²So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to look for David there. ³Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah opposite Jeshimon, but David stayed in the desert. When he heard Saul had followed him, ⁴he sent out spies and learned for certain that Saul had come to Hakilah.

⁵Then David went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, were sleeping. Saul was sleeping in the middle of the camp with all the army around him.

⁶David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into Saul’s camp with me?”

Abishai answered, “I’ll go with you.”

⁷So that night David and Abishai went into Saul’s camp. Saul was asleep in the middle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the army were sleeping around Saul. ⁸Abishai said to David, “Today God has handed your enemy over to you. Let me pin Saul to the ground with my spear. I’ll only have to do it once. I won’t need to hit him twice.”

⁹But David said to Abishai, “Don’t kill Saul! No one can harm the Lord’s appointed king and still be innocent! ¹⁰As surely as the Lord lives, the Lord himself will punish Saul. Maybe Saul will die naturally, or maybe he will go into battle and be killed. ¹¹But may the Lord keep me from harming his appointed king! Take the spear and water jug that are near Saul’s head. Then let’s go.”

¹²So David took the spear and water jug that were near Saul’s head, and they left. No one saw them or knew about it or woke up, because the Lord had put them sound asleep.

¹³David crossed over to the other side of the hill and stood on top of the mountain far from Saul’s camp. They were a long way away from each other. ¹⁴David shouted to the army and to Abner son of Ner, “Won’t you answer me, Abner?”

Abner answered, “Who is calling for the king? Who are you?”

¹⁵David said, “You’re the greatest man in Israel. Isn’t that true? Why didn’t you guard your master the king? Someone came into your camp to kill your master the king! ¹⁶You have not done well. As surely as the Lord lives, you and your men should die. You haven’t guarded your master, the Lord’s appointed king. Look! Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were near his head?”

¹⁷Saul knew David’s voice. He said, “Is that your voice, David my son?”

David answered, “Yes, it is, my master and king.” ¹⁸David also said, “Why are you chasing me, my master? What wrong have I done? What evil am I guilty of? ¹⁹My master and king, listen to me. If the Lord made you angry with me, let him accept an offering. But if people did it, may the Lord curse them! They have made me leave the land the Lord gave me. They have told me, ‘Go and serve other gods.’ ²⁰Now don’t let me die far away from the Lord’s presence. The king of Israel has come out looking for a flea! You’re just hunting a bird in the mountains!”

²¹Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. Today you respected my life, so I will not try to hurt you. I have been very stupid and foolish.”

²²David answered, “Here is your spear. Let one of your young men come here and get it. ²³The Lord rewards us for the things we do right and for our loyalty to him. The Lord handed you over to me today, but I wouldn’t harm the Lord’s appointed king. ²⁴As I respected your life today, may the Lord also respect my life and save me from all trouble.”

²⁵Then Saul said to David, “You are blessed, my son David. You will do great things and succeed.”

So David went on his way, and Saul went back home.

David Lives with the Philistines

27But David thought to himself, “Saul will catch me someday. The best thing I can do is escape to the land of the Philistines. Then he will give up looking for me in Israel, and I can get away from him.”

²So David and his six hundred men left Israel and went to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³David, his men, and their families made their home in Gath with Achish. David had his two wives with him—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. ⁴When Saul heard that David had run away to Gath, he stopped looking for him.

⁵Then David said to Achish, “If you are pleased with me, give me a place in one of the country towns where I can live. I don’t need to live in the royal city with you.”

⁶That day Achish gave David the town of Ziklag, and Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. ⁷David lived in the Philistine land a year and four months.

⁸David and his men raided the people of Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek. (These people had lived for a long time in the land that reached to Shur and Egypt.) ⁹When David fought them, he killed all the men and women and took their sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.

¹⁰Achish would ask David, “Where did you go raiding today?” And David would tell him that he had gone to the southern part of Judah, or Jerahmeel, or to the land of the Kenites. ¹¹David never brought a man or woman alive to Gath. He thought, “If we bring people alive, they may tell Achish, ‘This is what David really did.’ ” David did this all the time he lived in the Philistine land. ¹²So Achish trusted David and said to himself, “David’s own people, the Israelites, now hate him very much. He will serve me forever.”

Saul and the Witch of Endor

28Later, the Philistines gathered their armies to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You understand that you and your men must join my army.”

²David answered, “You will see for yourself what I, your servant, can do!”

Achish said, “Fine, I’ll make you my permanent bodyguard.”

³Now Samuel was dead, and all the Israelites had shown their sadness for him. They had buried Samuel in his hometown of Ramah.

And Saul had forced out the mediums and fortune-tellers from the land.

⁴The Philistines came together and made camp at Shunem. Saul gathered all the Israelites and made camp at Gilboa. ⁵When he saw the Philistine army, he was afraid, and his heart pounded with fear. ⁶He prayed to the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him through dreams, Urim, or prophets. ⁷Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium so I may go and ask her what will happen.”

His servants answered, “There is a medium in Endor.”

⁸Then Saul put on other clothes to disguise himself, and at night he and two of his men went to see the woman. Saul said to her, “Talk to a spirit for me. Bring up the person I name.”

⁹But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has forced the mediums and fortune-tellers from the land. You are trying to trap me and get me killed.”

¹⁰Saul made a promise to the woman in the name of the Lord. He said, “As surely as the Lord lives, you won’t be punished for this.”

¹¹The woman asked, “Whom do you want me to bring up?”

He answered, “Bring up Samuel.”

¹²When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed. She said, “Why have you tricked me? You are Saul!”

¹³The king said to the woman, “Don’t be afraid! What do you see?”

The woman said, “I see a spirit coming up out of the ground.”

¹⁴Saul asked, “What does he look like?”

The woman answered, “An old man wearing a coat is coming up.”

Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed facedown on the ground.

¹⁵Samuel asked Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

Saul said, “I am greatly troubled. The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has left me. He won’t answer me anymore, either by prophets or in dreams. That’s why I called for you. Tell me what to do.”

¹⁶Samuel said, “The Lord has left you and has become your enemy. So why do you call on me? ¹⁷He has done what he said he would do—the things he said through me. He has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors, David. ¹⁸You did not obey the Lord; you did not show the Amalekites how angry he was with them. That’s why he has done this to you today. ¹⁹The Lord will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines.”

²⁰Saul quickly fell flat on the ground and was afraid of what Samuel had said. He was also very weak because he had eaten nothing all that day and night.

²¹Then the woman came to Saul and saw that he was really frightened. She said, “Look, I, your servant, have obeyed you. I have risked my life and done what you told me to do. ²²Now please listen to me. Let me give you some food so you may eat and have enough strength to go on your way.”

²³But Saul refused, saying, “I won’t eat.”

His servants joined the woman in asking him to eat, and he listened to them. So he got up from the ground and sat on the bed.

²⁴At the house the woman had a fat calf, which she quickly killed. She took some flour and mixed dough with her hands. Then she baked some bread without yeast. ²⁵She put the food before them, and they ate. That same night they got up and left.

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