7K-First Samuel

1 Samuel Chapter 1

1 Samuel 1:1 (NASB)

¹ Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim-zophim from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

1 Samuel 1:2 (NIV)

² He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

1 Samuel 1:3 (NIV)

³ Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD.

1 Samuel 1:4 (AMP)

⁴ When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give to Peninnah his wife and all her sons and daughters portions [of the sacrificial meat].

1 Samuel 1:5 (CJB)-M

⁵ but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved Hannah, even though the Lord had kept her from having children.

1 Samuel 1:6 (NLT2)-M

⁶ So Peninnah would taunt Hannah severely just to provoke her because the LORD had kept her from having children.

1 Samuel 1:7 (NLT2)

⁷ Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.

1 Samuel 1:8 (NASB)

⁸ Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

1 Samuel 1:9 (NASB)

⁹ Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.

1 Samuel 1:10 (AMP)

¹⁰ And [Hannah] was in distress of soul, praying to the Lord and weeping bitterly.

1 Samuel 1:11 (NIV)

¹¹ And she made a vow, saying, “O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

1 Samuel 1:12 (NLT2)

¹² As she was praying to the LORD, Eli watched her.

1 Samuel 1:13 (NLT2)

¹³ Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking.

1 Samuel 1:14 (HCSB)

¹⁴ and scolded her, “How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!”

1 Samuel 1:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ And Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

1 Samuel 1:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”

1 Samuel 1:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”

1 Samuel 1:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.

1 Samuel 1:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.

1 Samuel 1:20 (NASB)

²⁰ It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of the LORD.”

1 Samuel 1:21 (NIV)

²¹ When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow,

1 Samuel 1:22 (AMP)

²² But Hannah did not go, for she said to her husband, I will not go until the child is weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord and remain there as long as he lives.

1 Samuel 1:23 (CJB)-M

²³ Her husband Elkanah answered her, “Do what seems good to you; stay here until you have weaned him. Only may the Lord bring about what he said.” So, the woman stayed behind and nursed the child, until she weaned him.

1 Samuel 1:24 (NASB)

²⁴ Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh, although the child was young.

1 Samuel 1:25 (CJB-M

²⁵ After the bull had been slaughtered, the child was brought to Eli;

1 Samuel 1:26 (NIV)

²⁶ and she said to him, “As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD.

1 Samuel 1:27 (NASB)

²⁷ “For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him.

1 Samuel 1:28 (AMP)

²⁸ Therefore I have given him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is given to the Lord. And they worshiped the Lord there.

1 Samuel Chapter 2

1 Samuel 2:1 (NLT2)

¹ Then Hannah prayed: “My heart rejoices in the LORD! The LORD has made me strong. Now I have an answer for my enemies; I rejoice because you rescued me.

1 Samuel 2:2 (NLT2)

² No one is holy like the LORD! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

1 Samuel 2:3 (AMP)

³ Talk no more so very proudly; let not arrogance go forth from your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.

1 Samuel 2:4 (CJB)

⁴ The bows of the mighty are broken, while the feeble are armed with strength.

1 Samuel 2:5 (NKJV)

⁵ Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, And the hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, And she who has many children has become feeble.

1 Samuel 2:6 (NLT2)

⁶ The LORD gives both death and life; he brings some down to the grave but raises others up.

1 Samuel 2:7 (NIV)

⁷ The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts.

1 Samuel 2:8 (NLT2)

⁸ He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor. For all the earth is the LORD’s, and he has set the world in order.

1 Samuel 2:9 (NKJV)-M

⁹ He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. “For by natural strength no human shall prevail.

1 Samuel 2:10 (HCSB)

¹⁰ Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered; He will thunder in the heavens against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. He will give power to His king; He will lift up the horn of His anointed.

1 Samuel 2:11 (CJB)-M

¹¹ Elkanah went home to Ramah, while the child began ministering to the Lord under the direction of ‘Eli the priest.

1 Samuel 2:12 (NLT2)

¹² Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the LORD

1 Samuel 2:13 (NLT2)

¹³ or for their duties as priests. Whenever anyone offered a sacrifice, Eli’s sons would send over a servant with a three-pronged fork. While the meat of the sacrificed animal was still boiling,

1 Samuel 2:14 (NLT2)

¹⁴ the servant would stick the fork into the pot and demand that whatever it brought up be given to Eli’s sons. All the Israelites who came to worship at Shiloh were treated this way.

1 Samuel 2:15 (NLT2)

¹⁵ Sometimes the servant would come even before the animal’s fat had been burned on the altar. He would demand raw meat before it had been boiled so that it could be used for roasting.

1 Samuel 2:16 (NLT2)

¹⁶ The man offering the sacrifice might reply, “Take as much as you want, but the fat must be burned first.” Then the servant would demand, “No, give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.”

1 Samuel 2:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ This sin of the young men was very great in the LORD’s sight, for they were treating the LORD’s offering with contempt.

1 Samuel 2:18 (NASB)

¹⁸ Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD, as a boy wearing a linen ephod.

1 Samuel 2:19 (NKJV)

¹⁹ Moreover his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

1 Samuel 2:20 (NASB)

²⁰ Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the LORD give you children from this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” And they went to their own home.

1 Samuel 2:21 (NIV)

²¹ And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

1 Samuel 2:22 (NKJV)

²² Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

1 Samuel 2:23 (NIV)

²³ So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours.

1 Samuel 2:24 (NIV)

²⁴ No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the LORD’s people.

1 Samuel 2:25 (NIV)

²⁵ If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the LORD’s will to put them to death.

1 Samuel 2:26 (NIV)

²⁶ And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with men.

1 Samuel 2:27 (AMP)

²⁷ A man of God came to Eli and said to him, Thus has the Lord said: I plainly revealed Myself to the house of your father [forefather Aaron] when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house.

1 Samuel 2:28 (AMP)

²⁸ Moreover, I selected him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer on My altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before Me. And I gave [from then on] to the house of your father [forefather] all the offerings of the Israelites made by fire.

1 Samuel 2:29 (AMP)

²⁹ Why then do you kick [trample upon, treat with contempt] My sacrifice and My offering which I commanded, and honor your sons above Me by fattening yourselves upon the choicest part of every offering of My people Israel?

1 Samuel 2:30 (AMP)

³⁰ Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, I did promise that your house and that of your father [forefather Aaron] should go in and out before Me forever. But now the Lord says, Be it far from Me. For those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

1 Samuel 2:31 (AMP)

³¹ Behold, the time is coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your own father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in your house.

1 Samuel 2:32 (AMP)

³² And you shall behold the distress of My house, even in all the prosperity which God will give Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever.

1 Samuel 2:33 (AMP)

³³ Yet I will not cut off from My altar every man of yours; some shall survive to weep and mourn [over the family’s ruin], but all the increase of your house shall die in their best years.

1 Samuel 2:34 (NIV)

³⁴ “‘And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you–they will both die on the same day.

1 Samuel 2:35 (HCSB)

³⁵ “‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest for Myself. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him, and he will walk before My anointed one for all time.

1 Samuel 2:36 (NIV)

³⁶ Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a crust of bread and plead, “Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat.”‘”

1 Samuel Chapter 3

1 Samuel 3:1 (NIV)

¹ The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.

1 Samuel 3:2 (NASB)

² It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well),

1 Samuel 3:3 (NIV)

³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.

1 Samuel 3:4 (NIV)

⁴ Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.”

1 Samuel 3:5 (NIV)

⁵ And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

1 Samuel 3:6 (NIV)

⁶ Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”

1 Samuel 3:7 (NIV)

⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

1 Samuel 3:8 (AMP)

⁸ And the Lord called Samuel the third time. And he went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you did call me. Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.

1 Samuel 3:9 (NIV)

⁹ So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

1 Samuel 3:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

1 Samuel 3:11 (NIV)

¹¹ And the LORD said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.

1 Samuel 3:12 (NIV)

¹² At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family–from beginning to end.

1 Samuel 3:13 (NIV)

¹³ For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them.

1 Samuel 3:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.'”

1 Samuel 3:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.

1 Samuel 3:16 (AMP)

¹⁶ But Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here I am.

1 Samuel 3:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.”

1 Samuel 3:18 (NASB)

¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him.”

1 Samuel 3:19 (AMP)-M

¹⁹ Samuel grew; the Lord was with him and Samuel let none of God’s words fall to the ground (through passivity or indifference) by recording and applying everything God said to him.

1 Samuel 3:20 (NASB)

²⁰ All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.

1 Samuel 3:21 (NIV)

²¹ The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

1 Samuel Chapter 4

1 Samuel 4:1 (AMP)

¹ And the word of [the Lord through] Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines and encamped beside Ebenezer; the Philistines encamped at Aphek.

1 Samuel 4:2 (NASB)

² The Philistines drew up in battle array to meet Israel. When the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines who killed about four thousand men on the battlefield.

1 Samuel 4:3 (NIV)

³ When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the LORD bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

1 Samuel 4:4 (NIV)

⁴ So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

1 Samuel 4:5 (NASB)

⁵ As the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded.

1 Samuel 4:6 (NIV)

⁶ Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked, “What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?” When they learned that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp,

1 Samuel 4:7 (NASB)

⁷ The Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.

1 Samuel 4:8 (NIV)

⁸ Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert.

1 Samuel 4:9 (NASB)

⁹ “Take courage and be men, O Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been slaves to you; therefore, be men and fight.”

1 Samuel 4:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated, and every man fled to his tent; and the slaughter was very great, for there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.

1 Samuel 4:11 (AMP)

¹¹ And the ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

1 Samuel 4:12 (NASB)

¹² Now a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes torn and dust on his head.

