Chapter 18
1; And it happened, when he finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knitted with the soul of David; and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
2; And Saul took him that day, and would not let him return to his father's house.
3; And Jonathan and David cut a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
4; And Jonathan stripped off the robe on him and gave it to David; also his apparel, even to his sword and to his bow and to his belt.
5; And David went out wherever Saul sent him. And he acted wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war. And it was good in the eyes of all the people, and also in the eyes of the servants of Saul.
6; And it happened as they came in, as David returned from striking the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to sing with the dancers, to meet Saul the king with tambourines and with joy and three- stringed instruments.
7; And the women who were playing answered and said, Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands.
8; And it very much burned Saul, and this thing was evil in his eyes. And he said, They have given ten thousands to David, and to me they have given thousands. And is there more to him, except the kingdom?
9; And from that day forward Saul was watching David.
10; And on the next day it happened that the spirit of adversity from Elohim came on Saul. And he prophesied in the midst of the house; and David was playing with his hand, as he did day by day. And Saul's spear was in his hand.
11; And Saul threw the spear, and said, I will strike David, even to the wall. And David twice drew back from his face.
12; And Saul feared David, because YAHWEH was with him, and had departed from Saul.
13; And Saul separated him from himself and set him as his commander over a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people.
14; And David acted wisely in all his ways, and YAHWEH was with him.
15; And Saul saw that he was acting wisely, and was afraid of him.
16; And all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.
17; And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merav! I will give her to you for a wife; only, you be a brave son for me and fight the battles of YAHWEH. And Saul said, Let not my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.
18; And David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my life, and the family of my father in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?
19; And it happened at the time Saul was to give his daughter Merav to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.
20; And Saul's daughter Michal loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing was right in his eyes.
21; And Saul said, I will give her to him, and she shall be a snare to him. And the hand of the Philistines shall be on him. And Saul said to David a second time, You shall be my son-in- law today.
22; And Saul commanded his servants, Speak to David secretly, saying, Behold the king delights in you, and all his servants love you. And now, be son-in-law to the king.
23; And Saul's servants spoke these words in David's ears. And David said, Is it a light thing in your eyes to be son-in-law to the king? And I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed.
24; And Saul's servants spoke to him, saying, David has spoken according to these words.
25; And Saul said, So you shall say to David, There is no delight to the king in dowry, but in a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged on the king's enemies. And Saul thought to cause David to fall by the hand of the Philistines.
26; And his servants told David these words. And the thing was right in David's eyes, to be son-in-law to the king. And the days had not been fulfilled.
27; And David rose up and went out, he and his men. And they struck two hundred men of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, and he gave them in full to the king, in order to be son-in-law to the king. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife.
28; And Saul saw and knew that YAHWEH was with David, and that Saul's daughter Michal loved him.
29; And Saul was still more afraid of David. And Saul was an enemy to David continually.
30; And the rulers of the Philistines came out. And it happened from the time they came out, David acted more wisely than all the servants of Saul. And His name was greatly esteemed.
Chapter 19
1; And Saul spoke to his son Jonathan, and to all his servants, to kill David.
2; And Saul's son Jonathan delighted exceedingly in David. And Jonathan told David, saying, My father Saul is seeking to kill you. And, now, please be on guard in the morning, and you shall stay in the secret place, and shall hide.
3; And I, I will go out and will stand by my father's side in the field where you are. And I will speak of you to my father, and shall see what it is, and will tell you.
4; And Jonathan spoke good of David to his father Saul, and said to him, Do not let the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you; also because his works for you are very good.
5; Yea, he has put his life in his hand and killed the Philistine. And YAHWEH worked a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. And why do you sin against innocent blood, to put David to death for no reason?
6; And Saul listened to Jonathan's voice, and Saul swore, As YAHWEH lives he shall not die.
7; And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was before him as yesterday and the day before.
8; And there was war again. And David went out and fought against the Philistines, and struck among them with a great slaughter. And they fled from his face.
9; And the spirit of adversity from YAHWEH was on Saul. And he was sitting in his house, and his spear in his hand. And David was playing with the hand.
10; And Saul tried to strike with the spear through David and through the wall. But he burst forth from Saul's presence. And he struck the spear through the wall. And David fled, and escaped during that night.
11; And Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, and to kill him in the morning. And his wife Michal told David, saying, If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.
12; And Michal made David go down through the window. And he went, and fled, and escaped.
13; And Michal took an image and laid it on the bed; and she put the quilt of goat's hair at his head-place, and covered with a spread.
14; And Saul sent messengers to take David. And she said, He is sick.
15; And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, to kill him.
16; And the messengers came in. And, behold, the image was on the bed, and the quilt of goat's hair was at his head-place.
17; And Saul said to Michal, Why have you deceived me this way, that you have sent away my enemy, and he has escaped? And Michal said to Saul, He said to me, Send me away; why should I kill you?
18; And David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he went, he and Samuel, and they lived in Naioth.
19; And it was told to Saul, saying, Behold, David is in Naioth in Ramah.
