1 There was a man from Ramatayim-Tzofim, in the hills of Efrayim, whose name was Elkanah the son of Yerocham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tochu, the son of Tzuf, from Efrat.
2 He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other P'ninah. P'ninah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3 This man went up from his city every year to worship and sacrifice to ADONAI-Tzva'ot in Shiloh. The two sons of 'Eli, Hofni and Pinchas, were cohanim of ADONAI there.
4 One day, when Elkanah was sacrificing, he gave a portion of the sacrifice to his wife P'ninah and portions to each of her sons and daughters;
5 but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved Hannah, even though ADONAI had kept her from having children.
6 Her rival taunted her and made her feel bad, because ADONAI had kept her from having children.
7 He did the same every year; and each time she went up to the house of ADONAI, she taunted her so much that she would cry and not eat.
8 Her husband Elkanah said to her, 'Hannah, why are you crying, and why aren't you eating? Why be so sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?'
9 So Hannah got up after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. 'Eli the cohen was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of the temple of ADONAI.
10 In deep depression she prayed to ADONAI and cried.
11 Then she took a vow; she said, 'ADONAI-Tzva'ot, if you will notice how humiliated your servant is, if you will remember me and not forget your servant but will give your servant a male child, then I will give him to ADONAI for as long as he lives; and no razor will ever come on his head.'
12 She prayed for a long time before ADONAI; and as she did so, 'Eli was watching her mouth.
13 Hannah was speaking in her heart - her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard -so 'Eli thought she was drunk.
14 'Eli said to her, 'How long are you going to stay drunk? Stop drinking your wine!'
15 But Hannah answered, 'No, my lord, I am a very unhappy woman. I have not drunk either wine or other strong liquor; rather, I've been pouring out my soul before ADONAI.
16 Don't think of your servant as a worthless woman; because I have been speaking from the depth of my distress and anger.'
17 Then 'Eli replied, 'Go in peace. May the God of Isra'el grant what you have asked of him.'
18 She replied, 'May your servant find favor in your sight.' So the woman went on her way, and she ate, and her face was no longer sad.
19 They got up early in the morning and worshipped before ADONAI, then returned and came to their house in Ramah. Elkanah had sexual relations with Hannah his wife, and ADONAI remembered her.
20 She conceived; and in due time she gave birth to a son, whom she named Sh'mu'el, 'because I asked ADONAI for him.' 'Sh'mu'el' is derived from shem El, 'name of God,' but sounds like sha'ul me'el, 'asked from God.'
21 The husband, Elkanah, went up with all his household to offer the yearly sacrifice to ADONAI and fulfill his vow.
22 But Hannah did not go up, explaining to her husband, 'Not till the child has been weaned. Then I will bring him, so that he can appear before ADONAI and live there forever.'
23 Her husband Elkanah answered her, 'Do what seems good to you; stay here until you have weaned him. Only may ADONAI bring about what he said.' So the woman stayed behind and nursed the child, until she weaned him.
24 After weaning him, she took him up with her, along with three young bulls, a bushel of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of ADONAI in Shiloh, even though he was just a child.
25 After the bull had been slaughtered, the child was brought to 'Eli;
26 and she said, 'My lord, as sure as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here near you, praying to ADONAI.
27 I prayed for this child, and ADONAI has granted the request I asked of him.
28 Therefore, I too have loaned him to ADONAI - as long as he lives, he is on loan to ADONAI.'And he prostrated himself there before ADONAI.
1 Then Hannah prayed; she said: 'My heart exults in ADONAI! My dignity has been restored by ADONAI! I can gloat over my enemies, because of my joy at your saving me.
2 'No one is as holy as ADONAI, because there is none to compare with you, no rock like our God.
3 'Stop your proud boasting! Don't let arrogance come from your mouth! For ADONAI is a God of knowledge, and he appraises actions.
4 The bows of the mighty are broken, while the feeble are armed with strength.
5 The well-fed hire themselves for bread, while those who were hungry hunger no more. The barren woman has borne seven, while the mother of many wastes away.
6 'ADONAI kills and makes alive; he brings down to the grave, and he brings up.
7 ADONAI makes poor, and he makes rich; he humbles, and he exalts.
8 He raises the poor from the dust, lifts up the needy from the trash pile; he gives them a place with leaders and assigns them seats of honor. 'For the earth's pillars belong to ADONAI; on them he has placed the world.
9 He will guard the steps of his faithful, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. For it is not by strength that a person prevails -
10 those who fight ADONAI will be shattered; he will thunder against them in heaven ADONAI will judge the ends of the earth. He will strengthen his king and enhance the power of his anointed.'
11 Elkanah went home to Ramah, while the child began ministering to ADONAI under the direction of 'Eli the cohen.
12 'Eli's sons were scoundrels who had no regard for ADONAI.
13 The rule these cohanim followed in dealing with the people was that when anyone offered a sacrifice, the cohen's servant would come, while the meat was stewing, with a three-pronged fork in his hand.
14 He would stick it in the pan, kettle, caldron or pot; and the cohen would take for himself whatever the fork brought up. This is how they dealt with all the people of Isra'el who came there to Shiloh.
15 The cohen's servant would actually come before the fat had burned to smoke and say to the man who was sacrificing, 'Give the cohen meat he can roast; because he doesn't want your meat stewed, but raw.'
16 If the man answered, 'First let the fat burn to smoke, then take as much as you want,' he would say, 'No, give it to me now, or I'll take it by force.'
17 The sin of these young men was very serious in ADONAI's view, because they treated offerings made to ADONAI with contempt.
18 But Sh'mu'el ministered in the presence of ADONAI, wearing a linen ritual vest even though he was only a child.
19 Each year his mother would make him a little coat and bring it when she came up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.
20 'Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, 'May ADONAI give you children from this woman because of the boy you have loaned to ADONAI'; then they would go home.
21 So ADONAI took notice of Hannah, and she conceived and bore three more sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Sh'mu'el grew in the presence of ADONAI.
22 When 'Eli was very old, he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Isra'el, and that they were having sex with the women doing service at the door of the tent of meeting.
23 He asked them, 'Why are you doing things like this? I am hearing bad reports about you from all these people.
24 No, my sons, I don't hear ADONAI's people spreading a single good report!
25 If a person commits a sin against another person, the judges can mediate between them. But if a person commits a sin against ADONAI, who can intercede for him?' However, they wouldn't pay attention to what their father said, because ADONAI had decided to kill them.
26 The child Sh'mu'el kept growing and gaining favor both with ADONAI and with people.
27 A man of God came to 'Eli and told him, 'Here is what ADONAI says: 'Didn't I reveal myself to your ancestor's clan when they were in Egypt, serving as slaves in Pharaoh's household?
28 Didn't I choose him out of all the tribes of Isra'el to be my cohen, go up to my altar, burn incense and wear a ritual vest in my presence? Didn't I assign to your ancestor's clan all the offerings of the people of Isra'el made by fire?
29 So why are you showing such disrespect for my sacrifices and offerings, which I ordered to be made at my dwelling? Why do you show more honor to your sons than to me, making yourselves fat with the choicest parts of all the offerings of Isra'el my people?'
30 'Therefore ADONAI the God of Isra'el says, 'I did indeed say that your family and your father's family would walk in my presence forever.' But now ADONAI says, 'Forget it! I respect those who respect me, but those who despise me will meet with contempt.
31 The day is coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's family, so that no one in your family will live to old age.
32 At a time when Isra'el is prospering, you will see a rival in my Dwelling; and never will anyone in your family live to old age.
33 Still, I won't cut off every one of your men from my altar; because that would make your eyes grow dim, and you would waste away. Nevertheless, all your descendants will die young.
34 Your sign that this will occur will be what happens to your two sons Hofni and Pinchas - they will both die on the same day.
35 I will raise up for myself a faithful cohen who will do what I want and what I intend. I will make his family faithful, and he will serve in the presence of my anointed one forever.
36 Everyone left in your family will come, prostrate himself before him for a silver coin or a loaf of bread, and say, 'Please, won't you give me some work as a cohen, so I can have a scrap of bread to eat?'''
1 The child Sh'mu'el continued ministering to ADONAI under 'Eli's direction. Now, in those days ADONAI rarely spoke, and visions were few.
2 Once, during that period, 'Eli had gone to bed - his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that it was hard for him to see.
3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out; and Sh'mu'el had lain down to sleep in the sanctuary of ADONAI, where the ark of God was.
4 ADONAI called, 'Sh'mu'el!' and he answered, 'Here I am.'
5 Then he ran to 'Eli and said, 'Here I am - you called me?' But he said, 'I didn't call you; go back, and lie down.' So he went and lay down.
6 ADONAI called a second time, 'Sh'mu'el!'Sh'mu'el got up, went to 'Eli and said, 'Here I am - you called me.' He answered, 'I didn't call, my son; lie down again.'
7 Now Sh'mu'el didn't yet know ADONAI; the word of ADONAI had not yet been revealed to him.
8 ADONAI called, 'Sh'mu'el!' again, a third time. He got up, went to 'Eli and said, 'Here I am - you called me.' At last 'Eli realized it was ADONAI calling the child.
9 So 'Eli said to Sh'mu'el, 'Go, and lie down. If you are called again, say, 'Speak, ADONAI; your servant is listening.' Sh'mu'el went and lay down in his place.
10 ADONAI came and stood, then spoke as at the other times: 'Sh'mu'el! Sh'mu'el!'Then Sh'mu'el said, 'Speak; your servant is listening.'
11 ADONAI said to Sh'mu'el, 'Look! I am going to do something in Isra'el that will make both ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.
12 On that day I will do against 'Eli everything I have said with regard to his family, from beginning to end.
13 For I have told him that I will execute judgment against his family forever, because of his wickedness in not rebuking his sons, even though he knew that they had brought a curse on themselves.
14 Therefore I have sworn to the family of 'Eli that the wickedness of 'Eli's family will never be atoned for by any sacrifice or offering.'
15 Sh'mu'el lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of ADONAI. But Sh'mu'el was afraid to tell 'Eli the vision.
16 Then 'Eli called Sh'mu'el: 'Sh'mu'el, my son!' He answered, 'Here I am.'
17 'Eli said, 'What did he say to you? Please, don't hide it from me; may God do whatever he said and worse, if you hide from me anything he said to you.'
18 So Sh'mu'el told him every word and hid nothing. 'Eli replied, 'It is ADONAI; let him do what seems good to him.'
19 Sh'mu'el kept growing, ADONAI was with him, and he let none of his words fall to the ground.
20 All Isra'el from Dan to Be'er-Sheva became aware that Sh'mu'el had been confirmed as a prophet of ADONAI.
21 ADONAI continued appearing in Shiloh, for ADONAI revealed himself to Sh'mu'el in Shiloh by the word of ADONAI.
1 So the word of Sh'mu'el came to all Isra'el. Isra'el went out to fight against the P'lishtim, setting up camp at Even-'Ezer, while the P'lishtim camped at Afek.
2 The P'lishtim drew up in battle formation against Isra'el. The battle was fierce, and Isra'el was beaten by the P'lishtim - they killed about four thousand soldiers on the battlefield.
3 When the army had returned to camp, the leaders of Isra'el asked, 'Why has ADONAI defeated us today before the P'lishtim? Let's bring the ark for the covenant of ADONAI from Shiloh to us, so that he will come among us and save us from our enemies.'
4 So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark for the covenant of ADONAI-Tzva'ot, who is present above the k'ruvim. The two sons of 'Eli, Hofni and Pinchas, were there with the ark for the covenant of God.
5 When the ark for the covenant of ADONAI entered the camp, all Isra'el gave a mighty shout that resounded through the land.
6 On hearing the shout, the P'lishtim asked, 'What does this great shout in the Hebrews' camp mean?'Then they realized that the ark of ADONAI had arrived in the camp,
7 and the P'lishtim became afraid. They said, 'God has entered the camp! We're lost! There was no such thing yesterday or the day before.
8 We're lost! Who will rescue us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods that completely overthrew the Egyptians in the desert.
9 Be strong; and behave like men, you P'lishtim; so that you won't become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Behave like men, and fight!'
10 The P'lishtim fought, Isra'el was defeated, and every man fled to his tent. It was a terrible slaughter - 30,000 of Isra'el's foot soldiers fell.
11 Moreover, the ark of God was captured; and the two sons of 'Eli, Hofni and Pinchas, died.
12 One of the soldiers, a man from Binyamin, ran and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and earth on his head [as a sign of mourning].
13 As he arrived, 'Eli was sitting on his seat by the road, watching; because he was trembling with anxiety over the ark of God. When the man entered the city and told the news, the whole city began crying out.
14 On hearing the cries, 'Eli asked, 'What does this uproar mean?' So the man hurried, came to 'Eli and told him.
15 'Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed, because he was blind.
16 The man said to 'Eli, 'I'm the soldier that came; I escaped today from the battlefield.' He asked, 'How did things go, my son?'
17 The one who had come with the news answered, 'Isra'el fled before the P'lishtim, and there was a terrible slaughter among the people. Your two sons, Hofni and Pinchas, also are dead; and the ark of God was captured.
18 As soon as he mentioned what had happened to the ark of God, 'Eli fell backward off his seat next to the gate, broke his neck and died; for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Isra'el forty years.
19 His daughter-in-law, Pinchas's wife, was pregnant and near delivery-time. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and husband were dead, she went into abnormal labor, bent over and gave birth.
20 As she was dying, the women standing by her said to her, 'Don't be afraid, because you have given birth to a son.' But she didn't answer or show any sign of recognition.