1 Samuel 4:13 (CJB)

¹³ As he arrived, ‘Eli was sitting on his seat by the road, watching; because he was trembling with anxiety over the ark of God. When the man entered the city and told the news, the whole city began crying out.

1 Samuel 4:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, “What does the noise of this commotion mean?” Then the man came hurriedly and told Eli.

1 Samuel 4:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were set so that he could not see.

1 Samuel 4:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ He told Eli, “I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day.” Eli asked, “What happened, my son?”

1 Samuel 4:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ The man who brought the news replied, “Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.”

1 Samuel 4:18 (NLT2)-M

¹⁸ When the messenger mentioned what had happened to the Ark of God, Eli fell backward from his seat beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was an old man and heavy and overweight. He had been Israel’s judge for forty years.

1 Samuel 4:19 (AMP)

¹⁹ Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, about to be delivered. And when she heard that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her pains came upon her.

1 Samuel 4:20 (NIV)

²⁰ As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention.

1 Samuel 4:21 (NIV)

²¹ She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel”–because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.

1 Samuel 4:22 (NIV)

²² She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

1 Samuel Chapter 5

1 Samuel 5:1 (NIV)

¹ After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

1 Samuel 5:2 (NIV)

² Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon.

1 Samuel 5:3 (NIV)

³ When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.

1 Samuel 5:4 (NIV)

⁴ But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.

1 Samuel 5:5 (NIV)

⁵ That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.

1 Samuel 5:6 (NIV)

⁶ The LORD’s hand was heavy upon the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation upon them and afflicted them with tumors.

1 Samuel 5:7 (NKJV)

⁷ And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.”

1 Samuel 5:8 (NIV)

⁸ So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, “What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?” They answered, “Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.

1 Samuel 5:9 (KJV)

⁹ And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts.

1 Samuel 5:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to us, to kill us and our people.”

1 Samuel 5:11 (CJB)-M

¹¹ So they summoned all the leaders of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the God of Israel away! Let it go back to its own place, so that it won’t kill us and our people!” — because death and panic pervaded the whole city; God’s oppression was very heavy there.

1 Samuel 5:12 (KJV)

¹² And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

1 Samuel Chapter 6

1 Samuel 6:1 (NLT2)

¹ The Ark of the LORD remained in Philistine territory seven months in all.

1 Samuel 6:2 (CJB)-M

² The Philistines summoned the priests and soothsayers and asked them, “What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how to send it back where it belongs.”

1 Samuel 6:3 (NIV)-M

³ They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means send a gift as a guilt offering to him. Then, if you are healed, you will know it was his hand that caused these plagues.”

1 Samuel 6:4 (CJB)-M

⁴ They asked, “What kind of guilt offering should we send him?” and they replied, “Five gold models of tumors and five gold rats, because that’s how many leaders the Philistines have, and you and your leaders all had the same afflictions.

1 Samuel 6:5 (CJB)-M

⁵ So make models of your tumors and models of your rats that are infesting your land, and show respect to the God of Israel. Maybe he will stop oppressing you, your gods and your land.

1 Samuel 6:6 (NASB)

⁶ “Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, did they not allow the people to go, and they departed?

1 Samuel 6:7 (NIV)

⁷ “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up.

1 Samuel 6:8 (CJB)-M

⁸ Then take the ark of the Lord and lay it on the cart. In a box next to it, put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Then send it away to go off by itself,

1 Samuel 6:9 (NASB)

⁹ “Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.”

1 Samuel 6:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves.

1 Samuel 6:11 (NIV)

¹¹ They placed the ark of the LORD on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors.

1 Samuel 6:12 (NIV)

¹² Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

1 Samuel 6:13 (NIV)

¹³ Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight.

1 Samuel 6:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD.

1 Samuel 6:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ The Levites took down the ark of the LORD, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD.

1 Samuel 6:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.

1 Samuel 6:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the LORD–one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron.

1 Samuel 6:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers–the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock, on which they set the ark of the LORD, is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

1 Samuel 6:19 (NKJV)

¹⁹ Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter.

1 Samuel 6:20 (CJB)-M

²⁰ The people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom can we send it, to get it away from us?”

1 Samuel 6:21 (NASB)

²¹ So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the LORD; come down and take it up to you.”

1 Samuel Chapter 7

1 Samuel 7:1 (AMP)

¹ So the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to have charge of the ark of the Lord.

1 Samuel 7:2 (NIV)

² It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim, and all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD.

1 Samuel 7:3 (NIV)

³ And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”

1 Samuel 7:4 (NIV)

⁴ So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.

1 Samuel 7:5 (NIV)

⁵ Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the LORD for you.”

1 Samuel 7:6 (NIV)

⁶ When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah.

1 Samuel 7:7 (NIV)

⁷ When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines.

1 Samuel 7:8 (AMP)

⁸ And the Israelites said to Samuel, Do not cease to cry to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.

1 Samuel 7:9 (NIV)

⁹ Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on Israel’s behalf, and the LORD answered him.

1 Samuel 7:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.

1 Samuel 7:11 (CJB)-M

¹¹ The men of Israel went out from Mizpah, pursuing the Philistines and attacking them all the way to Beth Car.

1 Samuel 7:12 (AMP)

¹² Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and he called the name of it Ebenezer [stone of help], saying, Heretofore the Lord has helped us.

1 Samuel 7:13 (NIV)

¹³ So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines.

1 Samuel 7:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ The cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

1 Samuel 7:15 (CJB)-M

¹⁵ Samuel continued in office as judge of Israel as long as he lived.

1 Samuel 7:16 (CJB)-M

¹⁶ Year by year he would travel in a circuit that included Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah; and in all these places he served as judge over Israel.

1 Samuel 7:17 (CJB)-M

¹⁷ Then he would return to Ramah, because that’s where his home was, and he would judge Israel there too. He also built an altar there to the Lord.

1 Samuel Chapter 8

1 Samuel 8:1 (CJB)

¹ When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.

1 Samuel 8:2 (HCSB)

² His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba.

1 Samuel 8:3 (NASB)

³ His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.

1 Samuel 8:4 (HCSB)

⁴ So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah.

1 Samuel 8:5 (NIV)

⁵ They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

1 Samuel 8:6 (NIV)

⁶ But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.

1 Samuel 8:7 (CJB)-M

⁷ The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the people, to everything they say to you; for it is not you they are rejecting; they are rejecting me; they don’t want me to be king over them.

1 Samuel 8:8 (CJB)

⁸ They are doing to you exactly what they have been doing to me, from the day I brought them out of Egypt until today, by abandoning me and serving other gods.

1 Samuel 8:9 (HCSB)

⁹ Listen to them, but you must solemnly warn them and tell them about the rights of the king who will rule over them.”

1 Samuel 8:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king.

1 Samuel 8:11 (NASB)

¹¹ He said, “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots.

1 Samuel 8:12 (HCSB)

¹² He can appoint them for his use as commanders of thousands or commanders of fifties, to plow his ground or reap his harvest, or to make his weapons of war or the equipment for his chariots.

1 Samuel 8:13 (NKJV)

¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.

1 Samuel 8:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ “He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants.

1 Samuel 8:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.

1 Samuel 8:16 (NASB)

¹⁶ “He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work.

1 Samuel 8:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.

1 Samuel 8:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

1 Samuel 8:19 (CJB)-M

¹⁹ However, the people refused to listen to what Samuel told them, and they said, “No! We want a king over us,

1 Samuel 8:20 (NIV)

²⁰ Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

1 Samuel 8:21 (NIV)

²¹ When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD.

1 Samuel 8:22 (NASB)

²² The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

1 Samuel Chapter 9

1 Samuel 9:1 (NLT2)

¹ There was a wealthy, influential man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, of the tribe of Benjamin.

1 Samuel 9:2 (NASB)

² He had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

1 Samuel 9:3 (NIV)

³ Now the donkeys belonging to Saul’s father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys.”

1 Samuel 9:4 (NLT2)

⁴ So Saul took one of the servants and traveled through the hill country of Ephraim, the land of Shalishah, the Shaalim area, and the entire land of Benjamin, but they couldn’t find the donkeys anywhere.

1 Samuel 9:5 (NIV)

⁵ When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come, let’s go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”

1 Samuel 9:6 (AMP)

⁶ The servant said to him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, a man held in honor; all that he says surely comes true. Now let us go there. Perhaps he can show us where we should go.

1 Samuel 9:7 (NIV)

⁷ Saul said to his servant, “If we go, what can we give the man? The food in our sacks is gone. We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?”

1 Samuel 9:8 (CJB)-M

⁸ The servant replied again to Saul: “See, I have here in my hand a silver quarter-shekel [one-tenth of an ounce]. I will give it to the man of God to tell us which way to go.”

1 Samuel 9:9 (CJB)-M

⁹ (In Israel, back in the old days, when someone went to consult God, he would say, “Come, let’s go to the seer”; because a person now called a prophet used to be called a seer.)

1 Samuel 9:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ “Good,” Saul said to his servant. “Come, let’s go.” So they set out for the town where the man of God was.

1 Samuel 9:11 (NIV)

¹¹ As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water, and they asked them, “Is the seer here?”

1 Samuel 9:12 (CJB)

¹² The girls answered them, “He’s here, he’s right ahead of you. Hurry now, he just came into the city today, because the people are sacrificing today at the high place.

1 Samuel 9:13 (CJB)

¹³ Find him as soon as you enter the city, before he goes up to the high place to eat; because the people won’t eat until he comes and blesses the sacrifice. Afterwards, the ones invited will eat. So go on up, because this is when you will find him.”

