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Knights of Columbus
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New Jerusalem Bible with Apocrypha
The Book of Samuel

The Books of Samuel, originally one book, form a continuation of the great deuteronomic history. The story is dominated at first by the figure of Samuel, the last of the judges, who struggles to keep Israel faithful to Yahweh under increasing pressure from the Philistines. Defeats and the loss of the Ark, symbol of God's protection, show that Israel needs a new kind of leadership, so Samuel anoints the first two kings, Saul and his successor, David. Saul constructs the beginnings of a stable monarchy but incurs the divine displeasure and ends his rule in fits of black despondency and murderous hatred of David. David leads Israel in its most glorious period, when it was for a brief moment a major power in the Near East. More than this, he is the model for all kingship in Israel. The greater part of the story of his reign is from a near-contemporary source, whose vivid delineation makes David one of the first clear figures in any history. He is a forceful yet attractive character, very human in his failings but passionate and intimate in his devotion to Yahweh. To him and to his line is promised endless rule, the basis of all future hope for a Messiah.

Chapter 1

THE CHILDHOOD OF SAMUEL
The pilgrimage to Shiloh

¹There was a man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the highlands of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. ²He had two wives, one called Hannah, the other Peninnah; Peninnah had children but Hannah had none. ³Every year this man used to go up from his town to worship, and to sacrifice to Yahweh Sabaoth ^{[A mysterious title
stemming from the shrine at Shiloh and interpreted as "Lord of armies"]} at Shiloh. (The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there as priests of Yahweh.) ⁴One day Elkanah offered a sacrifice. Now he used to give portions to Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; ⁵to Hannah, however, he would give only one portion: for, although he loved Hannah more, Yahweh had made her barren. ⁶Furthermore, her rival would taunt and provoke her, because Yahweh had made her womb barren. ⁷And this went on year after year; every time they went up to the temple of Yahweh she used to taunt her. On that day she wept and would not eat anything; ⁸so her husband Elkanah said, "Hannah, why are you crying? Why are you not eating anything? Why are you so sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?"
Prayer of Hannah

⁹When they had finished eating in the room, Hannah got up and stood before Yahweh. Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of the temple of Yahweh. ¹⁰In the bitterness of her soul she prayed to Yahweh with many tears, ¹¹and she made this vow, "Yahweh Sabaoth! Should you condescend to notice the humiliation of your servant and keep her in mind instead of disregarding your servant, and give her a boy, I will give him to Yahweh for the whole of his life and no razor shall ever touch his head." ¹²While she went on praying to Yahweh, Eli was watching her mouth, ¹³for Hannah was speaking under her breath; her lips were moving but her voice could not be heard, and Eli thought that she was drunk. ¹⁴Eli said, "How much longer are you going to stay drunk? Get rid of your wine." ¹⁵"No, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman in great trouble; I have not been drinking wine or strong drink -- I am pouring out my soul before Yahweh. ¹⁶Do not take your servant for a worthless woman; all this time I have been speaking from the depth of my grief and my resentment." ¹⁷Eli then replied, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant what you have asked of him." ¹⁸To which she said, "May your servant find favour in your sight." With that, the woman went away; she began eating and was dejected no longer.
Birth and consecration of Samuel

¹⁹They got up early in the morning and, after worshipping Yahweh, set out and went home to Ramah. Elkanah lay with his wife Hannah, and Yahweh remembered her. ²⁰Hannah conceived and, in due course, gave birth to a son, whom she named Samuel, ^{*[Samuel is derived from shem-el (=the
Name of God), but is here related to sha-al (殘)]}"since", she said, "I asked Yahweh for him." ²¹Elkanah, the husband, went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to Yahweh and to fulfil his vow. ²²However, Hannah did not go up, having said to her husband, "Not before the child has been weaned. Then I shall bring him and present him before Yahweh and he will stay there for ever." ²³Elkanah her husband then said to her, "Do what you think fit; wait until you have weaned him. May Yahweh bring about what he has said." So the woman stayed behind and nursed her child until she weaned him. ²⁴When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, as well as a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and took him into the temple of Yahweh at Shiloh; the child was very young. ²⁵They sacrificed the bull and led the child to Eli. ²⁶She said, "If you please, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood beside you here, praying to Yahweh. ²⁷This is the child for which I was praying, and Yahweh has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸Now I make him over to Yahweh for the whole of his life. He is made over to Yahweh." They then worshipped Yahweh there.
Chapter 2

Song of Hannah

^2:1Hannah then prayed as follows: My heart exults in Yahweh, in my God is my strength lifted up, my mouth derides my foes, for I rejoice in your deliverance. ²There is no Holy One like Yahweh, (indeed, there is none but you) no Rock like our God. ³Do not keep talking so proudly, let no arrogance come from your mouth, for Yahweh is a wise God, his to weigh up deeds. ⁴The bow of the mighty has been broken but those who were tottering are now braced with strength. ⁵The full fed are hiring themselves out for bread but the hungry need labour no more; the barren woman bears sevenfold but the mother of many is left desolate. ⁶Yahweh gives death and life, brings down to Sheol and draws up; ⁷Yahweh makes poor and rich, he humbles and also exalts. ⁸He raises the poor from the dust, he lifts the needy from the dunghill to give them a place with princes, to assign them a seat of honour; for to Yahweh belong the pillars of the earth, on these he has poised the world. ⁹He safeguards the steps of his faithful but the wicked vanish in darkness (for human strength can win no victories). ¹⁰Yahweh, his enemies are shattered, the Most High thunders in the heavens. Yahweh judges the ends of the earth, he endows his king with power, he raises up the strength of his Anointed. ¹¹Elkanah then went home to Ramah, but the child stayed in Yahweh's service, in the presence of Eli the priest.

The sons of Eli

¹²Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels; they cared nothing for Yahweh ¹³nor for what was due to the priests from the people. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being cooked; ¹⁴he would thrust this into cauldron or pan, or dish or pot, and the priest claimed for his own whatever the fork brought up. That was how they behaved with all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. ¹⁵The priest's servant would even come up before the fat had been burnt and say to the person who was making the sacrifice, "Give the priest some meat for him to roast. He will not accept boiled meat from you, only raw." ¹⁶Then, if the person replied, "Let the fat be burnt first, and then take for yourself whatever you choose," he would retort, "No! You must give it to me now or I shall take it by force." ¹⁷The young men's sin was very great in Yahweh's eyes, because they treated with contempt the offering made to Yahweh.
Samuel at Shiloh

¹⁸Samuel was in Yahweh's service, a child wearing a linen loincloth. ¹⁹His mother used to make him a little coat which she brought him each year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, "May Yahweh grant you an heir by this woman in exchange for the one which she has made over to Yahweh," and they would go home. ²¹Yahweh visited Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the child Samuel grew up in Yahweh's presence.
More about the sons of Eli

²²Although very old, Eli heard about everything that his sons were doing to all Israel, ²³and said, "Why are you behaving as all the people say you are? ²⁴No, my sons, what I hear reported by the people of Yahweh is not good. ²⁵If one person sins against another, God will be the arbiter, but if he sins against Yahweh, who will intercede for him?" But they did not listen to their father's words, for Yahweh was bent on killing them. ²⁶Meanwhile, the child Samuel went on growing in stature and in favour both with Yahweh and with people.
Punishment foretold

²⁷A man of God came to Eli and said to him, "This is what Yahweh says, 'Did I not reveal myself to your father's family when they were in Egypt as slaves in Pharaoh's household? ²⁸Did I not single him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn the offering, to carry the ephod ^{*[Not a garment as elsewhere, but a holder for the sacred lots]} in my presence; and did I not grant all the burnt offerings made by the Israelites to your father's family? ²⁹Why do you trample on the offering and on the sacrifice which I have ordered for my Dwelling, and honour your sons more than me, by growing fat on the best of the offerings of Israel, my people? ³⁰Whereas this is what Yahweh, God of Israel, declares - I had promised that your family and your father's family would walk in my presence for ever, now, however - this is what Yahweh declares 'nothing of the sort! Those who honour me I honour in my turn, and those who despise me will be an object of contempt. ³¹Be sure, the days are coming when I shall cut off your strength and the strength of your father's family, so that no one in your family will live to old age. ³²Beside the Dwelling, you will see all the benefits that I shall confer on Israel, but no one in your family will ever live to old age. ³³I shall keep one of you at my altar for his eyes to go blind and his soul to wither, but the bulk of your family will die by the sword. ³⁴* *What happens to your two sons Hophni and Phinehas will be a sign for you: on the same day both will die. ³⁵I shall raise myself a faithful priest, who will do as I intend and as I desire. I shall build him an enduring House and he will walk in the presence of my Anointed for ever. ³⁶The members of your House who survive will come and beg him on their knees for a silver coin and a loaf of bread and say: Please give me some priestly work, so that I can have a scrap of bread to eat.* *
Chapter 3

God calls Samuel

^3:1Now, the boy Samuel was serving Yahweh in the presence of Eli; in those days it was rare for Yahweh to speak; visions were uncommon. ²One day, it happened that Eli was lying down in his room. His eyes were beginning to grow dim; he could no longer see. ³The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying in Yahweh's sanctuary, where the ark of God was, ⁴when Yahweh called, *Samuel! Samuel!* He answered, *Here I am,* ⁵and, running to Eli, he said, *Here I am, as you called me.* Eli said, *I did not call. Go back and lie down.* So he went and lay down. ⁶And again Yahweh called, *Samuel! Samuel!* He got up and went to Eli and said, *Here I am, as you called me.* He replied, *I did not call, my son; go back and lie down.* ⁷As yet, Samuel had no knowledge of Yahweh and the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸Again Yahweh called, the third time. He got up and went to Eli and said, *Here I am, as you called me.* Eli then understood that Yahweh was calling the child, ⁹and he said to Samuel, *Go and lie down, and if someone calls say, *Speak, Yahweh; for your servant is listening.* * So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰Yahweh then came and stood by, calling as he had done before, *Samuel! Samuel!* Samuel answered, *Speak, Yahweh; for your servant is listening.* ¹¹Yahweh then said to Samuel, *I am going to do something in Israel which will make the ears of all who hear of it ring. ¹²I shall carry out that day against Eli everything that I have said about his family, from beginning to end. ¹³You are to tell him that I condemn his family for ever, since he is aware that his sons have been cursing God and yet has not corrected them. ¹⁴Therefore*I swear it to the family of Eli*no sacrifice or offering shall ever expiate the guilt of Eli's family.* ¹⁵Samuel lay where he was until morning and then opened the doors of Yahweh's temple. Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision, ¹⁶but Eli called Samuel and said, *Samuel, my son.* *Here I am,* he replied. ¹⁷Eli asked, *What message did he give you? Please do not hide it from me. May God bring unnameable ills on you and worse ones, too, if you hide from me anything of what he said to you.* ¹⁸Samuel then told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Eli said, *He is Yahweh; let him do what he thinks good.* ¹⁹Samuel grew up. Yahweh was with him and did not let a single word fall to the ground of all that he had told him. ²⁰All Israel knew, from Dan to Beersheba, that Samuel was attested as a prophet of Yahweh. ²¹Yahweh continued to manifest himself at Shiloh, revealing himself to Samuel there,
Chapter 4