21 She named the child I-Khavod [without glory], saying, 'The glory has departed from Isra'el'; because the ark of God had been captured, and because of her father-in-law and husband.
22 She said, 'The glory of Isra'el has gone into exile, because the ark of God has been captured.'
1 The P'lishtim had captured the ark of God and brought it from Even-'Ezer to Ashdod.
2 Then the P'lishtim took the ark of God, brought it to the temple of Dagon and set it next to Dagon.
3 But early the next morning, when the people of Ashdod got up, there was Dagon, fallen down with his face to the ground before the ark of ADONAI. They took Dagon and set him in his place again;
4 but early the following morning, when they got up, Dagon was again fallen down with his face to the ground before the ark of ADONAI; this time, the head of Dagon and both hands lay there, severed, on the threshold; all that was left of Dagon was his torso.
5 This is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and those entering his temple never walk on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod.
6 ADONAI began oppressing the people of Ashdod; he ravaged them, striking Ashdod and its surrounding area with tumors.
7 When the people of Ashdod came to understand what was happening, they said, 'The ark of the God of Isra'el can't remain with us, because he is oppressing us and our god Dagon.'
8 They summoned all the leaders of the P'lishtim and asked, 'What are we to do with the ark of the God of Isra'el?' They answered, 'Have the ark of the God of Isra'el carried to Gat.' So they carried the ark of the God of Isra'el to Gat.
9 But after it arrived there, ADONAI oppressed that city, causing terrible panic. He struck the people of the city, great and small alike; tumors broke out on them.
10 Next they sent the ark of God to 'Ekron; but when the ark of God arrived in 'Ekron the 'Ekronim shouted, 'Now they've brought the ark of the God of Isra'el to us, to kill us and our people!'
11 So they summoned all the leaders of the P'lishtim and said, 'Send the ark of the God of Isra'el away! Let it go back to its own place, so that it won't kill us and our people!'- because death and panic pervaded the whole city; God's oppression was very heavy there.
12 The people who didn't die were struck with the tumors; and the city's cries for help reached the skies.
1 The ark of ADONAI was in the country of the P'lishtim for seven months.
2 The P'lishtim summoned the priests and soothsayers and asked them, 'What are we to do with the ark of ADONAI? Tell us how to send it back where it belongs.'
3 They said, 'If you do send off the ark of the God of Isra'el, don't send it back empty, but return it with some sort of guilt offering for him. Then you will be cured, and you will learn why he has not stopped oppressing you.'
4 They asked, 'What kind of guilt offering should we send him?' and they replied, 'Five gold models of tumors and five gold rats, because that's how many leaders the P'lishtim have, and you and your leaders all had the same illness.
5 So make models of your tumors and models of your rats that are infesting your land, and show respect to the God of Isra'el. Maybe he will stop oppressing you, your gods and your land.
6 Why be obstinate like the Egyptians and Pharaoh were? When he had done his work among them, didn't they let the people go? - and they left.
7 Now take and prepare yourselves a new cart and two milk-cows that have never been under a yoke. Harness the cows to the cart, but put their calves back in the shed.
8 Then take the ark of ADONAI and lay it on the cart. In a box next to it, put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Then send it away to go off by itself,
9 but watch to see if it goes up the road to Beit-Shemesh in its own territory. If it does, he is responsible for this great tragedy; if not, we will know that it is not his oppression which has been over us, but that what has been happening to us has been only by chance.'
10 The men did it. They took two milk-cows, harnessed them to the cart and confined their calves to the shed.
11 Then they put the ark on the cart, along with the box containing the gold rats and the models of their tumors.
12 The cows made straight for the road to Beit-Shemesh and took that route, mooing as they went and turning off neither to the right nor to the left. The leaders of the P'lishtim followed them as far as the border of Beit-Shemesh.
13 The people of Beit-Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley when they looked up and saw the ark. They were so happy to see it!
14 The cart entered the field of Y'hoshua the Beit-Shimshi and stood there by a big rock. They cut up the wood of the cart and offered up the cows as a burnt offering to ADONAI.
15 Then the L'vi'im removed the ark of ADONAI and the box that was with it, which contained the gold objects, and put them on the big rock. That same day the men of Beit-Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrifices to ADONAI.
16 Upon seeing this, the five leaders of the P'lishtim returned that day to 'Ekron.
17 The gold tumors which the P'lishtim sent back as a guilt offering for ADONAI were one each for Ashdod, 'Azah, Ashkelon, Gat and 'Ekron;
18 and the gold rats also corresponded to the number of all the cities of the P'lishtim that belonged to the five leaders - fortified cities and country villages. [The rock] is a witness to this day of the great mourning [which resulted from] putting the ark of ADONAI on it in the field of Y'hoshua the Beit-Shimshi;
19 for [ADONAI] struck the people of Beit-Shemesh for looking at the ark of ADONAI. He killed 50,070 of the people; the people mourned because ADONAI had struck them with such a terrible slaughter.
20 The people of Beit-Shemesh asked, 'Who can stand before ADONAI, this holy God? To whom can we send it, to get it away from us?'
21 They sent messengers to the people living in Kiryat-Ye'arim with this message: 'The P'lishtim have returned the ark of ADONAI. Come down and bring it back up with you.'
1 So the men of Kiryat-Ye'arim came and brought back the ark of ADONAI. They took it to the home of Avinadav on the hill and appointed his son El'azar to guard the ark of ADONAI.
2 From the day that the ark arrived in Kiryat-Ye'arim a long time elapsed, twenty years; and all the people of Isra'el yearned for ADONAI.
3 Sh'mu'el addressed all the people of Isra'el; he said: 'If you are returning to ADONAI with all your heart, then be done with the foreign gods and 'ashtarot that you have with you, and direct your hearts to ADONAI. If you will serve only him, he will rescue you from the power of the P'lishtim.'
4 So the people of Isra'el banished the ba'alim and the 'ashtarot and served only ADONAI.
5 Sh'mu'el said, 'Gather all Isra'el to Mitzpah, and I will pray for you to ADONAI.'
6 So they gathered together at Mitzpah, drew water and poured it out before ADONAI, fasted that day, and said there, 'We have sinned against ADONAI.' Sh'mu'el began serving as judge over the people of Isra'el at Mitzpah.
7 When the P'lishtim heard that the people of Isra'el had gathered together at Mitzpah, the leaders of the P'lishtim marched up against Isra'el; and when the people of Isra'el heard about this, they were afraid of the P'lishtim.
8 The people of Isra'el said to Sh'mu'el, 'Don't stop crying out to ADONAI our God for us, to save us from the power of the P'lishtim.'
9 Sh'mu'el took a baby lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to ADONAI. Then Sh'mu'el cried to ADONAI for Isra'el, and ADONAI answered him.
10 As Sh'mu'el was presenting the burnt offering, the P'lishtim advanced to attack Isra'el. But this time, ADONAI thundered violently over the P'lishtim, throwing them into such confusion that they were struck down before Isra'el.
11 The men of Isra'el went out from Mitzpah, pursuing the P'lishtim and attacking them all the way to Beit-Kar.
12 Sh'mu'el took a stone, placed it between Mitzpah and Shen, and gave it the name Even-'Ezer [stone of help], explaining, 'ADONAI has helped us until now.'
13 Thus the P'lishtim were humbled, so that they no longer entered Isra'el's territory; and the hand of ADONAI was against the P'lishtim as long as Sh'mu'el lived.
14 The cities between 'Ekron and Gat which the P'lishtim had captured from Isra'el were restored to Isra'el, and Isra'el rescued all this territory from the power of the P'lishtim. There was also peace between Isra'el and the Emori.
15 Sh'mu'el continued in office as judge of Isra'el as long as he lived.
16 Year by year he would travel in a circuit that included Beit-El, Gilgal and Mitzpah; and in all these places he served as judge over Isra'el.
17 Then he would return to Ramah, because that's where his home was, and he would judge Isra'el there too. He also built an altar there to ADONAI.
1 When Sh'mu'el grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Isra'el.
2 His firstborn was named Yo'el, while his second son was named Aviyah; they were judges in Be'er-Sheva.
3 However, his sons did not follow his way of life; they turned off it to pursue riches, so that they would take bribes to distort justice.
4 All the leaders of Isra'el gathered themselves together, approached Sh'mu'el in Ramah
5 and said to him, 'Look, you have grown old, and your sons are not following your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.'
6 Sh'mu'el was not pleased to hear them say, 'Give us a king to judge us'; so he prayed to ADONAI.
7 ADONAI said to Sh'mu'el, 'Listen to the people, to everything they say to you; for it is not you they are rejecting; they are rejecting me; they don't want me to be king over them.
8 They are doing to you exactly what they have been doing to me, from the day I brought them out of Egypt until today, by abandoning me and serving other gods.
9 So do what they say, but give them a sober warning, telling them what kinds of rulings their king will make.'
10 Sh'mu'el reported everything ADONAI had said to the people asking him for a king.
11 He said, 'Here is the kind of rulings your king will make: he will draft your sons and assign them to take care of his chariots, be his horsemen and be bodyguards running ahead of his chariots.
12 He will appoint them to serve him as officers in charge of a thousand or of fifty, plowing his fields, gathering his harvest, and making his weapons and the equipment for his chariots.
13 He will take your daughters and have them be perfume-makers, cooks and bakers.
14 He will expropriate your fields, vineyards and olive groves - the very best of them! - and hand them over to his servants.
15 He will take the ten-percent tax of your crops and vineyards and give it to his officers and servants.
16 He will take your male and female servants, your best young men and your donkeys, and make them work for him.
17 He will take the ten-percent tax of your flocks, and you will become his servants.
18 When that happens, you will cry out on account of your king, whom you yourselves chose. But when that happens, ADONAI will not answer you!'
19 However, the people refused to listen to what Sh'mu'el told them, and they said, 'No! We want a king over us,
20 so that we can be like all the nations, with our king to judge us, lead us and fight our battles.'
21 Sh'mu'el heard everything the people said and repeated them for ADONAI to hear.
22 ADONAI said to Sh'mu'el, 'Do what they ask, and set up a king for them.' So Sh'mu'el told the men of Isra'el, 'Each of you, return to his city.'
1 There was a man from Binyamin named Kish the son of Avi'el, the son of Tz'ror, the son of B'khorat, the son of Afiach, the son of a man from Binyamin. He was a man of substance and brave as well.
2 He had a son named Sha'ul who was young and good-looking; among the people of Isra'el there was no one better-looking than he; he stood head and shoulders taller than anyone else in Isra'el.
3 Once the donkeys belonging to Kish Sha'ul's father got lost. Kish said to his son Sha'ul, 'Please take one of the servants with you, go out, and look for the donkeys.'
4 He went through the hills of Efrayim and the territory of Shalishah, but they didn't find them. Then they went through the territory of Sha'alim, but they weren't there. They went through the territory of Binyamin but didn't find them there either.
5 On reaching the territory of Tzuf, Sha'ul said to his servant with him, 'Come, let's go back; otherwise my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.'
6 His servant replied, 'Here now, there's a man of God in this city, a man who is highly respected, and everything he says proves true. Let's go to him; maybe he can tell us something about where we should go.'
7 'But look,' Sha'ul said to his servant, 'if we go to the man, what can we bring him? We've used up all the bread in our packs, and there's nothing for us to give the man of God - what do we have left?'
8 The servant replied again to Sha'ul: 'See, I have here in my hand a silver quarter-shekel [one-tenth of an ounce]. I will give it to the man of God to tell us which way to go.'
9 (In Isra'el, back in the old days, when someone went to consult God, he would say, 'Come, let's go to the seer'; because a person now called a prophet used to be called a seer.)
10 'Well said,' Sha'ul answered his servant. 'Come on, let's go.' So they went to the city where the man of God was.
11 Ascending the slope to the town they found girls going out to draw water and asked them, 'Is the seer here?'
12 The girls answered them, 'He's here, he's right ahead of you. Hurry now, he just came into the city today, because the people are sacrificing today at the high place.
13 Find him as soon as you enter the city, before he goes up to the high place to eat; because the people won't eat until he comes and blesses the sacrifice. Afterwards, the ones invited will eat. So go on up, because this is when you will find him.'
14 They went up to the city; and as they entered the city, there was Sh'mu'el coming out toward them to go up to the high place.
15 The day before Sha'ul arrived, ADONAI had given Sh'mu'el a revelation:
16 'Tomorrow at about this time I will send you a man from the territory of Binyamin. You are to anoint him prince over my people Isra'el. He will save my people from the power of the P'lishtim, because I have seen my people's situation, and their cry of distress has come to me.'
17 When Sh'mu'el saw Sha'ul, ADONAI said to him, 'Here is the man I told you about, the one who is going to govern my people.'
18 Sha'ul approached Sh'mu'el in the gateway and said, 'Please tell me where the seer's house is.'
19 Sh'mu'el answered Sha'ul, 'I'm the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, because you are going to dine with me today. In the morning, I will let you leave; and I will tell you everything that is on your heart.
20 As for your donkeys that got lost three days ago, don't worry about them; they've been found. Now, who is it that all Isra'el wants? Isn't it you, and all your father's household?'
21 Sha'ul replied, 'I'm only a man from Binyamin, the smallest tribe in Isra'el; and my family is the least important of all the families in the tribe of Binyamin! Why are you saying such a thing to me?'
22 Sh'mu'el took Sha'ul and his servant, brought them into the room and had them sit in the place reserved for the most important of the invited guests, who numbered about thirty persons.
23 Sh'mu'el instructed the cook, 'Serve the portion I gave you and told you to set aside.'
24 The cook took the thigh and the adjoining meat and served it to Sha'ul. Sh'mu'el said, 'Here, this is what remains! Put it in front of you and eat - it was kept especially for you until the right time; because I said, 'I have invited the people.'' So Sha'ul dined with Sh'mu'el that day.
