1 Samuel 19
19
Saul Tries to Kill David
1Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David, but Jonathan liked David very much. 2So he warned David, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Watch out in the morning. Hide in a secret place. 3I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are hiding, and I’ll talk to him about you. Then I’ll let you know what I find out.”
4When Jonathan talked to Saul his father, he said good things about David. Jonathan said, “The king should do no wrong to your servant David since he has done nothing wrong to you. What he has done has helped you greatly. 5David risked his life when he killed Goliath the Philistine, and the Lord won a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and were happy. Why would you do wrong against David? He’s innocent. There’s no reason to kill him!”
6Saul listened to Jonathan and then made this promise: “As surely as the Lord lives, David won’t be put to death.”
7So Jonathan called to David and told him everything that had been said. He brought David to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.
8When war broke out again, David went out to fight the Philistines. He defeated them, and they ran away from him.
9But once again an evil spirit from the Lord rushed upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. David was playing the harp. 10Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, but David jumped out of the way. So Saul’s spear went into the wall, and David ran away that night.
11Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, saying, “Tonight you must run for your life. If you don’t, you will be dead in the morning.” 12So she let David down out of a window, and he ran away and escaped. 13Then Michal took an idol, laid it on the bed, covered it with clothes, and put goats’ hair at its head.
14Saul sent messengers to take David prisoner, but Michal said, “He is sick.”
15Saul sent them back to see David, saying, “Bring him to me on his bed so I can kill him.”
16When the messengers entered David’s house, they found just an idol on the bed with goats’ hair on its head.
17Saul said to Michal, “Why did you trick me this way? You let my enemy go so he could run away!”
Michal answered Saul, “David told me if I did not help him escape, he would kill me.”
18After David had escaped from Saul, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him everything Saul had done to him. Then David and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. 19Saul heard that David was in Naioth at Ramah. 20So he sent messengers to capture him. But they met a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there leading them. So the Spirit of God entered Saul’s men, and they also prophesied.
21When Saul heard the news, he sent more messengers, but they also prophesied. Then he sent messengers a third time, but they also prophesied. 22Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah, to the well at Secu. He asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
The people answered, “In Naioth at Ramah.”
23When Saul went to Naioth at Ramah, the Spirit of God also rushed upon him. And he walked on, prophesying until he came to Naioth at Ramah. 24He took off his robes and prophesied in front of Samuel. He lay that way all day and all night. That is why people ask, “Is even Saul one of the prophets?”
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1 Samuel 19: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
1 Samuel 19
19
1Then Saul instructed his son Jonathan and all his officials to kill David. But Jonathan really liked David, 2so he warned him, “My father Saul is trying to kill you. So be careful tomorrow morning—find a place to hide and stay hidden. 3I'll go out with my father and stand in the field near to where you are hiding. I'll talk to him about you and see what I can find out, then I'll let you know.”
4Then Jonathan spoke positively about David to his father Saul, and told him, “The king should not do anything bad to his servant David because he's not done anything bad to you—he has always served you well. 5He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about great salvation for the whole of Israel. You saw it and you were delighted, so why would you sin and spill innocent blood by killing David without having any reason?”
6Saul accepted what Jonathan had to say, and promised with an oath: “I swear on the life of the Lord, he won't be put to death.”
7Later Jonathan called David and told him all that had been said. Then he took him to Saul, and David worked for Saul as he had before.
8War broke out once again, and David went to fight the Philistines. He attacked them so forcefully that they ran away in defeat.
9A while later an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. As David played the lyre, 10Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear. David managed to dodge the spear which embedded itself in the wall. Then David escaped and ran away into the night.
11Saul sent some messengers to David's house to keep watch and kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, warned him, “If you don't get away tonight, tomorrow you'll be killed.”
12Michal lowered David down from a window, and he ran off, managing to escape. 13Then she took a home idol#19:13. “Home idol”: the Hebrew word used here is teraphim and they are first mentioned in Genesis 31. They were cult objects that were used to determine the “god's” will, see Ezekiel 21:21; Zechariah 10:2. That such idols would be there in David's house shows the degree to which “pure religion” had been corrupted over time. and laid it in the bed, put a goat hair wig on its head, and covered it with bedclothes.
14When Saul sent the messengers to arrest David, Michal told them, “He's sick.”
15Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him to me in the bed so I can kill him.” 16But when the messengers went into the bedroom, there was the idol in the bed with the goat hair wig on its head.
17“Why did you trick me like this—helping my enemy get away so he could escape?” Saul asked Michal.
“He told me, ‘Get out of my way! I don't want to have to kill you!’” Michal replied.
18This is how David got away and escaped. He went to Samuel at Ramah and explained to him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to stay in Naioth. 19When Saul got to hear that David was at Naioth in Ramah, 20he sent messengers to arrest him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying with Samuel leading out, the Spirit of God came on Saul's messengers and they started prophesying too. 21Saul was told what had happened, so he sent more messengers, and they started prophesying as well. 22For the third time Saul sent messengers, and they also started prophesying. 23In the end Saul went himself to Ramah and arrived at the large cistern at Secu. “Where are Samuel and David?” he asked.
“At Naioth in Ramah,” someone told him.
So Saul went on to Naioth at Ramah, but the Spirit of God even came on him, and he was prophesying as he walked along until he arrived in Naioth. 24Then Saul also took off his clothes and he too prophesied in Samuel's presence. Then he fell down and lay there naked all that day and all that night. That's why it is said, “Is Saul one of the prophets too?”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com