Chapter 14
1; And the day came that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, Come, and we will go over to the fort of the Philistines on the other side. But he did not tell his father.
2; And Saul was waiting at the edge of Gibeah, under the pomegranate in Migron; also the people with him, about six hundred men.
3; And Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, the brother of Ichabod, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of YAHWEH in Shiloh, was wearing the ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had left.
4; And between the passes by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine fort, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and the rocky crag opposite this; and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other, Seneh.
5; The one crag was a pillar on the north in front of Michmash, and the one on the south in front of Gibeah.
6; And Jonathan said to the young man bearing his weapons, Come, we shall cross over to the fort of these uncircumcised ones. It may be YAHWEH will work for us, for there is no hindrance to YAHWEH, to save by many or by few.
7; And his armor bearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself. Behold, I am with you according to your heart.
8; And Jonathan said, Behold, we will cross over to the men and show ourselves to them.
9; If they say this to us, Stand still until we reach you, then we will stand in our place and not go up to them.
10; But if they say this, Come up to us, then we will go up, for YAHWEH has given them into our hand; and this will be the sign for us.
11; And both of them were revealed to the fort of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, See, Hebrews coming out from the holes there where they hid themselves!
12; And the men of the fort answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will teach you a thing. And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, Come up after me, for YAHWEH has given them into the hand of Israel.
13; And Jonathan went up on his hands and on his feet, and the armor bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and the armor bearer made them die behind him.
14; And this was the first blow, when Jonathan and his armor bearer struck about twenty men in about half of a furrow of an acre of a field.
15; And there was trembling in the camp in the field, and among all the people; the fort and those ravaging trembled, even them. And the ground quaked, and it was for a trembling of Elohim.
16; And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and behold, the multitude had melted away; and they went, even here and there.
17; And Saul said to the people with him, Make a count now and see who has gone from us. And they counted, and, behold, Jonathan and the armor bearer were not there.
18; And Saul said to Ahijah, Bring the ark of Elohim here, for the ark of Elohim was with the sons of Israel on that day.
19; And it happened while Saul spoke to the priest, that the turmoil which was in the camp, even the Philistines went on, going and increasing. And Saul said to the priest, Withdraw your hand.
20; And Saul and all the people with him gathered together and went to the battle. And, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, a very great panic!
21; Then the Hebrews who were for the Philistines before, who had gone with them to the camp all around, even they turned to be with Israel, with Saul and Jonathan.
22; And all the men of Israel who had been hiding themselves in the hills of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled. And they also pursued them in battle.
23; And YAHWEH saved Israel that day. And the battle passed over to Beth-Aven.
24; And the men of Israel were distressed on that day, for Saul took an oath of the people, saying, Cursed shall be the man who eats food until the evening, when I have been avenged on my foes. And none of the people tasted food.
25; And all those of the land came into a forest, and there was honey on the ground.
26; And the people came into the forest; and behold, a flow of honey! But no man put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.
27; And Jonathan did not hear when his father made the people swear. And he put out the tip of the staff in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. And he put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.
28; And one of the people answered and said, Swearing your father made the people swear, saying, Cursed shall be the man who eats food today. And the people were weak.
29; And Jonathan said, My father has troubled the land. See, now, that my eyes became bright, for I tasted this little honey.
30; How much more if the people had eaten freely today of this spoil of its enemies which it has found. For now would not the blow among the Philistines have been great?
31; And they struck the Philistines on that day from Michmash to Aijalon, and the people were very weak.
32; And the people fell on the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and sons of the herd, and slaughtered them to the ground. And the people ate with the blood.
33; And they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people are sinning against YAHWEH, to eat with the blood. And he said, You have acted treacherously. Now roll me a great stone today.
34; And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, Each one bring his ox near to me, and each his sheep, and you slaughter here, and eat; and you shall not sin against YAHWEH, to eat with the blood. And each of all the people brought near his ox in his hand that night, and they slaughtered there.
35; And Saul built an altar to YAHWEH. With it he began to build an altar to YAHWEH.
36; And Saul said Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light, and not a man remains among them. And they said, Do all that is good in your eyes. And the priest said, Let us draw near here to Elohim.
37; And Saul asked of Elohim, Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel? But He did not answer him on that day.
38; And Saul said, All leaders of the people draw near here, and know and see how this sin has happened today.
39; For as YAHWEH lives, who delivers Israel, surely if it is my son Jonathan, surely he shall die. And no one answered him from all the people.
40; And he said to all Israel, You be on one side, and my son Jonathan and I will be on another side. And the people said to Saul, Do that which is good in your eyes.
