1 Samuel 19
1 Saul said to Jonathan his son and to all his servants that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, took great pleasure in David.
Then Saul urged all his servants and his son Jonathan to kill David. But Jonathan liked David very much.
2 So Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning and hide yourself in a secret place.
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].
3 I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. If I learn anything, I will tell you.”
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].
4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Do not let the king sin against his servant David. For he has not sinned against you, and his deeds have brought you good.
[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.
5 For he took his life in his hand and killed the Philistine. Yahweh brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”
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!”
6 Saul listened to Jonathan. Saul swore, “As Yahweh lives, he will not be put to death.”
Saul listened to what Jonathan said. Then Saul said, “I solemnly promise that just as certain as Yahweh lives, I will not kill David.”
7 Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these things. Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.
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.
8 There was war again, and David went out and fought with the Philistines and defeated them with a great slaughter. They fled before him.
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.
9 A harmful spirit from Yahweh came on Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, and as David was playing his instrument.
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],
10 Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from Saul's presence, so that Saul drove the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night.
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.
11 Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him that he might kill him in the morning. Michal, David's wife, told him, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”
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!”
12 So Michal let David down through the window. He went and fled, and escaped.
So she enabled David to climb out through a window, and he ran away and escaped.
13 Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed. Then she put a pillow of goats' hair at its head, and covered it with the clothes.
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.
14 When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”
When the messengers came [to the house the next morning], she told them that David was sick [and could not get out of bed].
15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David; he said, “Bring him up to me in the bed, so that I may kill him.”
[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!”
16 When the messengers came in, behold, the household idol was in the bed along with the pillow of goats' hair at its head.
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.
17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, 'Let me go. Why should I kill you?'”
[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]
18 Now David fled and escaped, and went to Samuel in Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth.
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.
19 It was told to Saul, saying, “See, David is at Naioth in Ramah.”
Someone told Saul that David was in Naioth.
20 Then Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came on the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
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.
21 When Saul was told this, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.
When Saul heard about that, he sent messengers a third time, but they also started to speak ecstatically.
22 Then he also went to Ramah and came to the deep well that is in Seku. He asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” Someone said, “See, they are at Naioth in Ramah.”
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].”
23 Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. Then the Spirit of God came upon him, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah.
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.
24 He stripped off his clothes and also prophesied before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why they ask, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
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]
