1 Samuel 19
1 Then Saul urged all his servants and his son Jonathan to kill David. But Jonathan liked David very much.
And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan the son of Saul loved David exceedingly.
2 So he warned David, “My father Saul is seeking for a way to kill you. So be careful. Tomorrow morning go and find a place to hide [in the field].
And Jonathan told David, saying: Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: wherefore look to thyself, I beseech thee, in the morning, and thou shalt abide in a secret place and shalt be hid.
3 I will ask my father to go out there with me. [While we are out there], I will talk to him about you. Then I will tell you everything that he tells me.” [So David did what Jonathan told him to do].
And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art: and I will speak of thee to my father, and whatsoever I shall see, I will tell thee.
4 [The next morning], Jonathan spoke with his father, saying many good things about David. He said, “You should never do anything to harm your servant David! He has never done anything to harm you! Everything that he has done has helped you very much.
And Jonathan spoke good things of David to Saul his father: and said to him: Sin not, O king, against thy servant, David, because he hath not sinned against thee, and his works are very good towards thee.
5 He was in danger of being killed when he fought against [Goliath, the champion of] the Philistia [army. By enabling David to kill him], Yahweh won a great victory for all the people of Israel. You were very happy when you saw that. Why would you want to do anything now to harm David [RHQ]? There is no reason for you to kill him, because he has not done anything wrong!”
And he put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought great salvation for all Israel. Thou sawest it and didst rejoice. Why therefore wilt thou sin against innocent blood by killing David, who is without fault?
6 Saul listened to what Jonathan said. Then Saul said, “I solemnly promise that just as certain as Yahweh lives, I will not kill David.”
And when Saul heard this he was appeased with the words of Jonathan, and swore: As the Lord liveth he shall not be slain.
7 Afterward, Jonathan summoned David and told him what he and Saul had said. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and David served Saul as he had done before.
Then Jonathan called David and told him all these words: and Jonathan brought in David to Saul, and he was before him, as he had been yesterday and the day before.
8 One day a war started again, and David [led his soldiers to] fight against the Philistia army. David’s [army] attacked them very furiously, with the result that the Philistia army ran away.
And the war began again, and David went out and fought against the Philistines, and defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled from his face.
9 But one day when sitting in his house, an evil spirit [sent] from Yahweh [suddenly] came upon Saul. While David was playing his harp [for Saul],
And the evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, and he sat in his house, and held a spear in his hand: and David played with his hand.
10 Saul hurled his spear at David to try to fasten him to the wall. David (dodged/jumped to one side), and the spear did not hit him. The spear stuck in the wall, but that night David escaped.
And Saul endeavoured to nail David to the wall with his spear. And David slipt away out of the presence of Saul: and the spear missed him, and was fastened in the wall, and David fled and escaped that night.
11 Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house. He told them to watch the house and to kill David [while he was leaving the house] the following morning. But David’s wife Michal [saw them and] warned him, “To survive, you must run away tonight, because if you do not do that, you will be killed tomorrow!”
Saul therefore sent his guards to David’s house to watch him, that he might be killed in the morning. And when Michol David’s wife had told him this, saying: Unless thou save thyself this night, tomorrow thou wilt die,
12 So she enabled David to climb out through a window, and he ran away and escaped.
She let him down through a window. And he went and fled away and escaped.
13 Then Michal took an idol and put it in the bed. She covered it with some [of David’s] clothes, and put some goat’s hair on the head of the idol.
And Michol took an image and laid it on the bed, and put a goat’s skin with the hair at the head of it, and covered it with clothes.
14 When the messengers came [to the house the next morning], she told them that David was sick [and could not get out of bed].
And Saul sent officers to seize David: and it was answered that he was sick.
15 [When they reported that to] Saul, he told them to go back to David’s house. He said to them, “Bring him to me lying on his bed, in order that I can kill him!”
And again Saul sent to see David, saying: Bring him to me in the bed, that he may be slain.
16 But when those men entered David’s house, they saw that there was only an idol in the bed, with goat’s hair on its head.
And when the messengers were come in, they found an image upon the bed, and a goat’s skin at its head.
17 [When they reported that to Saul, ] Saul [summoned] Michal [and] said to her, “Why did you trick me like that? You allowed my enemy to escape!” Michal replied to Saul, “David told me that if I did not help him escape, he would kill me!” [RHQ]
And Saul said to Michol: Why hast thou deceived me so, and let my enemy go and flee away? And Michol answered Saul: Because he said to me: Let me go, or else I will kill thee.
18 After David had escaped from Saul, he went to Samuel, who was [at his home] at Ramah. He told Samuel everything that Saul had done to [try to kill] him. Then David and Samuel went to Naioth, [which was a section] of [Ramah city], and they stayed there.
But David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel in Ramatha, and told him all that Saul had done to him: and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Najoth.
19 Someone told Saul that David was in Naioth.
And it was told Saul by some, saying: Behold David is in Najoth in Ramatha.
20 So Saul sent some messengers to capture David. [When] those messengers [arrived in Ramah, they] met some men who were proclaiming ecstatic messages, and Samuel was there, as their leader. When Saul’s messengers met them, the Spirit of God took control of Saul’s men, and they also spoke ecstatically.
So Saul sent officers to take David: and when they saw a company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel presiding over them, the spirit of the Lord came also upon them, and they likewise began to prophesy.
21 When Saul heard about that, he sent messengers a third time, but they also started to speak ecstatically.
And when this was told Saul, he sent other messengers: but they also prophesied. And again Saul sent messengers the third time: and they prophesied also. And Saul being exceedingly angry,
22 Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah. When he arrived at the well at [a place named] Secu, he asked people there, “Where are Samuel and David?” The people replied, “They are at Naioth in Ramah [city].”
Went also himself to Ramatha, and came as far as the great cistern, which is in Socho, and he asked, and said: In what place are Samuel and David? And it was told him: Behold they axe in Najoth in Ramatha.
23 While Saul was walking toward Naioth, the Spirit of God also took control of him. [While he walked on], he continued speaking ecstatic messages until he came to Naioth.
And he went to Najoth in Ramatha, and the spirit of the Lord came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied till he came to Najoth in Ramatha.
24 There he took off his clothes, and he spoke messages from God in front of Samuel. He lay on the ground doing that all day and all night. That is the reason that [when people see someone doing something that is very unexpected, they think about what happened to Saul, and] they say, “We are surprised, like the people were surprised to see Saul [acting like] a prophet?” [RHQ]
And he stripped himself also of his garments, and prophesied with the rest before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and night. This gave occasion to a proverb: What! is Saul too among the prophets?