^{4:1and, for all Israel, the word of Samuel was as the word of Yahweh; since Eli was very old and his sons persisted in their
wicked behaviour towards Yahweh.}
THE ARK IN PHILISTINE HANDS
Defeat of the Israelites and capture of the ark

It happened at that time that the Philistines mustered to make war on Israel and Israel went out to meet them in war, pitching camp near Ebenezer while the Philistines pitched camp at Aphek. ²The Philistines drew up their battle*line against Israel, the fighting was fierce, and Israel was beaten by the Philistines: about four thousand men in their ranks were killed on the field of battle. ³When the troops returned to camp, the elders of Israel said, *Why has Yahweh caused us to be beaten by the Philistines today? Let us fetch the ark of our God from Shiloh so that, when it goes with us, it may save us from the clutches of our enemies.* ⁴So the troops sent to Shiloh and brought away the ark of Yahweh Sabaoth enthroned on the winged creatures; the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, came with the ark. ⁵When the ark of Yahweh arrived in the camp, all Israel raised a great war cry so that the earth resounded. ⁶When the Philistines heard the noise of the war cry, they said, *What can this great war cry in the Hebrew camp mean?* And they realised that the ark of Yahweh had come into the camp. ⁷At this, the Philistines were afraid; for they said, *God has come into the camp. Disaster!* they said. *For nothing like this has ever happened before. ⁸Disaster! Who will rescue us from the clutches of this mighty God? This was the God who struck down Egypt with every kind of misfortune in the desert. ⁹But take courage and be men, Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been slaves to you. Be men and fight.* ¹⁰So the Philistines gave battle and Israel was defeated, each man fleeing to his tent. The slaughter was very great: on the Israelite side, thirty thousand foot soldiers fell. ¹¹The ark of God was captured too, and Hophni and Phinehas the two sons of Eli died.
Death of Eli

¹²A Benjaminite ran from the battle*line and reached Shiloh the same day, his clothes torn and dust on his head. ¹³When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat beside the gate watching the road, for his heart was trembling for the ark of God. The man came into the town and told the news, whereupon cries of anguish filled the town. ¹⁴Eli heard the sound and asked, *What does this uproar mean?* The man hurried on and told Eli. ¹⁵Eli was ninety*eight years old; his gaze was fixed; he was blind. ¹⁶The man said to Eli, *I have come from the camp. I escaped from the battle*line today.* *My son,* said Eli, *what happened?* ¹⁷The messenger replied, *Israel has fled before the Philistines; the army has been utterly routed. What is worse, your two sons are dead and the ark of God has been captured.* ¹⁸When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backwards off his seat by the gate and broke his neck and died, for he was old and heavy. He had been judge of Israel for forty years.
Death of the wife of Phinehas

¹⁹Now his daughter*in*law, the wife of Phinehas, was with child and near her time. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father*in*law and husband were dead she crouched down and gave birth, for her labour pains had come on. ²⁰When she was at the point of death, the women at her side said, *Do not be afraid; you have given birth to a son.* But she did not answer and took no notice. ²¹She named the child Ichabod, ^{*[Ei-kabod = Where is the glory?]} saying, *The glory has gone from Israel,* alluding to the capture of the ark of God and to her father*in*law and husband. ²²She said, *The glory has gone from Israel, because the ark of God has been captured.*
Chapter 5

The ark brings disaster to the Philistines

^5:1When the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. ²Taking the ark of God, the Philistines put it in the temple of Dagon, setting it down beside Dagon. ³When the people of Ashdod got up the following morning and went to the temple of Dagon, there lay Dagon face down on the ground before the ark of Yahweh. They picked Dagon up and put him back in his place. ⁴But when they got up on the following morning, there lay Dagon face down on the ground before the ark of Yahweh, and Dagon's head and two hands lay severed on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left in its place. ⁵This is why the priests of Dagon and the people frequenting Dagon's temple never step on Dagon's threshold in Ashdod, even today. ⁶Yahweh oppressed the people of Ashdod; he ravaged them and afflicted them with tumours*Ashdod and its territory. When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening they said, ⁷*The ark of the God of Israel must not stay here with us, for he is oppressing us and our god Dagon.* ⁸So they summoned all the Philistine chiefs to them, and said, *What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?* They decided, *The ark of the God of Israel shall be taken away to Gath.* So they took the ark of the God of Israel to Gath. ⁹But after they had taken it there, Yahweh oppressed that town and a great panic broke out; afflicting the people of the town from highest to lowest, he brought them out in tumours too. ¹⁰They then sent the ark of God to Ekron, but when it came to Ekron the Ekronites shouted, *They have brought me the ark of the God of Israel to kill me and my people!* ¹¹They summoned all the Philistine chiefs and said, *Send the ark of the God of Israel away; let it go back to where it belongs and not kill me and my people**for there was mortal panic throughout the town; God was oppressing them. ¹²The people who did not die were afflicted with tumours, and the wailing from the town rose to the sky.
Chapter 6

Return of the ark

^6:1The ark of Yahweh was in Philistine territory for seven months. ²The Philistines then called for their priests and diviners and asked, *What shall we do with the ark of Yahweh? Tell us how to send it back to where it belongs.* ³They replied, *If you send the ark of the God of Israel away, you must certainly not send it away without a gift; you must pay him a guilt offering. You will then recover and will realise why he continually oppressed you.* ⁴They then asked, *What guilt offering ought we to pay him?* They replied, *Corresponding to the number of Philistine chiefs: five golden tumours and five golden rats, since the same plague afflicted your chiefs as the rest of you. ⁵So make models of your tumours and models of your rats ravaging the territory, and pay honour to the God of Israel. Then perhaps he will stop oppressing you, your gods and your country. ⁶Why should you be as stubborn as Egypt and Pharaoh were? After he had brought disasters on them, did they not let the people leave? ⁷Now, then, take and fit out a new cart, and two milch cows that have never borne the yoke. Then harness the cows to the cart and take their calves back to the byre. ⁸Then take the ark of Yahweh, place it on the cart, and put the golden objects which you are paying him as guilt offering in a box beside it; and then send it off on its own. ⁹Watch it; if it goes up the road to its own territory, towards Beth*Shemesh, then he was responsible for this great harm to us; but if not, we shall know that it was not his hand that struck us, and that this has happened to us by chance.* ¹⁰The people did this. They took two milch cows and harnessed them to the cart, shutting their calves in the byre. ¹¹They then put the ark of Yahweh on the cart, with the box and the golden rats and the models of their tumours. ¹²The cows made straight for Beth*Shemesh, keeping to the one road, lowing as they went and turning neither to right nor to left. The Philistine chiefs followed them as far as the boundaries of Beth*Shemesh.
The ark at Beth*Shemesh

¹³The people of Beth*Shemesh were reaping the wheat harvest in the plain when they looked up and saw the ark and went joyfully to meet it. ¹⁴When the cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth*Shemesh, it stopped. There was a large stone there, and they cut up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh. ¹⁵The Levites had taken down the ark of Yahweh and the box with it containing the golden objects and put these on the large stone. That day the people of Beth*Shemesh presented burnt offerings and made sacrifices to Yahweh. ¹⁶The five chiefs of the Philistines, having witnessed this, went back to Ekron the same day. ¹⁷The golden tumours paid by the Philistines as a guilt offering to Yahweh were as follows: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron; ¹⁸and golden rats to the number of all the Philistine towns, those of the five chiefs, from fortified towns down to open villages: still to this day the large stone in the field of Joshua of Beth*Shemesh, on which they put the ark of Yahweh, is a witness. ¹⁹Of the people of Beth*Shemesh the sons of Jeconiah had not rejoiced when they saw the ark of Yahweh, and Yahweh struck down seventy of them. The people mourned because Yahweh had struck them so fiercely.
The ark at Kiriath*Jearim

²⁰The people of Beth*Shemesh then said, *Who can stand his ground before Yahweh, this holy God? To whom shall he go, so that we are rid of him?* ²¹So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath*Jearim, to say, *The Philistines have sent back the ark of Yahweh; come down and take it up to your town.*
Chapter 7

^7:1The men of Kiriath*Jearim came and, taking up the ark of Yahweh, brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated his son Eleazar to guard the ark of Yahweh.
Samuel, judge and liberator

²From the day when the ark was installed at Kiriath*Jearim, a long time went by*twenty years*and the whole House of Israel longed for Yahweh. ³Samuel then spoke as follows to the whole House of Israel, *If you are returning to Yahweh with all your heart, banish the foreign gods and Astartes which you now have, and set your heart on Yahweh and serve him alone; and he will deliver you from the power of the Philistines.* ⁴And the Israelites banished the Baals and Astartes and served Yahweh alone. ⁵Samuel then said, *Muster all Israel at Mizpah and I shall plead with Yahweh for you.* ⁶So they mustered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before Yahweh. They fasted that day and declared, *We have sinned against Yahweh.* And Samuel was judge over the Israelites at Mizpah. ⁷When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had mustered at Mizpah, the Philistine chiefs marched on Israel; and when the Israelites heard this, they were afraid of the Philistines. ⁸They said to Samuel, *Do not stop calling on Yahweh our God to rescue us from the power of the Philistines.* ⁹Samuel took a sucking lamb and presented it as a burnt offering to Yahweh, and he called on Yahweh on behalf of Israel and Yahweh heard him. ¹⁰While Samuel was in the act of presenting burnt offering, the Philistines joined battle with Israel, but that day Yahweh thundered violently over the Philistines, threw them into panic and Israel defeated them. ¹¹The men of Israel sallied out from Mizpah in pursuit of the Philistines and beat them all the way to below Beth*Car. ¹²Samuel then took a stone and erected it between Mizpah and the Tooth, and gave it the name Ebenezer, ^{*[Eben*ezer = Stone of
help.]} saying, *Yahweh helped us as far as this.* ¹³So the Philistines were humbled and no longer came into Israelite territory; Yahweh oppressed the Philistines throughout the life of Samuel. ¹⁴The towns which the Philistines had taken from Israel were given back to Israel, from Ekron all the way to Gath, and Israel freed their territory from the power of the Philistines. There was peace, too, between Israel and the Amorites. ¹⁵Samuel was judge over Israel throughout his life. ¹⁶Each year he went on circuit through Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah and judged Israel in all these places. ¹⁷He would then return to Ramah, since his home was there; there too he judged Israel. And there he built an altar to Yahweh.
Chapter 8

