1 Samuel 16:13; 1 Samuel 16:19; 1 Samuel 16:20; 1 Samuel 16:21; 1 Samuel 16:22; 1 Samuel 16:23; 1 Samuel 17:12; 1 Samuel 17:14; 1 Samuel 17:15; 1 Samuel 17:17; 1 Samuel 17:20; 1 Samuel 17:22; 1 Samuel 17:23; 1 Samuel 17:26; 1 Samuel 17:28; 1 Samuel 17:29; 1 Samuel 17:31; 1 Samuel 17:32; 1 Samuel 17:33; 1 Samuel 17:34; 1 Samuel 17:37; 1 Samuel 17:38; 1 Samuel 17:39; 1 Samuel 17:41; 1 Samuel 17:42; 1 Samuel 17:43; 1 Samuel 17:44; 1 Samuel 17:45; 1 Samuel 17:48; 1 Samuel 17:49; 1 Samuel 17:50; 1 Samuel 17:51; 1 Samuel 17:54; 1 Samuel 17:55; 1 Samuel 17:57; 1 Samuel 17:58; 1 Samuel 18:1; 1 Samuel 18:3; 1 Samuel 18:4; 1 Samuel 18:5; 1 Samuel 18:6; 1 Samuel 18:7; 1 Samuel 18:8; 1 Samuel 18:9; 1 Samuel 18:10; 1 Samuel 18:11; 1 Samuel 18:12; 1 Samuel 18:14; 1 Samuel 18:16; 1 Samuel 18:17; 1 Samuel 18:18; 1 Samuel 18:19; 1 Samuel 18:20; 1 Samuel 18:21; 1 Samuel 18:22; 1 Samuel 18:23; 1 Samuel 18:24; 1 Samuel 18:25; 1 Samuel 18:26; 1 Samuel 18:27; 1 Samuel 18:28; 1 Samuel 18:29; 1 Samuel 18:30; 1 Samuel 19:1; 1 Samuel 19:2; 1 Samuel 19:4; 1 Samuel 19:5; 1 Samuel 19:7; 1 Samuel 19:8; 1 Samuel 19:9; 1 Samuel 19:10; 1 Samuel 19:11; 1 Samuel 19:12; 1 Samuel 19:14; 1 Samuel 19:15; 1 Samuel 19:18; 1 Samuel 19:19; 1 Samuel 19:20; 1 Samuel 19:22; 1 Samuel 20:1; 1 Samuel 20:3; 1 Samuel 20:4; 1 Samuel 20:5; 1 Samuel 20:6; 1 Samuel 20:10; 1 Samuel 20:11; 1 Samuel 20:12; 1 Samuel 20:15; 1 Samuel 20:16; 1 Samuel 20:17; 1 Samuel 20:24; 1 Samuel 20:25; 1 Samuel 20:27; 1 Samuel 20:28; 1 Samuel 20:33; 1 Samuel 20:34; 1 Samuel 20:35; 1 Samuel 20:39; 1 Samuel 20:41; 1 Samuel 20:42; 1 Samuel 21:1; 1 Samuel 21:2; 1 Samuel 21:4; 1 Samuel 21:5; 1 Samuel 21:8; 1 Samuel 21:9; 1 Samuel 21:10; 1 Samuel 21:11; 1 Samuel 21:12; 1 Samuel 22:1; 1 Samuel 22:3; 1 Samuel 22:4; 1 Samuel 22:5; 1 Samuel 22:6; 1 Samuel 22:14; 1 