41; And Saul said to YAHWEH, the Elohim of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Jonathan and Saul were taken, and the people went out.
42; And Saul said, Cast between me and my son Jonathan. And Jonathan was taken.
43; And Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me, what did you do? And Jonathan told him, and said, I indeed tasted a little honey with the end of the staff in my hand. Behold, I! I will die.
44; And Saul said, Elohim do so and more also, for surely you shall die, Jonathan.
45; And the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, he who did this great deliverance in Israel? Far be it! As YAHWEH lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with Elohim this day. And the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.
46; And Saul went up from following the Philistines. And the Philistines went to their own place.
47; And Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies all around, with Moab, and with the sons of Ammon, and with Edom, and with the kings of Zobah, and with the Philistines, and wherever he turned, he put them to the worse.
48; And he acted with force and struck Amalek, and delivered Israel from the hand of their plunderers.
49; And the sons of Saul were Jonathan and Ishvi, and Malchishua; and his two daughters' names: the first-born's name was Merab; and the name of the younger, Michal.
50; And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of his army commander was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.
51; And Kish was Saul's father, and Ner Abner's father was the son of Abiel.
52; And the war was strong against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any mighty man, or any brave man, then he gathered him to himself.
Chapter 15
1; And Samuel said to Saul, YAHWEH sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. And now listen to the voice of the words of YAHWEH.
2; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, I will visit Amalek with what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
3; Now go, and you shall strike Amalek and destroy all that he has. And you shall have no pity on him, and you shall put to death all from man to woman, from little one to suckling, from ox to sheep, from camel to donkey .
4; And Saul listened and mustered the people in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand were men of Judah.
5; And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in a torrent-bed.
6; And Saul said to the Kenite, Go! Depart! Go out from the midst of
Amalek, lest I destroy you with him. For you acted with kindness toward all the sons of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. And the Kenite departed from the midst of Amalek.
7; And Saul struck Amalek from Havilah, as you go to Shur, which is before Egypt.
8; And he captured Agag the king of Amalek alive. But he exterminated all the people with the mouth of the sword.
9; And Saul and the people had pity on Agag, and on the best of the flock, and of the herd, and the seconds, and the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to exterminate them. But they exterminated every despised and worthless thing.
10; And the Word of YAHWEH was to Samuel, saying,
11; I repent that I made Saul reign as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and he has not risen to do My Words. And Samuel was angry, and he cried to YAHWEH all night.
12; And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told to Samuel, saying, Saul has come to Carmel. And behold, he has set up a place to himself, and has gone around, and has passed over and gone down to Gilgal.
13; And Samuel came to Saul. And Saul said to him, Blessed are you of YAHWEH. I have risen to do the Word of YAHWEH.
14; And Samuel said, What then is this noise of the flock in my ears, and the sound of the herd that I hear?
15; And Saul said, They have brought them from Amalek, because the people had pity on the best of the flock, and of the herd, in order to sacrifice to YAHWEH your Elohim. And the rest we have exterminated.
16; And Samuel said to Saul, Stop, and I will declare to you that which YAHWEH spoke to me tonight. And he said to him, Speak.
17; And Samuel said, Were you not, even you, little in your own eyes before becoming leader of the tribes of Israel? And YAHWEH anointed you as king over Israel.
18; And YAHWEH sent you on the way, and said, Go, and exterminate the sinners, Amalek; and fight against them until they finish them.
19; Why then did you not listen to the voice of YAHWEH? But did fly upon the spoil, and did the evil in the eyes of YAHWEH.
20; And Saul said to Samuel, I did obey the voice of YAHWEH, and I went in the way which YAHWEH sent me, and brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I exterminated Amalek.
21; And the people took from the spoil of the flock, and the first of the herd, that devoted, to sacrifice to YAHWEH your Elohim in Gilgal.
22; And Samuel said, Does YAHWEH delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of YAHWEH? Behold! Obeying is better than sacrifice; to give attention is better than the fat of rams.
23; For rebellion (bitterness) is as the sin of divination (sorcery); and stubbornness is both iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word of YAHWEH, so He has rejected you from being king.
24; And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the mouth of YAHWEH and your word, because I feared the people, and I listened to their voice.
25; And now please lift up my sin, and return with me that I may worship YAHWEH.
26; And Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the Word of YAHWEH and YAHWEH has rejected you from being king over Israel.
27; And Samuel turned around to go. And he took hold on the edge (tzitzeet) of his robe, and it tore.
28; And Samuel said to him, YAHWEH has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.