SAMUEL AND SAUL
THE INSTITUTION OF THE MONARCHY
The people ask for a king

^8:1When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges of Israel. ²His eldest son was called Joel and his second one, Abijah; they were judges at Beersheba. ³His sons did not follow his example but, seduced by the love of money, took bribes and gave biased verdicts. ⁴The elders of Israel all assembled, went back to Samuel at Ramah, and said, ⁵*Look, you are old, and your sons are not following your example. So give us a king to judge us, like the other nations.* ⁶Samuel thought that it was wrong of them to say, *Let us have a king to judge us,* so he prayed to Yahweh. ⁷But Yahweh said to Samuel, *Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you: it is not you they have rejected ⁸but me, not wishing me to reign over them any more. They are now doing to you exactly what they have done to me since the day I brought them out of Egypt until now, deserting me and serving other gods. ⁹So, do what they ask; only, you must give them a solemn warning, and must tell them what the king who is to reign over them will do.*
Disadvantages of a monarchy

¹⁰Everything that Yahweh had said, Samuel then repeated to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹He said, *This is what the king who is to reign over you will do. He will take your sons and direct them to his chariotry and cavalry, and they will run in front of his chariot. ¹²He will use them as leaders of a thousand and leaders of fifty; he will make them plough his fields and gather in his harvest and make his weapons of war and the gear for his chariots. ¹³He will take your daughters as perfumers, cooks and bakers. ¹⁴He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his officials. ¹⁵He will tithe your crops and vineyards to provide for his courtiers and his officials. ¹⁶He will take the best of your servants, men and women, of your oxen and your donkeys, and make them work for him. ¹⁷He will tithe your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸When that day comes, you will cry aloud because of the king you have chosen for yourselves, but on that day Yahweh will not hear you.* ¹⁹The people, however, refused to listen to Samuel. They said, *No! We are determined to have a king, ²⁰so that we can be like the other nations, with our own king to rule us and lead us and fight our battles.* ²¹Samuel listened to all that the people had to say and repeated it in Yahweh's ear. ²²Yahweh then said to Samuel, *Do as they ask and give them a king.* Samuel then said to the Israelites, *Go home, each of you, to his own town.*
Chapter 9

Saul and his father's donkeys

^9:1Among the men of Benjamin was a man called Kish son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah; a Benjaminite and a person of rank. ²He had a son called Saul, a handsome man in the prime of life. Of all the Israelites there was no one more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders taller than anyone else. ³Now since the donkeys belonging to Kish, Saul's father, had strayed, Kish said to his son Saul, *My son, take one of the servants with you and be off; go and look for the donkeys.* ⁴They went through the highlands of Ephraim, they went through the territory of Shalishah, and did not find them; they went through the territory of Shaalim but they were not there; they went through the territory of Benjamin and did not find them. ⁵When they reached the territory of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, *Come on, let us go back or my father will stop worrying over the donkeys and start being anxious about us.* ⁶The servant, however, replied, *Look, there is a man of God in this town, a man who is held in honour; everything he says comes true. Let us go there, then; perhaps he will be able to show us the way that we should take.* ⁷Saul said to his servant, *But if we do go, what can we take to the man? The food in our sacks is finished, and we have no present to offer the man of God. What else have we got?* ⁸The servant spoke up again and said to Saul, *Look, I happen to have a quarter of a silver shekel; I shall give that to the man of God, for him to tell us which way to go.* ¹⁰Saul then said to his servant, *Well said! Come on, let us go.* And they went off to the town where the man of God was.
Saul meets Samuel

¹¹As they were going up the slope to the town they came across some girls going out to draw water, and said to them, *Is the seer there?* ⁹In Israel, in olden days, when anyone used to go to consult God, he would say, *Come on, let us go to the seer,* for a man who is now called a *prophet* used to be called a 'seer* in olden days. ¹²The girls replied, *He is. He arrived a moment or two ahead of you. You had better hurry: he has just come to town because the people are having a sacrifice today on the high place. ¹³You can catch him as soon as you go into the town, before he goes up to the high place for the meal. The people will not eat until he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; after that, the guests will start eating. If you go up now, you will find him straight away.* ¹⁴So they went up to the town and, as they were going through the gate, Samuel came out towards them on his way to the high place. ¹⁵Now, Yahweh had given Samuel a revelation the day before Saul came, saying, ¹⁶*About this time tomorrow, I shall send you a man from the territory of Benjamin; you are to anoint him as prince of my people Israel, and he will save my people from the power of the Philistines; for I have seen the misery of my people and their cries of anguish have come to me.* ¹⁷When Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh told him, *That is the man of whom I said to you, *He is to govern my people.* * ¹⁸Saul accosted Samuel in the gateway and said, *Tell me, please, where the seer's house is.* ¹⁹Samuel replied to Saul, *I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place. You must eat with me today. Tomorrow, when I let you go, I shall tell you whatever is on your mind. ²⁰As regards your donkeys, however, which strayed three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found. And for whom is the whole wealth of Israel destined, if not for you and for all the members of your father's family?* ²¹To this, Saul replied, *Am I not a Benjaminite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And is not my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why are you saying a thing like this to me?* ²²Samuel then took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall and gave them a place at the head of the guests, of whom there were about thirty. ²³Samuel then said to the cook, "Serve the portion which I gave you and told you to put on one side." ²⁴The cook then picked up the leg and the tail and put it in front of Saul, saying, *This is for you. This is what was left. Make a good meal . . .* That day, Saul ate with Samuel. ²⁵They came down from the high place into the town. A bed was made for Saul on the roof and he lay down there.
Consecration of Saul

