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
Sh'mu'el Alef (1 Sa) 19
19
1Sha’ul told Y’honatan his son and all his servants that they should have David killed. But because Y’honatan was very fond of David, 2he told him, “My father Sha’ul is out to have you killed. Therefore you must be very cautious tomorrow morning. Find a well-concealed place to hide in. 3I will go out and stand next to my father in the countryside where you’re hiding. I will talk with my father about you; and if I learn anything, I’ll tell you.”
4Y’honatan spoke well of David to Sha’ul his father and said to him, “The king shouldn’t sin against his servant David, because he hasn’t sinned against you. On the contrary, his work for you has been very good indeed. 5He put his life in his hands to attack the P’lishtim, and Adonai accomplished a great victory for all Isra’el. You yourself saw it, and you were happy about it. So why do you want to sin against innocent blood by killing David without any reason?” 6Sha’ul heeded Y’honatan’s advice and swore, “As Adonai lives, he will not be put to death.” 7Y’honatan called David and told him all these things. Then Y’honatan brought David to Sha’ul to be in attendance on the king, as before.
8War broke out again, and David went and fought the P’lishtim. He defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled before him. 9Then an evil spirit from Adonai came upon Sha’ul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. David was playing his lyre, 10when Sha’ul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear. But he dodged it and moved out of Sha’ul’s way, so that the spear stuck in the wall. David fled, so that night he escaped.
11But Sha’ul sent messengers to David’s house to watch for him and kill him in the morning. Mikhal David’s wife told him, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be dead.” 12So Mikhal let David down through the window; and he left, fled and escaped. 13Mikhal took the household idol, laid it on the bed, put a goat’s-hair quilt at its head and covered it with a cloth. 14When Sha’ul sent messengers to capture David, she said, “He’s ill.” 15Sha’ul sent the messengers to see David with the order, “Bring him up to me, bed and all, so that I can kill him.” 16But when the messengers entered, there before them was the household idol in the bed, with the goat’s-hair quilt at its head. 17Sha’ul asked Mikhal, “Why did you deceive me this way and let my enemy go and escape?” Mikhal answered Sha’ul, “He threatened me, ‘Let me go, or I’ll kill you.’”
18David fled and escaped, then came to Sh’mu’el in Ramah and told him everything Sha’ul had done to him. So he and Sh’mu’el went and stayed in the prophets’ dormitory. 19The news reached Sha’ul that David had been seen at the prophets’ dormitory in Ramah. 20Sha’ul sent messengers to capture David. But when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Sh’mu’el standing and leading them, the Spirit of God fell on Sha’ul’s messengers; and they too began prophesying. 21When Sha’ul was told, he sent other messengers; but they too began prophesying. Sha’ul sent messengers a third time, and they also prophesied. 22Then he himself went to Ramah. When he arrived at the big cistern in Sekhu, he asked, “Where are Sh’mu’el and David?” Someone answered, “They’re at the prophets’ dormitory in Ramah.” 23While on his way to the prophets’ dormitory in Ramah, the Spirit of God fell on him too; and he went on, prophesying, until he arrived at the prophets’ dormitory in Ramah. 24He also stripped off his clothes, prophesied in Sh’mu’el’s presence and lay there naked all that day and all that night. Hence it continues to be an expression, “Is Sha’ul a prophet, too?”
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