29; And also the Glory of Israel will not lie nor repent, for He is not a man that He should repent.
30; And he said, I have sinned. Honor me now, please, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and return with me. And I shall worship YAHWEH your Elohim.
31; And Samuel turned back away from Saul, and Saul worshiped YAHWEH.
32; And Samuel said, Bring near to me Agag the king of Amalek. And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death has passed.
33; And Samuel said, As your sword has bereaved women of children, so shall your mother be bereft among women. And Samuel cut Agag in pieces before YAHWEH in Gilgal.
34; And Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went to his house, to Gibeah of Saul.
35; And Samuel never again saw Saul until the day of his death, for Samuel mourned for Saul. And YAHWEH repented that He had caused Saul to reign over Israel.
Chapter 16
1; And YAHWEH said to Samuel, Until when will you mourn for Saul, for I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have seen a king for Me among his sons.
2; And Samuel said, How can I go? When Saul hears, then he will kill me. And YAHWEH said, You shall take a heifer from the herd in your hand, and shall say, I have come to sacrifice to YAHWEH.
3; And you invite Jesse to the sacrifice. And I will make you know what you shall do. And you shall anoint for Me whomever I say to you.
4; And Samuel did what YAHWEH said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city trembled to meet him, and said, Do you come in peace?
5; And he said, Peace! I have come to sacrifice to YAHWEH. Sanctify yourselves and you shall come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
6; And it happened as they came in, that he saw Eliab, and said, Surely before YAHWEH is His Messiah.
7; And YAHWEH said to Samuel, Do not look on his appearance, nor to the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For man does not see what He sees. For man looks for the eyes, but YAHWEH looks for the heart.
8; And Jesse called to Abinadab, and he passed him before Samuel but he said, Also YAHWEH has not chosen this one.
9; And Jesse passed Shammah by, but he said, Also YAHWEH has not chosen this one.
10; And Jesse passed seven of his sons before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, YAHWEH has not chosen among these.
11; And Samuel said to Jesse, Are these all the young men? And he said, There yet remains the youngest; and behold, he is feeding the flock. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and bring him, for we will not sit until he comes here.
12; And he sent and brought him in. And he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and good form. And YAHWEH said, Rise up, anoint him, for this is he.
13; And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of YAHWEH came upon David from that day and onward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
14; And the Spirit of YAHWEH departed from Saul, and a spirit of adversity from YAHWEH terrified him.
15; And Saul's servants said to him, Behold, now a spirit of adversity from Elohim is terrifying you.
16; Please let our master say to your servants before you, let them seek out a man who knows how to play on the harp. And it shall be, when the spirit of adversity from Elohim is upon you, then he shall play with his hand, and it shall be well with you.
17; And Saul said to his servants, Now look for a man who is good at playing for me, and bring him to me.
18; One of the servants answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing, and a mighty warrior, and a man of battle, and skillful in speech, and a man of form. And YAHWEH is with him.
19; And Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send your son David to me, who is with the flock.
20; And Jesse took a donkey , with bread, and a skin of wine, and one kid of the goats; and he sent by the hand of his son David to Saul.
21; And David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly; and he became one who bore his armor for him.
22; And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Please let David stand before me, for he has found grace in my eyes.
23; And it happened, when the spirit of adversity from Elohim was on Saul, then David would take the harp and play with his hand. And there was relief for Saul, and it was well with him. And the spirit of adversity would depart from him.
Chapter 17
1; And the Philistines had gathered their armies for battle, and were gathered at Socoh which is to Judah. And they camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-Dammim.
2; And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and camped in the valley of Elah. And they set the battle in order to meet the Philistines.
3; And the Philistines stood on the mountain on this side, and Israel stood on the mountain on that side, and the valley between them.
4; And a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines, Goliath was his name, from Gath; his height was six cubits and a span.
5; And a bronze helmet was on his head, and he was clothed with scaled body armor; and the weight of the armor was five thousand shekels of bronze.
6; And a covering of bronze was on his legs, and a javelin of bronze between his shoulders.
7; And the wood of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and the blade of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And the shield bearer went before him.
8; And he stood and called to the ranks of Israel, and said to them, Why do you come out to set in order the battle? Am I not the Philistine, and
you Saul's servants? Choose one of yourselves, and let him come to me.
9; If he is able to fight with me and strike me, then we shall become slaves to you. But if I prevail over him, and strike him, then you shall become slaves to us and shall serve us.
10; And the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man, and we will fight together.
11; And Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine. And they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
12; And David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem-Judah named Jesse. And to him were eight sons. And the man was old among men in the days of Saul.