25 On coming down from the high place to the city, he spoke with Sha'ul on the roof.
26 They got up early. About daybreak, Sh'mu'el called out to Sha'ul on the roof, 'Get up, so I can send you on your way.' Sha'ul got up, and both of them -he and Sh'mu'el - went out.
27 As they were going down, at the edge of the city, Sh'mu'el said to Sha'ul, 'Tell the servant to go on ahead'; so the servant went on. 'But you, stand still now, because I want you to hear what God has said.'
1 Then Sh'mu'el took a flask of oil he had prepared and poured it on Sha'ul's head. He kissed him and said, 'ADONAI has anointed you to be prince over his inheritance.
2 After you leave me today, you will find two men by Rachel's Tomb, in the territory of Binyamin at Tzeltzah. They will tell you that the donkeys you were searching for have been found, and that your father has stopped thinking about the donkeys and is anxious over you and asking, 'What am I to do about my son?''
3 Go on from there, and you will come to the Oak of Tavor. Three men will meet you there on their way up to God at Beit-El. One of them will be carrying three kids, another three loaves of bread and the third a skin of wine.
4 They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you are to accept from them.
5 After that, you will come to Giv'ah of God, where the P'lishtim are garrisoned. On arrival at the city there, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by lutes, tambourines, flutes and lyres; and they will be prophesying.
6 Then the Spirit of ADONAI will fall on you; you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man!
7 When these signs come over you, just do whatever you feel like doing, because God is with you.
8 Then you are to go down ahead of me to Gilgal, and there I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and present sacrifices as peace offerings. Wait there seven days, until I come to you and tell you what to do.'
9 As it happened, as soon as he had turned his back to leave Sh'mu'el, God gave him another heart; and all those signs took place that day.
10 When they arrived at the hill, and there in front of him was a group of prophets, the Spirit of God fell on him and he prophesied along with them.
11 When those who knew him from before saw him there, prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, 'What's happened to Kish's son? Is Sha'ul a prophet, too?'
12 Someone in the crowd answered, 'Must prophets' fathers be special?' So it became an expression -'Is Sha'ul a prophet, too?'
13 When he had finished prophesying, he arrived at the high place.
14 Sha'ul's uncle said to him and his servant, 'Where did you go?' He answered, 'To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they hadn't been found, we went to Sh'mu'el.'
15 'Tell me, please,' said Sha'ul's uncle, 'what Sh'mu'el said to you.'
16 Sha'ul answered his uncle, 'He told us that the donkeys had been found,' but said nothing to him about the matter of his being made king.
17 Sh'mu'el summoned the people to ADONAI in Mitzpah.
18 He said to the people of Isra'el, 'Here is what ADONAI the God of Isra'el says: 'I brought Isra'el up from Egypt. I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.'
19 But today you have rejected your God, who himself saves you from all your disasters and distress. You have said to him, 'No! Put a king over us!' So now, present yourselves before ADONAI by your tribes and families.'
20 So Sh'mu'el had all the tribes come forward, and the tribe of Binyamin was chosen.
21 He had the tribe of Binyamin come forward by families, and the family of the Matri was chosen, and Sha'ul the son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he couldn't be found.
22 They asked ADONAI, 'Has the man come here?'ADONAI answered, 'There he is, hiding, in among the equipment.'
23 They ran and brought him from there, and when he stood among the people he was head and shoulders taller than anyone around.
24 Sh'mu'el said to all the people, 'Do you see the man ADONAI has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?'Then all the people shouted, 'Long live the king!'
25 Sh'mu'el told the people what kinds of rulings should be made in the kingdom, then wrote it on a scroll and set it down before ADONAI. After that, he sent all the people away, everyone to his own home.
26 Sha'ul too went home to Giv'ah, accompanied by warriors whose hearts God had touched.
27 True, there were some scoundrels who said, 'How can this man save us?'They showed him no respect and brought him no gift, but he held his peace.
1 Then Nachash the 'Amoni came up and set up camp to fight Yavesh-Gil'ad. All the men of Yavesh said to Nachash, 'If you will make a treaty with us, we will be your subjects.'
2 Nachash the 'Amoni replied, 'I'll do it on this condition: that all your right eyes be gouged out and thus bring disgrace on all of Isra'el.'
3 The leaders of Yavesh answered him, 'Give us seven days' grace to send messengers throughout Isra'el's territory; then, if no one will rescue us, we will surrender to you.'
4 The messengers came to Giv'ah, where Sha'ul lived, and said these words in the hearing of the people; and all the people cried out and wept.
5 As this was going on, Sha'ul came, following the oxen out of the field. Sha'ul asked, 'What's wrong with the people to make them cry like that?'They told him what the men from Yavesh had said.
6 The Spirit of God fell on Sha'ul when he heard this; blazing furiously with anger,
7 he seized a pair of oxen and cut them in pieces; then he sent them throughout the territory of Isra'el with messengers saying, 'Anyone who doesn't come and follow Sha'ul and Sh'mu'el, this is what will be done to his oxen!'The fear of ADONAI fell on the people, and they came out with united hearts.
8 He reviewed them in Bezek; there were 300,000 from the people of Isra'el; the men of Y'hudah numbered 30,000.
9 To the messengers that had come they said, 'Tell the men of Yavesh-Gil'ad, 'Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have been rescued.''The messengers returned and told the men of Yavesh; they were overjoyed.
10 Then the men of Yavesh said [to Nachash], 'Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do with us whatever you like.'
11 The next day Sha'ul divided the people into three companies. Then they entered the camp of the 'Amoni during the morning watch and kept attacking until the heat of the day, until those who remained were so scattered that no two of them were left together.
12 The people said to Sh'mu'el, 'Who are the men who said, 'Is Sha'ul to rule over us?' Hand them over to us, so we can put them to death.'
13 But Sha'ul said, 'No one will be put to death today, because today ADONAI has rescued Isra'el.'
14 Then Sh'mu'el said to the people, 'Come, let's go to Gilgal and inaugurate the kingship there.
15 So all the people went to Gilgal; and there in Gilgal, before ADONAI, they made Sha'ul king. They presented sacrifices as peace offerings before ADONAI there, and there Sha'ul and all the people of Isra'el celebrated with great joy.
1 Sh'mu'el said to all Isra'el, 'Here, I have done everything you asked me to do -I have made a king over you.
2 There is the king, walking ahead of you; but I am old and gray-headed. There are my sons with you, and I have walked at your head from when I was a boy until today.
3 So here I am; now is the time to witness against me before ADONAI and before his anointed king. Does any of you think I have taken your ox or donkey, defrauded or oppressed you, or accepted a bribe to deprive you of justice? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.'
4 They answered, 'You haven't defrauded or oppressed us, and you have accepted nothing from anyone.'
5 He said, 'ADONAI is witness against you, and his anointed king is witness against you today, that you have found nothing in my hands?' They replied, 'He is witness.'
6 Sh'mu'el said to the people, 'It was ADONAI who appointed Moshe and Aharon and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt.
7 Now, hold still; because I am going to enter into judgment with you before ADONAI regarding all the righteous acts of ADONAI that he did for you and your ancestors.
8 'After Ya'akov had entered Egypt, your ancestors cried to ADONAI; and ADONAI sent Moshe and Aharon, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and had them live here in this place.
9 But they forgot ADONAI their God; so he handed them over to Sisra, commander of the army of Hatzor, and to the P'lishtim, and to the king of Mo'av; and they fought against them.
10 But they cried to ADONAI and said, 'We sinned by abandoning ADONAI and serving the ba'alim and 'ashtarot. But now, if you rescue us from the power of our enemies, we will serve you.'
11 So ADONAI sent Yeruba'al, B'dan, Yiftach and Sh'mu'el and rescued you from the power of our enemies on every side, and you lived securely.
12 When you saw that Nachash the king of the people of 'Amon was attacking you, you said to me, 'No, we want a king to rule over us'- when ADONAI your God was your king.
13 Now, here's the king you have chosen, the one you asked for. See, ADONAI has put a king over you.
14 If you will fear ADONAI, serve him, obey what he says and not rebel against ADONAI's orders - if both you and the king ruling you remain followers of ADONAI your God - [then things will go well for you.]
15 But if you refuse to obey what ADONAI says and rebel against ADONAI's orders, then ADONAI will oppress both you and your leaders.
16 'Now therefore, hold still; and see the great deed which ADONAI will perform before your very eyes.
17 Now is wheat harvest time, isn't it? I am going to call on ADONAI to send thunder and rain. Then you will understand and see how wicked from
18 Sh'mu'elADONAI's viewpoint is the thing you have done in asking for a king.'called to ADONAI, and ADONAI sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people became very much afraid of ADONAI and Sh'mu'el.
19 All the people said to Sh'mu'el, 'Pray to ADONAI your God for your servants, so that we won't die; because to all our other sins now we've added this evil as well, asking for a king over us.'
20 Sh'mu'el answered the people, 'Don't be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil; yet now, just don't turn away from following ADONAI; but serve ADONAI with all your heart.
21 Don't turn to the side; because then you would go after useless things that can neither help nor rescue, they are so futile.
22 For the sake of his great reputation, ADONAI will not abandon his people; because it has pleased ADONAI to make you a people for himself.
23 As for me, far be it from me to sin against ADONAI by ceasing to pray for you! Rather, I will continue instructing you in the good and right way.
24 Only fear ADONAI, and serve him faithfully with all your heart; for think what great things he has done for you!
25 However, if you insist on doing wicked things, you will be swept away - both you and your king!'
1 Sha'ul was - years old when he began his reign, and he had ruled Isra'el for two years,
2 when he chose three thousand of Isra'el's men. Two thousand of them were with Sha'ul in Mikhmas and in the hills of Beit-El, and a thousand were with Y'honatan in Giv'at-Binyamin. The rest of the people he sent back to their respective tents.
3 Y'honatan assassinated the governor of the P'lishtim in Geva. The P'lishtim heard of it; so Sha'ul had the shofar sounded throughout the land, saying, 'Let the Hebrews hear!'
4 All Isra'el heard that Sha'ul had assassinated the governor of the P'lishtim and thus made Isra'el a stench in the nostrils of the P'lishtim. So the people rallied behind Sha'ul in Gilgal;
5 while the P'lishtim assembled themselves together to make war on Isra'el - 30,000 chariots,
6 ,000 horsemen and an army as large as the number of sand grains on the seashore. They came up and pitched camp at Mikhmas, east of Beit-Aven. 6 The men of Isra'el saw that their options were limited and that the people felt so hard pressed that they were hiding themselves in caves, thickets, crevices, watchtowers and cisterns;
7 while some of the Hebrews crossed the Yarden to the territory of Gad and Gil'ad. But Sha'ul was still in Gilgal, where all the people were eager to follow him.
8 He waited seven days, as Sh'mu'el had instructed; but Sh'mu'el didn't come to Gilgal; so the army began to drift away from him.
9 Sha'ul said, 'Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings,' and he offered the burnt offering.
10 As soon as he had finished sacrificing the burnt offering, there was Sh'mu'el -he had come, and Sha'ul went out to meet and greet him.
11 Sh'mu'el said, 'What have you done?' Sha'ul answered, 'I saw that the army was drifting away from me, that you hadn't come during the time appointed The Hebrew text lacks the number. and that the P'lishtim had assembled at Mikhmas.
12 I said, 'Now the P'lishtim will fall on me at Gilgal, and I haven't asked the favor of ADONAI,' so I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.'
13 Sh'mu'el said to Sha'ul, 'You did a foolish thing. You didn't observe the mitzvah of ADONAI, which he gave you. If you had, ADONAI would have set up your kingship over Isra'el forever.
14 But as it is, your kingship will not be established. ADONAI has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and ADONAI has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you did not observe what ADONAI ordered you to do.'
15 Then Sh'mu'el left Gilgal and went up to Giv'at-Binyamin. Sha'ul counted how many were still there with him, about 600 men.
16 Sha'ul, Y'honatan his son and the men with him took up quarters at Giv'at-Binyamin, while the P'lishtim remained in camp at Mikhmas.
17 Then raiding parties began coming out from the camp of the P'lishtim, three of them: one group turned toward the road leading to 'Ofrah in the territory of Shu'al;
18 another group took the road toward Beit-Horon; and another company took the road toward the desert through the territory overlooking Vadi Tzvo'im.
19 Now there was no metalsmith to be found anywhere in all the land of Isra'el, because the P'lishtim had said, 'We don't want the Hebrews making themselves swords or spears.'
20 So whenever any of the people of Isra'el wanted to sharpen his hoe, plowshare, axe or pick, he had to go down to the P'lishtim,
21 where the exorbitant prices were two-thirds of a shekel for filing a pick or plowshare and one-third of a shekel for filing an axe or setting an oxgoad in its handle.
22 Thus when the time came to fight, no one in the army of Sha'ul and Y'honatan was equipped with either sword or spear; although Sha'ul and Y'honatan his son did have them.
23 A garrison of the P'lishtim had gone out to the pass of Mikhmas.
1 One day Y'honatan the son of Sha'ul said to the young man carrying his armor, 'Come, let's go across to the garrison of the P'lishtim on the other side. But he didn't tell his father.
2 Sha'ul was waiting at the far edge of Giv'ah under the pomegranate tree in Migron; the force with him numbered about 600 men.
3 Achiyah the son of Achituv, I-Khavod's brother, the son of Pinchas the son of 'Eli, the cohen of ADONAI in Shiloh, was carrying a ritual vest. No one knew that Y'honatan had gone.