²⁶At dawn, Samuel called to Saul on the roof, *Get up, and I shall send you on your way.* Saul got up, and Samuel and he went outside together. ²⁷They had walked as far as the end of the town when Samuel said to Saul, *Tell the servant to go on ahead of us, but you stand still for a moment, so that I can make known to you the word of God.*
¹⁰Samuel took a phial of oil and poured it on Saul's head; he then kissed him and said, *Has not Yahweh anointed you as leader of his people Israel? You are the man who is to govern Yahweh's people and save them from the power of the enemies surrounding them. The sign for you that Yahweh has anointed you as prince of his heritage is this: ²after leaving me today, you will meet two men near the tomb of Rachel, on the frontier of Benjamin . . . and they will say to you, *The donkeys which you went looking for have been found, and your father has lost interest in the matter of the donkeys and is worrying about you and wondering, What am I to do about my son?* ³Going on from there, you will come to the Oak of Tabor, where you will meet three men going up to God at Bethel; one will be carrying three kids, one three loaves of bread and the third a skin of wine. ⁴They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread which you must accept from them. ⁵After this, you will come to Gibeah of God (where the Philistine garrison is) and, when you are just outside the town, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, headed by lyre, tambourine, pipe and harp; they will be in a state of ecstasy. ⁶The spirit of Yahweh will then seize on you, and you will go into ecstasy with them, and be changed into another man. ⁷When these signs have occurred, act as occasion serves, for God is with you. ⁸You will then go down, ahead of me, to Gilgal, and I shall join you there to make burnt offerings and to offer communion sacrifices. You must wait seven days for me to come to you, and I shall then reveal to you what you must do.*
Return of Saul
⁹As soon as he had turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart. And all these signs occurred that very day . . . ¹⁰From there, they came to Gibeah: and there was a group of prophets coming to meet him! The spirit of God seized on him and he fell into ecstasy with them. ¹¹Seeing him prophesying with the prophets, all the people who had known him previously said to one another, *What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul one of the prophets too?* ¹²And one of the local people retorted, *But who is their father?* Hence the origin of the proverb: Is Saul one of the prophets too? ¹³When he came out of his ecstasy, he went into Gibeah. ¹⁴Saul's uncle asked him and his servant, *Where have you been?* *Looking for the donkeys,* he replied, *and when we could not find them anywhere, we went to Samuel.* ¹⁵Saul's uncle said, *Tell me please what Samuel said to you.* ¹⁶Saul said to his uncle, *He merely told us that the donkeys were already found,* but did not mention anything that Samuel had said about the kingship.
Saul is designated king by lot
¹⁷Samuel summoned the people to Yahweh at Mizpah ¹⁸and said to the Israelites, *Yahweh, God of Israel, says this, *I brought Israel out of Egypt and delivered you from the power of the Egyptians and of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.* ¹⁹But today you have rejected your God, him who saves you from all your difficulties and troubles; and you have said, *No, you must set a king over us.* Very well, take your positions before Yahweh, tribe by tribe and clan by clan.* ²⁰Samuel then made all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the lot indicated the tribe of Benjamin. ²¹He then made the tribe of Benjamin come forward clan by clan, and the lot indicated the clan of Matri; he then made the clan of Matri come forward one by one, and the lot indicated Saul son of Kish, but when they looked for him, he was not to be found. ²²Again they consulted Yahweh, *Has the man come here?* Yahweh replied, *There he is, hiding among the baggage.* ²³So they ran and fetched him out and, as he stood among the people, he was head and shoulders taller than any of them. ²⁴Samuel then said to all the people, *You have seen the man whom Yahweh has chosen, and that among the whole people he has no equal.* And all the people acclaimed him, shouting, *Long live the king!* ²⁵Samuel then explained the king's constitutional position to the people and inscribed this in a book which he placed before Yahweh. Samuel then sent all the people away, everyone back to his home. ²⁶Saul too went home to Gibeah and with him went those strong men whose hearts God had touched. ²⁷But there were some scoundrels who said, *How can this fellow save us?* These treated him with contempt and offered him no present.
Victory over the Ammonites
¹¹About a month later, Nahash the Ammonite marched up and laid siege to Jabesh in Gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, *Make a treaty with us and we will be your subjects.* ²Nahash the Ammonite replied, *I shall make a treaty with you only on this condition, that I put out all your right eyes, and I will make it a taunt to the whole of Israel.* ³The elders of Jabesh said to him, *Give us seven days* grace while we send messengers throughout the territory of Israel, and if no one comes to our help, we will come out to you.* ⁴The messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and reported this to the people, and all the people wept aloud. ⁵Now Saul was just then coming in from the fields behind his oxen, and he said, *What is wrong? Why are the people weeping?* They explained to him what the men of Jabesh had said. ⁶And the spirit of Yahweh seized on Saul when he heard these words, and he fell into a fury. ⁷He took a yoke of oxen, cut them into pieces and sent these by messengers throughout the territory of Israel with these words, *Anyone who will not march with Saul will have the same done to his oxen!* At this, a panic from Yahweh swept on the people and they marched out as one man. ⁸Saul inspected them at Bezek; there were three hundred thousand of Israel and thirty thousand of Judah. ⁹Then he said to the messengers who had come, *This is what you are to say to the people of Jabesh in Gilead, *Tomorrow, by the time that the sun is hot, help will reach you.* * The messengers went and reported this to the people of Jabesh who were overjoyed; ¹⁰they said to Nahash, *Tomorrow we shall come out to you and you can do whatever you like to us.* ¹¹The next day, Saul disposed the army in three contingents, which burst into the middle of the camp during the dawn watch and slaughtered the Ammonites until high noon. The survivors were so scattered that no two of them were left together.
Saul is proclaimed king
¹²The people then said to Samuel, *Who said, *Must we have Saul reigning over us?* Hand the men over, for us to put them to death.* ¹³*No one must be put to death today,* Saul said, *for today Yahweh has intervened to rescue Israel.* ¹⁴Samuel then said to the people, *Let us now go to Gilgal and reaffirm the monarchy there.* ¹⁵The people then all went to Gilgal. And there, at Gilgal, they proclaimed Saul king before Yahweh; they offered communion sacrifices before Yahweh, and there Saul and all the people of Israel gave themselves over to great rejoicing.
Samuel gives way to Saul
¹²Samuel said to all Israel, *I have faithfully done all that you asked of me, and have appointed you a king. ²In future, the king will lead you. As for me, I am old and grey, and in any case you have my sons. I have been your leader ever since I was young until today. ³Here I am. Bear witness against me before Yahweh and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Have I wronged or oppressed anyone? Have I taken a consideration from anyone for looking the other way? If so, I will make amends.* ⁴They said, *You have neither wronged nor oppressed us nor accepted anything from anyone.* ⁵He said to them, *Yahweh is your witness and his anointed is witness today that you have found nothing in my hands?* They replied, *He is witness.* ⁶Samuel then said to the people, *Yahweh is witness, he who raised up Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors out of Egypt. ⁷So now, stay where you are, while I plead with you before Yahweh and remind you of all the saving acts which he has done for you and for your ancestors. ⁸After Jacob had arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians oppressed them, and your ancestors cried to Yahweh. Yahweh then sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and gave them a settled home here. ⁹They then forgot Yahweh their God and he sold them into the power of Sisera, general of the army of Hazor, and also into the power of the Philistines and of the king of Moab, who made war on them. ¹⁰They cried to Yahweh, *We have sinned,* they said, *for we have deserted Yahweh and served the Baals and the Astartes. Rescue us now from the power of our enemies, and we will serve you.* ¹¹Yahweh then sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel. He rescued you from the power of the enemies surrounding you, and you lived in security. ¹²*But when you saw Nahash, king of the Ammonites, marching on you, you said to me, *No, we must have a king to rule us**although Yahweh your God is your king. ¹³So, here is the king whom you have chosen; Yahweh has appointed you a king. ¹⁴If you fear and serve Yahweh and obey his voice and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who rules you follow Yahweh your God, all will be well. ¹⁵But if you do not obey Yahweh's voice but rebel against his commands, Yahweh's hand will be against you and against your king. ¹⁶*Stay where you are and see the wonder which Yahweh will do before your eyes. ¹⁷Is it not now the wheat harvest? I shall call on Yahweh and he will send thunder and rain, so that you may clearly understand what a very wicked thing you have done, in Yahweh's eyes, by asking for a king.* ¹⁸Samuel then called on Yahweh, and Yahweh sent thunder and rain the same day, and all the people held Yahweh and Samuel in great awe. ¹⁹They all said to Samuel, *Pray for your servants to Yahweh your God, to save us from death; for to all our sins we have added this wrong of asking for a king.* ²⁰Samuel said to the people, *Do not be afraid. Although you have done all these wicked things, do not withdraw your allegiance from Yahweh. Instead, serve Yahweh with all your heart. ²¹Do not transfer your allegiance to useless idols which, being useless, are futile and cannot save anybody; ²²Yahweh, for the sake of his great name, will not desert his people, for it has pleased Yahweh to make you his people. ²³For my part, far be it from me to sin against Yahweh by ceasing to pray for you or to instruct you in the good and right way. ²⁴Fear none but Yahweh, and serve him faithfully with all your heart, bearing in mind the wonder which he has just performed. But, if you persist in wickedness, you and your king will perish.*
B: THE BEGINNING OF SAUL*S REIGN
Revolt against the Philistines
¹³Saul was . . . years old when he became king, and reigned over Israel for . . . years. ²Saul selected three thousand men of Israel; two thousand of them were with Saul at Michmash and in the highlands of Bethel, and one thousand with Jonathan at Geba of Benjamin; the rest of the people Saul sent home, everyone to his tent. ³Jonathan killed the Philistine governor stationed at Gibeah and the Philistines were informed that the Hebrews had risen in revolt. Saul had the trumpet sounded throughout the country, ⁴and all Israel heard the news, *Saul has killed the Philistine governor, and now Israel has antagonised the Philistines.* So all the people rallied behind Saul at Gilgal. ⁵The Philistines mustered to make war on Israel, three thousand chariots, six thousand horse and a force as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They came up and pitched camp at Michmash, to the east of Beth*Aven. ⁶When the Israelites saw that their plight was desperate, being so hard pressed, the people hid in caves, in holes, in crevices, in vaults, in wells. ⁷Some also crossed the Jordan fords into the territory of Gad and Gilead.
Samuel breaks with Saul
Saul was still at Gilgal and all the people who followed him were trembling. ⁸He waited for seven days, the period fixed by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army, deserting Saul, began dispersing. ⁹Saul then said, *Bring me the burnt offering and the communion sacrifices.* And he presented the burnt offering. ¹⁰Just as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to meet and greet him. ¹¹Samuel said, *What have you been doing?* Saul replied, *I saw the army deserting me and dispersing, and you had not come at the time fixed, while the Philistines were mustering at Michmash. ¹²So I thought: Now the Philistines are going to fall on me at Gilgal and I have not implored the favour of Yahweh. So I felt obliged to make the burnt offering myself.* ¹³Samuel said to Saul, *You have acted like a fool. You have not obeyed the order which Yahweh your God gave you. Otherwise, Yahweh would have confirmed your sovereignty over Israel for ever. ¹⁴But now your sovereignty will not last; Yahweh has discovered a man after his own heart and designated him as leader of his people, since you have not carried out what Yahweh ordered you.* ¹⁵Samuel then got up and left Gilgal to continue his journey. Those people remaining followed Saul as he went to join the warriors, and went from Gilgal to Geba of Benjamin. Saul reviewed the force that was with him; there were about six hundred men.
Preparations for battle
¹⁶Saul, his son Jonathan, and the force that was with them took up their quarters in Geba of Benjamin while the Philistines camped at Michmash. ¹⁷The raiding company sallied out of the Philistine camp in three groups: one group made for Ophrah in the territory of Shual; ¹⁸one group made for Beth*Horon; and one group made for the high ground overlooking the Valley of the Hyenas, in the direction of the desert. ¹⁹There was not a single blacksmith throughout the territory of Israel, the Philistines* reasoning being, *We do not want the Hebrews making swords or spears.* ²⁰Hence, the Israelites were all in the habit of going down individually to the Philistines to sharpen their ploughshares, axes, mattocks and scythes. ²¹The price was two*thirds of a shekel for ploughshares and axes, and one*third for sharpening mattocks and straightening goads. ²²So it was that on the day of the battle, no one in the army with Saul and Jonathan was equipped with either sword or spear; only Saul and his son Jonathan were so equipped. ²³A Philistine unit set out for the Pass of Michmash.
Jonathan attacks the outpost
¹⁴One day, Jonathan son of Saul said to his armour*bearer, *Come on, let us go across to the Philistine outpost over on the other side.* But he did not inform his father. ²Saul was on the outskirts of Geba, sitting under the pomegranate tree that stands near the threshing*floor; the force with him numbered about six hundred men. ³Ahijah son of Ahitub, brother of Ichabod, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of Yahweh at Shiloh, was carrying the ephod. ^{*[Not a garment as elsewhere, but a holder for the sacred lots.]} The force did not know that Jonathan had left. ⁴In the pass that Jonathan was trying to cross to reach the Philistine outpost, there is a rocky spur on one side and a rocky spur on the other; one is called Bozez, the other Seneh. ⁵The first spur stands to the north facing Michmash, the other to the south facing Geba. ⁶Jonathan said to his armour*bearer, *Come on, let us go across to these uncircumcised people's outpost; perhaps Yahweh will do something for us, for Yahweh is free to grant deliverance through a few men, just as much as through many.* ⁷His armour*bearer replied, *Do exactly as you think. I am with you; our hearts are as one.* ⁸Jonathan then said, *Look, we will go across to these people and let ourselves be seen. ⁹If they say, *Do not move until we come to you,* we shall stay where we are and not go up to them. ¹⁰But if they say, *Come up to us,* we shall go up, for that will be the sign for us that Yahweh has given them into our power.* ¹¹When the two of them let themselves be seen by the Philistine outpost, the Philistines said, *Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have been hiding.* ¹²The men of the outpost then hailed Jonathan and his armour*bearer. *Come up to us,* they said, *we have something to tell you.* Jonathan then said to his armour*bearer, *Follow me up; Yahweh has given them into the power of Israel.* ¹³Jonathan clambered up on hands and feet, with his armour*bearer behind him; the Philistines fell at Jonathan's onslaught, and his armour*bearer, coming behind, finished them off. ¹⁴This first killing made by Jonathan and his armour*bearer accounted for about twenty men . . .
Battle is engaged
¹⁵There was panic in the camp, in the field and throughout the army; outpost and raiding company too were panic'stricken; the earth quaked: it was a panic from Yahweh. ¹⁶Saul's look*out men in Geba of Benjamin could see the camp scattering in all directions. ¹⁷Saul then said to the force that was with him, *Call the roll and see who has left us.* So they called the roll, and Jonathan and his armour*bearer were missing. ¹⁸Saul then said to Ahijah, *Bring the ephod,* since he was the man who carried the ephod in Israel. ¹⁹But while Saul was speaking to the priest, the turmoil in the Philistine camp grew worse and worse; and Saul said to the priest, *Withdraw your hand.* ²⁰Saul and the whole force with him then formed up and advanced to where the fighting was going on: and there they all were, drawing their swords on one another in wild confusion. ²¹Those Hebrews who had earlier taken service with the Philistines and had accompanied them into camp, now defected to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²²Similarly, all those Israelites who had been hiding in the highlands of Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines were on the run, chased after them and joined in the fight. ²³That day Yahweh gave Israel the victory.
Jonathan violates Saul's prohibition
The fighting reached the other side of Beth*Horon. ²⁴As the men of Israel were hard pressed that day, Saul pronounced this imprecation over the people, *A curse on anyone who eats food before evening, before I have taken revenge on my enemies!* So none of the people so much as tasted food. ²⁵Now there was a honeycomb out in the open. ²⁶The people came to the honeycomb, the honey was dripping out, but no one put a hand to his mouth, the people being in awe of the oath. ²⁷Jonathan, however, not having heard his father bind the people with the oath, reached with the end of the stick which he was carrying, thrust it into the honeycomb and put it to his mouth; whereupon his eyes grew brighter. ²⁸One of the people then spoke up. *Your father*, he said, *has bound the people with this oath: *A curse on anyone who eats anything today.* * ²⁹*My father has brought trouble on the country,* Jonathan replied. *See how much brighter my eyes are for having eaten this mouthful of honey. ³⁰By the same token, if the people had been allowed to eat some of the booty which they had captured from the enemy today, would not the defeat of the Philistines have been all the greater?*
The people commit a ritual fault
³¹That day the Philistines were beaten from Michmash all the way to Aijalon, until the people were utterly exhausted. ³²The people flung themselves on the booty and, taking sheep, bullocks and calves, slaughtered them there on the ground and ate them with the blood. ³³Saul was informed, *The people are sinning against Yahweh by eating with the blood!* He said, *You have not kept faith! Roll me a large stone here!* ³⁴Saul then said, *Scatter among the people and say, *Everyone is to bring his bullock or his sheep to me here.* You will slaughter them here and eat, and not sin against Yahweh by eating with the blood.* Each individual brought what he happened to have that night, and they all slaughtered in the same place. ³⁵Saul built an altar to Yahweh; it was the first altar he had built to Yahweh.
Jonathan's guilt is discovered, but he is saved by the people
³⁶Saul said, *Let us go down under cover of dark and plunder the Philistines until dawn; we shall not leave one of them alive.* *Do whatever you think right,* they replied. But the priest said, *Let us approach God here.* ³⁷Saul consulted God, *Shall I go down and pursue the Philistines? Will you hand them over to Israel?* But he gave him no reply that day. ³⁸Saul then said, *Come forward, all you leaders of the people; consider carefully where today's sin may lie; ³⁹for as Yahweh lives who gives victory to Israel, even if the sin lies with Jonathan my son, he shall be put to death.* But not one out of all the people answered. ⁴⁰He then said to all Israel, *Stand on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will stand on the other.* And the people replied to Saul, *Do as you think right.* ⁴¹Saul then said, *Yahweh, God of Israel, why did you not answer your servant today? Yahweh, God of Israel, if the fault lies with me or with my son Jonathan, give urim: if the fault lies with your people Israel, give thummim.* ^{* [