1 Samuel 9:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ They went up to the town, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel, coming toward them on his way up to the high place.

1 Samuel 9:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel:

1 Samuel 9:16 (CJB)-M

¹⁶ “Tomorrow at about this time I will send you a man from the territory of Benjamin. You are to anoint him prince over my people Israel. He will save my people from the power of the Philistines, because I have seen my people’s situation, and their cry of distress has come to me.”

1 Samuel 9:17 (NASB)

¹⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said to him, “Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one shall rule over My people.”

1 Samuel 9:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?”

1 Samuel 9:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ “I am the seer,” Samuel replied. “Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart.

1 Samuel 9:20 (CJB)-M

²⁰ As for your donkeys that got lost three days ago, don’t worry about them; they’ve been found. Now, who is it that all Israel wants? Isn’t it you, and all your father’s household?”

1 Samuel 9:21 (NIV)

²¹ Saul answered, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?”

1 Samuel 9:22 (CJB)-M

²² Samuel took Saul and his servant, brought them into the room and had them sit in the place reserved for the most important of the invited guests, who numbered about thirty persons.

1 Samuel 9:23 (NLT2)

²³ Samuel then instructed the cook to bring Saul the finest cut of meat, the piece that had been set aside for the guest of honor.

1 Samuel 9:24 (AMP)

²⁴ And the cook lifted high the shoulder and what was on it [indicating that it was the priest’s honored portion] and set it before Saul. [Samuel] said, See what was reserved for you. Eat, for until the hour appointed it was kept for you, ever since I invited the people. So Saul ate that day with Samuel.

1 Samuel 9:25 (HCSB)

²⁵ Afterward, they went down from the high place to the city, and Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof.

1 Samuel 9:26 (NIV)

²⁶ They rose about daybreak and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get ready, and I will send you on your way.” When Saul got ready, he and Samuel went outside together.

1 Samuel 9:27 (CJB)

²⁷ As they were going down, at the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead”; so, the servant went on. “But you, stand still now, because I want you to hear what God has said.”

1 Samuel Chapter 10

1 Samuel 10:1 (NIV)

¹ Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance?

1 Samuel 10:2 (NKJV)

² When you have departed from me today, you will find two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. And now your father has ceased caring about the donkeys and is worrying about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ‘

1 Samuel 10:3 (NIV)

³ “Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine.

1 Samuel 10:4 (NIV)

⁴ They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.

1 Samuel 10:5 (NASB)

⁵ “Afterward you will come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and they will be prophesying.

1 Samuel 10:6 (NASB)

⁶ “Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.

1 Samuel 10:7 (NIV)

⁷ Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

1 Samuel 10:8 (NIV)

⁸ “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.”

1 Samuel 10:9 (NIV)

⁹ As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day.

1 Samuel 10:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying.

1 Samuel 10:11 (CJB)-M

¹¹ When those who knew him from before saw him there, prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What’s happened to Kish’s son? Is Saul a prophet, too?”

1 Samuel 10:12 (CJB)

¹² Someone in the crowd answered, “Must prophets’ fathers be special?” So it became an expression — “Is Saul a prophet, too?”

1 Samuel 10:13 (NKJV)

¹³ And when he had finished prophesying, he went to the high place.

1 Samuel 10:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ Now Saul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they could not be found, we went to Samuel.”

1 Samuel 10:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”

1 Samuel 10:16 (CJB)-M

¹⁶ Saul answered his uncle, “He told us that the donkeys had been found,” but said nothing to him about the matter of his being made king.

1 Samuel 10:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah

1 Samuel 10:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ and said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’

1 Samuel 10:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, ‘No, set a king over us.’ So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”

1 Samuel 10:20 (NASB)

²⁰ Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot.

1 Samuel 10:21 (NASB)

²¹ Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken; but when they looked for him, he could not be found.

1 Samuel 10:22 (NASB)

²² Therefore they inquired further of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?” So the LORD said, “Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.”

1 Samuel 10:23 (NKJV)

²³ So they ran and brought him from there; and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.

1 Samuel 10:24 (NASB)

²⁴ Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!”

1 Samuel 10:25 (NIV)

²⁵ Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people, each to his own home.

1 Samuel 10:26 (NIV)

²⁶ Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched.

1 Samuel 10:27 (NASB)

²⁷ But certain worthless men said, “How can this one deliver us?” And they despised him and did not bring him any present. But he kept silent.

1 Samuel Chapter 11

1 Samuel 11:1 (NLT2)

¹ About a month later, King Nahash of Ammon led his army against the Israelite town of Jabesh-gilead. But all the citizens of Jabesh asked for peace. “Make a treaty with us, and we will be your servants,” they pleaded.

1 Samuel 11:2 (NIV)

² But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.”

1 Samuel 11:3 (NIV)

³ The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you.”

1 Samuel 11:4 (NIV)

⁴ When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud.

1 Samuel 11:5 (NASB)

⁵ Now behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen, and he said, “What is the matter with the people that they weep?” So they related to him the words of the men of Jabesh.

1 Samuel 11:6 (CJB)-M

⁶ The Spirit of God fell on Saul when he heard this; blazing furiously with anger,

1 Samuel 11:7 (CJB)-M

⁷ he seized a pair of oxen and cut them in pieces; then he sent them throughout the territory of Israel with messengers saying, “Anyone who doesn’t come and follow Saul and Samuel, this is what will be done to his oxen!” The fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with united hearts.

1 Samuel 11:8 (NIV)

⁸ When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

1 Samuel 11:9 (NIV)

⁹ They told the messengers who had come, “Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be delivered.'” When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated.

1 Samuel 11:10 (CJB)-M

¹⁰ Then the men of Jabesh said [to Nahash], “Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do with us whatever you like.”

1 Samuel 11:11 (NIV)

¹¹ The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

1 Samuel 11:12 (AMP)

¹² The people said to Samuel, Who is he who said, Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men, that we may put them to death.

1 Samuel 11:13 (AMP)

¹³ But Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day, for today the Lord has brought deliverance to Israel.

1 Samuel 11:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there reaffirm the kingship.”

1 Samuel 11:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.

1 Samuel Chapter 12

1 Samuel 12:1 (NASB)

¹ Then Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me and I have appointed a king over you.

1 Samuel 12:2 (NIV)

² Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day.

1 Samuel 12:3 (NIV)

³ Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right.”

1 Samuel 12:4 (NIV)

⁴ “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

1 Samuel 12:5 (NIV)

⁵ Samuel said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is witness,” they said.

1 Samuel 12:6 (NIV)

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your forefathers up out of Egypt.

1 Samuel 12:7 (NIV)

⁷ Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your fathers.

1 Samuel 12:8 (NIV)

⁸ “After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your forefathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

1 Samuel 12:9 (NIV)

⁹ “But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.

1 Samuel 12:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ They cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’

1 Samuel 12:11 (NLT2)

¹¹ Then the LORD sent Gideon, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel to save you, and you lived in safety.

1 Samuel 12:12 (NIV)

¹² “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’–even though the LORD your God was your king.

1 Samuel 12:13 (HCSB)

¹³ “Now here is the king you’ve chosen, the one you requested. Look, this is the king the LORD has placed over you.

1 Samuel 12:14 (CJB)-M

¹⁴ If you will fear the Lord, serve him, obey what he says and not rebel against the Lord’s orders — if both you and the king ruling you remain followers of the Lord your God — [then things will go well for you.]

1 Samuel 12:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

1 Samuel 12:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes!

1 Samuel 12:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king.”

1 Samuel 12:18 (NLT2)

¹⁸ So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people were terrified of the LORD and of Samuel.

1 Samuel 12:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”

1 Samuel 12:20 (NIV)

²⁰ “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.

1 Samuel 12:21 (NIV)

²¹ Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless.

1 Samuel 12:22 (NASB)

²² “For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.

1 Samuel 12:23 (AMP)

²³ Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.

1 Samuel 12:24 (NIV)

²⁴ But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

1 Samuel 12:25 (NIV)

²⁵ Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”

1 Samuel Chapter 13

1 Samuel 13:1 (AMP)

¹ Saul was[forty] years old when he began to reign; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,

1 Samuel 13:2 (AMP)

² Saul chose 3,000 men of Israel; 2,000 were with [him] in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and 1,000 with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent away, each one to his home.

1 Samuel 13:3 (NIV)

³ Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!”

1 Samuel 13:4 (NIV)

⁴ So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

1 Samuel 13:5 (NIV)

⁵ The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven.

1 Samuel 13:6 (NIV)

⁶ When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns.

1 Samuel 13:7 (NIV)

⁷ Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.

1 Samuel 13:8 (NIV)

⁸ He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter.

1 Samuel 13:9 (AMP)

⁹ So Saul said, Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering [which he was forbidden to do].

1 Samuel 13:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

1 Samuel 13:11 (NIV)

¹¹ “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash,

1 Samuel 13:12 (NIV)

¹² I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

1 Samuel 13:13 (AMP)

¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly! You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God which He commanded you; for the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever;

1 Samuel 13:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”

1 Samuel 13:15 (HCSB)

¹⁵ Then Samuel went from Gilgal to Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul registered the troops who were with him, about 600 men.

1 Samuel 13:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Micmash.

1 Samuel 13:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷ Then raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned to the road to Ophrah, to the land of Shual,

1 Samuel 13:18 (NKJV)

¹⁸ another company turned to the road to Beth Horon, and another company turned to the road of the border that overlooks the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

1 Samuel 13:19 (HCSB)

¹⁹ No blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise, the Hebrews will make swords or spears.”