4 Between the passes by which Y'honatan was trying to cross to the garrison of the P'lishtim, there was a rocky spur on one side and another rocky spur on the other side; the name of the one was Botzetz, and of the other, Seneh.
5 The one spur rose up on the north, in front of Mikhmas, and the other on the south, in front of Geva.
6 Y'honatan said to his armor-bearer, 'Come on, let's go across to the garrison of these uncircumcised people. Maybe ADONAI will do something for us, since ADONAI can rescue with a few people as easily as with many.'
7 His armor-bearer replied, 'Do everything you think you should; I'm with you, whatever you decide.'
8 Y'honatan said, 'Here, we'll cross over to those men and let them know we're there.
9 If they say, 'Wait till we come to you,' we'll stand still where we are and not go up to them.
10 But if they say,'Come up to us,' we'll go on up; and that will be the sign that ADONAI has given us victory over them.'
11 So both of them let their presence be known to the garrison of the P'lishtim; and the P'lishtim said, 'Look, some Hebrews coming out of the holes they've been hiding in!'
12 Then the men of the garrison said to Y'honatan and his armor-bearer, 'Come up to us; we want to show you something.' Y'honatan told his armor-bearer, 'Come on up after me, for ADONAI has handed them over to Isra'el.'
13 Y'honatan climbed up, using his hands as well as his feet, with his armor-bearer behind him. The P'lishtim fell before Y'honatan, and his armor-bearer following him finished them off.
14 That first slaughter, of about twenty men, was accomplished by Y'honatan and his armor bearer in a space only half as long as one side of the area a pair of oxen could plow in a day [about 200 yards].
15 There was panic in the field camp among all the P'lishtim; likewise, the garrison and the raiding party panicked. Besides all this, there was an earthquake; thus it grew into panic caused by God.
16 Sha'ul's men on watch in Giv'at-Binyamin could see the enemy camp scattering and running in all directions.
17 Sha'ul ordered the forces with him to call the roll and see who was missing. So they called the roll, and found Y'honatan and his armor-bearer not present.
18 Sha'ul told Achiyah, 'Bring the ark of God here'; for at that time the ark of God was with the people of Isra'el.
19 But while Sha'ul was talking to the cohen, the uproar in the camp of the P'lishtim continued and kept getting louder. Sha'ul said to the cohen, 'Put your hand down.'
20 Sha'ul and the entire force with him assembled and went to battle, but they found the P'lishtim all fighting each other in utter confusion.
21 The Hebrews from the surrounding countryside who had previously been with the P'lishtim and had gone up with them into the camp deserted and went over to Isra'el with Sha'ul and Y'honatan.
22 Likewise, on hearing that the P'lishtim were fleeing, all the men of Isra'el who had hidden themselves in the hills of Efrayim pursued them in battle.
23 So ADONAI saved Isra'el that day, and the battle spread as far as Beit-Aven.
24 Isra'el's soldiers had been driven to exhaustion that day; but Sha'ul issued this warning to the people: 'A curse on any man who eats any food until evening, when I will have finished taking vengeance on my enemies.' So none of the people even tasted food.
25 Now the people came to a forest where there was a honeycomb on the ground.
26 When the people had entered the forest, they saw there the honeycomb with honey dripping out; but no one put his hand to his mouth, because the people feared the oath.
27 But Y'honatan hadn't heard his father charging the people with the oath, so he put out the end of the staff in his hand, dipped it in the honeycomb and raised it to his mouth; whereupon his eyes lit up.
28 But one of the people said in response, 'Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, 'A curse on any man who eats any food today'; even though the people are fainting with hunger.'
29 Y'honatan answered, 'My father has brought trouble to the land. Just look how my eyes have lit up because I tasted a little of this honey.
30 How much greater would the slaughter of the P'lishtim have been today, then, if the people had eaten freely of the spoil they found with their enemies!'
31 That day they had attacked the P'lishtim from Mikhmas to Ayalon; but the people were very exhausted.
32 So the people rushed at the spoil, seizing sheep, cows and calves, slaughtering them on the ground, and eating the flesh with the blood.
33 Sha'ul was told, 'Look how the people are sinning against ADONAI, eating with the blood.' He said, 'You have not kept faith! Roll a big stone to me immediately!
34 Now,' Sha'ul said, 'go around among the people and tell them, 'Each of you is to bring his cow and his sheep and slaughter them here. Then eat. Don't sin against ADONAI by eating with the blood.' So each person brought his animal with him that evening and killed it there.
35 Sha'ul erected an altar to ADONAI; it was the first altar that he erected to ADONAI.
36 Sha'ul said, 'Let's go after the P'lishtim by night. We'll plunder them until dawn; we won't leave one of them alive.' They answered, 'Do whatever seems good to you.' But the cohen said, 'Let's approach God here.'
37 Sha'ul consulted God: 'Should I go down in pursuit of the P'lishtim? Will you hand them over to Isra'el?' But he didn't answer him that day.
38 Sha'ul said, 'Come here, all you heads of the people. Think carefully: who has committed this sin today?
39 For, as ADONAI Isra'el's deliverer lives, even if it proves to be Y'honatan my son, he must be put to death.' But no one among all the people answered him.
40 Then he said to all Isra'el, 'You be on one side, and I and Y'honatan my son will be on the other side.' The people replied to Sha'ul, 'Do what seems good to you.'
41 Sha'ul said to ADONAI the God of Isra'el, 'Who is right?' Y'honatan and Sha'ul were chosen by lot, and the people went free.
42 Sha'ul said, 'Cast lots between me and Y'honatan my son.'Y'honatan was chosen.
43 Then Sha'ul said to Y'honatan, 'Tell me what you did.'Y'honatan told him, 'Yes, I tasted a little honey with the end of the staff in my hand. Here I am; I'm ready to die.'
44 Sha'ul said, 'May God do the same to me and more also if you are not put to death, Y'honatan!'
45 But the people said to Sha'ul, 'Must Y'honatan die, who has accomplished this great deliverance in Isra'el? Heaven forbid! As ADONAI lives, not one hair of his head will fall to the ground; because he worked with God today!' In this way the people rescued Y'honatan, so that he didn't die.
46 Then Sha'ul stopped pursuing the P'lishtim, and the P'lishtim returned to their own territory.
47 So Sha'ul took over the rulership of Isra'el. He fought against all his enemies on every side - against Mo'av, the people of 'Amon, Edom, the kings of Tzovah and the P'lishtim. No matter which way he turned, he defeated them.
48 He demonstrated his strength by attacking 'Amalek, and he saved Isra'el from the power of those who were plundering them.
49 The sons of Sha'ul were Y'honatan, Yishvi and Malkishua, while the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the older, Merav, and of the younger, Mikhal.
50 Sha'ul's wife was named Achino'am the daughter of Achima'atz; the commander of his army was named Avner the son of Ner, Sha'ul's uncle.
51 Kish was the father of Sha'ul, and Ner the father of Avner was the son of Avi'el.
52 As long as Sha'ul lived there was bitter war against the P'lishtim. Whenever Sha'ul saw any strong or courageous man, he recruited him into his service.
1 Sh'mu'el said to Sha'ul, 'ADONAI sent me to anoint you king over his people, over Isra'el. Now listen to what ADONAI has to say.
2 Here is what ADONAI-Tzva'ot says: 'I remember what 'Amalek did to Isra'el, how they fought against Isra'el when they were coming up from Egypt.
3 Now go and attack 'Amalek, and completely destroy everything they have. Don't spare them, but kill men and women, children and babies, cows and sheep, camels and donkeys.''
4 Sha'ul summoned the people and reviewed them in T'la'im - 200,000 foot soldiers, with another 10,000 men from Y'hudah.
5 Sha'ul arrived at the city of 'Amalek and lay in wait in the valley.
6 Sha'ul said to the Keni, 'Go away, withdraw, leave your homes there with the 'Amaleki. Otherwise, I might destroy you along with them, even though you were kind to all the people of Isra'el when they came out of Egypt. So the Keni went away from among the 'Amaleki.
7 Then Sha'ul attacked 'Amalek, starting at Havilah and continuing toward Shur, at the border of Egypt.
8 He took Agag the king of 'Amalek alive; but he completely destroyed the people, putting them to the sword.
9 However, Sha'ul and the people spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, and even the second best, also the lambs, and everything that was good - they weren't inclined to destroy these things. But everything that was worthless or weak they completely destroyed.
10 Then the word of ADONAI came to Sh'mu'el:
11 'I regret setting up Sha'ul as king, because he has turned back from following me and hasn't obeyed my orders.'This made Sh'mu'el very sad, so that he cried to ADONAI all night.
12 Sh'mu'el got up early in the morning to meet Sha'ul; however, Sh'mu'el was told, 'Sha'ul came to Karmel to set up a monument for himself there, but now he has left and is on his way down to Gilgal.'
13 Sh'mu'el went to Sha'ul; Sha'ul said to him, 'May ADONAI bless you! I have done what ADONAI ordered.'
14 But Sh'mu'el answered, 'If so, why do I hear sheep bleating and cows mooing?'
15 Sha'ul said, 'They brought them from the 'Amaleki, because the people spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to ADONAI your God. But we completely destroyed the rest.'
16 Then Sh'mu'el said to Sha'ul, 'Stop! I'm going to tell you what ADONAI said to me last night.' He said, 'Speak.'
17 Sh'mu'el then said, 'You may be small in your own sight, but you are head of the tribes of Isra'el -ADONAI anointed you king over Isra'el!
18 Now ADONAI sent you on a mission and told you, 'Go and completely destroy 'Amalek, those sinners; keep making war on them until they have been exterminated.
19 Why did you seize the spoil instead of paying attention to what ADONAI said? From ADONAI's viewpoint, you have done an evil thing.'
20 Sha'ul said to Sh'mu'el, 'I did too pay attention to what ADONAI said, and I carried out the mission on which ADONAI sent me. I brought back Agag the king of 'Amalek, and I completely destroyed 'Amalek.
21 But the people took some of the spoil, the best of the sheep and cattle set aside for destruction, to sacrifice to ADONAI your God in Gilgal.'
22 Sh'mu'el said, 'Does ADONAI take as much pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying what ADONAI says? Surely obeying is better than sacrifice, and heeding orders than the fat of rams. 'For rebellion is like the sin of sorcery, stubbornness like the crime of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of ADONAI, he too has rejected you as king.' 24 Sha'ul said to Sh'mu'el, 'I have sinned. I violated the order of ADONAI and your words too, because I was afraid of the people and listened to what they said. 25 Now, please, pardon my sin; and come back with me, so that I can worship ADONAI.'26 But Sh'mu'el said to Sha'ul, 'I will not go back with you, because you have rejected the word of ADONAI, and ADONAI has rejected you as king over Isra'el.'27 As Sh'mu'el was turning around to leave, he took hold of the hem of his cloak, and it tore. 28 Sh'mu'el said to him, 'ADONAI has torn the kingdom of Isra'el away from you today and given it to a fellow countryman of yours who is better than you. 29 Moreover, the Eternal One of Isra'el will not lie or change his mind, because he isn't a mere human being subject to changing his mind.'30 Then Sha'ul said, 'I have sinned; but in spite of that, please show me respect now before the leaders of my people and before Isra'el by coming back with me, so that I can worship ADONAI your God.'31 So Sh'mu'el followed Sha'ul back, and Sha'ul worshipped ADONAI. 32 Then Sh'mu'el said, 'Bring Agag the king of 'Amalek here to me. Agag came to him in chains and said, 'Without doubt, mine will be a bitter death.'33 Sh'mu'el said, 'Just as your sword has left women childless, so will your mother be left childless among women.' Then Sh'mu'el cut Agag in pieces before ADONAI in Gilgal. 34 Sh'mu'el returned to Ramah, and Sha'ul went up to his house in Giv'at-Sha'ul. 35 Never again did Sh'mu'el see Sha'ul, until the day he died. But Sh'mu'el grieved over Sha'ul, and ADONAI regretted that he had made Sha'ul king over Isra'el.
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1 ADONAI said to Sh'mu'el, 'How much longer are you going to go on grieving for Sha'ul, now that I have rejected him as king over Isra'el? Fill your horn with oil, and set out; I will send you to Yishai the Beit-Lachmi, because I have chosen myself a king from among his sons.'
2 Sh'mu'el said, 'How can I go? If Sha'ul hears of it, he will have me killed.'ADONAI said, 'Take a female cow with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to ADONAI.'
3 Summon Yishai to the sacrifice. I will tell you what to do, and you are to anoint for me the person I point out to you.'
4 Sh'mu'el did what ADONAI said and arrived at Beit-Lechem. The leaders of the city came trembling to meet him and asked, 'Are you coming in peace?'
5 He answered, 'In peace. I have come to sacrifice to ADONAI. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.' He consecrated Yishai and his sons and summoned them to the sacrifice.
6 When they had come, he looked at Eli'av and said, 'This has to be ADONAI's anointed one, here before him.'
7 But ADONAI said to Sh'mu'el, 'Don't pay attention to how he looks or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. ADONAI doesn't see the way humans see - humans look at the outward appearance, but ADONAI looks at the heart.'
8 Then Yishai called Avinadav and presented him to Sh'mu'el; but he said, 'ADONAI hasn't chosen this one either.'
9 Yishai presented Shammah; again Sh'mu'el said, 'ADONAI hasn't chosen this one either.'
10 Yishai presented seven of his sons to Sh'mu'el; but Sh'mu'el told Yishai, 'ADONAI has not chosen these.
11 Are all your sons here?' Sh'mu'el asked Yishai. He replied, 'There is still the youngest; he's out there tending the sheep.' Sh'mu'el said to Yishai, 'Send and bring him back, because we won't sit down to eat until he gets here.'
12 He sent and brought him in. With ruddy cheeks, red hair and bright eyes, he was a good-looking fellow. ADONAI said, 'Stand up and anoint him; he's the one.'
13 Sh'mu'el took the horn of oil and anointed him there in his brothers' presence. From that day on, the Spirit of ADONAI would fall upon David with power. So Sh'mu'el set out and went to Ramah.
14 Now the Spirit of ADONAI had left Sha'ul; instead, an evil spirit from ADONAI would suddenly come over him.
15 Sha'ul's servants said to him, 'Do you notice that there's an evil spirit from God that suddenly comes over you?
16 Let our lord now command your servants who are here with you to look for a man who knows how to play the lyre. Then, if the evil spirit from God comes over you, he will play; and it will do you good.'
17 Sha'ul said to his servants, 'Find me a man who can play well, and bring him to me.'
18 One of the young men answered, 'Here, I've seen one of the sons of Yishai the Beit-Lachmi who knows how to play. He's a brave soldier, he can fight, he chooses his words carefully and he's pleasant-looking. Besides, ADONAI is with him.'
19 So Sha'ul sent messengers to Yishai saying, 'Send me David your son, who is out with the sheep.'
20 Yishai took a donkey, loaded it with bread, a bottle of wine and a kid, and sent them with David his son to Sha'ul.
21 David came to Sha'ul and presented himself to him. Sha'ul took a great liking to him and made him his armor-bearer.
22 Sha'ul sent a message to Yishai: 'Please let David stay in my service, because I'm pleased with him.'
23 So it was that whenever the [evil] spirit from God came over Sha'ul, David would take the lyre and play it, with the result that Sha'ul would find relief and feel better, as the evil spirit left him.
1 The P'lishtim rallied their troops for war, assembling at Sokhoh in Y'hudah and setting up camp between Sokhoh and 'Azekah in Efes-Damim.
2 Sha'ul and the men of Isra'el assembled, set up camp in the Elah Valley and drew up their battle line opposite the P'lishtim.
3 The P'lishtim occupied a position on one hill and Isra'el a position on another hill, with a valley between them.
4 There came out a champion from the camp of the P'lishtim named Golyat, from Gat, who was nine feet nine inches tall.
5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore a bronze armor plate weighing 120 pounds.
6 He had bronze armor protecting his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders.
7 The shaft of his spear was as big as a weaver's beam, and the iron spearhead weighed fifteen pounds. His shield-bearer went ahead of him.
8 He stood and yelled at the armies of Isra'el, 'Why come out and draw up a battle line? I'm a P'lishti, and you are servants of Sha'ul, so choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
9 If he can fight me and kill me, we'll be your slaves; but if I beat him and kill him, you will become slaves and serve us.'
10 The P'lishti added, 'I challenge Isra'el's armies today - give me a man, and we'll fight it out!'
11 When Sha'ul and all Isra'el heard those words of the P'lishti, they were shaken and terrified.
12 Now David was the son of that Efrati from Beit-Lechem in Y'hudah named Yishai. He had eight sons; and in the time of Sha'ul he was old - the years had taken their toll.
13 Yishai's three oldest sons had followed Sha'ul to battle; the names of his three sons who went to battle were Eli'av the firstborn, next to him Avinadav, and the third Shammah.
14 David was the youngest; the three oldest followed Sha'ul.
15 David went back and forth from Sha'ul to pasture his father's sheep at Beit-Lechem.
16 Meanwhile, the P'lishti approached with his challenge every morning and evening for forty days.
17 Yishai said to David his son, 'Please take your brothers five bushels of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread; hurry, and carry them to your brothers at the camp.
18 Also bring these ten cheeses to their field officer. Find out if your brothers are well, and bring back some token from them.
19 Sha'ul and your brothers, with all the army of Isra'el, are in the Elah Valley, fighting the P'lishtim.'
20 David got up early in the morning, left the sheep with a helper, took his load and set out, as Yishai had ordered him. He arrived at the barricade of the camp just as the troops were going out to their battle stations and shouting the war cry.
21 Isra'el and the P'lishtim had set up their battle lines facing each other.
22 David left his equipment in charge of the equipment guard, ran to the troops, went to his brothers and asked if they were well.
23 As he was talking with them, there came the champion, the P'lishti from Gat named Golyat, from the ranks of the P'lishtim, saying the same words as before; and David heard them.
24 When the soldiers from Isra'el saw the man, they all ran away from him, terrified.
25 The soldiers from Isra'el said [to each other], 'You saw that man who just came up? He has come to challenge Isra'el. To whoever kills him, the king will give a rich reward; he'll also give him his daughter and exempt his father's family from all service and taxes in Isra'el.'
26 David said to the men standing with him, 'What reward will be given to the man who kills this P'lishti and removes this disgrace from Isra'el? Who is this uncircumcised P'lishti anyway, that he challenges the armies of the living God?'
27 The people answered with what they had been saying, adding, 'That's what will be done for the man who kills him.'
28 Eli'av his oldest brother heard when David spoke to the men, and it made Eli'av angry at him. He asked, 'Why did you come down here? With whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is! You just came down to watch the fighting.'
29 David said, 'What have I done now? I only asked a question.'
30 He turned away from him to someone else and asked the same question, and the people gave him the same answer.
31 David's words were overheard and told to Sha'ul, who summoned him.
32 David said to Sha'ul, 'No one should lose heart because of him; your servant will go and fight this P'lishti.'
33 Sha'ul said to David, 'You can't go to fight this P'lishti -you're just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth!'
34 David answered Sha'ul, 'Your servant used to guard his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear would come and grab a lamb from the flock,
35 I would go after it, hit it, and snatch the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned on me, I would catch it by the jaw, smack it and kill it.
36 Your servant has defeated both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised P'lishti will be like one of them, because he has challenged the armies of the living God.'
37 Then David said, 'ADONAI, who rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will rescue me from the paw of this P'lishti!' Sha'ul said to David, 'Go; may ADONAI be with you.'
38 Sha'ul dressed David in his own armor - he put a bronze helmet on his head and gave him armor plate to wear.
39 David buckled his sword on his armor and tried to walk, but he wasn't used to such equipment. David said to Sha'ul, 'I can't move wearing these things, because I'm not used to them.' So David took them off.
40 Then he took his stick in his hand and picked five smooth stones from the riverbed, putting them in his shepherd's bag, in his pouch. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the P'lishti.
41 The P'lishti, with his shield-bearer ahead of him, came nearer and nearer to David.
42 The P'lishti looked David up and down and had nothing but scorn for what he saw - a boy with ruddy cheeks, red hair and good looks.
43 The P'lishti said to David, 'Am I a dog? Is that why you're coming at me with sticks?'- and the P'lishti cursed David by his god.
44 Then the P'lishti said to David, 'Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds in the air and the wild animals.'
45 David answered the P'lishti, 'You're coming at me with a sword, a spear and a javelin. But I'm coming at you in the name of ADONAI-Tzva'ot, the God of the armies of Isra'el, whom you have challenged.
46 Today ADONAI will hand you over to me. I will attack you, lop your head off, and give the carcasses of the army of the P'lishtim to the birds in the air and the animals in the land. Then all the land will know that there is a God in Isra'el,
47 and everyone assembled here will know that ADONAI does not save by sword or spear. For this is ADONAI's battle, and he will hand you over to us.'
48 When the P'lishti got up, approached and came close to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the P'lishti.
49 David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, and hurled it with his sling. It struck the P'lishti in his forehead and buried itself in his forehead, so that he fell face down on the ground.
50 Thus David defeated the P'lishti with a sling and a stone, striking the P'lishti and killing him; but David had no sword in his hand.
51 Then David ran and stood over the P'lishti, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and finished killing him, cutting off his head with it. When the P'lishtim saw that their hero was dead, they fled.
52 The men of Isra'el and Y'hudah got up, shouting, and pursued the P'lishtim all the way to Gat and the gates of 'Ekron. The wounded P'lishtim fell down all along the road from Sha'arayim to Gat and 'Ekron.
53 After chasing the P'lishtim, the army of Isra'el returned and plundered their camp.
54 David took the head of the P'lishti and brought it to Yerushalayim, but he put the armor of the P'lishti in his tent.
55 When Sha'ul saw David go out to fight the P'lishti, he said to Avner, the army's commander, 'Avner, whose son is this boy?''By your life, O king,' Avner 57 As replied, 'I don't know.'
56 The king said, 'Find out whose son this boy is.'David returned from killing the P'lishti, Avner took him and brought him to Sha'ul with the head of the P'lishti in his hand. 58 Sha'ul asked him, 'Young man, whose son are you?' David answered, 'I am the son of your servant Yishai the Beit-Lachmi.'
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1 By the time David had finished speaking to Sha'ul, Y'honatan found himself inwardly drawn by David's character, so that Y'honatan loved him as he did himself.
2 That day, Sha'ul took David into his service and would not let him go home to his father's house any more.
3 Y'honatan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as he did himself.
4 Y'honatan removed the cloak he was wearing and gave it to David, his armor too, including his sword, bow and belt.
5 David would go out, and no matter where Sha'ul sent him, he was successful. Sha'ul put him in charge of the fighting men; all the people thought it good, and so did Sha'ul's servants.
6 As David and the others were returning from the slaughter of the P'lishti, the women came out of all the cities of Isra'el to meet King Sha'ul, singing and dancing joyfully with tambourines and three-stringed instruments.
7 In their merrymaking the women sang, 'Sha'ul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.'
8 Sha'ul became very angry, because this song displeased him. He said, 'They give David credit for tens of thousands, but me they give credit for only thousands. Now all he lacks is the kingdom!'
9 From that day on, Sha'ul viewed David with suspicion.
10 The following day an evil spirit from God came powerfully over Sha'ul, so that he fell into a frenzy in the house. David was there, playing his lyre as on other occasions. This time Sha'ul had his spear in his hand;
11 and he threw the spear, thinking, 'I will pin David to the wall!' But David dodged out of the way twice.
12 Sha'ul became afraid of David, because ADONAI was with him and had left Sha'ul.
13 Therefore Sha'ul put him at a distance from himself by making him commander over a thousand; his goings and comings became public knowledge.
14 David had great success in all his ways; ADONAI was with him.
15 When Sha'ul saw how very successful he was, he became afraid of him.
16 But all Isra'el and Y'hudah loved David, because they knew about all his campaigns.
17 Sha'ul said to David, 'Here is my older daughter Merav. I will give her to you as your wife; only continue displaying your courage for me, and fight ADONAI's battles.' Sha'ul was thinking, 'I don't dare touch him, so let the P'lishtim do away with him.'
18 David's response to Sha'ul was, 'Who am I, that I should become the king's son-in-law? I don't have any kind of a life, and my father's family has no rank in Isra'el.'
19 However, when it was time for Merav Sha'ul's daughter to be given to David, she was given to Adri'el the Mecholati as his wife.
20 But Mikhal Sha'ul's daughter fell in love with David. They told Sha'ul, and it pleased him.
21 Sha'ul said, 'I'll give her to him, so that she can entrap him, and the P'lishtim can do away with him.' So Sha'ul said to David, 'Today you will become my son-in-law through the second [daughter].'
22 Sha'ul ordered his servants to speak privately with David and say, 'Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants like you; so become the king's son-in-law.'
23 Sha'ul's servants said this to David; but David replied, 'Do you think being the king's son-in-law is something to be treated so casually, given that I'm a poor man without social standing?'
24 Sha'ul's servants reported back to him how David had responded.
25 Sha'ul said, 'Here's what you are to say to David: 'The king doesn't want any dowry; he wants a hundred foreskins of the P'lishtim, so that he can have vengeance on the king's enemies.' For Sha'ul was hoping to have David killed by the P'lishtim.
26 When his servants said these words to David, it pleased David to become the king's son-in-law. Even before the time [for him to be married],
27 David got up and set out, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the P'lishtim. He brought their foreskins and gave all of them to the king in order to become the king's son-in-law. Then Sha'ul gave him Mikhal his daughter as his wife.
28 Sha'ul saw and understood that ADONAI was with David and that Mikhal Sha'ul's daughter loved him.
29 This only made Sha'ul the more afraid of David, so that Sha'ul became David's enemy for the rest of his life.
30 The leaders of the P'lishtim would attack; but whenever they attacked, David was more successful than any of Sha'ul's servants; so that David acquired a great reputation.
1 Sha'ul told Y'honatan his son and all his servants that they should have David killed. But because Y'honatan was very fond of David,
2 he told him, 'My father Sha'ul is out to have you killed. Therefore you must be very cautious tomorrow morning. Find a well-concealed place to hide in.
3 I will go out and stand next to my father in the countryside where you're hiding. I will talk with my father about you; and if I learn anything, I'll tell you.'
4 Y'honatan spoke well of David to Sha'ul his father and said to him, 'The king shouldn't sin against his servant David, because he hasn't sinned against you. On the contrary, his work for you has been very good indeed.
5 He put his life in his hands to attack the P'lishtim, and ADONAI accomplished a great victory for all Isra'el. You yourself saw it, and you were happy about it. So why do you want to sin against innocent blood by killing David without any reason?'
6 Sha'ul heeded Y'honatan's advice and swore, 'As ADONAI lives, he will not be put to death.'
7 Y'honatan called David and told him all these things. Then Y'honatan brought David to Sha'ul to be in attendance on the king, as before.
8 War broke out again, and David went and fought the P'lishtim. He defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled before him.
