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.
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].
But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:
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 talk with my father of thee; and what I see, that 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 of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been toward thee very good:
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!”
For he put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: why then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?
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 Saul hearkened to the voice of Jonathan: and Saul 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.
And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past.
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 there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.
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 was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin 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 sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away from Saul’s presence, and he smote the javelin into 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 also sent messengers to David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David’s wife told him, saying, If thou dost not save thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.
12 So she enabled David to climb out through a window, and he ran away and escaped.
So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, 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 Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair for his head, and covered it with a cloth.
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 when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is 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 Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him to me in the bed, that I may slay him.
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 had come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats’ hair for his 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 Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away my enemy, that he hast escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said to me, Let me go; why should I 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.
So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.
19 Someone told Saul that David was in Naioth.
And it was told to Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.
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.
And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
21 When Saul heard about that, he sent messengers a third time, but they also started to speak ecstatically.
And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.
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].”
Then he went also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.
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 there to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.
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 off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?