A simple yes/no answer is obtained by drawing one of the lots out of the ephod.]} Jonathan and Saul were indicated and the people went free. ⁴²Saul said, *Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan,* and Jonathan was indicated. ⁴³*I only tasted a mouthful of honey off the end of the stick which I was carrying. But I am ready to die.* ⁴⁴Saul said, *May God bring unnameable ills on me, and worse ones too, if you do not die, Jonathan!* ⁴⁵But the people said to Saul, *Must Jonathan die after winning this great victory for Israel? We will never allow that! As Yahweh lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for his deeds today have been done with the help of God.* And so the people ransomed Jonathan and he was not put to death. ⁴⁶Saul decided not to pursue the Philistines, and the Philistines retired to their own territory.
Summary of Saul's reign
⁴⁷Saul consolidated his rule over Israel and made war on all his enemies on all fronts: on Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the king of Zobah and the Philistines; whichever way he turned, he was victorious. ⁴⁸He did great deeds of valour; he defeated the Amalekites and delivered Israel from those who used to pillage him. ⁴⁹Saul's sons were: Jonathan, Ishvi and Malchishua. The names of his two daughters were: the elder, Merab, and the younger, Michal. ⁵⁰The name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of his army commander was Abner son of Ner, Saul's uncle. ⁵¹Kish father of Saul, and Ner father of Abner were the sons of Abiel. ⁵²There was fierce warfare with the Philistines throughout Saul's life. Any strong or valiant man who caught Saul's eye, he recruited into his service.
Holy war against the Amalekites
¹⁵Samuel said to Saul, *I am the man whom Yahweh sent to anoint you as king of his people Israel, so now listen to the words of Yahweh. ²This is what Yahweh Sabaoth says, *I intend to punish what Amalek did to Israel*laying a trap for him on the way as he was coming up from Egypt. ³Now, go and crush Amalek; put him under the curse of destruction with all that he possesses. Do not spare him, but kill man and woman, babe and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.* * ⁴Saul summoned the people and reviewed them at Telaim: two hundred thousand foot soldiers (and ten thousand men of Judah). ⁵Saul advanced on the town of Amalek and lay in ambush in the river bed. ⁶Saul said to the Kenites, *Go away, leave your homes among the Amalekites, in case I destroy you with them*you acted with faithful love towards all the Israelites when they were coming up from Egypt.* So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites. ⁷Saul then crushed the Amalekites, beginning at Havilah in the direction of Shur, which is to the east of Egypt. ⁸He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive and, executing the curse of destruction, put all the people to the sword. ⁹But Saul and the army spared Agag with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fatlings and lambs and all that was good. They did not want to consign these to the curse of destruction; they consigned only what was poor and worthless.
Saul is rejected by Yahweh
¹⁰The word of Yahweh came to Samuel, ¹¹*I regret having made Saul king, since he has broken his allegiance to me and not carried out my orders.* Samuel was appalled and cried to Yahweh all night long. ¹²In the morning, Samuel set off to find Saul. Samuel was told, *Saul has been to Carmel, to raise himself a monument there, but now has turned about, moved on and gone down to Gilgal.* ¹³When Samuel reached Saul, Saul said, *May you be blessed by Yahweh! I have carried out Yahweh's orders.* ¹⁴Samuel replied, *Then what is this bleating of sheep in my ears and the lowing of cattle that I hear?* ¹⁵Saul said, *They have been brought from Amalek, the people having spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice them to Yahweh, your God; the rest we have consigned to the curse of destruction.* ¹⁶Samuel then said to Saul, *Stop! Let me tell you what Yahweh said to me last night.* He said, *Go on.* ¹⁷Samuel said, *Small as you may be in your own eyes, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh has anointed you as king of Israel. ¹⁸When Yahweh sent you on a mission he said to you, *Go and put those sinners, the Amalekites, under the curse of destruction and make war on them until they are exterminated.* ¹⁹Why then did you not obey Yahweh's voice? Why did you fall on the booty and do what is wrong in Yahweh's eyes?* ²⁰Saul replied to Samuel, *But I did obey Yahweh's voice. I went on the mission which Yahweh gave me; I brought back Agag king of the Amalekites; I put Amalek under the curse of destruction; ²¹and from the booty the people have taken the best sheep and cattle of what was under the curse of destruction only to sacrifice them to Yahweh your God in Gilgal.* ²²To which, Samuel said: Is Yahweh pleased by burnt offerings and sacrifices or by obedience to Yahweh's voice? Truly, obedience is better than sacrifice, submissiveness than the fat of rams. ²³Rebellion is a sin of sorcery, presumption a crime of idolatry! *Since you have rejected Yahweh's word, he has rejected you as king.*
Saul asks in vain for pardon
²⁴Saul then said to Samuel, *I have sinned, having broken Yahweh's order and your instructions because I was afraid of the people and yielded to their demands. ²⁵Now, please forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I can worship Yahweh.* ²⁶Samuel said to Saul, *I will not come back with you, since you have rejected Yahweh's word and Yahweh has rejected you as king of Israel.* ²⁷As Samuel turned away to leave, Saul caught at the hem of his cloak and it tore, ²⁸and Samuel said to him, *Today Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you and given it to a neighbour of yours who is better than you.* ²⁹(The Glory of Israel, however, does not lie or go back on his word, not being human and liable to go back on his word.) ³⁰*I have sinned,* Saul said, *but please still show me respect in front of my people's elders and in front of Israel, and come back with me, so that I can worship Yahweh your God.* ³¹Samuel followed Saul back and Saul worshipped Yahweh.
Death of Agag and departure of Samuel
³²Samuel then said, *Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites!* Agag came towards him unsteadily saying, *Truly death is bitter!* ³³Samuel said: As your sword has left women childless, so will your mother be left childless among women! Samuel then butchered Agag before Yahweh at Gilgal. ³⁴Samuel left for Ramah, and Saul went up home to Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵Samuel did not see Saul again till his dying day. Samuel indeed mourned over Saul, but Yahweh regretted having made Saul king of Israel.
III: SAUL AND DAVID
A: DAVID AT COURT
David is anointed
¹⁶Yahweh said to Samuel, *How much longer do you mean to go on mourning over Saul, now that I myself have rejected him as ruler of Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have found myself a king from among his sons.* ²Samuel replied, *How can I go? When Saul hears of it he will kill me.* Yahweh then said, *Take a heifer with you and say, *I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh.* ³Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I shall reveal to you what you must do; and you will anoint for me the one I indicate to you.* ⁴Samuel did what Yahweh ordered and went to Bethlehem. The elders of the town came trembling to meet him and asked, *Seer, is your coming favourable for us,* ⁵*Yes,* he replied. *I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.* He purified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. ⁶When they arrived, he looked at Eliab and thought, *This must be Yahweh's anointed now before him,* ⁷but Yahweh said to Samuel, *Take no notice of his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him; God does not see as human beings see; they look at appearances but Yahweh looks at the heart.* ⁸Jesse then called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, who said, *Yahweh has not chosen this one either.* ⁹Jesse then presented Shammah, but Samuel said, *Yahweh has not chosen this one either.* ¹⁰Jesse thus presented seven of his sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, *Yahweh has not chosen these.* ¹¹He then asked Jesse, *Are these all the sons you have?* Jesse replied, *There is still one left, the youngest; he is looking after the sheep.* Samuel then said to Jesse, *Send for him, for we shall not sit down to eat until he arrives.* ¹²Jesse had him sent for; he had ruddy cheeks, with fine eyes and an attractive appearance. Yahweh said, *Get up and anoint him: he is the one!* ¹³At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him, surrounded by his brothers; and the spirit of Yahweh seized on David from that day onwards. Samuel, for his part, set off and went to Ramah.
David enters Saul's service ^{* [

