1 Samuel 27–31

Chapter 27

¹And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me to seek me any more within all the limits of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand. ²And David arose and passed over, he and the six hundred men that were with him, to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³And David abode with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household; David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife. ⁴And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; and he sought no more for him. ⁵And David said to Achish, If now I have found favour in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some country-town, that I may abide there; for why should thy servant abide in the royal city with thee? ⁶And Achish gave him Ziklag that day; therefore Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah to this day. ⁷And the time that David abode in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.

⁸And David and his men went up and made a raid upon the Geshurites, and the Gerzites, and the Amalekites: for those were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, and as far as the land of Egypt. ⁹And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish. ¹⁰So Achish said, Have ye not made a raid to-day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites. ¹¹And David left neither man nor woman alive, to bring them to Gath, for he said, Lest they should tell of us, saying, So did David. And such was his custom as long as he abode in the country of the Philistines. ¹²And Achish trusted David, saying, He has made himself utterly odious among his people Israel; and he shall be my servant for ever.

Chapter 28

¹And it came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered together their armies for warfare to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, Know thou assuredly that thou shalt go out with me to the camp, thou and thy men. ²And David said to Achish, Thereby thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of my person for ever. ³(Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and they had buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away the necromancers and the soothsayers out of the land.) ⁴And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and encamped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped in Gilboa. ⁵And when Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. ⁶And Saul inquired of Jehovah; but Jehovah did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.

⁷Then said Saul to his servants, Seek me a woman that has a spirit of Python, that I may go to her and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman who has a spirit of Python at En-dor. ⁸And Saul disguised himself, and put on other garments, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, I pray thee, divine to me by the spirit of Python, and bring me him up whom I shall name to thee. ⁹And the woman said to him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul has done, how he has cut off the necromancers and the soothsayers out of the land; and why layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? ¹⁰And Saul swore unto her by Jehovah, saying, As Jehovah liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. ¹¹Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. ¹²And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? Even thou art Saul. ¹³And the king said to her, Be not afraid; but what didst thou see? And the woman said to Saul, I saw a god ascending out of the earth. ¹⁴And he said to her, What is his form? And she said, An old man comes up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.

¹⁵And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul said, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answers me no more, neither by prophets nor by dreams; therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known to me what I shall do. ¹⁶And Samuel said, Why then dost thou inquire of me, seeing Jehovah is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? ¹⁷And Jehovah has done for himself as he spoke by me; and Jehovah has rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbour, to David. ¹⁸Because thou didst not hearken to the voice of Jehovah, and didst not execute his fierce anger upon Amalek, therefore has Jehovah done this thing to thee this day. ¹⁹And Jehovah will also give Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines; and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me; the army of Israel also will Jehovah give into the hand of the Philistines.

²⁰And Saul fell straightway his full length on the earth, and was sore afraid because of the words of Samuel; and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all the day nor all the night. ²¹And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said to him, Behold, thy bondmaid has hearkened to thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened to thy words which thou spokest to me. ²²And now, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy bondmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength when thou goest on thy way. ²³But he refused and said, I will not eat. Then his servants, and the woman also, compelled him, and he hearkened to their voice; and he arose from the earth and sat on the bed. ²⁴And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread thereof; ²⁵and she brought it near before Saul, and before his servants, and they ate. And they rose up and went away that night.

Chapter 29

¹And the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek; and Israel encamped by the spring that is in Jizreel. ²And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands; and David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish. ³And the princes of the Philistines said, What are these Hebrews? And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years, and I have found nothing in him since the day of his falling away to me to this day? ⁴But the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he may go again to his place where thou hast appointed him, that he go not down with us to the battle, that in the battle he be not an adversary to us; for wherewith should this fellow reconcile himself to his master? should it not be with the heads of these men? ⁵Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul smote his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

⁶And Achish called David, and said to him, As Jehovah liveth, thou art upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the camp is acceptable to me; for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming to me to this day; but thou art not acceptable to the lords. ⁷And now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. ⁸And David said to Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee to this day, that I should not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king? ⁹And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art acceptable to me, as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle. ¹⁰And now rise up early in the morning with thy master’s servants that are come with thee; and rise ye early in the morning, and when ye have daylight, depart. ¹¹And David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jizreel.

Chapter 30

¹And it came to pass, when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the south, and upon Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire; ²and had taken the women captives that were in it; both great and small: they had put none to death, but had carried them off, and went on their way. ³And David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burnt with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were taken captives. ⁴Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. ⁵And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. ⁶And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him; for the soul of all the people was embittered, every man because of his sons and because of his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.

⁷And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, Bring near to me, I pray thee, the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod near to David. ⁸And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he said to him, Pursue; for thou shalt assuredly overtake them and shalt certainly recover. ⁹So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor; and those that were left stayed behind. ¹⁰And David…