1 Samuel 13:20 (CJB)-M

²⁰ So whenever any of the people of Israel wanted to sharpen his hoe, plowshare, axe or pick, he had to go down to the Philistines,

1 Samuel 13:21 (CJB)

²¹ where the exorbitant prices were two-thirds of a shekel for filing a pick or plowshare and one-third of a shekel for filing an axe or setting an oxgoad in its handle.

1 Samuel 13:22 (NIV)

²² So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

1 Samuel 13:23 (NIV)

²³ Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Micmash.

1 Samuel Chapter 14

1 Samuel 14:1 (NKJV)

¹ Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

1 Samuel 14:2 (CJB)-M

² Saul was waiting at the far edge of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree in Migron; the force with him numbered about 600 men.

1 Samuel 14:3 (NIV)

³ among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.

1 Samuel 14:4 (NIV)

⁴ On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez, and the other Seneh.

1 Samuel 14:5 (NIV)

⁵ One cliff stood to the north toward Micmash, the other to the south toward Geba.

1 Samuel 14:6 (NIV)

⁶ Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”

1 Samuel 14:7 (CJB)

⁷ His armor-bearer replied, “Do everything you think you should; I’m with you, whatever you decide.”

1 Samuel 14:8 (NIV)

⁸ Jonathan said, “Come, then; we will cross over toward the men and let them see us.

1 Samuel 14:9 (NIV)

⁹ If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them.

1 Samuel 14:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands.”

1 Samuel 14:11 (AMP)

¹¹ So both of them let the Philistine garrison see them. And the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.

1 Samuel 14:12 (NIV)

¹² The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.” So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.”

1 Samuel 14:13 (NASB)

¹³ Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him; and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer put some to death after him.

1 Samuel 14:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.

1 Samuel 14:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ Then panic struck the whole army–those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties–and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.

1 Samuel 14:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ Saul’s lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions.

1 Samuel 14:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ Then Saul said to the men who were with him, “Muster the forces and see who has left us.” When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there.

1 Samuel 14:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (At that time it was with the Israelites.)

1 Samuel 14:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ While Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the Philistine camp increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”

1 Samuel 14:20 (NIV)

²⁰ Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords.

1 Samuel 14:21 (NIV)

²¹ Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

1 Samuel 14:22 (NIV)

²² When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit.

1 Samuel 14:23 (NIV)

²³ So the LORD rescued Israel that day, and the battle moved on beyond Beth Aven.

1 Samuel 14:24 (AMP)

²⁴ But the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had caused them to take an oath, saying, Cursed be the man who eats any food before evening and until I have taken vengeance on my enemies. So none of the men tasted any food.

1 Samuel 14:25 (NIV)-M

²⁵ The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey comb on the ground.

1 Samuel 14:26 (NIV)

²⁶ When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out, yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath.

1 Samuel 14:27 (NIV)

²⁷ But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened.

1 Samuel 14:28 (AMP)

²⁸ Then one of the men told him, Your father strictly charged the men with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man who eats any food today. And the people were exhausted and faint.

1 Samuel 14:29 (NIV)

²⁹ Jonathan said, “My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey.

1 Samuel 14:30 (NIV)

³⁰ How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”

1 Samuel 14:31 (NIV)

³¹ That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Micmash to Aijalon, they were exhausted.

1 Samuel 14:32 (NIV)

³² They pounced on the plunder and, taking sheep, cattle and calves, they butchered them on the ground and ate them, together with the blood.

1 Samuel 14:33 (NIV)

³³ Then someone said to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the LORD by eating meat that has blood in it.” “You have broken faith,” he said. “Roll a large stone over here at once.”

1 Samuel 14:34 (NIV)

³⁴ Then he said, “Go out among the men and tell them, ‘Each of you bring me your cattle and sheep, and slaughter them here and eat them. Do not sin against the LORD by eating meat with blood still in it.'” So everyone brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there.

1 Samuel 14:35 (AMP)

³⁵ And Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first altar he built to the Lord.

1 Samuel 14:36 (NIV)

³⁶ Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive.” “Do whatever seems best to you,” they replied. But the priest said, “Let us inquire of God here.”

1 Samuel 14:37 (NIV)

³⁷ So Saul asked God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel’s hand?” But God did not answer him that day.

1 Samuel 14:38 (AMP)

³⁸ Then Saul said, Draw near, all the chiefs of the people, and let us see how this sin [causing God’s silence] arose today.

1 Samuel 14:39 (AMP)

³⁹ For as the Lord lives, Who delivers Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But not a man among all the people answered him.

1 Samuel 14:40 (NIV)

⁴⁰ Saul then said to all the Israelites, “You stand over there; I and Jonathan my son will stand over here.” “Do what seems best to you,” the men replied.

1 Samuel 14:41 (NLT2)-M

⁴¹ Then Saul prayed, “O LORD, God of Israel, please show us who is guilty and who is innocent.” Then they cast sacred lots saying, “If the fault is in me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim, but if the men of Israel are at fault, respond with Thummim.” Jonathan and Saul were taken by sacred lot, and the men were cleared.

1 Samuel 14:42 (NIV)

⁴² Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and Jonathan my son.” And Jonathan was taken.

1 Samuel 14:43 (NIV)

⁴³ Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” So Jonathan told him, “I merely tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now must I die?”

1 Samuel 14:44 (NIV)

⁴⁴ Saul said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan.”

1 Samuel 14:45 (NIV)

⁴⁵ But the men said to Saul, “Should Jonathan die–he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the LORD lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help.” So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.

1 Samuel 14:46 (NIV)

⁴⁶ Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and they withdrew to their own land.

1 Samuel 14:47 (NIV)

⁴⁷ After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.

1 Samuel 14:48 (NIV)

⁴⁸ He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.

1 Samuel 14:49 (NIV)

⁴⁹ Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi and Malki-Shua. The name of his older daughter was Merab, and that of the younger was Michal.

1 Samuel 14:50 (NIV)

⁵⁰ His wife’s name was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of Saul’s army was Abner son of Ner, and Ner was Saul’s uncle.

1 Samuel 14:51 (NIV)

⁵¹ Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were sons of Abiel.

1 Samuel 14:52 (NIV)

⁵² All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.

1 Samuel Chapter 15

1 Samuel 15:1 (NIV)

¹ Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD.

1 Samuel 15:2 (NLT)

² This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt.

1 Samuel 15:3 (NIV)

³ Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'”

1 Samuel 15:4 (NIV)

⁴ So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim–two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah.

1 Samuel 15:5 (NIV)

⁵ Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine.

1 Samuel 15:6 (NIV)

⁶ Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 15:7 (NIV)

⁷ Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt.

1 Samuel 15:8 (NIV)

⁸ He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.

1 Samuel 15:9 (AMP)

⁹ Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, oxen, fatlings, lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but all that was undesirable or worthless they destroyed utterly.

1 Samuel 15:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel:

1 Samuel 15:11 (NIV)

¹¹ “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.

1 Samuel 15:12 (NIV)

¹² Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”

1 Samuel 15:13 (NIV)

¹³ When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”

1 Samuel 15:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

1 Samuel 15:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”

1 Samuel 15:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ “Stop!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” “Tell me,” Saul replied.

1 Samuel 15:17 (AMP)

¹⁷ Samuel said, When you were small in your own sight, were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed you king over Israel?

1 Samuel 15:18 (NASB)

¹⁸ and the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.’

1 Samuel 15:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ “Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD?”

1 Samuel 15:20 (NIV)

²⁰ “But I did obey the LORD,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.

1 Samuel 15:21 (NIV)

²¹ The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”

1 Samuel 15:22 (NIV)

²² But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

1 Samuel 15:23 (CJB)-M

²³ “For rebellion is like the sin of sorcery, stubbornness like the crime of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he too has rejected you as king.”

1 Samuel 15:24 (CJB)-M

²⁴ Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the order of the Lord and your words too, because I was afraid of the people and listened to what they said.

1 Samuel 15:25 (NIV)

²⁵ Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD.”

1 Samuel 15:26 (NIV)

²⁶ But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!”

1 Samuel 15:27 (NIV)

²⁷ As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore.

1 Samuel 15:28 (NIV)

²⁸ Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors–to one better than you.

1 Samuel 15:29 (CJB)-M

²⁹ Moreover, the Eternal One of Israel will not lie or change his mind, because he isn’t a mere human being subject to changing his mind.”

1 Samuel 15:30 (NIV)

³⁰ Saul replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”

1 Samuel 15:31 (NIV)

³¹ So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.

1 Samuel 15:32 (NIV)

³² Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” Agag came to him confidently, thinking, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

1 Samuel 15:33 (AMP)

³³ Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.

1 Samuel 15:34 (AMP)

³⁴ Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.

1 Samuel 15:35 (NASB)

³⁵ Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

1 Samuel Chapter 16

1 Samuel 16:1 (NASB)

¹ Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons.”

1 Samuel 16:2 (NIV)

² But Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me.” The LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’

1 Samuel 16:3 (NLT2)

³ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you which of his sons to anoint for me.”

1 Samuel 16:4 (NASB)

⁴ So Samuel did what the LORD said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “Do you come in peace?”

1 Samuel 16:5 (NIV)

⁵ Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

1 Samuel 16:6 (AMP)

⁶ When they had come, he looked on Eliab [the eldest son] and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NASB)

⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:8 (NIV)

⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.”

1 Samuel 16:9 (NASB)

⁹ Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.”

1 Samuel 16:10 (AMP)

¹⁰ Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen any of these.

1 Samuel 16:11 (NIV)

¹¹ So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “but he is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

1 Samuel 16:12 (NIV)

¹² So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.”

