![CEB Common English Bible with Apocrypha - eBook [ePub] - Common English Bible](/cover_715844.jpg "CEB Common English Bible with Apocrypha - eBook [ePub] - Common English Bible")
one hundred Philistines.s David brought their foreskins and counted them out for the king so he could become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to him in marriage.
28When Saul knew for certain that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved him, 29then Saul was even more afraid of David. Saul was David's enemy for the rest of his life.t 30And whenever the Philistine commanders came out for battle, David would have more success than the rest of Saul's officers, so his fame spread widely.
David escapes Saul
1Samuel 19Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David, but Jonathan, Saul's son, liked David very much. 2So Jonathan warned David, "My father Saul is trying to kill you. Be on guard tomorrow morning. Stay somewhere safe and hide. 3I'll go out and stand by my father in the field where you'll be. I'll talk to my father about you, and I'll tell you whatever I find out."
4So Jonathan spoke highly about David to his father Saul, telling him, "The king shouldn't do anything wrong to his servant David, because he hasn't wronged you. In fact, his actions have helped you greatly. 5He risked his own life when he killed that Philistine, and the LORD won a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and were happy about it. Why then would you do something wrong to an innocent person by killing David for no reason?"
6Saul listened to Jonathan and then swore, "As surely as the LORD lives, David won't be executed."7So Jonathan summoned David and told him everything they had talked about. Then Jonathan brought David back to Saul, and David served Saul as he had previously.
8War broke out again. When David went out to fight the Philistines, he struck them with such force that they ran from him.
9Then an evil spirit from the LORD came over Saul.u He was sitting in his house with his spear in hand while David was playing music. 10Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear, but David escaped Saul. Saul drove the spear into the wall, but David fled and got away safely. That night 11Saul sent messengers to David's house to keep watch on it and kill him in the morning. David's wife Michal warned him, "If you don't escape with your life tonight, you are a dead man tomorrow."12So Michal lowered David through a window. He took off and ran, and he got away. 13Then Michal took the household's divine image and laid it in the bed, putting some goat's hair on its head and covering it with clothes.
14Saul sent messengers to arrest David, but she said, "He's sick."
15Saul sent the messengers back to check on David for themselves. "Bring him to me on his bed," he ordered, "so he can be executed."16When the messengers arrived, they found the idol in the bed with the goat's hair on its head. 17Saul said to Michal, "Why could you betray me like this, letting my enemy go so that now he has escaped?"
Michal said to Saul, "David told me, 'Help me get away or I'll kill you!'"
18So David fled and escaped. When he reached Samuel at Ramah, he reported to him everything Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to stay in the camps.v
19When Saul was told that David was in the camps at Ramah, 20he sent messengers to arrest David. They saw a group of prophets in a prophetic frenzy, with Samuel standing there as their leader. God's spirit came over Saul's messengers, and they also fell into a prophetic frenzy. 21This was reported to Saul, and he sent different messengers, but they also fell into a prophetic frenzy. So Saul sent a third group of messengers, and they did the very same thing.
22At that point, Saul went to Ramah himself. He came to the well at the threshing floor that was on the bare hill therew and asked, "Where are Samuel and David?"
"In the camps at Ramah," he was told. 23So Saul went to the camps at Ramah, and God's spirit came over him too. So as he traveled, he was in a prophetic frenzy until he reached the camps at Ramah. 24He even took off all his clothes and fell into a prophetic frenzy in front of Samuel. He lay naked that whole day and night. That's why people say, "Is Saul also one of the prophets?"
Jonathan and David's friendship
1Samuel 20David fled from the camps at Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, "What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father that he wants me dead?"
2Jonathan said to him, "No! You are not going to die! Listen: My father doesn't do anything big or small without telling me first. Why would my father hide this from me? It isn't true!"
3But David solemnly promised in response, "Your father knows full well that you like me. He probably said, 'Jonathan must not learn about this or he'll be upset.'x But I promise you--on the LORD's life and yours!--that I am this close to death!"
4"What do you want me to do?" Jonathan said to David. "I'll do it."
5"Okay, listen," David answered Jonathan. "Tomorrow is the new moon, and I'm supposed to sit with the king at the feast. Instead, let me go and I'll hide in the field until nighttime.y 6If your father takes note of my absence, tell him, 'David begged my permission to run down to his hometown Bethlehem, because there is an annual sacrifice there for his whole family.'7If Saul says 'Fine,' then I, your servant, am safe. But if he loses his temper, then you'll know for certain that he intends to harm me. 8So be loyal to your servant, because you've brought your servant into a sacred covenantz with you. If I'm guilty, then kill me yourself; just don't take me back to your father."
9"Enough!" Jonathan replied. "If I can determine for certain that my father intends to harm you, of course I'll tell you!"
10"Who will tell me if your father responds harshly?" David asked Jonathan.
11"Come on," Jonathan said to David. "Let's go into the field." So both of them went out into the field. 12Then Jonathan told David, "I pledge by the LORD God of Israel that I will question my father by this time tomorrow or on the third day. If he seems favorable toward David, I will definitely send word and make sure you know. 13But if my father intends to harm you, then may the LORD deal harshly with me, Jonathan, and worse still if I don't tell you right away so that you can escape safely. May the LORD be with you as he once was with my father. 14If I remain alive, be loyal to me.a But if I die,15don't ever stop being loyal to my household. Once the LORD has eliminated all of David's enemies from the earth,16if Jonathan's name is also eliminated, then the LORD will seek retribution from David!"b
17So Jonathan again made a pledge to Davidc because he loved David as much as himself. 18"Tomorrow is the festival of the new moon," Jonathan told David. "You will be missed because your seat will be empty. 19The day after tomorrow, go all the way to the spot where you hid on the day of the incident, and stay close to that mound.d 20On the third day I will shoot an arrow to the side of the mound as if aiming at a target.e 21Then I'll send the servant boy, saying, 'Go retrieve the arrow.' If I yell to the boy, 'Hey! The arrow is on this side of you. Get it!' then you can come out because it will be safe for you. There won't be any trouble--I make a pledge on the LORD's life. 22But if I yell to the young man, 'Hey! The arrow is past you,' then run for it, because the LORD has sent you away. 23Either way, the LORD is witnessf between us forever regarding the promise we made to each other."24So David hid himself in