There are two separate versions: 1 David is a court musician; 2 He is a shepherd visiting his brothers. In this part of
David's story there is a series of doublets: 18:11 = 19:8 *10; 18:17*19 = 18:20 *27; 19:1*7 = 20:1*42; 24 = 26; 21:11*16 = 27:1*12.]}
¹⁴Now the spirit of Yahweh had withdrawn from Saul, and an evil spirit from Yahweh afflicted him with terrors. ¹⁵Saul's servants said to him, *An evil spirit from God is undoubtedly the cause of your terrors. ¹⁶Let our lord give the order, and your servants who wait on you will look for a skilled harpist; when the evil spirit from God comes over you, he will play and it will do you good.* ¹⁷Saul said to his attendants, *Find me, please, a man who plays well, and bring him to me.* ¹⁸One of the servants then spoke up and said, *I have seen one of the sons of Jesse the Bethlehemite: he is a skilled player, a brave man and a fighter, well spoken, good*looking and Yahweh is with him.* ¹⁹So Saul sent messengers to Jesse with the order, *Send me your son David (who is with the sheep).* ²⁰Jesse took five loaves, a skin of wine and a kid, and sent them to Saul by his son David. ²¹David went to Saul and entered his service; Saul became very fond of him and David became his armour*bearer. ²²Saul then sent a message to Jesse, *Let David stay in my service, since he has won my favour.* ²³And whenever the spirit from God came over Saul, David would take a harp and play; Saul would then be soothed; it would do him good, and the evil spirit would leave him.
Goliath challenges the Israelite army
¹⁷The Philistines mustered their troops for war; they assembled at Socoh in Judah and pitched camp between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes*Dammim. ²Saul and the Israelites also mustered, pitching camp in the Valley of the Terebinth, and drew up their battle*line opposite the Philistines. ³The Philistines occupied the high ground on one side and the Israelites occupied the high ground on the other side, with the valley between them. ⁴A champion stepped out from the Philistine ranks; his name was Goliath, from Gath; he was six cubits and one span tall. ⁵On his head was a bronze helmet and he wore a breastplate of scale*armour; the breastplate weighed five thousand shekels of bronze. ⁶He had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze scimitar slung across his shoulders. ⁷The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron. A shield*bearer walked in front of him. ⁸Taking position in front of the Israelite lines, he shouted, *Why have you come out to range yourselves for battle? Am I not a Philistine and are you not Saul's lackeys? Choose a man and let him come down to me. ⁹If he can fight it out with me and kill me, we will be your servants; but if I can beat him and kill him, you become our servants and serve us.* ¹⁰The Philistine then said, *I challenge the ranks of Israel today. Give me a man and we will fight it out!* ¹¹When Saul and all Israel heard what the Philistine said, they were dismayed and terrified.
David arrives in the camp
¹²David was the son of an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah whose name was Jesse; Jesse had eight sons and, by Saul's time, he was old and well on in years. ¹³Jesse's eldest three sons followed Saul to the war. The names of the three sons who went to the war were: the eldest Eliab, the second Abinadab and the third Shammah. ¹⁴David was the youngest; the eldest three followed Saul. ¹⁵David alternated between serving Saul and looking after his father's sheep at Bethlehem. ¹⁶Morning and evening, the Philistine advanced, presenting himself thus for forty days. ¹⁷Jesse said to his son David, *Take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves, and hurry to the camp, to your brothers. ¹⁸And take these ten cheeses to their commanding officer; find out how your brothers are and bring some token back from them; ¹⁹they are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of the Terebinth, fighting the Philistines.* ²⁰David got up early in the morning and, leaving the sheep with someone to guard them, took up his load and went off as Jesse had ordered; he reached the encampment just as the troops were leaving to take up battle stations and shouting the war cry. ²¹Israel and the Philistines drew up their lines facing one another. ²²David left his bundle in charge of the baggage guard and, running to the battle*line, went and asked his brothers how they were. ²³While he was talking to them, the champion (Goliath, the Philistine from Gath) came up from the Philistine ranks and made his usual speech, which David heard. ²⁴As soon as the Israelites saw this man, they all ran away from him and were terrified. ²⁵The Israelites said, *You saw that man who just came up? He comes to challenge Israel. The king will lavish riches on the man who kills him, he will give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father's family from all taxes in Israel.* ²⁶David asked the men who were standing near him, *What would be the reward for killing this Philistine and saving Israel from disgrace? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, to challenge the armies of the living God?* ²⁷The people told him what they had been saying, *That would be the reward for killing him,* they said. ²⁸His eldest brother Eliab heard David talking to the men and grew angry with him. *Why have you come down here?* he said. *Whom have you left in charge of those few sheep in the desert? I know how impudent and artful you are; you have come to watch the battle!* ²⁹David retorted, *What have I done? May I not even speak?* ³⁰And he turned away from him to someone else and asked the same question, to which the people replied as before. ³¹David's words were noted, however, and reported to Saul, who sent for him.
David volunteers to accept the challenge
³²David said to Saul, *Let no one be discouraged on his account; your servant will go and fight this Philistine.* ³³Saul said to David, *You cannot go and fight the Philistine; you are only a boy and he has been a warrior since his youth.* ³⁴David said to Saul, *Your servant used to look after the sheep for his father and whenever a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the flock, ³⁵I used to follow it up, lay into it and snatch the sheep out of its jaws. If it turned on me, I would seize it by the beard and batter it to death. ³⁶Your servant has killed both lion and bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will end up like one of them for having challenged the armies of the living God.* ³⁷*Yahweh,* David went on, *who delivered me from the claws of lion and bear, will deliver me from the clutches of this Philistine.* Then Saul said to David, *Go, and Yahweh be with you!* ³⁸Saul dressed David in his own armour; he put a bronze helmet on his head, dressed him in a breastplate ³⁹and buckled his own sword over David's armour. David tried to walk but, not being used to them, said to Saul, *I cannot walk in these; I am not used to them.* So they took them off again.
David and Goliath
⁴⁰He took his stick in his hand, selected five smooth stones from the river bed and put them in his shepherd's bag, in his pouch; then, sling in hand, he walked towards the Philistine. ⁴¹The Philistine, preceded by his shield*bearer, came nearer and nearer to David. ⁴²When the Philistine looked David up and down, what he saw filled him with scorn, because David was only a lad, with ruddy cheeks and an attractive appearance. ⁴³The Philistine said to David, *Am I a dog for you to come after me with sticks?* And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴The Philistine said to David, *Come over here and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the wild beasts!* ⁴⁵David retorted to the Philistine, *You come to me with sword, spear and scimitar, but I come to you in the name of Yahweh Sabaoth, God of the armies of Israel, whom you have challenged. ⁴⁶Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand; I shall kill you, I shall cut off your head; today, I shall give your corpse and the corpses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the wild beasts, so that the whole world may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷and this whole assembly know that Yahweh does not give victory by means of sword and spear*for Yahweh is lord of the battle and he will deliver you into our power.* ⁴⁸No sooner had the Philistine started forward to confront David than David darted out of the lines and ran to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹Putting his hand in his bag, he took out a stone, slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead; the stone penetrated his forehead and he fell face downwards on the ground. ⁵⁰Thus David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; he hit the Philistine and killed him, though he had no sword in his hand. ⁵¹David ran and stood over the Philistine, seized his sword, pulled it from the scabbard, despatched him and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. ⁵²The men of Israel and of Judah started forward, shouting their war cry, and pursued the Philistines as far as the approaches of Gath and the gates of Ekron. The Philistine dead lay all along the road from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. ⁵³Turning back from their ferocious pursuit of the Philistines, the Israelites plundered their camp. ⁵⁴And David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem; his weapons, however, he put in his own tent.
David the conqueror of Goliath is presented to Saul
⁵⁵When Saul saw David going to engage the Philistine he said to Abner, the army commander, *Abner, whose son is that boy?* *On your life, O king,* Abner replied, *I do not know.* ⁵⁶The king said, *Find out whose son the lad is.* ⁵⁷When David came back after killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine's head in his hand. ⁵⁸Saul asked him, *Whose son are you, young man?* David replied, *The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.*
¹⁸When David had finished talking to Saul, Jonathan felt an instant affection for David; Jonathan loved him like his very self; ²Saul engaged him that very day and would not let him go home to his father. ³Jonathan made a pact with David, since he loved him like his very self; ⁴Jonathan took off the cloak which he was wearing and gave it to David, and his armour too, even including his sword, his bow and his belt. ⁵Wherever David was sent on a mission by Saul, he was successful, and Saul put him in command of the fighting men; all the people respected him and so did Saul's staff.
Saul starts being jealous
⁶On their return, when David was coming back from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the towns of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul, with tambourines, sistrums and cries of joy; ⁷and as they danced the women sang: Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands. ⁸Saul was very angry; the incident displeased him. *They have given David the tens of thousands,* he said, *but me only the thousands; what more can he have, except the throne?* ⁹And Saul watched David jealously from that day onwards. ¹⁰The following day, an evil spirit from God seized on Saul and he fell into a frenzy while he was indoors. David played the harp as on other occasions; Saul had a spear in his hand. ¹¹Saul brandished the spear; he said, *I will pin David to the wall!* David evaded him twice. ¹²Saul feared David, since Yahweh was with him and had withdrawn from Saul. ¹³So Saul removed him from his presence and appointed him commander of a thousand; he led the people on campaign. ¹⁴In all his expeditions, David was successful and Yahweh was with him. ¹⁵And Saul, seeing how very successful he was, was afraid of him. ¹⁶All Israel and Judah loved David, however, since he was their leader on campaign.
David's marriage
¹⁷Saul said to David, *This is my elder daughter Merab; I shall give her to you in marriage; but you must serve me bravely and fight Yahweh's wars.* Saul thought, *Better than strike the blow myself, let the Philistines do it!* ¹⁸David replied to Saul, *Who am I and what is my lineage*and my father's family*in Israel, for me to become the king's son*in*law?* ¹⁹When the time came for Merab daughter of Saul to be given to David, she was given to Adriel of Meholah instead. ²⁰Now Michal daughter of Saul fell in love with David. When Saul heard this he was pleased. ²¹He thought, *Yes, I shall give her to him; she can be the snare for him, so that the Philistines will get him.* (On two occasions, Saul told David, *Today, you shall be my son*in*law.*) ²²Saul gave instructions to his servants, *Have a private word with David and say, *Look, the king is fond of you and all his servants love you*why not be the king's son*in*law?* * ²³Saul's servants repeated these words in David's ear, to which David replied, *Do you think that becoming the king's son*in*law is a trivial matter; I have neither wealth nor position.* ²⁴Saul's servants then reported back, *This is what David said.* ²⁵Saul replied, *Tell David this, *The king desires no bride*price except one hundred Philistine foreskins, in vengeance on the king's enemies.* * Saul was counting on getting David killed by the Philistines. ²⁶When his servants repeated this to David, David thought it would be a fine thing to be the king's son*in*law. And no time was lost ²⁷before David got up to go, he and his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. David brought their foreskins back and counted them out before the king, so that he could be the king's son*in*law. Saul then gave him his daughter Michal in marriage. ²⁸Saul could not but see that Yahweh was with David, and that the whole House of Israel loved him; ²⁹Saul became more afraid of David than ever, and became his inveterate enemy. ³⁰The Philistine chiefs kept mounting their campaigns but, whenever they did so, David proved more successful than any of Saul's staff; consequently he gained great renown.
Jonathan intercedes for David
¹⁹Saul let his son Jonathan and all his servants know of his intention to kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, held David in great affection; ²and Jonathan warned David, *My father Saul is looking for a way to kill you, so be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding, stay out of sight. ³I shall go out and keep my father company in the countryside where you will be, and shall talk to my father about you; I shall see what the situation is and then tell you.* ⁴Jonathan spoke highly of David to Saul his father and said, *The king should not harm his servant David; far from harming you, what he has done has been greatly to your advantage. ⁵He took his life in his hands, he killed the Philistine, and Yahweh brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw for yourself. How pleased you were! Why then sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?* ⁶Saul was impressed by Jonathan's words. Saul swore, *As Yahweh lives, I will not kill him.* ⁷Jonathan called David and told him all this. Jonathan then brought him to Saul, and David remained in attendance as before.
B: THE FLIGHT OF DAVID
Saul's attempt on David's life
⁸War broke out again and David sallied out to fight the Philistines; he inflicted a great defeat on them and they fled before him. ⁹An evil spirit from Yahweh came over Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand; David was playing the harp. ¹⁰Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, but he avoided Saul's thrust and the spear stuck in the wall. David fled and made good his escape.
David is saved by Michal
That same night ¹¹Saul sent agents to watch David's house, intending to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, warned him, *If you do not escape tonight, you will be a dead man tomorrow!* ¹²Michal then let David down through the window, and he made off, took to flight and so escaped. ¹³Michal then took a domestic image, laid it on the bed, put a tress of goats* hair at the head of the bed and put a cover over it. ¹⁴When Saul sent the agents to arrest David, she said, *He is ill.* ¹⁵Saul sent the agents back to see David, with the words, *Bring him to me on his bed, for me to kill him!* ¹⁶So in the agents went, and there in bed was the image, with the tress of goats* hair on its head! ¹⁷Saul then said to Michal, *Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, and so make his escape?* Michal replied to Saul, *He said, *Let me go, or I shall kill you!* *
Saul and David at Ramah with Samuel
¹⁸David, having fled and made his escape, went to Samuel at Ramah and told him exactly how Saul had treated him; he and Samuel went and lived in the huts. ¹⁹Word was brought to Saul, *David is in the huts at Ramah.* ²⁰Saul accordingly sent agents to capture David; when they saw the community of prophets prophesying, and Samuel there as their leader, the spirit of God came over Saul's agents, and they too fell into frenzy. ²¹When Saul was told of this, he sent other agents, and they too fell into frenzy; Saul then sent a third group of agents, and they fell into frenzy too. ²²He then went to Ramah himself and, arriving at the large storage*well at Seku, asked, *Where are Samuel and David?* And someone said, *Why, they are in the huts at Ramah!* ²³Making his way from there to the huts at Ramah, the spirit of God came over him too, and he went along in a frenzy until he arrived at the huts at Ramah. ²⁴He too stripped off his clothes and he too fell into a frenzy in Samuel's presence, then collapsed naked on the ground for the rest of that day and all night. Hence the saying: Is Saul one of the prophets too?
