1 Samuel 19
19
Saul’s Plan to Kill David
1Saul told his son Jonathan and all his officers to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan was very fond of David, 2so he reported to David, “My father Saul is trying to kill you. Please be careful tomorrow morning. Go into hiding, and stay out of sight. 3I’ll go out and stand beside my father in the field where you’ll be. I’ll speak with my father about you. If I find out anything, I’ll tell you.”
4So Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul. “You should not commit a sin against your servant David,” he said. “He hasn’t sinned against you. Instead, he has done some very fine things for you: 5He risked his life and killed the Philistine Goliath, and the Lord gave all Israel a great victory. When you saw it, you rejoiced. Why then should you sin by shedding David’s innocent blood for no reason?”
6Saul listened to Jonathan, and he promised, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives, he will not be killed.” 7Jonathan told David all of this. Then Jonathan took David to Saul. So David was returned to his former status in Saul’s court.
Saul Tries to Kill David
8When war broke out again, David went to fight the Philistines. He defeated them so decisively that they fled from him. 9Then an evil spirit from the Lord came over Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. David was strumming a tune. 10Saul tried to nail David to the wall with his spear. But David dodged it, and Saul’s spear struck the wall. David fled, escaping ⌞from Saul⌟ that night.
11Saul sent messengers to watch David’s house and kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, advised him, “If you don’t save yourself tonight, you’ll be dead tomorrow!” 12So Michal lowered David through a window, and he ran away to escape. 13Then Michal took some idols, laid them in the bed, put a goat-hair blanket at its head, and covered the idols with a garment.
14When Saul sent messengers to get David, Michal said, “He’s sick.” 15Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David themselves. Saul told them, “Bring him here to me in his bed so that I can kill him.” 16The messengers came, and there in the bed were the idols with the goat-hair blanket at its head.
17Saul asked Michal, “Why did you betray me by sending my enemy away so that he could escape?”
Michal answered, “He told me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’ ”
18David escaped and went to Samuel at Ramah. He told Samuel everything Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to the pastures and lived there.
19When it was reported to Saul that David was in the pastures at Ramah, 20Saul sent messengers to get David. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying with Samuel serving as their leader, God’s Spirit came over Saul’s messengers so that they also prophesied. 21When they told Saul ⌞about this⌟, he sent other messengers, but they also prophesied. Saul even sent a third group of messengers, but they also prophesied. 22Then he went to Ramah himself. He went as far as the big cistern in Secu and asked ⌞the people⌟, “Where are Samuel and David?”
He was told, “Over there in the pastures at Ramah.” 23As he went toward the pastures at Ramah, God’s Spirit came over him too. He continued his journey, prophesying until he came to the pastures at Ramah. 24He even took off his clothes as he prophesied in front of Samuel and lay there naked all day and all night. This is where the saying, “Is Saul one of the prophets?” came from.
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1 Samuel 19: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
1 Samuel 19
19
Persecution of David. 1Saul discussed his intention to kill David with his son Jonathan and with all his servants. But Saul’s son Jonathan, who was very fond of David,#1 Sm 18:1; 20:1–3. 2told him: “My father Saul is trying to kill you. Therefore, please be on your guard tomorrow morning; stay out of sight and remain in hiding. 3I, however, will go out and stand beside my father in the countryside where you are, and will speak to him about you. If I learn anything, I will let you know.”
4Jonathan then spoke well of David to his father Saul, telling him: “The king should not harm his servant David. He has not harmed you, but has helped you very much by his deeds.#Jonathan reminds Saul that David has served him loyally and done nothing to earn a traitor’s death. Cf. 24:18–20. 5When he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the Lord won a great victory for all Israel, you were glad to see it. Why, then, should you become guilty of shedding innocent blood by killing David without cause?”#1 Sm 17:55–56; Dt 19:10; Ps 119:109. 6Saul heeded Jonathan’s plea and swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.” 7So Jonathan summoned David and repeated the whole conversation to him. He then brought David to Saul, and David served him as before.
David Escapes from Saul. 8When war broke out again, David went out to fight against the Philistines and inflicted such a great defeat upon them that they fled from him. 9#1 Sm 16:14; 18:10–11. Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with spear in hand while David was playing the harp nearby. 10Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but David eluded Saul, and the spear struck only the wall, while David got away safely.
11The same night, Saul sent messengers to David’s house to guard it, planning to kill him in the morning. David’s wife Michal informed him, “Unless you run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”#This story may have originally followed 18:29, placing the episode of David’s escape on the night of his marriage with Michal. 12Then Michal let David down through a window, and he made his escape in safety.#Jos 2:15; Acts 9:25; 2 Cor 11:33. 13Michal took the teraphim#Teraphim: a life-sized image of a household god in human form; cf. also note on Gn 31:19. Elsewhere in the Deuteronomistic History, use of teraphim is condemned (15:23; 2 Kgs 23:24). and laid it in the bed, putting a tangle of goat’s hair at its head and covering it with a blanket.#Gn 31:19; Jgs 17:5; 18:14, 18, 20; Ez 21:26. 14When Saul sent officers to arrest David, she said, “He is sick.” 15Saul, however, sent the officers back to see David and commanded them, “Bring him up to me in his bed, that I may kill him.” 16But when the messengers entered, they found the teraphim in the bed, with the tangle of goat’s hair at its head. 17Saul asked Michal: “Why did you lie to me like this? You have helped my enemy to get away!” Michal explained to Saul: “He threatened me, saying ‘Let me go or I will kill you.’”
David and Saul in Ramah. 18When David got safely away, he went to Samuel in Ramah, informing him of all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to stay in Naioth.#Naioth: meaning “the pastures.” This place appears only in chaps. 19–20 and is associated with Ramah. 19When Saul was told that David was at Naioth in Ramah, 20he sent officers to arrest David. But when they saw the band of prophets presided over by Samuel in a prophetic state, the spirit of God came upon them and they too fell into the prophetic ecstasy.#1 Sm 10:5–6, 10; Nm 11:25. 21Informed of this, Saul sent other messengers, who also fell into the prophetic ecstasy. For the third time Saul sent messengers, but they too fell into a prophetic ecstasy.
Saul Among the Prophets. 22Finally Saul went to Ramah himself. Arriving at the large cistern in Secu, he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” Someone answered, “At Naioth in Ramah.” 23As he walked from there to Naioth in Ramah, the spirit of God came upon him also, and he continued on, acting like a prophet until he reached Naioth in Ramah. 24Then he, too, stripped himself of his garments and remained in a prophetic state in the presence of Samuel;#In the presence of Samuel: this verse, which disagrees with 15:35, is further evidence of the diverse origins of these accounts. “Is Saul also among the prophets?”: although similar to the story of Saul’s prophetic ecstasy in 10:10–13, this account offers a more disparaging portrait of Saul. all that day and night he lay naked. That is why they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”#1 Sm 10:10–12; 2 Sm 6:20.
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