1 Samuel 19
19
Saul Plans to Kill David
1Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan cared very much for David. 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. I’ll talk to him about you. Then I’ll let you know what I find out.”
4Jonathan talked to Saul his father. He said good things about David. Jonathan said, “You are the king. Don’t do wrong to your servant David. He did nothing wrong to you. What he did has helped you greatly. 5David risked his life when he killed Goliath the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and you were happy. Why would you do wrong against David? He’s innocent. There’s no reason to kill him!”
6Saul listened to Jonathan. Then he made this promise: “As surely as the Lord lives, David won’t be put to death.”
7So Jonathan called to David. He told David everything that had been said. And he brought David to Saul. So 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 entered Saul. He was sitting in his house, and he had his spear in his hand. David was playing the harp. 10Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear. But David moved away from him. So Saul’s spear went into the wall. And David ran away that night.
11Saul sent men to David’s house. They watched it, wanting to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him. She said, “Tonight you must run away to save your own life. If you don’t, you will be killed tomorrow morning.” 12Then she let David down out of a window. So he ran away and escaped. 13Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed. She covered it with clothes and put goats’ hair at its head.
14Saul sent messengers to take David prisoner. But Michal said, “He is sick.”
15The men went and told Saul, but he sent them back to see David. He told them, “Bring him to me on his bed so I can kill him.”
16But when the messengers entered David’s house, they found it was just an idol on the bed. Its hair was goats’ hair.
17Saul said to Michal, “Why did you trick me this way? You let my enemy go. He has 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. He told Samuel 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 men to capture him. But they met a group of prophets prophesying. Samuel was leading this group and was standing there. The Spirit of God entered Saul’s men, and they also prophesied.
21Saul heard the news. So he sent other men, but they also prophesied. Then he sent men a third time, but they also prophesied. 22Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah. He came to the well at Secu. He asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
The people answered, “In Naioth at Ramah.”
23Then Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God also entered 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: ICB
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1 Samuel 19
19
Saul Tries to Kill David
1Saul now urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan, because of his strong affection for David, 2told him what his father was planning. “Tomorrow morning,” he warned him, “you must find a hiding place out in the fields. 3I’ll ask my father to go out there with me, and I’ll talk to him about you. Then I’ll tell you everything I can find out.”
4The next morning Jonathan spoke with his father about David, saying many good things about him. “The king must not sin against his servant David,” Jonathan said. “He’s never done anything to harm you. He has always helped you in any way he could. 5Have you forgotten about the time he risked his life to kill the Philistine giant and how the Lord brought a great victory to all Israel as a result? You were certainly happy about it then. Why should you murder an innocent man like David? There is no reason for it at all!”
6So Saul listened to Jonathan and vowed, “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be killed.”
7Afterward Jonathan called David and told him what had happened. Then he brought David to Saul, and David served in the court as before.
8War broke out again after that, and David led his troops against the Philistines. He attacked them with such fury that they all ran away.
9But one day when Saul was sitting at home, with spear in hand, the tormenting spirit#19:9 Or evil spirit. from the Lord suddenly came upon him again. As David played his harp, 10Saul hurled his spear at David. But David dodged out of the way, and leaving the spear stuck in the wall, he fled and escaped into the night.
Michal Saves David’s Life
11Then Saul sent troops to watch David’s house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead by morning.” 12So she helped him climb out through a window, and he fled and escaped. 13Then she took an idol#19:13 Hebrew teraphim; also in 19:16. and put it in his bed, covered it with blankets, and put a cushion of goat’s hair at its head.
14When the troops came to arrest David, she told them he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed.
15But Saul sent the troops back to get David. He ordered, “Bring him to me in his bed so I can kill him!” 16But when they came to carry David out, they discovered that it was only an idol in the bed with a cushion of goat’s hair at its head.
17“Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal.
“I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.”
18So David escaped and went to Ramah to see Samuel, and he told him all that Saul had done to him. Then Samuel took David with him to live at Naioth. 19When the report reached Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, 20he sent troops to capture him. But when they arrived and saw Samuel leading a group of prophets who were prophesying, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men, and they also began to prophesy. 21When Saul heard what had happened, he sent other troops, but they, too, prophesied! The same thing happened a third time. 22Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah and arrived at the great well in Secu. “Where are Samuel and David?” he demanded.
“They are at Naioth in Ramah,” someone told him.
23But on the way to Naioth in Ramah the Spirit of God came even upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy all the way to Naioth! 24He tore off his clothes and lay naked on the ground all day and all night, prophesying in the presence of Samuel. The people who were watching exclaimed, “What? Is even Saul a prophet?”
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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