Jonathan helps David to escape
²⁰Fleeing from the huts at Ramah, David went and confronted Jonathan, *What have I done, what is my guilt, how have I wronged your father, for him to want to take my life?* ²He replied, *You must not think that! You are not going to die. My father, you see, does nothing, important or unimportant, without confiding in me, so why should my father hide this from me? It is not true.* ³In reply, David swore, *Your father knows very well that I enjoy your favour, and thinks, *Jonathan must not know about this or he will be upset.* But, as Yahweh lives and as you yourself live, there is only a step between me and death.* ⁴At which, Jonathan said to David, *Whatever you think best, I will certainly do for you.* ⁵David replied, *Look, tomorrow is New Moon and I ought to sit at table with the king, but you must let me go and hide in the countryside until the evening. ⁶If your father notices my absence, you must say, *David insistently asked me for permission to hurry over to Bethlehem, his home town, because they are holding the annual sacrifice there for the whole clan.* ⁷If he says, *Very well,* your servant is safe, but if he flies into a rage, you may be sure that he has some evil plan. ⁸Show your servant faithful love, since you have bound your servant to you by a pact in Yahweh's name. But if I am guilty, then kill me yourself*why take me to your father?* ⁹Jonathan replied, *Perish the thought! If I knew for sure that my father was determined to do you a mischief, would I not have told you?* ¹⁰David then said to Jonathan, *Who will let me know if your father gives you a harsh answer?* ¹¹Jonathan then said to David, *Come on, let us go out into the country,* and the pair of them went out into the country. ¹²Jonathan then said to David, *By Yahweh, God of Israel! I shall sound my father this time tomorrow; if all is well for David and I do not then send and inform you, ¹³may Yahweh bring unnameable ills to Jonathan and worse ones too! If my father intends to do you a mischief, I shall tell you so and let you get away, so that you can be safe. And may Yahweh be with you as he used to be with my father! ¹⁴If I am still alive, show your servant faithful love; if I die, ¹⁵never withdraw your faithful love from my family. When Yahweh has exterminated every enemy of David's from the face of the earth, ¹⁶do not let Jonathan's name be exterminated with Saul's family, or may Yahweh call David to account!* ¹⁷Jonathan then renewed his oath to David, since he loved him like his very soul. ¹⁸Jonathan then said to David, *Tomorrow is New Moon; your absence will be noticed, since your place will be empty. ¹⁹The day after tomorrow your absence will be very marked, and you must go to the place where you hid on the day of the deed, and stay beside that mound. ²⁰For my part, the day after tomorrow I shall shoot three arrows in that direction, as though at a target. ²¹I shall then send a servant to go and find the arrows. If I say to him, *The arrows are this side of you, get them,* come out, since all will be well for you and nothing the matter, as sure as Yahweh lives. ²²But if I say to him, *The arrows are ahead of you,* then be off, for Yahweh himself will be sending you away. ²³And as regards the agreement we made, you and I, why, Yahweh is witness between us for ever.* ²⁴So David hid in the country; New Moon came and the king sat down to his meal. ²⁵He sat in his usual place with his back to the wall, Jonathan sat facing him and Abner sat next to Saul; but David's place was empty. ²⁶Saul said nothing that day, thinking, *It is sheer chance; he is unclean.* ²⁷On the day after New Moon, the second day, David's place was still empty. ²⁸Saul said to his son Jonathan, *Why did not the son of Jesse come to the meal either yesterday or today?* ²⁹Jonathan answered Saul, *David insistently asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. *Please let me go,* he said, *for we are holding the clan sacrifice in the town and my brothers have ordered me to attend. So now, if I enjoy your favour, let me get away and see my brothers.* That is why he has not come to the king's table.* ³⁰Saul flew into a rage with Jonathan and said, *Son of a rebellious slut! Don*t I know that you side with the son of Jesse to your own shame and your mother's dishonour? ³¹As long as the son of Jesse lives on earth, neither you nor your royal rights are secure. Now have him fetched and brought to me; he deserves to die.* ³²Jonathan retorted to his father Saul, *Why should he die? What has he done?* ³³But Saul brandished his spear at him to strike him, and Jonathan realised that his father was determined that David should die. ³⁴Hot with anger, Jonathan got up from the table and ate nothing on the second day of the month, being upset about David*and because his father had insulted him. ³⁵Next morning, Jonathan went out into the country at the time agreed with David, taking a young servant with him. ³⁶He said to his servant, *Run and find the arrows which I am going to shoot,* and the servant ran while Jonathan shot an arrow ahead of him. ³⁷When the servant reached the spot to which Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan shouted after him, *Is not the arrow ahead of you?* ³⁸Again Jonathan shouted after the servant, *Quick! Hurry, do not stand around.* Jonathan's servant picked up the arrow and brought it back to his master. ³⁹The servant suspected nothing; only Jonathan and David knew what was meant. ⁴⁰Jonathan then gave his weapons to his servant and said, *Go and carry them to the town.* ⁴¹As soon as the servant had gone, David stood up beside the mound, threw himself to the ground, prostrating himself three times. They then embraced each other, both weeping copiously. ⁴²Jonathan then said to David, *Go in peace. And as regards the oath that both of us have sworn by the name of Yahweh, may Yahweh be witness between you and me, between your descendants and mine for ever.*
²¹David then got up and left, and Jonathan went back to the town.
David and the priest at Nob
²David then went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech came out trembling to meet David and said, *Why are you alone? Why is nobody with you?* ³David replied to Ahimelech the priest, *The king has given me an order and said to me, *Do not let anyone know anything about the mission on which I am sending you, or about the order which I have given you.* I have arranged to meet the guards at such and such a place. ⁴Meanwhile, if you have five loaves of bread to hand, give them to me, or whatever there is.* ⁵The priest replied to David, *I have no ordinary bread to hand; there are only consecrated loaves of permanent offering*provided that the men have kept themselves from women?* ⁶David replied to the priest, *Certainly, women have been forbidden to us, as always when I set off on a campaign. The men's things are clean. Though this is a profane journey, they are certainly clean today as far as their things are concerned.* ⁷The priest then gave him what had been consecrated, for the only bread there was the loaves of permanent offering, which is taken out of Yahweh's presence, to be replaced by warm bread on the day when it is removed. ⁸Now one of Saul's servants happened to be there that day, detained in Yahweh's presence; his name was Doeg the Edomite and he was the strongest of Saul's shepherds. ⁹David then said to Ahimelech, *Have you no spear or sword here to hand? I did not bring either my sword or my weapons with me, because the king's business was urgent.* ¹⁰The priest replied, *The sword of Goliath the Philistine whom you killed in the Valley of the Terebinth is here, wrapped in a piece of clothing behind the ephod; ^{*[Here either the container of the sacred lots or some object used in worship.]} if you care to take it, do so, for that is the only one here.* David said, *There is nothing like that one; give it to me.*
David with the Philistines
¹¹David journeyed on and that day fled out of Saul's reach, going to Achish king of Gath. ¹²Achish's servants said to him, *Is not this David, the king of the country? Was it not of him that they sang as they danced: Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands?* ¹³David pondered on these words and became very frightened of Achish king of Gath. ¹⁴When their eyes were on him, he played the madman and, when they held him, he feigned lunacy. He drummed his feet on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. ¹⁵Achish said to his servants, *You can see that this man is mad. Why bring him to me? ¹⁶Have I not enough madmen, without your bringing me this one to weary me with his antics? Is he to join my household?*
C: DAVID THE OUTLAW
²²David left there and took refuge in the Cave of Adullam; his brothers and his father's whole family heard this and joined him there. ²All those in distress, all those in debt, all those who had a grievance, gathered round him and he became their leader. There were about four hundred men with him. ³From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, *Allow my father and mother to stay with you until I know what God intends to do for me.* ⁴He left them with the king of Moab and there they stayed all the time that David was in the stronghold. ⁵The prophet Gad, however, said to David, *Do not stay in the stronghold; leave and make your way into the territory of Judah.* David then left and went to the forest of Hereth.
Massacre of the priests of Nob
⁶When Saul heard that David and the men with him had been discovered, Saul was at Gibeah, seated under the tamarisk on the high place, spear in hand, with all his staff standing round him. ⁷*Listen, Benjaminites!* said Saul to them, *Is the son of Jesse going to give you all fields and vineyards and make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds ⁸that you all conspire against me? No one warned me when my son made a pact with the son of Jesse; none of you felt sorry for me or warned me when my son incited my servant to become my enemy, as he is now.* ⁹Then, up spoke Doeg the Edomite, who was in command of Saul's staff, *I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech son of Ahitub. ¹⁰That man consulted Yahweh on his behalf, gave him provisions and also the sword of Goliath the Philistine.* ¹¹The king then sent for the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and his whole family, the priests of Nob; they all came to the king. ¹²Saul said, *Now listen, son of Ahitub!* He replied, *Here I am, my lord.* ¹³*Why have you conspired against me,* said Saul, *you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and consulting God on his behalf, for him to rebel against me as is now the case?* ¹⁴Ahimelech replied to the king, *Of all those in your service, who is more loyal than David son*in*law to the king, captain of your bodyguard, honoured in your household? ¹⁵Was today the first time I ever consulted God on his behalf? Indeed it was not! The king has no grounds for bringing any charge against his servant or against his whole family, for your servant knew nothing whatever about all this.* ¹⁶The king retorted, *You must die, Ahimelech, you and your whole family.* ¹⁷The king said to the scouts who were standing round him, *Forward! and put the priests of Yahweh to death, for they too are on David's side, they knew that he was escaping, yet did not warn me of it.* The king's professional soldiers, however, would not lift a hand to strike the priests of Yahweh. ¹⁸The king then said to Doeg, *Forward, you! Fall on the priests!* Doeg the Edomite stepped forward and fell on the priests, himself that day killing eighty*five men who wore the linen ephod. ¹⁹Nob, the town of the priests, Saul put to the sword: men and women, children and infants, cattle, donkeys and sheep. ²⁰One son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub alone escaped. His name was Abiathar, and he fled away to join David. ²¹When Abiathar told David that Saul had slaughtered the priests of Yahweh, ²²David said to Abiathar, *I knew, that day when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would be sure to inform Saul. I am responsible for the death of all your kinsmen. ²³Stay with me, do not be afraid, for he who seeks your life seeks mine; you will be safe with me.*
David at Keilah
²³News was then brought to David, *The Philistines are besieging Keilah and plundering the threshing*floors*. ²David consulted Yahweh, *Shall I go and fight these Philistines?* Yahweh replied to David, *Go and fight the Philistines and save Keilah.* ³But David's men said to him, *We are already afraid here in Judah; how much more, then, if we go to Keilah to fight the Philistine troops!* ⁴So David consulted Yahweh again and Yahweh replied, *Be on your way; go down to Keilah, since I shall give the Philistines into your power.* ⁵So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines and carried off their cattle and inflicted a great defeat on them. Thus David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. ⁶When Abiathar son of Ahimelech took refuge with David, he went down to Keilah with the ephod in his hand. ⁷When word was brought to Saul that David had gone to Keilah he said, *God has delivered him into my power: he has trapped himself by going into a town with gates and bars.* ⁸Saul called all the people to arms, to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men. ⁹David, however, was aware that Saul was plotting evil against him, and said to Abiathar the priest, *Bring the ephod.* ¹⁰David said, *Yahweh, God of Israel, your servant has heard that Saul is preparing to come to Keilah and destroy the town because of me. ¹¹Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? Yahweh, God of Israel, I beg you, let your servant know.* Yahweh replied, *He will come down.* ¹²David then went on to ask, *Will the notables of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?* Yahweh replied, *They will hand you over.* ¹³At this, David made off with his men, about six hundred in number; they left Keilah and went where they could. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he abandoned the expedition. ¹⁴David stayed in the desert, in the strongholds; he stayed in the mountains, in the desert of Ziph; Saul kept looking for him day after day, but God did not deliver him into his power.
David at Horesh. Visit from Jonathan
¹⁵David was aware that Saul had mounted an expedition to take his life. David was then at Horesh in the desert of Ziph. ¹⁶Jonathan son of Saul set off and went to David at Horesh and encouraged him in the name of God. ¹⁷*Do not be afraid,* he said, *for my father Saul's hand will not reach you. You are to reign over Israel, and I shall be second to you. Saul my father is himself aware of this.* ¹⁸And the two made a pact before Yahweh. David stayed at Horesh and Jonathan went home.
David has a narrow escape from Saul
¹⁹Some men from Ziph then went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, *Look, David is hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the Hill of Hachilah to the south of the wastelands. ²⁰Now whenever you wish to go down, my lord king, do so; we shall make it our task to hand him over to the king.* ²¹Saul replied, *May you be blessed by Yahweh for sympathising with me. ²²Go and make doubly sure, find out exactly what place he frequents, for I have been told that he is very cunning. ²³Take careful note of all the hiding places where he lurks, and come back to me when you are certain. I shall then come with you and, if he is in the country, I shall track him down through every clan in Judah!* ²⁴Setting off they went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Meanwhile, David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the plain to the south of the wastelands. ²⁵When Saul and his men set out in search, David was told and went down to the gorge running through the desert of Maon. ²⁶Saul and his men proceeded along one side of the mountain, David and his men along the other. David was hurrying to escape from Saul, while Saul and his men were trying to cross over to David and his men's side, to capture them, ²⁷when a messenger came to Saul and said, *Come at once, the Philistines have invaded the country.* ²⁸So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to oppose the Philistines. That is why the place is called the Gorge of Separations.
David spares Saul
²⁴From there David went up and installed himself in the strongholds of En*Gedi. ²Once Saul was back from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, *David is now in the desert of En*Gedi.* ³Saul thereupon took three thousand men selected from all Israel and went in search of David and his men east of the Rocks of the Mountain Goats. ⁴He came to the sheepfolds along the route, where there was a cave, and went in to cover his feet. Now David and his men were sitting in the recesses of the cave;