Samuel 22:17; 1 Samuel 22:20; 1 Samuel 22:21; 1 Samuel 22:22; 1 Samuel 23:1; 1 Samuel 23:2; 1 Samuel 23:3; 1 Samuel 23:4; 1 Samuel 23:5; 1 Samuel 23:6; 1 Samuel 23:7; 1 Samuel 23:8; 1 Samuel 23:9; 1 Samuel 23:10; 1 Samuel 23:12; 1 Samuel 23:13; 1 Samuel 23:14; 1 Samuel 23:15; 1 Samuel 23:16; 1 Samuel 23:18; 1 Samuel 23:19; 1 Samuel 23:24; 1 Samuel 23:25; 1 Samuel 23:26; 1 Samuel 23:28; 1 Samuel 23:29; 1 Samuel 24:1; 1 Samuel 24:2; 1 Samuel 24:3; 1 Samuel 24:4; 1 Samuel 24:5; 1 Samuel 24:7; 1 Samuel 24:8; 1 Samuel 24:9; 1 Samuel 24:16; 1 Samuel 24:17; 1 Samuel 24:22; 1 Samuel 25:1; 1 Samuel 25:4; 1 Samuel 25:5; 1 Samuel 25:8; 1 Samuel 25:9; 1 Samuel 25:10; 1 Samuel 25:12; 1 Samuel 25:13; 1 Samuel 25:14; 1 Samuel 25:20; 1 Samuel 25:21; 1 Samuel 25:22; 1 Samuel 25:23; 1 Samuel 25:32; 1 Samuel 25:35; 1 Samuel 25:39; 1 Samuel 25:40; 1 Samuel 25:42; 1 Samuel 25:43; 1 Samuel 25:44; 1 Samuel 26:1; 1 Samuel 26:2; 1 Samuel 26:3; 1 Samuel 26:4; 1 Samuel 26:5; 1 Samuel 26:6; 1 Samuel 26:7; 1 Samuel 26:8; 1 Samuel 26:9; 1 Samuel 26:10; 1 Samuel 26:12; 1 Samuel 26:13; 1 Samuel 26:14; 1 Samuel 26:15; 1 Samuel 26:17; 1 Samuel 26:21; 1 Samuel 26:22; 1 Samuel 26:25; 1 Samuel 27:1; 1 Samuel 27:2; 1 Samuel 27:3; 1 Samuel 27:4; 1 Samuel 27:5; 1 Samuel 27:7; 1 Samuel 27:8; 1 Samuel 27:9; 1 Samuel 27:10; 1 Samuel 27:11; 1 Samuel 27:12; 1 Samuel 28:1; 1 Samuel 28:2; 1 Samuel 28:17; 1 Samuel 29:2; 1 Samuel 29:3; 1 Samuel 29:5; 1 Samuel 29:6; 1 Samuel 29:8; 1 Samuel 29:9; 1 Samuel 29:11; 1 Samuel 30:1; 1 Samuel 30:3; 1 Samuel 30:4; 1 Samuel 30:5; 1 Samuel 30:6; 1 Samuel 30:7; 1 Samuel 30:8; 1 Samuel 30:9; 1 Samuel 30:10; 1 Samuel 30:11; 1 Samuel 30:13; 1 Samuel 30:15; 1 Samuel 30:17; 1 Samuel 30:18; 1 Samuel 30:19; 1 Samuel 30:20; 1 Samuel 30:21; 1 Samuel 30:22; 1 Samuel 30:23; 1 Samuel 30:26; 1 Samuel 30:31