1 Samuel 16:13 (NASB)

¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

1 Samuel 16:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him.

1 Samuel 16:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ Saul’s servants then said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you.

1 Samuel 16:16 (NASB)

¹⁶ “Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.”

1 Samuel 16:17 (NASB)

¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me.”

1 Samuel 16:18 (AMP)

¹⁸ One of the young men said, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who plays skillfully, a valiant man, a man of war, prudent in speech and eloquent, an attractive person; and the Lord is with him.

1 Samuel 16:19 (AMP)

¹⁹ So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.

1 Samuel 16:20 (AMP)

²⁰ And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a kid and sent them by David his son to Saul.

1 Samuel 16:21 (NASB)

²¹ Then David came to Saul and attended him; and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer.

1 Samuel 16:22 (NIV)

²² Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.”

1 Samuel 16:23 (NIV)

²³ Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.

1 Samuel Chapter 17

1 Samuel 17:1 (HCSB)

¹ The Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.

1 Samuel 17:2 (NIV)

² Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines.

1 Samuel 17:3 (NIV)

³ The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.

1 Samuel 17:4 (NIV)

⁴ A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall.

1 Samuel 17:5 (CJB)

⁵ He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore a bronze armor plate weighing 120 pounds.

1 Samuel 17:6 (NLT2)

⁶ He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder.

1 Samuel 17:7 (CJB)

⁷ The shaft of his spear was as big as a weaver’s beam, and the iron spearhead weighed fifteen pounds. His shield-bearer went ahead of him.

1 Samuel 17:8 (NIV)

⁸ Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me.

1 Samuel 17:9 (CJB)

⁹ If he can fight me and kill me, we’ll be your slaves; but if I beat him and kill him, you will become slaves and serve us.”

1 Samuel 17:10 (AMP)

¹⁰ And the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.

1 Samuel 17:11 (NIV)

¹¹ On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

1 Samuel 17:12 (NIV)

¹² Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was old and well advanced in years.

1 Samuel 17:13 (NIV)

¹³ Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah.

1 Samuel 17:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul,

1 Samuel 17:15 (NASB)

¹⁵ but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock at Bethlehem.

1 Samuel 17:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

1 Samuel 17:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.

1 Samuel 17:18 (NASB)

¹⁸ “Bring also these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand, and look into the welfare of your brothers, and bring back news of them.

1 Samuel 17:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ “For Saul and they and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”

1 Samuel 17:20 (NASB)

²⁰ So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the circle of the camp while the army was going out in battle array shouting the war cry.

1 Samuel 17:21 (NASB)

²¹ Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle array, army against army.

1 Samuel 17:22 (NIV)

²² David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers.

1 Samuel 17:23 (NIV)

²³ As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.

1 Samuel 17:24 (CJB)-M

²⁴ When the soldiers from Israel saw the man, they all ran away from him, terrified.

1 Samuel 17:25 (NIV)

²⁵ Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father’s family from taxes in Israel.”

1 Samuel 17:26 (NIV)

²⁶ David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

1 Samuel 17:27 (NIV)

²⁷ They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

1 Samuel 17:28 (NASB)

²⁸ Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.”

1 Samuel 17:29 (NKJV)

²⁹ And David said, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?”

1 Samuel 17:30 (AMP)

³⁰ And David turned away from Eliab to another and he asked the same question, and again the men gave him the same answer.

1 Samuel 17:31 (NIV)

³¹ What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

1 Samuel 17:32 (AMP)

³² David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of this Philistine; your servant will go out and fight with him.

1 Samuel 17:33 (NIV)

³³ Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.”

1 Samuel 17:34 (CJB)-M

³⁴ David answered Saul, “Your servant used to guard his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear would come and grab a lamb from the flock,

1 Samuel 17:35 (NIV)

³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.

1 Samuel 17:36 (NIV)

³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.

1 Samuel 17:37 (AMP)

³⁷ David said, The Lord Who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the Lord be with you!

1 Samuel 17:38 (AMP)

³⁸ Then Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.

1 Samuel 17:39 (NASB)

³⁹ David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” And David took them off.

1 Samuel 17:40 (NIV)

⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

1 Samuel 17:41 (NASB)

⁴¹ Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.

1 Samuel 17:42 (NIV)

⁴² He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him.

1 Samuel 17:43 (NIV)

⁴³ He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

1 Samuel 17:44 (NASB)

⁴⁴ The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.”

1 Samuel 17:45 (NIV)

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

1 Samuel 17:46 (NIV)

⁴⁶ This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

1 Samuel 17:47 (NIV)

⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

1 Samuel 17:48 (NIV)

⁴⁸ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.

1 Samuel 17:49 (NASB)

⁴⁹ And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.

1 Samuel 17:50 (NASB)

⁵⁰ Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand.

1 Samuel 17:51 (NASB)

⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

1 Samuel 17:52 (NIV)

⁵² Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

1 Samuel 17:53 (NASB)

⁵³ The sons of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps.

1 Samuel 17:54 (NIV)

⁵⁴ David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.

1 Samuel 17:55 (NASB)

⁵⁵ Now when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” And Abner said, “By your life, O king, I do not know.”

1 Samuel 17:56 (NIV)

⁵⁶ The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”

1 Samuel 17:57 (NIV)

⁵⁷ As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.

1 Samuel 17:58 (NIV)

⁵⁸ “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him. David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”

1 Samuel Chapter 18

1 Samuel 18:1 (NIV)

¹ After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself.

1 Samuel 18:2 (NIV)

² From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father’s house.

1 Samuel 18:3 (NIV)

³ And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

1 Samuel 18:4 (NIV)

⁴ Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

1 Samuel 18:5 (NIV)

⁵ Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the people, and Saul’s officers as well.

1 Samuel 18:6 (NASB)

⁶ It happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with musical instruments.

1 Samuel 18:7 (CJB)-M

⁷ In their merrymaking the women sang, “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.”

1 Samuel 18:8 (NASB)

⁸ Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?”

1 Samuel 18:9 (NIV)

⁹ And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

1 Samuel 18:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saul’s hand.

1 Samuel 18:11 (NASB)

¹¹ Saul hurled the spear for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David escaped from his presence twice.

1 Samuel 18:12 (NIV)

¹² Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had left Saul.

1 Samuel 18:13 (NASB)

¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

1 Samuel 18:14 (NASB)

¹⁴ David was prospering in all his ways for the LORD was with him.

1 Samuel 18:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him.

1 Samuel 18:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns.

1 Samuel 18:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage; only serve me bravely and fight the battles of the LORD.” For Saul said to himself, “I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!”

1 Samuel 18:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ But David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel, that I should become the king’s son-in-law?”

1 Samuel 18:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ So it came about at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite for a wife.

1 Samuel 18:20 (NIV)

²⁰ Now Saul’s daughter Michal was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased.

1 Samuel 18:21 (NIV)

²¹ “I will give her to him,” he thought, “so that she may be a snare to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law.”

1 Samuel 18:22 (AMP)

²² And Saul commanded his servants to speak to David privately and say, The king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now then, become [his] son-in-law.

1 Samuel 18:23 (NASB)

²³ So Saul’s servants spoke these words to David. But David said, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?”

1 Samuel 18:24 (NIV)

²⁴ When Saul’s servants told him what David had said,

1 Samuel 18:25 (CJB)-M

²⁵ Saul said, “Here’s what you are to say to David: ‘The king doesn’t want any dowry; he wants a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, so that he can have vengeance on the king’s enemies.” For Saul was hoping to have David killed by the Philistines.

1 Samuel 18:26 (NIV)

²⁶ When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed,

1 Samuel 18:27 (NIV)

²⁷ David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented the full number to the king so that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.

1 Samuel 18:28 (NIV)

²⁸ When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David,

1 Samuel 18:29 (NIV)

²⁹ Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days.

1 Samuel 18:30 (CJB)

³⁰ The leaders of the Philistines would attack; but whenever they attacked, David was more successful than any of Saul’s servants; so that David acquired a great reputation.

1 Samuel Chapter 19

1 Samuel 19:1 (NIV)

¹ Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David

1 Samuel 19:2 (NIV)

² and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there.

1 Samuel 19:3 (AMP)

³ And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are; and I will converse with my father about you and if I learn anything, I will tell you.

1 Samuel 19:4 (NASB)

⁴ Then Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Do not let the king sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you.

1 Samuel 19:5 (NIV)

⁵ He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The LORD won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”

1 Samuel 19:6 (NIV)

⁶ Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death.”

1 Samuel 19:7 (AMP)

⁷ So Jonathan called David and told him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past.

1 Samuel 19:8 (AMP)

⁸ Then there was war again, and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and made a great slaughter among them and they fled before him.

1 Samuel 19:9 (NIV)

⁹ But an evil spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the harp,

1 Samuel 19:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.

1 Samuel 19:11 (AMP)

¹¹ Saul sent messengers that night to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.

1 Samuel 19:12 (AMP)

¹² So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled and escaped.

1 Samuel 19:13 (NIV)

¹³ Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head.

1 Samuel 19:14 (AMP)

¹⁴ And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.

1 Samuel 19:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him.”

1 Samuel 19:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ But when the men entered, there was the idol in the bed, and at the head was some goats’ hair.

1 Samuel 19:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?” Michal told him, “He said to me, ‘Let me get away. Why should I kill you?'”

1 Samuel 19:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.

1 Samuel 19:19 (NASB)

¹⁹ It was told Saul, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.”

1 Samuel 19:20 (NASB)

²⁰ Then Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied.

1 Samuel 19:21 (AMP)

²¹ When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.