20; And Saul sent messengers to take David. And they saw the assembly of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them. And the Spirit of Elohim came on Saul's messengers, and they also prophesied.
21; And they told Saul, and he sent other messengers. And they also prophesied. And again Saul sent messengers, a third time. And they also prophesied.
22; And he went, he also, to Ramah, and came to the great well in Sechu. And Saul asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, in Naioth in Ramah.
23; And he went there, to Naioth in Ramah, and the Spirit of Elohim was on him, him also. And going on, he went and prophesied until he came into Naioth in Ramah.
24; And he stripped off his garments, he also, and he prophesied before Samuel, even he. And he fell down disrobed all that day and all that night. Because of this they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?
Chapter 20
1; And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he is seeking my life?
2; And he said to him, Far be it! You shall not die. Behold, my father shall not do anything great or small, and not reveal it to my ear. And why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so.
3; And David again swore and said, Your father has certainly known that I have found grace in your eyes; and he said, Do not let Jonathan know this, that he not be grieved. And yet, as YAHWEH lives, and your soul lives, there is only a step between me and death.
4; And Jonathan said to David, What your soul may say, I also will do for you.
5; And David said to Jonathan, Behold, the new moon is tomorrow. And sitting I should certainly sit with the king to eat. And you shall send me away, and I shall be hidden in the field until the third evening.
6; If looking your father looks for me, then you shall say, David asked earnestly of me to run to his city Beth- Lehem; for the yearly sacrifice is there for all the family.
7; If he shall say so, Good! Peace shall be for your servant. But if it burns him greatly, know that evil has been determined by him.
8; And you shall do kindness to your servant, for you have brought your servant with you into a covenant of YAHWEH. And if there is iniquity in me, you kill me. For why is this, that you bring me to your father?
9; And Jonathan said, Far be it from you! For if I knew with certainty that evil was determined by my father to come on you, would I not tell it to you?
10; Then David said to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? Or what if your father answers harshly?
11; And Jonathan said to David, Come, and we shall go out to the field; and both of them went out to the field.
12; And Jonathan said to David, YAHWEH the Elohim of Israel be witness when I search my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, and behold, there is good toward David and I do not send to you and do not reveal it in your ear,
13; so may YAHWEH do to Jonathan and do much more than this. If it should seem good to my father to do evil to you, then I will reveal it in your ear and send you away. And you shall go in peace; and may YAHWEH be with you, as He was with my father.
14; And not only while I live, even you shall do with me the kindness of YAHWEH, that I not die,
15; but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, not even when YAHWEH cuts off the enemies of David, each one from off the face of the earth.
16; And Jonathan covenanted with the house of David, that YAHWEH should seek it from the hand of David's enemies.
17; And Jonathan again made David swear, because he loved him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
18; And Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon, and you shall be expected, for your seat will be empty.
19; And on the third day you shall quickly come down, and shall come there to the place where you were hidden in the day of the deed. And you shall remain near the stone Ezel.
20; And I will shoot three arrows to the side, shooting at a mark for myself.
21; And, behold, I shall send a boy, saying, Find the arrows! If I expressly say to the boy, Behold, the arrows are on this side of you, take them; then you come, for peace shall be to you, and there is nothing, as YAHWEH lives.
22; But if I say to the young man, Behold, the arrows are away from you and onwards; go, for YAHWEH has sent you away.
23; As to the thing which we have spoken, you and I; behold, YAHWEH is between you and me forever.
24; And David was hidden in the field. And it was the new moon. And the king sat down by the food to eat.
25; And the king sat on his seat, as from time to time, on the seat by the wall. And Jonathan rose up, and Abner sat at Saul's side. And David's place was empty.
26; But Saul did not say anything on that day, for he said, It is an accident; he is not clean; he is surely not clean.
27; And it happened on the day after the new moon, David's place was empty. And Saul said to his son Jonathan, Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?
28; And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked of me to go to Bethlehem.
29; And he said, Please send me away, for we have a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother commanded me. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me be released, and to see my brothers. So he has not come to the table of the king.
30; And the anger of Saul glowed against Jonathan. And he said to him, Son of a perverse rebelliousness! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your shame, and to the shame of the nakedness of your mother?
31; For as long as the son of Jesse lives on earth you shall not be established, you and your kingdom. And now send and bring him to me, for he is a son of death.
32; And Jonathan answered his father Saul, and said to him, Why should he die? What has he done?
33; And Saul threw the spear at him, to strike him. And Jonathan knew that it had been determined by his father to kill David.
34; And Jonathan rose up from the table in the heat of anger. And he did not eat food on the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved for David. For his father had put him to shame.
35; And it happened in the morning that Jonathan went out in the field for the meeting with David. And a little boy was with him.
36; And he said to the boy, Now run and find the arrow which I am shooting. The boy ran, and he shot the arrow, causing it to pass over him.
37; And the boy came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot. And Jonathan called after the boy and said, Is the arrow not away from you and onwards?