1 Samuel 16:13

13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

1 Samuel 16:19

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

1 Samuel 16:20

20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.

1 Samuel 16:21

21 David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers.

1 Samuel 16:22

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

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

1 Samuel 17:12

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 very old.

1 Samuel 17:14

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

1 Samuel 17:15

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

1 Samuel 17:17

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 17:20

20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.

1 Samuel 17:22

22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were.

1 Samuel 17:23

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 17:26

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 17:28

28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

1 Samuel 17:29

29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?”

1 Samuel 17:31

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

1 Samuel 17:32

32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

1 Samuel 17:33

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

1 Samuel 17:34

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,

1 Samuel 17:37

37 The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”

1 Samuel 17:38

38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.

1 Samuel 17:39

39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.

1 Samuel 17:41

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.

1 Samuel 17:42

42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him.

1 Samuel 17:43

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

44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

1 Samuel 17:45

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 17:48

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

1 Samuel 17:49

49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

1 Samuel 17:50

50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

1 Samuel 17:51

51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

1 Samuel 17:54

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

1 Samuel 17:55

55 As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is that young man?” Abner replied, “As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”

1 Samuel 17:57

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

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

1 Samuel 18:1

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

1 Samuel 18:3

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

1 Samuel 18:4

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

5 Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the troops, and Saul’s officers as well.

1 Samuel 18:6

6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres.

1 Samuel 18:7

7 As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”

1 Samuel 18:8

8 Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?”

1 Samuel 18:9

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

1 Samuel 18:10

10 The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand

1 Samuel 18:11

11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.

1 Samuel 18:12

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

1 Samuel 18:14

14 In everything he did he had great success, because the LORD was with him.

1 Samuel 18:16

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

1 Samuel 18:17

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

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

1 Samuel 18:19

19 So when the time came for Merab, Saul’s daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.

1 Samuel 18:20

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

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

22 Then Saul ordered his attendants: “Speak to David privately and say, ‘Look, the king likes you, and his attendants all love you; now become his son-in-law.’ ”

1 Samuel 18:23

23 They repeated these words to David. But David said, “Do you think it is a small matter to become the king’s son-in-law? I’m only a poor man and little known.”

1 Samuel 18:24

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

1 Samuel 18:25

25 Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’ ” Saul’s plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.

1 Samuel 18:26

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

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

1 Samuel 18:28

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

1 Samuel 18:29

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

1 Samuel 18:30

30 The Philistine commanders continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with more success than the rest of Saul’s officers, and his name became well known.

1 Samuel 19:1

1 Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David

1 Samuel 19:2

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 19:4

4 Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly.

1 Samuel 19:5

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 19:7

7 So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.

1 Samuel 19:8

8 Once more war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such force that they fled before him.

1 Samuel 19:9

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

1 Samuel 19:10

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

11 Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.”

1 Samuel 19:12

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

1 Samuel 19:14

14 When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said, “He is ill.”

1 Samuel 19:15

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 19:18

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

19 Word came to Saul: “David is in Naioth at Ramah”;

1 Samuel 19:20

20 so he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s men, and they also prophesied.

1 Samuel 19:22

22 Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Seku. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said.

1 Samuel 20:1

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 kill me?”

1 Samuel 20:3

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

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

1 Samuel 20:5

5 So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon feast, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow.

1 Samuel 20:6

6 If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an annual sacrifice is being made there for his whole clan.’

1 Samuel 20:10

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

1 Samuel 20:11

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

1 Samuel 20:12

12 Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the LORD, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know?

1 Samuel 20:15

15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the LORD has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

1 Samuel 20:16

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

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

1 Samuel 20:24

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

1 Samuel 20:25

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 20:27

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

28 Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem.

1 Samuel 20:33

33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.

1 Samuel 20:34

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

1 Samuel 20:35

35 In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for his meeting with David. He had a small boy with him,

1 Samuel 20:39

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

1 Samuel 20:41

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

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 21:1

1 David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”

1 Samuel 21:2

2 David answered Ahimelek the priest, “The king sent me on a mission and said to me, ‘No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place.

1 Samuel 21:4

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

5 David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!”

1 Samuel 21:8

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

1 Samuel 21:9

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

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

1 Samuel 21:11

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

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

1 Samuel 22:1

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 22:3

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

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

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

6 Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul was seated, spear in hand, under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side.

1 Samuel 22:14

14 Ahimelek 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 22:17

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 unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.

1 Samuel 22:20

20 But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to join David.

1 Samuel 22:21

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

1 Samuel 22:22

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 whole family.

1 Samuel 23:1

1 When David was told, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are looting the threshing floors,”

1 Samuel 23:2

2 he inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” The LORD answered him, “Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”

1 Samuel 23:3

3 But David’s men said to him, “Here in Judah we are afraid. How much more, then, if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!”

1 Samuel 23:4

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

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

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

1 Samuel 23:7

7 Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, “God has delivered him into my hands, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars.”

