16 When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. 17 “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. 18 You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. 20 I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. 21 Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”

22 So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

16 As soon as David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 18 And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.” 22 And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

16 And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. 19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. 21 Swear now therefore unto me by the Lord, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house. 22 And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.

16 When David had finished speaking, Saul called back, “Is that really you, my son David?” Then he began to cry. 17 And he said to David, “You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil. 18 Yes, you have been amazingly kind to me today, for when the Lord put me in a place where you could have killed me, you didn’t do it. 19 Who else would let his enemy get away when he had him in his power? May the Lord reward you well for the kindness you have shown me today. 20 And now I realize that you are surely going to be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will flourish under your rule. 21 Now swear to me by the Lord that when that happens you will not kill my family and destroy my line of descendants!”

22 So David promised this to Saul with an oath. Then Saul went home, but David and his men went back to their stronghold.

16 When David finished saying these words, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he cried loudly. 17 He said, “You are a better man than I am. You have been good to me, but I have done wrong to you. 18 You told me what good things you did. The Lord handed me over to you, but you did not kill me. 19 People don’t normally let an enemy get away like this, do they? May the Lord reward you because you were good to me today. 20 I know you will surely be king, and you will rule the kingdom of Israel. 21 Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill my descendants and that you won’t wipe out my name from my father’s family.”

22 So David made the promise to Saul. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went up to their hideout.

16 And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I; for thou hast rendered unto me good, whereas I have rendered unto thee evil. 18 And thou hast declared this day how that thou hast dealt well with me, forasmuch as when Jehovah had delivered me up into thy hand, thou killedst me not. 19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore Jehovah reward thee good for that which thou hast done unto me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thy hand. 21 Swear now therefore unto me by Jehovah, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house. 22 And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the stronghold.

16 And as soon as David had ended speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I; for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me, forasmuch as when Jehovah had delivered me up into thy hand, thou didst not kill me. 19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore Jehovah reward thee good for that thou hast done to me this day. 20 And now behold, I know that thou shalt certainly be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thy hand. 21 Swear now therefore to me by Jehovah, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house. 22 And David swore to Saul. And Saul went home; and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

16 When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that you speaking, my servant David?” and Saul cried loudly. 17 He told David, “You are more righteous than I. You treated me well while I treated you badly. 18 Today you have proved how good you’ve been to me. When the Lord handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me. 19 When a person finds an enemy, does he send him away unharmed? The Lord will repay you completely for what you did for me today. 20 Now I know that you certainly will rule as king, and under your guidance the kingdom of Israel will prosper. 21 Swear an oath to the Lord for me that you will not wipe out my descendants or destroy my name in my father’s family.” 

22 So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went home, and David and his men went to their fortified camp. 

16 When David finished saying these things to him, Saul replied, “Is that your voice, David my son?” Then Saul wept aloud 17 and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have done what is good to me though I have done what is evil to you. 18 You yourself have told me today what good you did for me: when the Lord handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed? May the Lord repay you with good for what you’ve done for me today.

20 “Now I know for certain you will be king, and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. 21 Therefore swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.” 22 So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

16 When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. 18 Today you have explained how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. 19 For who has ever found an enemy, and sent the enemy safely away? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 Now I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not wipe out my name from my father’s house.” 22 So David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home; but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

16 When David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 Then he said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me the good, but I have repaid you the evil. 18 You have explained to me today that you have dealt well with me, how Yahweh delivered me into your hand but you did not kill me. 19 For a man has found his enemy but sent him on his way safely. Now may Yahweh reward you with good in return for this day, for what you have done for me. 20 So now then, look, I know that you will certainly be king and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. 21 So then, swear to me by Yahweh that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not wipe out my name from my father’s house.” 22 So David swore this on oath to Saul, and Saul went to his house, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

16 When David finished speaking, Saul asked him a question. He said, “My son David, is that your voice?” And Saul sobbed out loud. 17 “You are a better person than I am,” he said. “You have treated me well. But I’ve treated you badly. 18 You have just now told me about the good things you did to me. The Lord handed me over to you. But you didn’t kill me. 19 Suppose a man finds his enemy. He doesn’t let him get away without harming him. May the Lord reward you with many good things. May he do it because of the way you treated me today. 20 I know for sure that you will be king. I know that the kingdom of Israel will be made secure under your control. 21 Now take an oath in the name of the Lord. Promise me that you won’t cut off my children from my family. Also promise me that you won’t wipe out my name from my family line.”

22 So David took an oath and made that promise to Saul. Then Saul returned home. But David and his men went up to his usual place of safety.

16 When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you.

18 “You have declared today that you have done good to me, that the Lord delivered me into your hand and yet you did not kill me.

19 “For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safely? May the Lord therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day.

20 “Now, behold, I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.

21 “So now swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household.”

22 David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.