stood, and went away the same night.
1 Samuel 29
1
So the Philistines were gathered together with all their armies in Aphek: and
the Israelites pitched by the fountain, which is in Jezreel.
2
And the princes of the Philistines went forth by hundreds and thousands, but
David and his men came behind with Achish.
3
Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And
Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David the servant of
Saul the King of Israel, who hath been with me these days, or these years, and I
have found nothing in him, since he dwelt with me unto this day?
4
But the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him, and the princes of the
Philistines said unto him, Send this fellow back, that he may go again to his place
which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest that
in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he obtain the favor of
his master? Should it not be with the heads of these men?
5
Is not this David, of whom they sang in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousand,
and David his ten thousand?
6
Then Achish called David, and said unto him, As the Lord liveth, thou hast
been upright and good in my sight, when thou wentest out and in with me in the
host, neither have I found evil with thee, since thou camest to me unto this day,
but the princes do not favor thee.
7
Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the princes of
the Philistines.
8
And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? And what hast thou found
in thy servant as long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go
and fight against the enemies of my lord the King?
9
Achish then answered, and said to David, I know thou pleasest me, as an
Angel of God: but the princes of the Philistines have said, Let him not go up with
us to battle.
10
Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master’s servants that are
come with thee: and when ye be up early, as soon as ye have light, depart.
11
So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, and to return
into the land of the Philistines: and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
1 Samuel 30
1
But when David and his men were come to Ziklag the third day, the Amalekites
had invaded upon the South, even unto Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, and burnt
it with fire,
2
And had taken the women that were therein, prisoners, both small and great,
and slew not a man, but carried them away, and went their ways.
3
So David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burnt with fire, and
their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were taken prisoners.
4
Then David and the people that was with him, lifted up their voices and wept,
until they could weep no more.
5
David’s two wives were taken prisoners also, Ahinoam the Jezreelite, and
Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
6
And David was in great sorrow: for the people intended to stone him, because
the hearts of all the people were vexed every man for his sons and for his
daughters: but David comforted himself in the Lord his God.
7
And David said to Abiathar the Priest Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me
the Ephod. And Abiathar brought the Ephod to David.
8
Then David asked counsel at the Lord, saying, Shall I follow after this
company? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Follow: for thou shalt
surely overtake them, and recover all.
9
So David and the six hundred men that were with him, went, and came to the
river Besor, where a part of them abode:
10
But David and four hundred men followed (for two hundred abode behind,
being too weary to go over the river Besor)
11
And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave
him bread and he did eat, and they gave him water to drink.
12
Also they gave him a few figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had
eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any
water in three days, and three nights.
13
And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? And whence art thou?
And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, and servant to an Amalekite: and my
master left me three days ago, because I fell sick.
14
We roved upon the South of Chereth, and upon the coast belonging to Judah,
and upon the South of Caleb, and we burnt Ziklag with fire.
15
And David said unto him, Canst thou bring me to this company? And he said,
Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the
hands of my master, and I will bring thee to this company.
16
And when he had brought him thither, behold, they lay scattered abroad upon
all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great prey that
they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
17
And David smote them from the twilight, even unto the evening of the next
morrow, so that there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men,
which rode upon camels, and fled.
18
And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken: also David rescued his
two wives.
19
And they lacked nothing, small or great, son or daughter, or of the spoil of all
that they had taken away: David recovered them all.
20
David also took all the sheep, and the oxen, and they drave them before his
cattle, and said, This is David’s prey.
21
And David came to the two hundred men that were too weary for to follow
David: whom they had made also to abide at the river Besor: and they came to
meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: so when David came
near to the people, he saluted them.
22
Then answered all the evil and wicked of the men that went with David, and
said, Because they went not with us, therefore will we give them none of the prey
that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children: therefore let
them carry them away and depart.
23
Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord
hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came
against us, into our hands.
24
For who will obey you in this matter? But as his part is that goeth down to the
battle, so shall his part be, that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.
25
So from that day forward he made it a statute and a law in Israel, until this day.
26
When David therefore came to Ziklag, he sent of the prey unto the Elders of
Judah and to his friends, saying, See there is a blessing for you of the spoil of the
enemies of the Lord.
27
He sent to them of Beth-el, and to them of South Ramoth, and to them of
Jattir,
28
And to them of Aroer, and to them of Siphmoth, and to them of Eshtemoa,
29
And to them of Rachal, and to them of the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to
them of the cities of the Kenites,
30
And to them of Hormah, and to them of Chor-ashan, and to them of Athach,
31
And to them of Hebron, and to all the places where David and his men had
haunted.
1 Samuel 31
1
Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled away from
ye Philistines, and they fell down wounded in mount Gilboa.
2
And the Philistines pressed sore upon Saul and his sons, and slew Jonathan,
and Abinadab, and Malchishua Saul’s sons.
3
And when the battle went sore against Saul, the archers and bowmen hit him,
and he was sore wounded of the archers.
4
Then said Saul unto his armor bearer, Draw out thy sword, and thrust me
through therewith, lest the uncircumcised come and thrust me through and mock
me: but his armor bearer would not, for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a
sword and fell upon it.
5
And when his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his
sword, and died with him.
6
So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor bearer, and all his men that
same day together.
7
And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they
of the other side Jordan saw that the men of Israel were put to flight, and that
Saul and his sons were dead, then they left the cities, and ran away: and the
Philistines came and dwelt in them.
8
And on the morrow when the Philistines were come to spoil them that were
slain, they found Saul and his three sons lying in mount Gilboa,
9
And they cut off his head, and stripped him out of his armor, and sent into the
land of ye Philistines on every side, that they should publish it in the temple of
their idols, and among the people.
10
And they laid up his armor in the house of Ashteroth, but they hanged up his
body on the wall of Beth-shan.
11
When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard, what the Philistines had done to
Saul,
12
Then they arose (as many as were strong men) and went all night, and took
the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Beth-shan, and
came to Jabesh, and burnt them there,
13
And took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted
seven days.