1 Samuel 23:8

8 And Saul called up all his forces for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

1 Samuel 23:9

9 When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”

1 Samuel 23:10

10 David said, “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 23:12

12 Again David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will.”

1 Samuel 23:13

13 So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did not go there.

1 Samuel 23:14

14 David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.

1 Samuel 23:15

15 While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life.

1 Samuel 23:16

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

1 Samuel 23:18

18 The two of them made a covenant before the LORD. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.

1 Samuel 23:19

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 23:24

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

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

26 Saul was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side, hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men to capture them,

1 Samuel 23:28

28 Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why they call this place Sela Hammahlekoth.

1 Samuel 23:29

29 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi.

1 Samuel 24:1

1 After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.”

1 Samuel 24:2

2 So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

1 Samuel 24:3

3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave.

1 Samuel 24:4

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

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

1 Samuel 24:7

7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

1 Samuel 24:8

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

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

1 Samuel 24:16

16 When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud.

1 Samuel 24:17

17 “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly.

1 Samuel 24:22

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

1 Samuel 25:1

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 Paran.

1 Samuel 25:4

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

1 Samuel 25:5

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 25:8

8 Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my 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

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

1 Samuel 25:10

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 25:12

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

1 Samuel 25:13

13 David said to his men, “Each of you strap on your sword!” So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

1 Samuel 25:14

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

1 Samuel 25:20

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

21 David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good.

1 Samuel 25:22

22 May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”

1 Samuel 25:23

23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground.

1 Samuel 25:32

32 David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me.

1 Samuel 25:35

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 25:39

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

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 25:42

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

1 Samuel 25:43

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

1 Samuel 25:44

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

1 Samuel 26:1

1 The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?”

1 Samuel 26:2

2 So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand select Israelite troops, to search there for David.

1 Samuel 26:3

3 Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had followed him there,

1 Samuel 26:4

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

1 Samuel 26:5

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

6 David then asked Ahimelek 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

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

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 the spear; I won’t strike him twice.”

1 Samuel 26:9

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

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

1 Samuel 26:12

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

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

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

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 26:17

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 26:21

21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. Because you considered my life precious today, I will not try to harm you again. Surely I have acted like a fool and have been terribly wrong.”

1 Samuel 26:22

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

1 Samuel 26:25

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

1 Samuel 27:1

1 But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

1 Samuel 27:2

2 So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maok king of Gath.

1 Samuel 27:3

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

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

1 Samuel 27:5

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 27:7

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

1 Samuel 27:8

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

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

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

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

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

1 Samuel 28:1

1 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army.”

1 Samuel 28:2

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 28:17

17 The LORD has done what he predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David.

1 Samuel 29:2

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

3 The commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish replied, “Is this not David, who was an officer of Saul king of Israel? He has already been with me for over a year, and from the day he left Saul until now, I have found no fault in him.”

1 Samuel 29:5

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

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 today, I have found no fault in you, but the rulers don’t approve of you.

1 Samuel 29:8

8 “But what have I done?” asked David. “What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now? Why can’t I go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

1 Samuel 29:9

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 29:11

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 30:1

1 David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it,

1 Samuel 30:3

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

1 Samuel 30:4

4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.

1 Samuel 30:5

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

1 Samuel 30:6

6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

1 Samuel 30:7

7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him,

1 Samuel 30:8

8 and David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”

1 Samuel 30:9

9 David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Valley, where some stayed behind.

1 Samuel 30:10

10 Two hundred of them were too exhausted to cross the valley, but David and the other four hundred continued the pursuit.

1 Samuel 30:11

11 They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat—

1 Samuel 30:13

13 David asked him, “Who do you belong to? 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 30:15

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 30:17

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

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

1 Samuel 30:19

19 Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.

1 Samuel 30:20

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

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 Valley. They came out to meet David and the men with him. As David and his men approached, he asked them how they were.

1 Samuel 30:22

22 But all the evil men and troublemakers among David’s followers said, “Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go.”

1 Samuel 30:23

23 David replied, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us.

1 Samuel 30:26

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

1 Samuel 30:31

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