38; And Jonathan called after the boy, Hurry, make haste, do not stand! And Jonathan's boy gathered the arrow and came to his master.
39; And the boy did not know anything. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40; And Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy with him, and said to him, Go, bring them to the city.
41; The boy left, and David rose up from the south side. And he fell on his face to the ground. And he bowed three times. And they each one kissed his friend. And they each wept on his friend, until David was overcome.
42; And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, because we have sworn, the two of us, in the name of YAHWEH, saying, YAHWEH shall be between you and me, and between my seed and your seed forever. And he rose up and went. And Jonathan went into the city.
Chapter 21
1; And David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech trembled at meeting David, and said to him, Why are you by yourself, and no man with you?
2; And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has commanded me a matter; and he said to me, Do not let a man know anything of the matter about which I am sending you, and which I told you. And I have directed the young men to such and such a place.
3; And now, what is there under your hand? Give five loaves into my hand, or whatever is found.
4; And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but only holy bread, if the young men have only been kept from a woman.
5; And David answered the priest and said to him, Surely, a woman has been kept from us as yesterday and the third day, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy. And in a way the holy bread is common; also surely today it is sanctified in the vessels.
6; And the priest gave the holy bread to him, for there was no bread there except the Bread of the Presence which is taken from the presence of YAHWEH in order to put hot bread in on the day it is taken away.
7; And a man was there on that day, of the servants of Saul, detained before YAHWEH. And his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's shepherds.
8; And David said to Ahimelech, Is there not here under your hand a spear or sword? For I have taken neither my sword or my weapons, for the king's matter was urgent.
9; And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck in the valley of Elah; behold, it is wrapped in the cloak behind the ephod. If you desire, take it for yourself; for there is no other here except it. And David said, There is none like it. Give it to me.
10; And David rose up and fled from the face of Saul on that day, and he came to Achish the king of Gath.
11; And the servants of Achish said to him, Is this not David the king of the land? Is it not of this one they sang in dances, saying, Saul killed his thousands, and David his myriads?
12; And David put these words in his heart, and was very much afraid of the face of Achish the king of Gath.
13; And he changed his behavior before their eyes, and pretended himself to be insane in their hand, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall onto his beard.
14; And Achish said to his servants, Behold, you see the man is showing madness. Why do you bring him to me?
15; Am I in need of madmen that you have brought this one in to show madness beside me? Shall this one come into my house?
Chapter 22
1; And David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And his brothers heard, and all his father's house, and they went down to him there.
2; And every man in distress, and every man who had a creditor, and every man bitter of soul, gathered themselves to him. And he became commander over them. And about four hundred men were with him.
3; And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, Please let my father and my mother come and be with you, until I know what Elohim will do to me.
4; And he settled them before the king of Moab; and they lived with him all the days David was in the stronghold.
5; And Gad the prophet said to David, You shall not remain in the stronghold. Go, and you come into the land of Judah. And David left and came into the forest of Hareth.
6; And Saul heard that David had been discovered, and the men with him. And Saul was staying in Gibeah under the tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand. And all his servants were standing by him.
7; And Saul said to his servants who were standing by him, Now hear, Benjamites. Will the son of Jesse also give to any of you fields and vineyards? Will he make each of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds,
8; that all of you have conspired against me, and no one was revealing in my ear when my son cut a covenant with the son of Jesse? And not one of you is sorry for me, even to reveal in my ear that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.
9; And Doeg the Edomite, even he was set over Saul's servants, answered and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.
10; And he asked for him of YAHWEH, and gave provisions to him, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
11; And the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests in Nob. And they came, all of them, to the king.
12; And Saul said, Now hear, son of Ahitub. And he said, I am here, my master.
13; And Saul said to him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse by your giving bread and a sword to him, and to ask of Elohim for him, to rise up against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?
14; And Ahimelech answered the king and said, And who among all your servants is as David the faithful, and son-in-law of the king; who does your bidding, and is honorable in all your house?
15; Have I today begun to ask of Elohim for him? Far be it from me! Do not let the king lay anything against his servant, against any of my father's house, for your servant has known nothing of this, more or less.
16; And the king said, surely you shall die, Ahimelech, you and your father's house.
17; And the king said to the runners that stood by him, Turn and kill the priests of YAHWEH, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he was fleeing, and did not reveal it in my ear. But the king's servants were not willing to put forth their hand to fall on the priests of YAHWEH.
18; And the king said to Doeg, You turn and fall on the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned and fell on the priests and killed eighty five men bearing a linen ephod in that day.
19; And he struck Nob, the city of the priests with the mouth of the sword, from man even to woman, from child even to suckling, and ox, and donkey, and sheep, with the mouth of the sword.
20; And one son escaped of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. And his name was Abiathar, and he fled after David.
21; And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of YAHWEH.
22; And David said to Abiathar, I knew on that day when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he certainly would tell Saul. I am turned to grief for every life of the house of your father.
23; Stay with me. Do not fear. For he who seeks my life seeks your life. For with me you will be under protection.