9 Then an evil spirit from ADONAI came upon Sha'ul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. David was playing his lyre,
10 when Sha'ul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear. But he dodged it and moved out of Sha'ul's way, so that the spear stuck in the wall. David fled, so that night he escaped.
11 But Sha'ul sent messengers to David's house to watch for him and kill him in the morning. Mikhal David's wife told him, 'If you don't save your life tonight, tomorrow you'll be dead.'
12 So Mikhal let David down through the window; and he left, fled and escaped.
13 Mikhal took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a goat's-hair quilt at its head and covered it with a cloth.
14 When Sha'ul sent messengers to capture David, she said, 'He's ill.'
15 Sha'ul sent the messengers to see David with the order, 'Bring him up to me, bed and all, so that I can kill him.'
16 But when the messengers entered, there before them was the household idol in the bed, with the goat's-hair quilt at its head.
17 Sha'ul asked Mikhal, 'Why did you deceive me this way and let my enemy go and escape?' Mikhal answered Sha'ul, 'He threatened me, 'Let me go, or I'll kill you.''
18 David fled and escaped, then came to Sh'mu'el in Ramah and told him everything Sha'ul had done to him. So he and Sh'mu'el went and stayed in the prophets'dormitory.
19 The news reached Sha'ul that David had been seen at the prophets'dormitory in Ramah.
20 Sha'ul sent messengers to capture David. But when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Sh'mu'el standing and leading them, the Spirit of God fell on Sha'ul's messengers; and they too began prophesying.
21 When Sha'ul was told, he sent other messengers; but they too began prophesying. Sha'ul sent messengers a third time, and they also prophesied.
22 Then he himself went to Ramah. When he arrived at the big cistern in Sekhu, he asked, 'Where are Sh'mu'el and David?' Someone answered, 'They're at the prophets' dormitory in Ramah.'
23 While on his way to the prophets' dormitory in Ramah, the Spirit of God fell on him too; and he went on, prophesying, until he arrived at the prophets' dormitory in Ramah.
24 He also stripped off his clothes, prophesied in Sh'mu'el's presence and lay there naked all that day and all that night. Hence it continues to be an expression, 'Is Sha'ul a prophet, too?'
1 David fled from the prophets' dormitory in Ramah, returned to Y'honatan and said, 'What have I done? Where have I gone wrong? What sin have I committed that makes your father want to take my life?'
2 Y'honatan replied,'Heaven forbid! You're not going to die! Look, my father does nothing important or unimportant without telling me first; so why should my father hide this from me? It just won't happen!'
3 In response David swore, 'Your father knows very well that you have made me your friend. This is why he will say, 'Y'honatan must not know this, or he will be unhappy.'As truly as ADONAI lives, and as truly as you are alive, there is only a step between me and death.'
4 Y'honatan said to David, 'Anything you want me to do for you, I'll do.'
5 David answered Y'honatan, 'Look, tomorrow is Rosh-Hodesh, and I ought to be dining with the king. Instead, let me go and hide myself in the countryside until evening of the third day.
6 If your father misses me at all, say, 'David begged me to let him hurry to Beit-Lechem, his city; because it's the annual sacrifice there for his whole family.'
7 If he says, 'Very good,' then your servant will be all right. But if he gets angry, you will know that he has planned something bad.
8 Therefore show kindness to your servant, for you bound your servant to yourself by a covenant before ADONAI. But if I have done something wrong, kill me yourself! Why turn me over to your father?'
9 Y'honatan said, 'Heaven forbid! If I ever were to learn that my father had definitely decided to do you harm, wouldn't I tell you?'
10 Then David asked Y'honatan, 'Who will tell me in the event your father gives you a harsh answer?'
11 Y'honatan said to David, 'Come, let's go out in the countryside.' They went out, both of them, to the countryside.
12 Y'honatan said to David, 'ADONAI, the God of Isra'el [is witness]: after I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, then, if things look good for David, I will send and let you know.
13 But if my father intends to do you harm, may ADONAI do as much and more to me if I don't let you know and send you away, so that you can go in peace. And may ADONAI be with you, just as he used to be with my father.
14 However, you are to show me ADONAI's kindness not only while I am alive, so that I do not die;
15 but also, after ADONAI has eliminated every one of David's enemies from the face of the earth, you are to continue showing kindness to my family forever.'
16 Thus Y'honatan made a covenant with the family of David, adding, 'May ADONAI seek its fulfillment even through David's enemies.'
17 Y'honatan had David swear it again, because of the love he had for him - he loved him as he loved himself.
18 Y'honatan said to him, 'Tomorrow is Rosh-Hodesh, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
19 The third day, hide yourself well in the same place as you did before; stay by the Departure Stone.
20 I will shoot three arrows to one side, as if I were shooting at a target.
21 Then I will send my boy to recover them. If I tell the boy, 'They're here on this side of you, take them,' then come - it means that everything is peaceful for you; as ADONAI lives, there's nothing wrong.
22 But if I tell the boy, 'The arrows are out there, beyond you,' then get going, because ADONAI is sending you away.
23 As for the matter we discussed earlier, ADONAI is between you and me forever.'
24 So David hid himself in the countryside. When Rosh-Hodesh came, the king sat down to eat his meal.
25 The king sat at his usual place by the wall. Y'honatan stood up, and Avner sat next to Sha'ul, but David's place was empty.
26 However, Sha'ul didn't say anything that day; because he thought, 'Something has happened to him, he is unclean. Yes, that's it, he isn't clean.'
27 The day after Rosh-Hodesh, the second day, David's place was empty; and Sha'ul said to Y'honatan his son, 'Why hasn't Yishai's son come to the meal either yesterday or today?'
28 Y'honatan answered Sha'ul, 'David begged me to let him go to Beit-Lechem.
29 He said, 'Please let me go, because our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother demanded that I come. So now, if you look on me favorably, please let me get away and see my brothers.' That's why he hasn't come to the king's table.'
30 At that Sha'ul flew into a rage at Y'honatan and said, 'You crooked rebel! Don't I know that you've made this son of Yishai your best friend? You don't care that you're shaming yourself and dishonoring your mother, do you?
31 Because as long as the son of Yishai lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be secure. Now send and bring him here to me - he deserves to die.'
32 Y'honatan answered Sha'ul his father, 'Why should he be put to death? What has he done?'
33 But Sha'ul threw his spear at him, aiming to kill; Y'honatan could no longer doubt that his father was determined to put David to death.
34 Y'honatan got up from the table in a fury, and he ate no food the second day of the month, both because he was upset over David and because his father had put him to shame.
35 The next morning Y'honatan went out into the country at the time he had arranged with David, taking with him a young boy.
36 He told the boy, 'Now run and find the arrows I'm about to shoot.'As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
37 When the boy reached the place where the arrow was that Y'honatan had shot, Y'honatan shouted at the boy,'Isn't the arrow beyond you?'
38 Y'honatan continued shouting after the boy, 'Quick! Hurry! Don't just stand there!' Y'honatan's boy gathered the arrows and returned to his master,
39 but the boy didn't understand anything about the matter - only Y'honatan and David understood.
40 Y'honatan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, 'Go, carry them to the city.'
41 As soon as the boy had gone, David got up from a place south of the stone, fell face down on the ground and prostrated himself three times; and they kissed one another and wept each with the other until it became too much for David.
42 Y'honatan said to David, 'Go in peace; because we have sworn, both of us, in the name of ADONAI, that ADONAI will be between me and you, and between my descendants and yours, forever.' 1(42b) So David got up and left, and Y'honatan went back to the city.
1 David went to see Achimelekh the cohen in Nov. Achimelekh came trembling to meet David and asked, 'Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?'
2 David said to Achimelekh the cohen, 'The king has sent me on a mission and told me not to let anyone know its purpose or what I've been ordered to do. I've arranged a place where the guards are to meet me.
3 Now, what do you have on hand? If you can spare five loaves of bread, give them to me, or whatever there is.'
4 The cohen answered David, 'I don't have any regular bread; however, there is consecrated bread - but only if the guards have abstained from women.
5 David answered the cohen, 'Of course women have been kept away from us, as on previous campaigns. Whenever I go out on campaign, the men's gear is clean, even if it's an ordinary trip. How much more, then, today, when they will be putting something consecrated in their packs!'
6 So the cohen gave him consecrated bread, because there was no bread there other than the showbread that had been removed from before ADONAI to be replaced by freshly baked bread on the day the old bread was removed.
7 One of the servants of Sha'ul happened to be there that day, detained before ADONAI. His name was Do'eg the Edomi, the head of Sha'ul's shepherds.
8 David said to Achimelekh, 'Perhaps you have here with you a spear or a sword? I brought neither my sword nor my other weapons, because the king's mission was urgent.'
9 The cohen said, 'The sword of Golyat the P'lishti you killed in the Elah Valley, is over there behind the ritual vest, wrapped in a cloth. If you want it, take it; it's the only one here.' David said, 'There's nothing like it; give it to me.'
10 The same day, David took flight from Sha'ul and went to Akhish king of
11 The servants of Akhish said to him, 'Isn't this David, king of the land? Weren't they dancing and singing to each other, 'Sha'ul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands'?'
12 These remarks were not lost on David, and he became very much afraid of Akhish king of Gat.
13 So, as they were watching, he changed his behavior and acted like a madman when they had hold of him, scratching marks on the doors of the city gate and drooling down his beard.
14 Akhish said to his servants, 'Here, you see that the man is meshugga; why bring him to me?
15 Am I short of meshugga'im? Is that why you've brought this one to go crazy on me? Must I have this one in my house?'
1 David left there and took refuge in the Cave of 'Adulam. When his brothers and the rest of his father's family heard of it, they went down to see him there.
2 Then all the people in distress, in debt or embittered began gathering around him, and he became their leader; there were about four hundred with him.
3 David went from there to Mitzpeh of Mo'av and said to the king of Mo'av, 'Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.'
4 He presented them to the king of Mo'av, and they lived with him as long as David remained in his stronghold.
5 But the prophet Gad said to David, 'Don't stay in the stronghold. Leave, and go to the land of Y'hudah.' So David left and went to the Forest of Heret.
6 Sha'ul heard that David and the men with him had been located. Sha'ul was sitting in Giv'ah, under the tamarisk tree on the hill, with his spear in his hand and all his servants standing around him.
7 Sha'ul said to his servants standing around him, 'Listen, you men of Binyamin! Is Yishai's son going to give any of you fields and vineyards? Is he going to make you all commanders of thousands and hundreds?
8 Is this why you have all conspired against me, why none of you told me when my son went in league with Yishai's son? None of you is concerned about me! Otherwise you would have told me that my son had incited my servant to become my enemy, as he is now.'
9 Then Do'eg the Edomi, who had been put in charge of Sha'ul's servants, answered,'I saw Yishai's son come to Nov, to Achimelekh the son of Achituv.
10 He consulted ADONAI for him, gave him food and gave him the sword of Golyat the P'lishti.'
11 The king sent to summon Achimelekh the cohen the son of Achituv, along with all his father's family, the cohanim in Nov; and all of them went to the king.
12 Sha'ul said, 'Listen here, you son of Achituv!' He answered, 'Here I am, my lord.'
13 Sha'ul said to him, 'Why did you conspire against me, you and Yishai's son? By giving him bread and a sword and consulting God for him, you helped him rebel against me and become my enemy, which he now is!'
14 Achimelekh answered the king, 'Is there anyone among all your servants more trustworthy than David? He's the king's son-in-law, he carries out your every request, your household honors him.
15 I didn't start consulting God for him just today. Heaven forbid! The king shouldn't accuse me or my father's family of anything! Your servant knows nothing at all about any of this!'
16 But the king said, 'You must die, you and your father's whole family.'
17 Then the king told the guards standing around him, 'Go around, and kill the cohanim of ADONAI, because they are siding with David, and because they knew he was escaping, yet they didn't tell me.' But the king's servants refused to lift their hands against the cohanim of ADONAI.
18 So the king said to Do'eg, 'You go around and kill the cohanim!' Do'eg the Edomi went around and fell on the cohanim; that day he killed eighty-five persons wearing linen ritual vests.
19 He also attacked Nov, the city of the cohanim, with the sword; he put to the sword both men and women, children and babies, cattle, donkeys and sheep.
20 One of the sons of Achimelekh the son of Achituv, named Avyatar, escaped and fled to join David.
21 Avyatar told David that Sha'ul had killed the cohanim of ADONAI.
22 David said to Avyatar, 'I knew it! That day, when Do'eg the Edomi was there, I knew he would tell Sha'ul. I caused the death of every person in your father's family.
23 Stay with me; don't be afraid; because the one who is seeking my life seeks yours too. You'll be safe with me.'
1 David was told, 'The P'lishtim are fighting Ke'ilah and plundering the thresh-ing-floors.'
2 David consulted ADONAI, asking, 'Should I go and attack these P'lishtim?'ADONAI answered David, 'Go, and attack the P'lishtim, and save Ke'ilah.'
3 David's men said to him, 'Look, we're already afraid here in Y'hudah. How much more, then, if we go to Ke'ilah to fight the armies of the P'lishtim!'
4 David consulted ADONAI again; and ADONAI answered him, 'Set out, and go down to Ke'ilah, because I will hand the P'lishtim over to you.'
5 David and his men went to Ke'ilah and fought the P'lishtim. They defeated them in a great slaughter and led away their livestock. Thus David saved the inhabitants of Ke'ilah.
6 When Avyatar the son of Achimelekh fled to David in Ke'ilah, he had brought a ritual vest with him.
7 Now Sha'ul, on being informed that David had gone to Ke'ilah, had said, 'God has put him into my hands. He's trapped himself by entering a town with gates and bars.'