13; And the three eldest sons of Jesse went out; they went after Saul to the battle. And the name of his three sons who went into the battle: Eliab, the first-born; and his second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah.
14; And David was the youngest. And the three eldest had gone after Saul.
15; And David went and returned from Saul, to feed his father's flock at Bethlehem.
16; And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
17; And Jesse said to his son David, Please take to your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves, and run to the camp, to your brothers.
18; And you shall take these ten cuttings of cheese to the commander of the thousand, and you shall visit your brothers, as to their welfare. And you shall bring their token.
19; And Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
20; And David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and got up and went, as Jesse commanded him. And he came to the barricade, and to the army which was going out to the battle array. And they were shouting for battle.
21; And Israel and the Philistines set up in battle array for rank to meet rank.
22; And David left the goods on him into the hands of the keeper of the goods, and he ran to the army. And he he came and asked his brothers of their welfare.
23; And as he was speaking to them, even, behold! The man between the two, Goliath the Philistine was his name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines. And he spoke according to these words. And David heard.
24; And when they saw the man, all the men of Israel ran from him, and were very much afraid.
25; And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who comes up? For he has come to defy Israel. And it shall be, the man who strikes him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and he will give his daughter to him. And he will make his father's house free in Israel.
26; And David spoke to the men who were standing with him, saying, What shall be done to the man who strikes this Philistine, and turns aside reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should reproach the armies of the living Elohim?
27; And the people spoke to him according to this word, saying, So shall it be done to the man who strikes him.
28; And his eldest brother, Eliab, heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger glowed against David. And he said, Why is it you have come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.
29; And David said, What have I done now? Was it not only a word?
30; And he turned around from him to another and said according to this word. And the people answered him a word like the first word.
31; And the words which David had spoken were heard. And they were told before Saul, and he received him.
32; And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and will fight with this Philistine.
33; And Saul said to David, You are not able to go to this Philistine, to fight with him, for you are a youth, and he is a man of war from his youth.
34; And David said to Saul, Your servant has been a shepherd among sheep for his father. And the lion came, and the bear, and took away a sheep out of the flock.
35; And I went out after him and struck him, and delivered out of his mouth. And he rose against me, and I took hold of his beard and struck him, and killed him.
36; Your servant has struck both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, for he has taunted the armies of the living Elohim.
37; And David said, YAHWEH, who has delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He shall deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and YAHWEH be with you.
38; And Saul clothed David with his apparel, and put a bronze helmet on his head, and clothed him with body armor.
39; And David girded his sword on his apparel, and started to go. But he had not tested these. And David said to Saul, I am not able to go with these, for I have not tested them. And David took them off him.
40; And he took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones from the valley. And he put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his pouch. And his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.
41; And the Philistine came on, coming and drawing near to David; and the shield bearer was before him.
42; And the Philistine looked, and he saw David, and disdained him, for he was a youth, even ruddy, with a handsome form.
43; And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog that you have come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his Elohims.
44; And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the heavens and to the beasts of the field.
45; And David said to the Philistine, You are coming to me with sword, and with spear, and with javelin. But I am coming to you in the name of YAHWEH of Hosts, the Elohim of the armies of Israel, which you have reproached.
46; Today YAHWEH shall shut you up into my hand, and I shall strike you, and take off your head from you and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the heavens and to the beasts of the earth today. And all the earth shall know that there is a Elohim for Israel.
47; And all this company shall know that YAHWEH does not save by sword and by spear, but that the battle belongs to YAHWEH, and He has given you into our hand.
48; And it happened, when the Philistine arose and went, and drew near to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the ranks to meet the Philistine.
49; And David put his hand into the pouch and took a stone from there. And he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.
50; And David was stronger than the Philistine with the sling and with the stone. And he struck the Philistine and killed him. And there was no sword in David's hand.
51; And David ran and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword; and he drew it out of its sheath and killed him. And he cut off his head with it. And the Philistines saw that their warrior was dead, and they fled.
52; And the men of Israel and Judah rose up and shouted, and pursued the Philistines until you enter the valley, even to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell in the way of Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron.
53; And the sons of Israel returned from hotly pursuing the Philistines; and they pillaged their camps.
54; And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; and he put his weapons in his own tent.
55; And when Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, the army commander, Whose son is this youth, Abner? And Abner said, As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.
56; And the king said, You ask whose son this young man is.
57; And when David returned from striking the Philistine, then Abner took him and brought him before Saul; and the head of the Philistine was in his hand.
58; And Saul said to him, Whose son are you, boy? And David said, The son of your servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite.