1 Samuel 19
19
Jonathan Helps David
1Saul told his son Jonathan and his officers to kill David. But Jonathan liked David very much, 2-3so he warned him. “Be careful! Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. In the morning go into the field and hide. I will go out into the field with my father. We will stand in the field where you are hiding. I will talk to my father about you, and I will tell you what I learn.”
4Jonathan talked to his father Saul. Jonathan said good things about David. He said, “You are the king. David is your servant. David hasn’t done anything wrong to you, so don’t do anything wrong to him. He has always been good to you. 5He risked his life when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and you were happy. Why do you want to hurt David? He’s innocent. There is no reason to kill him.”
6Saul listened to Jonathan and made a promise. He said, “As surely as the Lord lives, David won’t be put to death.”
7So Jonathan called David and told him everything that was said. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.
Saul Tries Again to Kill David
8Once again there was war with the Philistines, and David went out to fight. He defeated them badly, and they ran away. 9Later, in Saul’s house, David was playing the harp. Saul was there with his spear in his hand. Then an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul. 10Saul threw his spear at David and tried to pin him to the wall. David jumped out of the way, so the spear missed him and stuck in the wall. That night, David ran away.
11Saul sent men to watch David’s house. They stayed there all night. They were waiting to kill David in the morning, but David’s wife Michal warned him. She said, “You must run away tonight and save your life. If you don’t, you will be killed tomorrow.” 12Then Michal let David down out of a window, and he escaped and ran away. 13Michal took the household god, put clothes on it, and put goats’ hair on its head. Then she put the statue in the bed.
14Saul sent messengers to take David prisoner. But Michal said, “David is sick.”
15The men went and told Saul, but he sent the messengers back to see David. Saul told these men, “Bring David to me. Bring him lying on his bed if you must, even if it kills him.”
16The messengers went to David’s house. They went inside to get him, but they saw it was only a statue and that its hair was only goats’ hair.
17Saul said to Michal, “Why did you trick me like this? You let my enemy escape, and now he is gone.”
Michal answered Saul, “David told me he would kill me if I didn’t help him escape.”
David Goes to the Camps at Ramah
18David escaped and ran away to Samuel at Ramah. He told Samuel everything that Saul had done to him. Then David and Samuel went to the camps where the prophets stayed. David stayed there.
19Saul heard that David was there in the camps near Ramah. 20So he sent some men to arrest David. But when they came to the camps, there was a group of prophets prophesying.#19:20 prophesying This usually means “speaking for God.” But here, this also means that the Spirit of God took control of the people, causing them to sing and dance. Also in verse 23. Samuel was standing there leading the group. The Spirit of God came on Saul’s messengers and they began prophesying.
21Saul heard about this, so he sent other messengers, but they also began prophesying. So Saul sent messengers a third time, and they also began prophesying. 22Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah. Saul came to the big well by the threshing floor at Secu. He asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
The people answered, “In the camps near Ramah.”
23So Saul went out to the camps near Ramah. The Spirit of God came on Saul, and he also began prophesying. He prophesied all the way to the camps at Ramah. 24Saul even took off his clothes. He lay there naked all day and through the night. So even Saul prophesied there in front of Samuel.
That is why people say, “Is Saul also one of the prophets?”
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1 Samuel 19: ERV
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
1 Samuel 19
19
1 Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David. 2Jonathan told David, saying, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Now therefore, please take care of yourself in the morning, live in a secret place, and hide yourself. 3I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father about you; and if I see anything, I will tell you.”
4 Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Don’t let the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you; 5for he put his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”
6 Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan; and Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.”
7 Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.
8 There was war again. David went out and fought with the Philistines, and killed them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him.
9 An evil spirit from the LORD was on Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing music with his hand. 10Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence; and he stuck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night. 11Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12So Michal let David down through the window. He went away, fled, and escaped. 13Michal took the teraphim#19:13 teraphim were household idols that may have been associated with inheritance rights to the household property. and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with clothes. 14When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”
15 Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16When the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head.
17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?”
Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”
18 Now David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and lived in Naioth. 19Saul was told, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.”
20 Saul sent messengers to seize David; and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, God’s Spirit came on Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied. 21When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 22Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
One said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.”
23 He went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then God’s Spirit came on him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24He also stripped off his clothes. He also prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
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