8 So Sha'ul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Ke'ilah and besiege David and his men.
9 David knew that Sha'ul was plotting something against him, so he told Avyatar the cohen, 'Bring the ritual vest here.'
10 Then David said, 'ADONAI God of Isra'el, your servant has certainly heard that Sha'ul intends to come to Ke'ilah and destroy the city just to get me.
11 Will the men of Ke'ilah turn me over to him? Will Sha'ul come down, as your servant has heard? ADONAI God of Isra'el, please tell your servant!'ADONAI said, 'He will come down.'
12 Then David asked, 'Will the men of Ke'ilah hand me and my men over to Sha'ul?'ADONAI said, 'They will hand you over.'
13 So David and his men, now around six hundred, got up, left Ke'ilah and went wherever they could. It was told Sha'ul that David had escaped from Ke'ilah, so he called off the expedition.
14 David stayed in the desert strongholds, remaining in the hills of the Zif Desert. Sha'ul kept trying to find him, but God did not hand him over to him.
15 David saw that Sha'ul had mounted another expedition to seek his life. David was then at Horesh in the Zif Desert.
16 Y'honatan Sha'ul's son set out and went to David at Horesh to encourage him in God.
17 He said to him, 'Don't be afraid, because my father's forces will not find you; you will be king over Isra'el, and I will be second to you. Sha'ul my father knows this, too.'
18 Then the two of them made a covenant in the presence of ADONAI, after which David stayed at Horesh and Y'honatan returned home.
19 The people of Zif came to Sha'ul in Giv'ah and said, 'David is hiding himself with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on Hakhilah Hill, south of Yeshimon.
20 So now, king, since you've wanted so much to come down, come down! Our part will be to turn him over to you.'
21 Sha'ul said, 'May ADONAI bless you for showing me compassion!
22 Please go and make still more certain exactly where he is and who has seen him there, because I've been told that he's very tricky.
23 So look closely, find out where all his hiding-places are, and come back when you're sure. Then I will go with you, and if he is there in that territory, I'll search till I find him among all the thousands of Y'hudah.'
24 They set out and went to Zif before Sha'ul. But David and his men had gone on to the Ma'on Desert, in the 'Aravah south of Yeshimon.
25 Sha'ul and his men went searching for him. David was told, so he came down to the rock and stayed in the Ma'on Desert. When Sha'ul heard that, he pursued David in the Ma'on Desert.
26 Sha'ul went along one side of the mountain, while David and his men went along the other. David was hurrying to get away from Sha'ul, while Sha'ul and his men were trying to surround David and his men in order to capture them.
27 But then a messenger came to Sha'ul, saying, 'Hurry, come, because the P'lishtim are invading the country!'
28 So Sha'ul stopped chasing David and went to fight the P'lishtim. Therefore they called that place Sela-Hamachlekot [rock of divisions].
29 From there David went up and lived in the strongholds of 'Ein-Gedi.
1 When Sha'ul returned from pursuing the P'lishtim, he was told that David was in the desert at 'Ein-Gedi.
2 Sha'ul took three thousand men chosen from all Isra'el and went searching for David and his men on the cliffs where the mountain goats are.
3 Near some sheep pens along the way was a cave, and Sha'ul went inside to relieve himself. It happened that David and his men were sitting in the recesses at the back of the cave;
4 and David's men said to him, 'Look! The day has come that ADONAI told you about when he said to you, 'I will turn your enemy over to you, and you will do to him whatever seems good to you.''Then David stole over unobserved and cut off the corner of Sha'ul's cloak.
5 But after doing this, David felt remorse over cutting Sha'ul's garment.
6 He said to his men, 'ADONAI forbid that I should do such a thing to my lord, ADONAI's anointed, as raise my hand against him! After all, he is ADONAI's anointed.'
7 By saying this, David stopped his men and would not let them do anything to Sha'ul. Sha'ul got up, left the cave and went on his way.
8 Then David too got up and went outside the cave, where he called after Sha'ul, 'My lord the king!' When Sha'ul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself.
9 David said to Sha'ul, 'Why do you listen to people who say, 'David is out to harm you?'
10 Here, today you have seen with your own eyes that ADONAI put you in my power there in the cave. Some of my men said I should kill you, but I spared you; I said, 'I won't raise my hand against my lord, because he is ADONAI's anointed.'
11 Moreover, my father, look! Here in my hand you see the corner of your cloak. By the fact that I only cut off a piece of your cloak and didn't kill you, you can see and understand that I have no plan to do harm or rebel, and that I haven't sinned against you -even though you are seeking every chance you get to take my life.
12 May ADONAI judge between you and me, and may ADONAI avenge me on you! But I will not lay a hand on you -
13 as the old saying has it, 'Out of the wicked comes wickedness, but I will not lay a hand on you.'
14 The king of Isra'el has come on a campaign - after whom? Whom are you chasing? A dead dog! A single flea!
15 ADONAI be the judge; let him decide between you and me. May he take my side and rescue me from your power!'
16 After David had finished speaking to Sha'ul, Sha'ul said, 'Is that your voice, my son David?' Then Sha'ul cried out and wept;
17 and he said to David, 'You are more righteous than I, because you have treated me well, while I have been treating you badly.
18 You have made it clear to me today that you have done me good; for when ADONAI put my fate in your hands, you didn't kill me.
19 A man finds his enemy and lets him go unharmed?! May ADONAI reward you well for what you did to me today.
20 Now I'm certain that you will indeed become king, and that the kingship of Isra'el will be established in your hands.
21 So swear to me by ADONAI that you will not kill my descendants after I die or blot out my name from my father's family.'
22 David swore to Sha'ul, and Sha'ul went home, but David and his men went back up to the stronghold.
1 Sh'mu'el died. All of Isra'el assembled to mourn him and bury him at his home in Ramah. Then David set out and went down to the Pa'ran Desert.
2 Now there was a man in Ma'on who had property in Karmel. He was very rich, having three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep in Karmel.
3 The man's name was Naval, and his wife was named Avigayil. The woman was intelligent and attractive, but the man was surly and mean in his actions; he belonged to the clan of Kalev.
4 David, there in the desert, heard that Naval was shearing his sheep.
5 David sent off ten young men with these orders: 'Go up to Naval in Karmel, and bring him greetings from me.
6 Say, 'Long life and shalom to you, shalom to your household, and shalom to everything that is yours!
7 I've heard that you now have shearers. Your shepherds were with us [for a while], we did them no harm, and they found nothing missing all the time they were in Karmel.
8 Ask your own men; they'll tell you. Therefore, receive my men favorably, since we have come on a festive day. Please give what you can to your servants and to your son David.''
9 On arrival, David's men said all these things to Naval in David's name. When they had finished,
10 Naval answered David's servants, 'Who is David? Who is the son of Yishai? There are many servants nowadays running away from their masters.
11 Am I supposed to take my bread, my water and my meat that I slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men coming from who knows where?'
12 So David's men turned around, went back and came and told him everything Naval had said.
13 David said to his men, 'Buckle your swords on, all of you!' Each one buckled on his sword, David too; and there went up after David about four hundred men, while two hundred stayed with the equipment.
14 But one of Naval's men told Avigayil his wife, 'David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master, and he flew on them in a rage,
15 even though the men had been very good to us - they didn't harm us, and we found nothing missing during the entire time we went with them, while we were out in the countryside.
16 They served as a wall protecting us day and night all the time we were with them caring for the sheep.
17 So now decide what you are going to do, for clearly harm is on its way to our master and all his household, but he's so mean that no one can tell him anything.'
18 Avigayil wasted no time in taking 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already prepared, six quarts of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins and 200 fig cakes, and having them loaded on donkeys.
19 Then she said to her young men, 'Go on ahead of me, and I'll come along after you.' But she didn't tell her husband Naval.
20 She was riding her donkey down past the hiding-place in the mountain, when David and his men descended toward her, and she met them.
21 David had said, 'What a waste it has been guarding everything this fellow has in the desert, so that nothing of his was missing! He has repaid me bad for good!'
22 Then he swore, 'May God do the same and more to David's enemies if I leave alive even one male of everything he owns.'
23 When Avigayil saw David, she hurried to dismount from her donkey, fell on her face in front of David and bowed down to the ground.
24 Having fallen at his feet, she said, 'It's all my fault, my lord, all my fault! Please let your servant speak in your ears, and listen to what your servant says.
25 Please! My lord shouldn't pay any attention to this worthless fellow Naval, because he's just like his name -'Naval' means 'boor,' and his boorishness stays with him. But I, your servant, did not see my lord's men, whom you sent.
26 Therefore, my lord, as ADONAI lives, and as you live, inasmuch as ADONAI has kept you from the guilt of shedding blood and from taking vengeance into your own hands - therefore, may your enemies and anyone seeking your harm be [as worthless] as Naval.
27 Meanwhile, let this present which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the men in my lord's service.
28 And please forgive the offense your servant has caused; because ADONAI will certainly establish my lord's dynasty, for my lord fights ADONAI's battles, and nothing bad has been found in you all your life long.
29 Even if someone comes along searching for you and seeking your life, your life will be bound in the bundle of life with ADONAI your God. But the lives of your enemies he will fling away as if from the pouch of a slingshot.
30 Then, when ADONAI has done all the good to my lord that he has said about you and made you ruler over Isra'el,
31 what happens here will not have become an obstacle to you or a cause for remorse to my lord, neither that you shed blood without cause nor that my lord took vengeance into his own hands. Finally, when ADONAI has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.'
32 David said to Avigayil, 'Blessed be ADONAI the God of Isra'el, who sent you today to meet me;
33 and blessed be your tactfulness, and blessed be yourself for having kept me today from the guilt of shedding blood and taking vengeance into my own hands.
34 For as ADONAI the God of Isra'el, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you hadn't rushed to meet me, not even one male would have been left to Naval by morning!'
35 So David received from her what she had brought him, then said to her, 'Go up in peace to your home. I have listened to what you said and granted your request.'
36 Avigayil came to Naval; there he was in his house, holding a feast fit for a king. He was in high spirits, because he was very drunk. So she told him nothing whatever until the next morning.
37 In the morning, when he was sober and his wife told him what had happened, he had a stroke and became as motionless as a stone.
38 Some ten days later ADONAI struck Naval, and he died.
39 When David heard that Naval was dead, he said, 'Blessed be ADONAI for having taken my side in the matter of Naval's insult and for having prevented his servant from doing anything bad. On the contrary, ADONAI has caused Naval's bad deeds to return on his own head.'Then David sent a message that he wanted to make Avigayil his own wife.
40 When David's servants reached Avigayil in Karmel, they said to her, 'David has sent us to you to bring you to him to be his wife.'
41 She got up, bowed with her face to the ground, and said, 'Your servant is here to serve you, to wash the feet of my lord's servants.'
42 Avigayil then hurried, set out and rode off on a donkey, with five of her female servants following her; she went after David's messengers; and she became his wife.
43 David also took Achino'am of Yizre'el; both of them became his wives.
44 Meanwhile, Sha'ul had given Mikhal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Layish, who came from Gallim.
1 The people from Zif went to Sha'ul in Giv'ah and said, 'David is hiding himself on Hakhilah Hill, across from Yeshimon.'
2 Then Sha'ul set out and went down to the Zif Desert with three thousand men chosen from Isra'el, to search for David in the Zif Desert.
3 Sha'ul pitched camp on Hakhilah Hill, across from Yeshimon, near the road. David was staying in the desert, and he saw that Sha'ul was coming into the desert after him.
4 So David dispatched spies and determined that Sha'ul had definitely come.
5 David set out and went to where Sha'ul had pitched his camp. He saw where Sha'ul and Avner the son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping. Sha'ul was lying inside the barricade with the troops asleep all around him.
6 David said to Achimelekh the Hitti and Avishai the son of Tz'ruyah, Yo'av's brother, 'Who will go down with me to Sha'ul in the camp?' Avishai said, 'I will go down with you.'
7 So David and Avishai went to the soldiers by night. Sha'ul was lying there asleep inside the barricade. His spear was stuck in the ground next to his head, with Avner and the troops asleep all around him.
8 Avishai said to David, 'God has handed your enemy over to you today; so now, please, let me pin him to the ground with just one stroke of the spear. I won't strike him a second time.'
9 But David said to Avishai, 'Don't destroy him! Nobody can raise his hand against ADONAI's anointed without becoming guilty!'
10 David then added, 'As ADONAI lives, ADONAI will strike him down, or the day will come for him to die, or he will go down to battle and be swept away.
11 ADONAI forbid that I should raise my hand against ADONAI's anointed! But now, we'll take the spear by his head and the jug of water, and get out of here.'
12 So David took the spear and the water jug from Sha'ul's head and got away. Nobody saw or knew about it, and no one awoke, because they were all asleep - a deep sleep from ADONAI had fallen over them.
13 David crossed to the other side and climbed to the top of the distant ridge, leaving a considerable space between them.
14 Then David called out to the troops and to Avner the son of Ner. 'Avner! Aren't you going to answer?' Avner answered, 'Who are you, calling to the king?'
15 David said to Avner, 'Aren't you the brave one! Who is there in Isra'el to compare with you? So why haven't you kept watch over your lord the king? Someone came in to kill the king, your lord!
16 It's not good, what you've done! As ADONAI lives, you deserve to die; because you didn't keep watch over your lord, ADONAI's anointed. And now, see where the king's spear is, and the jug of water that was next to his head!'
17 Sha'ul recognized David's voice and said, 'Is that your voice, my son David?'David said, 'It is my voice, my lord king!'
