1 Samuel 19
1 Then Saul instructed his son Jonathan and all his officials to kill David. But Jonathan really liked David,
And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, to kill David.
2 so he warned him, “My father Saul is trying to kill you. So be careful tomorrow morning—find a place to hide and stay hidden.
And Jonathan, Saul's son, loved David much: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul seeks to kill you: take heed to yourself therefore to-morrow morning, and hide yourself, and dwell in secret.
3 I'll go out with my father and stand in the field near to where you are hiding. I'll talk to him about you and see what I can find out, then I'll let you know.”
And I will go forth, and stand near my father in the field where you shall be, and I will speak concerning you to my father; and I will see what his answer may be, and I will tell you.
4 Then Jonathan spoke positively about David to his father Saul, and told him, “The king should not do anything bad to his servant David because he's not done anything bad to you—he has always served you well.
And Jonathan spoke favourably concerning David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against your servant David, for he has not sinned against you, and his deeds [are] very good.
5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about great salvation for the whole of Israel. You saw it and you were delighted, so why would you sin and spill innocent blood by killing David without having any reason?”
And he put his life in his hand, and struck the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great deliverance; and all Israel saw, and rejoined: why then do you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?
6 Saul accepted what Jonathan had to say, and promised with an oath: “I swear on the life of the Lord, he won't be put to death.”
And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan; and Saul swore, saying, [As] the Lord lives, he shall not die.
7 Later Jonathan called David and told him all that had been said. Then he took him to Saul, and David worked for Saul as he had before.
And Jonathan called David, and told him all these words; and Jonathan brought David in to Saul, and he was before him as in former times.
8 War broke out once again, and David went to fight the Philistines. He attacked them so forcefully that they ran away in defeat.
And there was again war against Saul; and David did valiantly, and fought against the Philistines, and struck them with a very great slaughter, and they fled from before him.
9 A while later an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. As David played the lyre,
And an evil spirit from God was upon Saul, and he was resting in his house, and a spear [was] in his hand, and David was playing on the harp with his hands.
10 Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear. David managed to dodge the spear which embedded itself in the wall. Then David escaped and ran away into the night.
And Saul sought to strike David with the spear; and David withdrew [suddenly] from the presence of Saul; and he drove the spear into the wall; and David retreated and escaped.
11 Saul sent some messengers to David's house to keep watch and kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, warned him, “If you don't get away tonight, tomorrow you'll be killed.”
And it came to pass in that night, that Saul sent messengers to the house of David to watch him, in order to kill him in the morning; and Melchol David's wife told him, saying, Unless you save your life this night, to-morrow you shall be slain.
12 Michal lowered David down from a window, and he ran off, managing to escape.
So Melchol lets David down by the window, and he departed, and fled, and escaped.
13 Then she took a home idol and laid it in the bed, put a goat hair wig on its head, and covered it with bedclothes.
And Melchol took images, and laid them on the bed, and she put the liver of a goat by his head, and covered them with clothes.
14 When Saul sent the messengers to arrest David, Michal told them, “He's sick.”
And Saul sent messengers to take David; and they say that he is sick.
15 Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him to me in the bed so I can kill him.”
And he sends to David, saying, Bring him to me on the bed, that I may kill him.
16 But when the messengers went into the bedroom, there was the idol in the bed with the goat hair wig on its head.
And the messengers come, and, behold, the images [were] on the bed, and the goat's liver at his head.
17 “Why did you trick me like this—helping my enemy get away so he could escape?” Saul asked Michal. “He told me, ‘Get out of my way! I don't want to have to kill you!’” Michal replied.
And Saul said to Melchol, Why have you thus deceived me, and suffered my enemy to depart, and he has escaped? and Melchol said to Saul, He said, let me go, and if not, I will kill you.
18 This is how David got away and escaped. He went to Samuel at Ramah and explained to him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to stay in Naioth.
So David fled, and escaped, and comes to Samuel to Armathaim, and tells him all that Saul had done to him: and Samuel and David went, and lived in Navath in Rama.
19 When Saul got to hear that David was at Naioth in Ramah,
And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David [is] in Navath in Rama.
20 he sent messengers to arrest him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying with Samuel leading out, the Spirit of God came on Saul's messengers and they started prophesying too.
And Saul sent messengers to take David, and they saw the assembly of the prophets, and Samuel stood [as] appointed over them; and the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they prophesy.
21 Saul was told what had happened, so he sent more messengers, and they started prophesying as well.
And it was told Saul, and he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied: and Saul sent again a third set of messengers, and they also prophesied.
22 For the third time Saul sent messengers, and they also started prophesying.
And Saul was very angry, and went himself also to Armathaim, and he comes as far as the well of the threshing floor that is in Sephi; and he asked and said, Where [are] Samuel and David? And they said, Behold, in Navath in Rama.
23 In the end Saul went himself to Ramah and arrived at the large cistern at Secu. “Where are Samuel and David?” he asked. “At Naioth in Ramah,” someone told him. So Saul went on to Naioth at Ramah, but the Spirit of God even came on him, and he was prophesying as he walked along until he arrived in Naioth.
And he went thence to Navath in Rama: and there came the Spirit of God upon him also, and he went on prophesying till he came to Navath in Rama.
24 Then Saul also took off his clothes and he too prophesied in Samuel's presence. Then he fell down and lay there naked all that day and all that night. That's why it is said, “Is Saul one of the prophets too?”
And he took off his clothes, and prophesied before them; and lay down naked all that day and all that night: therefore they said, [Is] Saul also amongst the prophets?