1 Samuel 19:22 (AMP)

²² Then Saul himself went to Ramah and came to a great well that is in Secu; and he asked, Where are Samuel and David? And he was told, They are at Naioth in Ramah.

1 Samuel 19:23 (NASB)

²³ He proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

1 Samuel 19:24 (NIV)

²⁴ He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay that way all that day and night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

1 Samuel Chapter 20

1 Samuel 20:1 (NIV)

¹ Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to take my life?”

1 Samuel 20:2 (AMP)

² Jonathan said, God forbid! You shall not die. My father does nothing great or small but what he tells me. And why should [he] hide this thing from me? It is not so.

1 Samuel 20:3 (NIV)

³ But David took an oath and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.’ Yet as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”

1 Samuel 20:4 (NIV)

⁴ Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.”

1 Samuel 20:5 (NASB)

⁵ So David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit down to eat with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the third evening.

1 Samuel 20:6 (AMP)

⁶ If your father misses me at all, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.

1 Samuel 20:7 (NIV)

⁷ If he says, ‘Very well,’ then your servant is safe. But if he loses his temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me.

1 Samuel 20:8 (NIV)

⁸ As for you, show kindness to your servant, for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the LORD. If I am guilty, then kill me yourself! Why hand me over to your father?”

1 Samuel 20:9 (AMP)

⁹ And Jonathan said, Far be it from you! If I knew that evil was determined for you by my father, would I not tell you?

1 Samuel 20:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ David asked, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”

1 Samuel 20:11 (NIV)

¹¹ “Come,” Jonathan said, “let’s go out into the field.” So they went there together.

1 Samuel 20:12 (NASB)

¹² Then Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if there is good feeling toward David, shall I not then send to you and make it known to you?

1 Samuel 20:13 (CJB)-M

¹³ But if my father intends to do you harm, may the Lord do as much and more to me if I don’t let you know and send you away, so that you can go in peace. And may the Lord be with you, just as he used to be with my father.

1 Samuel 20:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ But show me unfailing kindness like that of the LORD as long as I live, so that I may not be killed,

1 Samuel 20:15 (CJB)-M

¹⁵ but also, after the Lord has eliminated every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth, you are to continue showing kindness to my family forever.”

1 Samuel 20:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD call David’s enemies to account.”

1 Samuel 20:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.

1 Samuel 20:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to David: “Tomorrow is the New Moon festival. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty.

1 Samuel 20:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid when this trouble began, and wait by the stone Ezel.

1 Samuel 20:20 (AMP)

²⁰ And I will shoot three arrows on the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.

1 Samuel 20:21 (NIV)

²¹ Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,’ then come, because, as surely as the LORD lives, you are safe; there is no danger.

1 Samuel 20:22 (NIV)

²² But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, because the LORD has sent you away.

1 Samuel 20:23 (CJB)-M

²³ As for the matter we discussed earlier, the Lord is between you and me forever.”

1 Samuel 20:24 (NIV)

²⁴ So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon festival came, the king sat down to eat.

1 Samuel 20:25 (NIV)

²⁵ He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan, and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty.

1 Samuel 20:26 (NIV)

²⁶ Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean–surely he is unclean.”

1 Samuel 20:27 (NIV)

²⁷ But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”

1 Samuel 20:28 (AMP)

²⁸ And Jonathan answered, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.

1 Samuel 20:29 (NIV)

²⁹ He said, ‘Let me go, because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there. If I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away to see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”

1 Samuel 20:30 (NLT)

³⁰ Saul boiled with rage at Jonathan. “You stupid son of a whore!” he swore at him. “Do you think I don’t know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother?

1 Samuel 20:31 (NIV)

³¹ As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send and bring him to me, for he must die!”

1 Samuel 20:32 (NIV)

³² “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” Jonathan asked his father.

1 Samuel 20:33 (CJB)-M

³³ But Saul threw his spear at him, aiming to kill; Jonathan could no longer doubt that his father was determined to put David to death.

1 Samuel 20:34 (NIV)

³⁴ Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger; on that second day of the month he did not eat, because he was grieved at his father’s shameful treatment of David.

1 Samuel 20:35 (CJB)-M

³⁵ The next morning Jonathan went out into the country at the time he had arranged with David, taking with him a young boy.

1 Samuel 20:36 (CJB)

³⁶ He told the boy, “Now run and find the arrows I’m about to shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.

1 Samuel 20:37 (NIV)

³⁷ When the boy came to the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called out after him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?”

1 Samuel 20:38 (NIV)

³⁸ Then he shouted, “Hurry! Go quickly! Don’t stop!” The boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.

1 Samuel 20:39 (NIV)

³⁹ (The boy knew nothing of all this; only Jonathan and David knew.)

1 Samuel 20:40 (NIV)

⁴⁰ Then Jonathan gave his weapons to the boy and said, “Go, carry them back to town.”

1 Samuel 20:41 (NIV)

⁴¹ After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side [of the stone] and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together–but David wept the most.

1 Samuel 20:42 (NIV)

⁴² Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.'” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.

1 Samuel Chapter 21

1 Samuel 21:1 (HCSB)

¹ David went to Ahimelech the priest at Nob. Ahimelech was afraid to meet David, so he said to him, “Why are you alone and no one is with you?”

1 Samuel 21:2 (NIV)

² David answered Ahimelech the priest, “The king charged me with a certain matter and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about your mission and your instructions.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place.

1 Samuel 21:3 (HCSB)

³ Now what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever can be found.”

1 Samuel 21:4 (NIV)

⁴ But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here–provided the men have kept themselves from women.”

1 Samuel 21:5 (HCSB)

⁵ David answered him, “I swear that women are being kept from us, as always when I go out ⌊to battle⌋. The young men’s bodies are consecrated even on an ordinary mission, so of course their bodies are consecrated today.”

1 Samuel 21:6 (NIV)

⁶ So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the LORD and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

1 Samuel 21:7 (NIV)

⁷ Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the LORD; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s head shepherd.

1 Samuel 21:8 (NIV)

⁸ David asked Ahimelech, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s business was urgent.”

1 Samuel 21:9 (NIV)

⁹ The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.” David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

1 Samuel 21:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.

1 Samuel 21:11 (NIV)

¹¹ But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: “‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

1 Samuel 21:12 (NIV)

¹² David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath.

1 Samuel 21:13 (NIV)

¹³ So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

1 Samuel 21:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me?

1 Samuel 21:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”

1 Samuel Chapter 22

1 Samuel 22:1 (NIV)

¹ David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.

1 Samuel 22:2 (NIV)

² All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.

1 Samuel 22:3 (NIV)

³ From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?”

1 Samuel 22:4 (NIV)

⁴ So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold.

1 Samuel 22:5 (NIV)

⁵ But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

1 Samuel 22:6 (NASB)

⁶ Then Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him.

1 Samuel 22:7 (NIV)

⁷ Saul said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?

1 Samuel 22:8 (CJB)-M

⁸ Is this why you have all conspired against me, why none of you told me when my son went in league with Jesse’s son? None of you is concerned about me! Otherwise you would have told me that my son had incited my servant to become my enemy, as he is now.”

1 Samuel 22:9 (NASB)

⁹ Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing by the servants of Saul, said, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.

1 Samuel 22:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ Ahimelech inquired of the LORD for him; he also gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

1 Samuel 22:11 (NASB)

¹¹ Then the king sent someone to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s household, the priests who were in Nob; and all of them came to the king.

1 Samuel 22:12 (NIV)

¹² Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” “Yes, my lord,” he answered.

1 Samuel 22:13 (CJB)-M

¹³ Saul said to him, “Why did you conspire against me, you and Jesse’s son? By giving him bread and a sword and consulting God for him, you helped him rebel against me and become my enemy, which he now is!”

1 Samuel 22:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ Ahimelech answered the king, “Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household?

1 Samuel 22:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father’s family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair.”

1 Samuel 22:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and your father’s whole family.”

1 Samuel 22:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.” But the king’s officials were not willing to raise a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.

1 Samuel 22:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.

1 Samuel 22:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.

1 Samuel 22:20 (NIV)

²⁰ But Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech son of Ahitub, escaped and fled to join David.

1 Samuel 22:21 (NIV)

²¹ He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD.

1 Samuel 22:22 (NIV)

²² Then David said to Abiathar: “That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your father’s whole family.

1 Samuel 22:23 (NIV)

²³ Stay with me; don’t be afraid; the man who is seeking your life is seeking mine also. You will be safe with me.”

1 Samuel Chapter 23

1 Samuel 23:1 (HCSB)

¹ It was reported to David: “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and raiding the threshing floors.”

1 Samuel 23:2 (NASB)

² So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and deliver Keilah.”

1 Samuel 23:3 (AMP)

³ David’s men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more, then, if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?

1 Samuel 23:4 (NIV)

⁴ Once again David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him, “Go down to Keilah, for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand.”

1 Samuel 23:5 (NIV)

⁵ So David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines and carried off their livestock. He inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines and saved the people of Keilah.

1 Samuel 23:6 (NIV)

⁶ (Now Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod down with him when he fled to David at Keilah.)

1 Samuel 23:7 (NLT)

⁷ Saul soon learned that David was at Keilah. “Good!” he exclaimed. “We’ve got him now! God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself in a walled town!”

1 Samuel 23:8 (AMP)

⁸ Saul summoned all the men for war, to go to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

1 Samuel 23:9 (NASB)

⁹ Now David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”

1 Samuel 23:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ David said, “O LORD, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me.

1 Samuel 23:11 (NASB)

¹¹ “Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.”

1 Samuel 23:12 (NASB)

¹² Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will surrender you.”