18 and continued, 'Why is my lord chasing his servant? What have I done? What evil am I planning?
19 Please, now, may my lord the king hear what his servant is saying. If it is ADONAI who has stirred you up against me, let him receive an offering. But if it's human beings, then a curse on them before ADONAI! - because, as things stand today, they have driven me out, so that I can no longer share in ADONAI's inheritance - they've said, 'Go, serve other gods!'
20 Now don't let my blood fall on the ground away from the presence of ADONAI. The king of Isra'el has gone out in search of a single flea, as if he were hunting partridge in the mountains!'
21 Then Sha'ul said, 'I have sinned. Come back, my son David. I won't harm you any longer, because you regarded my life as precious today. Yes, I have behaved like a fool. I was altogether in the wrong.'
22 David answered, 'Here is the king's spear. Send one of the men over to bring it back.
23 ADONAI will give every person a reward suited to his uprightness and faithfulness. ADONAI put you in my power today, but I would not raise my hand against ADONAI's anointed.
24 Look: just as I put great value on your life today, so may my life be given great value by ADONAI. May he deliver me from every kind of trouble!'
25 Sha'ul answered David, 'Blessings on you, my son David! No question that you will accomplish everything you set out to do!' So David went on his way, and Sha'ul returned to his place.
1 But David said to himself, 'One day Sha'ul will sweep me away. The best thing for me to do is to escape into the territory of the P'lishtim. Then Sha'ul will give up trying to find me here or there in Isra'el's territory, and at last I'll be free of him.'
2 So David set out with his six hundred men and passed on to Akhish the son of Ma'okh, king of Gat.
3 David lived with Akhish, he and his men, each man with his household - including David with his two wives Achino'am from Yizre'el and Avigayil from Karmel, Naval's widow.
4 Sha'ul was told that David had escaped to Gat, whereupon he stopped searching for him.
5 David said to Akhish, 'If you are now favorably disposed toward me, let me have a place to live in one of the cities in the countryside. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?'
6 That very day Akhish gave him Ziklag, and that's why to this day Ziklag belongs to the kings of Y'hudah.
7 After David had been living in the country of the P'lishtim for a year and four months,
8 he and his men began going up and raiding the G'shuri, the Gizri and the 'Amaleki (from ancient times these people had lived in the land in the direction of Shur, all the way to Egypt).
9 David would attack the land, leaving alive neither men nor women, but taking the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and clothing. Then he would return and go to Akhish.
10 Akhish would ask, 'Where were you raiding today?' and David would answer, 'Against the Negev of Y'hudah,' or 'Against the Negev of the Yerachme'eli,' or 'Against the Negev of the Keni.'
11 The reason David spared neither men nor women to be brought to Gat is that he thought, 'We don't want them telling on us, saying, 'David did so-and-so.'' That's how he conducted his raids for as long as he lived in the country of the P'lishtim.
12 And Akhish believed him; he said, 'David has caused his own people Isra'el to despise him utterly; he will be my servant forever.'
1 In due time the P'lishtim assembled their armies for war against Isra'el. Akhish told David, 'You know, of course, that you and your men will join me and the army in battle.'
2 David answered Akhish, 'I see that you already know what your servant will do.'Akhish said to David, 'For that answer, I am making you my personal bodyguard for life.'
3 Now Sh'mu'el was dead; all Isra'el had mourned him and buried him in his city, Ramah. Also Sha'ul had expelled from the land those who tell the future by communicating with the dead or with a demonic spirit.
4 The P'lishtim assembled; then they went and pitched camp at Shunem; while Sha'ul gathered all Isra'el together and pitched camp at Gilboa.
5 When Sha'ul saw the army of the P'lishtim, he became afraid - it struck terror in his heart.
6 But when he consulted ADONAI, ADONAI didn't answer him - not by dreams, not by urim and not by prophets.
7 Then Sha'ul said to his servants, 'Try to find a woman who tells the future by communicating with the dead; I want to go and consult with her.' His servants answered him, 'Yes, there's a woman in 'Ein-Dor who tells the future by communicating with the dead.'
8 So Sha'ul disguised himself by wearing different clothing, went with two men, came to the woman by night and said, 'Tell me the future, please. Bring up from the dead the person I name to you.'
9 The woman answered, 'Here, you know what Sha'ul did, how he expelled from the land those who tell the future by communicating with the dead or with a demonic spirit. Why are you trying to entrap me into causing my own death?'
10 But Sha'ul swore to her by ADONAI, 'As ADONAI lives, you will not be punished for doing this.'
11 Then the woman asked, 'Whom should I bring up for you?' He said, 'Bring up for me Sh'mu'el.'
12 When the woman saw Sh'mu'el, she let out a shriek. Then the woman said to Sha'ul, 'Why have you deceived me? You yourself are Sha'ul!'
13 The king replied, 'Don't be afraid. Just tell me what you see.'The woman said to Sha'ul, 'I see a god-like being coming up out of the earth.'
14 He asked her, 'What does he look like?' She said, 'An old man is coming up; he's wearing a cloak.' Sha'ul realized it was Sh'mu'el, so he bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself.
15 Sh'mu'el asked Sha'ul, 'Why have you disturbed me and brought me up?' Sha'ul answered, 'I'm very upset; because the P'lishtim are making war against me; and God has left me and doesn't answer me any more, neither by prophets nor by dreams. This is why I've called you, so that you can let me know what to do.'
16 Sh'mu'el said, 'Why ask me, if ADONAI has left you and become your enemy?
17 ADONAI has done for himself what he foretold through me -ADONAI has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to your fellow countryman David,
18 because you didn't obey what ADONAI said and execute his furious anger toward 'Amalek. That's why ADONAI is doing this to you today.
19 ADONAI is giving Isra'el as well as yourself over into the power of the P'lishtim, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. ADONAI will hand over Isra'el's army to the power of the P'lishtim.'
20 Sha'ul immediately fell full length on the ground and became terribly frightened because of what Sh'mu'el had said. He had no strength left in him, for he had eaten nothing all that day and night.
21 The woman approached Sha'ul, saw that he was panic-stricken and said to him, 'Here, your servant listened to what you said; I put my life in my hands and did what you requested me to do.
22 Now therefore, please, you listen to what your servant says: let me put a little food in front of you; then eat, so you will have some strength when you go on your way.'
23 But he refused and said, 'I won't eat.'Then his servants, together with the woman, urged him; and he heeded what they said. He got up off the ground and sat on the bed.
24 The woman had a fattened calf in the house; she hurried to slaughter it; then she took flour, kneaded it and baked matzah with it.
25 She served it to Sha'ul and his servants, and they ate. Afterwards, they got up; and they went away that night.
1 The P'lishtim gathered all their army together at Afek, while Isra'el's army pitched camp by the spring in Yizre'el.
2 The leaders of the P'lishtim were passing by with their hundreds and thousands; David and his men were bringing up the rear with Akhish.
3 The chiefs of the P'lishtim asked, 'What are these Hebrews doing here?'Akhish answered the chiefs of the P'lishtim, 'This is David, who was a servant of Sha'ul, king of Isra'el. He's been with me now for well over a year, and I haven't found anything wrong with him between the time he deserted to me and now.'
4 But the chiefs of the P'lishtim became angry and said to him, 'Have the man return and go back to the place you set aside for him. Don't let him go into battle with us, because on the battlefield he might become our enemy. What better way could there be for him to get reconciled with his lord than by [cutting off] the heads of our men?
5 This is David! They used to dance and sing about him, 'Sha'ul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands'!'
6 So Akhish summoned David and said to him, 'As ADONAI lives, you have been upright; and I myself would be more than pleased to have you go on campaign with me; because I haven't found anything wrong with you between the day you arrived and now. However, the chiefs don't trust you.
7 Therefore, now, go on back; and go in peace, so as not to do what appears bad to the chiefs of the P'lishtim.
8 David said to Akhish, 'But what have I done? What have you found in your servant during the time I've been with you that disqualifies me from going and fighting against the enemies of my lord the king?'
9 Akhish answered David, 'I know that you are as good, from my point of view, as an angel of God. Nevertheless, the chiefs of the P'lishtim have said, 'He is not to go up with us to the battlefield.'
10 So get up early in the morning with the servants of your lord who came with you; and as soon as you are up and it gets light, leave.'
11 David got up early in the morning, he and his men, to leave and go back into the land of the P'lishtim; while the P'lishtim continued up to Yizre'el.
1 Three days later, when David and his men arrived in Ziklag, they found that the 'Amaleki had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had sacked Ziklag and burned it down;
2 and they had taken captive the women and everyone there, great and small. They hadn't killed anyone but had carried them off as they went on their way.
3 So when David and his men arrived at the city, there it was, burned down, with their wives, sons and daughters taken captive.
4 Then David and the people with him cried aloud until they had no more power to cry.
5 David's two wives had been taken captive - Achino'am from Yizre'el and Avigayil the widow of Naval from Karmel.
6 David was in serious trouble: the people were talking about stoning him to death, because all the people were in such deep grief, each man over his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in ADONAI his God.
7 David said to Avyatar the cohen, the son of Achimelekh, 'Please bring the ritual vest here to me.'Avyatar brought the vest to David.
8 Then David consulted ADONAI. He asked, 'Should I go in pursuit of these raiders? Will I catch up with them?' And [ADONAI] answered him, 'Go in pursuit, because you will overtake them and recover everyone and everything.'
9 So David went, he and the six hundred men with him. They came to Vadi B'sor, where those who were to stay behind waited.
10 Then David continued in pursuit with four hundred men, while two hundred too exhausted to cross Vadi B'sor stayed behind.
11 They found an Egyptian in the countryside and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink;
12 they also gave him a lump of dried figs and two bunches of raisins. After eating, he revived; because he hadn't eaten anything or drunk any water for three days and nights.
13 David asked him, 'To whom do you belong, and where are you from?' He answered, 'I'm an Egyptian boy, the slave of an 'Amaleki. My master abandoned me three days ago, because I got sick.
14 We raided the Negev of the K'reti, the Negev of Y'hudah and the Negev of Kalev; and we burned down Ziklag.'
15 David asked him, 'Will you lead me down to this raiding party?' He said, 'If you will swear by God to me that you won't kill me or hand me back to my master, I will lead you down to the raiders.'
16 He led them down, and there they were, spread out all over the ground, eating, drinking and celebrating how much spoil they had taken from the territory of the P'lishtim and the territory of Y'hudah.
17 David attacked them from dawn until the evening of the next day. Not one of them escaped, except for 400 young men who jumped on camels and got away.
18 David recovered all that the 'Amaleki had taken; he also rescued his two wives.
19 They found nothing missing, big or little - not sons, not daughters, not plundered goods or anything else they had taken - David brought it all back.
20 David took all the flocks and herds and drove them ahead of their own livestock, announcing, 'This is David's spoil.'
21 David came to where the two hundred men were who had been too exhausted to follow him, whom they had let stay at Vadi B'sor. They came out to meet David and the people with him. When David approached them he greeted them.
22 But some of the men who had gone with David were evil men, scoundrels; and they said, 'They didn't go with us, so we're not giving them any of the property we've recovered. Each man can take his wife and children and leave.'
23 Then David said, 'No, my brothers, don't do this with the goods ADONAI has given us. He protected us, and he handed the raiding party over to us.
24 Anyhow, no one agrees with you about this. No, the share of someone who stays with the equipment will be the same as the share of someone who goes out and fights - they will share equally.'
25 It has been that way from that day on; he established it as a ruling for Isra'el to this day.
26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the leaders of Y'hudah who were his friends with a note, 'Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of ADONAI.'
27 He sent such gifts to those in Beit-El, to those in Ramot, to those in Yatir,
28 to those in 'Aro'er, to those in Sifmot, to those in Esht'moa,
29 to those in Rakhal, to those in Yerachme'eli, to those in the cities of the Keni,
30 to those in Hormah, to those in Kor-'Ashan, to those in 'Atakh,
31 to those in Hevron, and to all the places where David and his men had frequently visited.
1 Now the P'lishtim pressed their attack on Isra'el. The men of Isra'el fled before the P'lishtim, leaving their dead on Mount Gilboa.
2 The P'lishtim pursued and overtook Sha'ul and his sons; and the P'lishtim killed Y'honatan, Avinadav and Malkishua, the sons of Sha'ul.
3 The fighting went hard against Sha'ul; then the archers overtook and wounded him, so that he was in agony.
4 Sha'ul said to his armor-bearer, 'Draw your sword and run me through with it. Otherwise these uncircumcised men will come, run me through and make sport of me.' But his armor-bearer refused, he was too frightened. So Sha'ul took his sword and fell on it.
5 When his armor-bearer saw that Sha'ul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died with him.
6 Thus Sha'ul, his three sons, his armor-bearer and all his men died that same day together.
7 When the men of Isra'el who were on the other side of the valley and those who were on the far side of the Yarden saw that the men of Isra'el had fled and that Sha'ul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the P'lishtim came and lived in them.
8 The following day, when the P'lishtim came to strip the dead, they found Sha'ul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa.
9 They cut off his head, stripped off his armor and sent these all over the territory of the P'lishtim to carry the news to the temples of their idols and to the people.
10 Then they put his armor in the temple for the 'ashtarot and fastened his body to the wall of Beit-Sh'an.
11 When the people living in Yavesh-Gil'ad heard what the P'lishtim had done to Sha'ul,
12 all their warriors set out, traveling all night. They took the body of Sha'ul and the bodies of his sons off the wall of Beit-Sh'an, returned to Yavesh and burned them there.
13 Then they took their bones, buried them under the tamarisk tree in Yavesh and fasted seven days.