New Jerusalem Bible with Apocrypha
The Book of Samuel

Chapter 1

THE CHILDHOOD OF SAMUEL
The pilgrimage to Shiloh

Prayer of Hannah

Birth and consecration of Samuel

Chapter 2

Song of Hannah

The sons of Eli

Samuel at Shiloh

More about the sons of Eli

Punishment foretold

Chapter 3

God calls Samuel

Chapter 4

THE ARK IN PHILISTINE HANDS
Defeat of the Israelites and capture of the ark

Death of Eli

Death of the wife of Phinehas

Chapter 5

The ark brings disaster to the Philistines

Chapter 6

Return of the ark

The ark at Beth*Shemesh

The ark at Kiriath*Jearim

Chapter 7

Samuel, judge and liberator

Chapter 8

SAMUEL AND SAUL
THE INSTITUTION OF THE MONARCHY
The people ask for a king

Disadvantages of a monarchy

Chapter 9

Saul and his father's donkeys

Saul meets Samuel

Consecration of Saul

New Jerusalem Bible with Apocrypha The Book of Samuel

Chapter 1

THE CHILDHOOD OF SAMUEL The pilgrimage to Shiloh

Prayer of Hannah

Birth and consecration of Samuel

Chapter 2

Song of Hannah

The sons of Eli

Samuel at Shiloh

More about the sons of Eli

Punishment foretold

Chapter 3

God calls Samuel

Chapter 4

THE ARK IN PHILISTINE HANDS Defeat of the Israelites and capture of the ark

Death of Eli

Death of the wife of Phinehas

Chapter 5

The ark brings disaster to the Philistines

Chapter 6

Return of the ark

The ark at Beth*Shemesh

The ark at Kiriath*Jearim

Chapter 7

Samuel, judge and liberator

Chapter 8

SAMUEL AND SAUL THE INSTITUTION OF THE MONARCHY The people ask for a king

Disadvantages of a monarchy

Chapter 9

Saul and his father's donkeys

Saul meets Samuel

Consecration of Saul

New Jerusalem Bible with Apocrypha
The Book of Samuel

THE CHILDHOOD OF SAMUEL
The pilgrimage to Shiloh

THE ARK IN PHILISTINE HANDS
Defeat of the Israelites and capture of the ark

SAMUEL AND SAUL
THE INSTITUTION OF THE MONARCHY
The people ask for a king