1 Samuel 18–26

Chapter 18

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking to Saul, the son of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

²And Saul took him that day, and would not let him return to his father’s house.

³And David and Jonathan made a covenant, for he loved him as his own soul.

⁴And Jonathan stripped himself of the coat with which he was clothed, and gave it to David, and the rest of his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

⁵And David went out to whatsoever business Saul sent him, and he behaved himself prudently: and Saul set him over the soldiers, and he was acceptable in the eyes of all the people, and especially in the eyes of Saul’s servants.

⁶Now when David returned, after he slew the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with timbrels of joy, and cornets.

⁷And the women sung as they played, and they said: Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

⁸And Saul was exceeding angry, and this word was displeasing in his eyes, and he said: They have given David ten thousands, and to me they have given but a thousand, what can he have more but the kingdom?

⁹And Saul did not look on David with a good eye from that day and forward.

¹⁰And the day after, the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of his house. And David played with his hand as at other times. And Saul held a spear in his hand,

¹¹And threw it, thinking to nail David to the wall: and David stept aside out of his presence twice.

¹²And Saul feared David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul himself.

¹³Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him a captain over a thousand men, and he went out and came in before the people.

¹⁴And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him.

¹⁵And Saul saw that he was exceeding prudent, and began to beware of him.

¹⁶But all Israel and Juda loved David, for he came in and went out before them.

¹⁷And Saul said to David: Behold my elder daughter Merob, her will I give thee to wife: only be a valiant man, and fight the battles of the Lord. Now Saul said within himself: Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hands of the Philistines be upon him.

¹⁸And David said to Saul: Who am I, or what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son in law of the king?

¹⁹And it came to pass at the time when Merob, the daughter of Saul, should have been given to David, that she was given to Hadriel, the Molathite, to wife.

²⁰But Michol, the other daughter of Saul, loved David. And it was told Saul, and it pleased him.

²¹And Saul said: I will give her to him, that she may be a stumblingblock to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be upon him. And Saul said to David: In two things thou shalt be my son in law this day.

²²And Saul commanded his servants to speak to David privately, saying: Behold, thou pleasest the king, and all his servants love thee. Now, therefore be the king’s son in law.

²³And the servants of Saul spoke all these words in the ear of David. And David said: Doth it seem to you a small matter to be the king’s son in law? But I am a poor man, and of small ability.

²⁴And the servants of Saul told him, saying: Such words as these hath David spoken.

²⁵And Saul said: Speak thus to David: The king desireth not any dowry, but only a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. Now Saul thought to deliver David into the hands of the Philistines.

²⁶And when his servants had told David the words that Saul had said, the word was pleasing in the eyes of David to be the king’s son in law.

²⁷And after a few days David rose up, and went with the men that were under him, and he slew of the Philistines two hundred men, and brought their foreskins and numbered them out to the king, that he might be his son in law. Saul therefore gave him Michol, his daughter, to wife.

²⁸And Saul saw, and understood that the Lord was with David. And Michol, the daughter of Saul, loved him.

²⁹And Saul began to fear David more: and Saul became David’s enemy continually.

³⁰And the princes of the Philistines went forth: and from the beginning of their going forth, David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, and his name became very famous.

Chapter 19

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.

²And 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.

³And 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.

⁴And 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.

⁵And 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?

⁶And when Saul heard this, he was appeased with the words of Jonathan, and swore: As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain.

⁷Then 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.

⁸And 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.

⁹And 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.

¹⁰And 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.

¹¹Saul 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, to morrow thou wilt die:

¹²She let him down through a window. And he went and fled away, and escaped.

¹³And 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.

¹⁴And Saul sent officers to seize David; and it was answered that he was sick.

¹⁵And again Saul sent to see David, saying: Bring him to me in the bed, that he may be slain.

¹⁶And when the messengers were come in, they found an image upon the bed, and a goat skin at his head.

¹⁷And 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.

¹⁸But 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.

¹⁹And it was told Saul by some, saying: Behold David is in Najoth, in Ramatha.

²⁰So 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.

²¹And 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 exceeding angry,

²²Went 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 are in Najoth, in Ramatha.

²³And 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.

²⁴And 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?

Chapter 20

But David fled from Najoth, which is in Ramatha, and came and said to Jonathan: What have I done? what is my iniquity, and what is my sin against thy father, that he seeketh my life?

²And he said to him: (God forbid, thou shalt not die: for my father will do nothing, great or little, without first telling me: hath then my father hid this word only from me? no, this shall not be.

³And he swore again to David. And David said: Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, and he will say: Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, there is but one step (as I may say) between me and death.

⁴And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to me, I will do for thee.

⁵And David said to Jonathan: Behold to morrow is the new moon, and I, according to custom, am wont to sit beside the king to eat: let me go then that I may be hid in the field till the evening of the third day.

⁶If thy father look and inquire for me, thou shalt answer him: David asked me that he might run to Bethlehem, his own city: because there are solemn sacrifices there for all of his tribe.

⁷If he shall say: It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to its height.

⁸Deal mercifully then with thy servant: for thou hast brought me, thy servant, into a covenant of the Lord with thee. But if there be any iniquity in me, do thou kill me, and bring me not in to thy father.

⁹And Jonathan said: Far be this from thee: for if I should certainly know that evil is determined by my father against thee, I could do no otherwise than tell thee.

¹⁰And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if thy father should answer thee…