1 Samuel 23:13 (NASB)

¹³ Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit.

1 Samuel 23:14 (AMP)

¹⁴ David remained in the wilderness strongholds in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hands.

1 Samuel 23:15 (CJB)-M

¹⁵ David saw that Saul had mounted another expedition to seek his life. David was then at Horesh in the Ziph Desert.

1 Samuel 23:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God.

1 Samuel 23:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.”

1 Samuel 23:18 (CJB)-M

¹⁸ Then the two of them made a covenant in the presence of the Lord, after which David stayed at Horesh and Jonathan returned home.

1 Samuel 23:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ The Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon?

1 Samuel 23:20 (NIV)

²⁰ Now, O king, come down whenever it pleases you to do so, and we will be responsible for handing him over to the king.”

1 Samuel 23:21 (NIV)

²¹ Saul replied, “The LORD bless you for your concern for me.

1 Samuel 23:22 (NIV)

²² Go and make further preparation. Find out where David usually goes and who has seen him there. They tell me he is very crafty.

1 Samuel 23:23 (NIV)

²³ Find out about all the hiding places he uses and come back to me with definite information. Then I will go with you; if he is in the area, I will track him down among all the clans of Judah.”

1 Samuel 23:24 (NIV)

²⁴ So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Desert of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon.

1 Samuel 23:25 (NIV)

²⁵ Saul and his men began the search, and when David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Desert of Maon. When Saul heard this, he went into the Desert of Maon in pursuit of David.

1 Samuel 23:26 (CJB)-M

²⁶ Saul went along one side of the mountain, while David and his men went along the other. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men were trying to surround David and his men in order to capture them.

1 Samuel 23:27 (CJB)-M

²⁷ But then a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry, come, because the Philistines are invading the country!”

1 Samuel 23:28 (NASB)

²⁸ So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape.

1 Samuel 23:29 (NASB)

²⁹ David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi.

1 Samuel Chapter 24

1 Samuel 24:1 (NASB)

¹ Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.”

1 Samuel 24:2 (CJB)-M

² Saul took three thousand men chosen from all Israel and went searching for David and his men on the cliffs where the mountain goats are.

1 Samuel 24:3 (NASB)

³ He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.

1 Samuel 24:4 (NIV)

⁴ The men said, “This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.'” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

1 Samuel 24:5 (NIV)

⁵ Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe.

1 Samuel 24:6 (NIV)

⁶ He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD.”

1 Samuel 24:7 (NASB)

⁷ David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way.

1 Samuel 24:8 (NIV)

⁸ Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.

1 Samuel 24:9 (NIV)

⁹ He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’?

1 Samuel 24:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ This day you have seen with your own eyes how the LORD delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is the LORD’s anointed.’

1 Samuel 24:11 (CJB)

¹¹ Moreover, my father, look! Here in my hand you see the corner of your cloak. By the fact that I only cut off a piece of your cloak and didn’t kill you, you can see and understand that I have no plan to do harm or rebel, and that I haven’t sinned against you — even though you are seeking every chance you get to take my life.

1 Samuel 24:12 (NIV)

¹² May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.

1 Samuel 24:13 (NASB)

¹³ “As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you.

1 Samuel 24:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea?

1 Samuel 24:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ May the LORD be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”

1 Samuel 24:16 (NASB)

¹⁶ When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

1 Samuel 24:17 (NASB)

¹⁷ He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you.

1 Samuel 24:18 (CJB)

¹⁸ You have made it clear to me today that you have done me good; for when the Lord put my fate in your hands, you didn’t kill me.

1 Samuel 24:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the LORD reward you well for the way you treated me today.

1 Samuel 24:20 (NIV)

²⁰ I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands.

1 Samuel 24:21 (NASB)

²¹ “So now swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household.”

1 Samuel 24:22 (NIV)

²² So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.

1 Samuel Chapter 25

1 Samuel 25:1 (NIV)

¹ Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Maon.

1 Samuel 25:2 (NIV)

² A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.

1 Samuel 25:3 (NASB)

³ (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite),

1 Samuel 25:4 (NIV)

⁴ While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.

1 Samuel 25:5 (NIV)

⁵ So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name.

1 Samuel 25:6 (NASB)

⁶ and thus you shall say, ‘Have a long life, peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.

1 Samuel 25:7 (NIV)

⁷ “‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing.

1 Samuel 25:8 (NIV)

⁸ Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my young men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.'”

1 Samuel 25:9 (NIV)

⁹ When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David’s name. Then they waited.

1 Samuel 25:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days.

1 Samuel 25:11 (NASB)

¹¹ “Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men whose origin I do not know?”

1 Samuel 25:12 (NIV)

¹² David’s men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word.

1 Samuel 25:13 (NIV)

¹³ David said to his men, “Put on your swords!” So they put on their swords, and David put on his. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

1 Samuel 25:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ One of the servants told Nabal’s wife Abigail: “David sent messengers from the desert to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them.

1 Samuel 25:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing.

1 Samuel 25:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ Night and day they were a wall around us all the time we were herding our sheep near them.

1 Samuel 25:17 (NASB)

¹⁷ “Now therefore, know and consider what you should do, for evil is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a worthless man that no one can speak to him.”

1 Samuel 25:18 (AMP)

¹⁸ Then Abigail made haste and took 200 loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five measures of parched grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.

1 Samuel 25:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

1 Samuel 25:20 (NIV)

²⁰ As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them.

1 Samuel 25:21 (NASB)

²¹ Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for good.

1 Samuel 25:22 (HCSB)

²² May God punish me and do so severely if I let any of his men ⌊survive⌋ until morning.”

1 Samuel 25:23 (HCSB)

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey and fell with her face to the ground in front of David.

1 Samuel 25:24 (NIV)

²⁴ She fell at his feet and said: “My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your servant has to say.

1 Samuel 25:25 (HCSB)

²⁵ My lord should pay no attention to this worthless man Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name is Nabal, and stupidity is all he knows. I, your servant, didn’t see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

1 Samuel 25:26 (NIV)

²⁶ “Now since the LORD has kept you, my master, from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, as surely as the LORD lives and as you live, may your enemies and all who intend to harm my master be like Nabal.

1 Samuel 25:27 (NIV)

²⁷ And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my master, be given to the men who follow you.

1 Samuel 25:28 (NIV)

²⁸ Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he fights the LORD’s battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live.

1 Samuel 25:29 (NIV)

²⁹ Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my master will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the LORD your God. But the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling.

1 Samuel 25:30 (NIV)

³⁰ When the LORD has done for my master every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him leader over Israel,

1 Samuel 25:31 (NIV)

³¹ my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the LORD has brought my master success, remember your servant.”

1 Samuel 25:32 (AMP)

³² And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, Who sent you this day to meet me.

1 Samuel 25:33 (NASB)

³³ and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

1 Samuel 25:34 (NIV)

³⁴ Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.”

1 Samuel 25:35 (NIV)

³⁵ Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.”

1 Samuel 25:36 (NIV)

³⁶ When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until daybreak.

1 Samuel 25:37 (AMP)

³⁷ But in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife told him these things, his heart died within him and he became [paralyzed, helpless as] a stone.

1 Samuel 25:38 (NIV)

³⁸ About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.

1 Samuel 25:39 (NIV)

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the LORD, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.

1 Samuel 25:40 (NIV)

⁴⁰ His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.”

1 Samuel 25:41 (NIV)

⁴¹ She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “Here is your maidservant, ready to serve you and wash the feet of my master’s servants.”

1 Samuel 25:42 (NIV)

⁴² Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five maids, went with David’s messengers and became his wife.

1 Samuel 25:43 (NIV)

⁴³ David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both were his wives.

1 Samuel 25:44 (NIV)

⁴⁴ But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

1 Samuel Chapter 26

1 Samuel 26:1 (NKJV)

¹ Now the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding in the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?”

1 Samuel 26:2 (NIV)

² So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search there for David.

1 Samuel 26:3 (CJB)-M

³ Saul pitched camp on Hakilah Hill, across from Jeshimon, near the road. David was staying in the desert, and he saw that Saul was coming into the desert after him.

1 Samuel 26:4 (NIV)

⁴ he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived.

1 Samuel 26:5 (NIV)

⁵ Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him.

1 Samuel 26:6 (NIV)

⁶ David then asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?” “I’ll go with you,” said Abishai.

1 Samuel 26:7 (NIV)

⁷ So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.

1 Samuel 26:8 (NIV)

⁸ Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear; I won’t strike him twice.”

1 Samuel 26:9 (NIV)

⁹ But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?

1 Samuel 26:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ As surely as the LORD lives,” he said, “the LORD himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.

1 Samuel 26:11 (NIV)

¹¹ But the LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.”

1 Samuel 26:12 (NIV)

¹² So David took the spear and water jug near Saul’s head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the LORD had put them into a deep sleep.

1 Samuel 26:13 (NIV)

¹³ Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away; there was a wide space between them.

1 Samuel 26:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ He called out to the army and to Abner son of Ner, “Aren’t you going to answer me, Abner?” Abner replied, “Who are you who calls to the king?”

1 Samuel 26:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ David said, “You’re a man, aren’t you? And who is like you in Israel? Why didn’t you guard your lord the king? Someone came to destroy your lord the king.

1 Samuel 26:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ What you have done is not good. As surely as the LORD lives, you and your men deserve to die, because you did not guard your master, the LORD’s anointed. Look around you. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were near his head?”

1 Samuel 26:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is that your voice, David my son?” David replied, “Yes it is, my lord the king.”

1 Samuel 26:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ And he added, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done, and what wrong am I guilty of?

1 Samuel 26:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ Now let my lord the king listen to his servant’s words. If the LORD has incited you against me, then may he accept an offering. If, however, men have done it, may they be cursed before the LORD! They have now driven me from my share in the LORD’s inheritance and have said, ‘Go, serve other gods.’

1 Samuel 26:20 (NIV)

²⁰ Now do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. The king of Israel has come out to look for a flea–as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

1 Samuel 26:21 (AMP)

²¹ Then said Saul, I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have erred exceedingly.

1 Samuel 26:22 (NIV)

²² “Here is the king’s spear,” David answered. “Let one of your young men come over and get it.

1 Samuel 26:23 (NASB)

²³ “The LORD will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD delivered you into my hand today, but I refused to stretch out my hand against the LORD’S anointed.

1 Samuel 26:24 (NIV)

²⁴ As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and deliver me from all trouble.”

1 Samuel 26:25 (NIV)

²⁵ Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed, my son David; you will do great things and surely triumph.” So David went on his way, and Saul returned home.

1 Samuel Chapter 27

1 Samuel 27:1 (NASB)

¹ Then David said to himself, “Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.”

1 Samuel 27:2 (NKJV)

² Then David arose and went over with the six hundred men who were with him to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.

1 Samuel 27:3 (NIV)

³ David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.

1 Samuel 27:4 (NASB)

⁴ Now it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him.

1 Samuel 27:5 (NIV)

⁵ Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

1 Samuel 27:6 (NIV)

⁶ So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since.

1 Samuel 27:7 (NIV)

⁷ David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months.

1 Samuel 27:8 (NIV)

⁸ Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)

1 Samuel 27:9 (NIV)

⁹ Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.

1 Samuel 27:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.”

1 Samuel 27:11 (NIV)

¹¹ He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.'” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory.

1 Samuel 27:12 (NIV)

¹² Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so odious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant forever.”

1 Samuel Chapter 28

1 Samuel 28:1 (NKJV)

¹ Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.”

1 Samuel 28:2 (NIV)

² David said, “Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do.” Achish replied, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”

1 Samuel 28:3 (NASB)

³ Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists.

1 Samuel 28:4 (NIV)

⁴ The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all the Israelites and set up camp at Gilboa.

1 Samuel 28:5 (NIV)

⁵ When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart.

1 Samuel 28:6 (NIV)

⁶ He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.

1 Samuel 28:7 (NIV)

⁷ Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” “There is one in Endor,” they said.

1 Samuel 28:8 (NIV)

⁸ So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.”

1 Samuel 28:9 (NASB)

⁹ But the woman said to him, “Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?”

1 Samuel 28:10 (CJB)-M

¹⁰ But Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As the Lord lives, you will not be punished for doing this.”

1 Samuel 28:11 (NASB)

¹¹ Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

1 Samuel 28:12 (HCSB)

¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, and then she asked Saul, “Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!”

1 Samuel 28:13 (NIV)

¹³ The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?” The woman said, “I see a spirit coming up out of the ground.”

1 Samuel 28:14 (NKJV)

¹⁴ So he said to her, “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down.

1 Samuel 28:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.”

1 Samuel 28:16 (NKJV)

¹⁶ Then Samuel said: “Why then do you ask me, seeing the LORD has departed from you and has become your enemy?

1 Samuel 28:17 (CJB)

¹⁷ The Lord has done for himself what he foretold through me — the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to your fellow countryman David,

1 Samuel 28:18 (NASB)

¹⁸ “As you did not obey the LORD and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, so the LORD has done this thing to you this day.

1 Samuel 28:19 (NIV)

¹⁹ The LORD will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines.”

1 Samuel 28:20 (NKJV)

²⁰ Then immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night.

1 Samuel 28:21 (NASB)

²¹ The woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified, and said to him, “Behold, your maidservant has obeyed you, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.

1 Samuel 28:22 (NIV)

²² Now please listen to your servant and let me give you some food so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way.”

1 Samuel 28:23 (NIV)

²³ He refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his men joined the woman in urging him, and he listened to them. He got up from the ground and sat on the couch.

1 Samuel 28:24 (NIV)

²⁴ The woman had a fattened calf at the house, which she butchered at once. She took some flour, kneaded it and baked bread without yeast.

1 Samuel 28:25 (NIV)

²⁵ Then she set it before Saul and his men, and they ate. That same night they got up and left.

1 Samuel Chapter 29

1 Samuel 29:1 (NIV)

¹ The Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek, and Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel.

1 Samuel 29:2 (NIV)

² As the Philistine rulers marched with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were marching at the rear with Achish.

1 Samuel 29:3 (NASB)

³ Then the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and I have found no fault in him from the day he deserted to me to this day?”

1 Samuel 29:4 (NIV)

⁴ But the Philistine commanders were angry with him and said, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle, or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master’s favor than by taking the heads of our own men?

1 Samuel 29:5 (NIV)

⁵ Isn’t this the David they sang about in their dances: “‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

1 Samuel 29:6 (NIV)

⁶ So Achish called David and said to him, “As surely as the LORD lives, you have been reliable, and I would be pleased to have you serve with me in the army. From the day you came to me until now, I have found no fault in you, but the rulers don’t approve of you.

1 Samuel 29:7 (NIV)

⁷ Turn back and go in peace; do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers.”

1 Samuel 29:8 (CJB)-M

⁸ David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant during the time I’ve been with you that disqualifies me from going and fighting against the enemies of my lord the king?”

1 Samuel 29:9 (NIV)

⁹ Achish answered, “I know that you have been as pleasing in my eyes as an angel of God; nevertheless, the Philistine commanders have said, ‘He must not go up with us into battle.’

1 Samuel 29:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ “Now then arise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in the morning and have light, depart.”

1 Samuel 29:11 (NIV)

¹¹ So David and his men got up early in the morning to go back to the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

1 Samuel Chapter 30

1 Samuel 30:1 (NKJV)

¹ Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire,

1 Samuel 30:2 (NIV)

² and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.

1 Samuel 30:3 (NIV)

³ When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

1 Samuel 30:4 (NASB)

⁴ Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.

1 Samuel 30:5 (NIV)

⁵ David’s two wives had been captured–Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

1 Samuel 30:6 (HCSB)

⁶ David was in a difficult position because the troops talked about stoning him, for they were all very bitter over ⌊the loss of⌋ their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

1 Samuel 30:7 (NASB)

⁷ Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

1 Samuel 30:8 (CJB)-M

⁸ Then David consulted the Lord. He asked, “Should I go in pursuit of these raiders? Will I catch up with them?” And [the Lord] answered him, “Go in pursuit, because you will overtake them and recover everyone and everything.”

1 Samuel 30:9 (AMP)

⁹ So David went, he and the 600 men with him, and came to the brook Besor; there those remained who were left behind.

1 Samuel 30:10 (AMP)

¹⁰ But David pursued, he and 400 men, for 200 stayed behind who were too exhausted and faint to cross the brook Besor.

1 Samuel 30:11 (NKJV)

¹¹ Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water.

1 Samuel 30:12 (NKJV)

¹² And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights.

1 Samuel 30:13 (NIV)

¹³ David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?” He said, “I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago.

1 Samuel 30:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and the territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.”

1 Samuel 30:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ David asked him, “Can you lead me down to this raiding party?” He answered, “Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.”

1 Samuel 30:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah.

1 Samuel 30:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled.

1 Samuel 30:18 (NIV)

¹⁸ David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.

1 Samuel 30:19 (AMP)

¹⁹ Nothing was missing, small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken; David recovered all.

1 Samuel 30:20 (NIV)

²⁰ He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, “This is David’s plunder.”

1 Samuel 30:21 (NIV)

²¹ Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Besor Ravine. They came out to meet David and the people with him. As David and his men approached, he greeted them.

1 Samuel 30:22 (NASB)

²² Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.”

1 Samuel 30:23 (CJB)-M

²³ Then David said, “No, my brothers, don’t do this with the goods the Lord has given us. He protected us, and he handed the raiding party over to us.

1 Samuel 30:24 (NIV)

²⁴ Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.”

1 Samuel 30:25 (NIV)

²⁵ David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.

1 Samuel 30:26 (NIV)

²⁶ When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, who were his friends, saying, “Here is a present for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”

1 Samuel 30:27 (NIV)

²⁷ He sent it to those who were in Bethel, Ramoth Negev and Jattir;

1 Samuel 30:28 (NIV)

²⁸ to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa

1 Samuel 30:29 (NIV)

²⁹ and Racal; to those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites;

1 Samuel 30:30 (NIV)

³⁰ to those in Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach

1 Samuel 30:31 (NIV)

³¹ and Hebron; and to those in all the other places where David and his men had roamed.

1 Samuel Chapter 31

1 Samuel 31:1 (NIV)

¹ Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

1 Samuel 31:2 (NIV)

² The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua.

1 Samuel 31:3 (NKJV)

³ The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers.

1 Samuel 31:4 (NIV)

⁴ Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.” But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

1 Samuel 31:5 (HCSB)

⁵ When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him.

1 Samuel 31:6 (NIV)

⁶ So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.

1 Samuel 31:7 (NIV)

⁷ When the Israelites along the valley and those across the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.

1 Samuel 31:8 (NIV)

⁸ The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

1 Samuel 31:9 (NIV)

⁹ They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people.

1 Samuel 31:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

1 Samuel 31:11 (NIV)

¹¹ When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul,

1 Samuel 31:12 (NIV)

¹² all their valiant men journeyed through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them.

1 Samuel 31:13 (NIV)

¹³ Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

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