Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
The Message Bible MSG
1 And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered together their armies, to be prepared for war against Israel: And Achis said to David: Know thou now assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to the war, thou, and thy men.
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During this time the Philistines mustered their troops to make war on Israel. Achish said to David, "You can count on this: You're marching with my troops, you and your men."
2 And David said to Achis: Now thou shalt know what thy servant will do. And Achis said to David: And I will appoint thee to guard my life for ever.
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And David said, "Good! Now you'll see for yourself what I can do!" "Great!" said Achish. "I'm making you my personal bodyguard - for life!" Saul Prayed, but God Didn't Answer
3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel mourned for him, and buried him in Ramatha, his city. And Saul had put away all the magicians and soothsayers out of the land.
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Samuel was now dead. All Israel had mourned his death and buried him in Ramah, his hometown. Saul had long since cleaned out all those who held seances with the dead.
4 And the Philistines were gathered together, and came and encamped in Sunam: and Saul also gathered together all Israel, and came to Gelboe.
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The Philistines had mustered their troops and camped at Shunem. Saul had assembled all Israel and camped at Gilboa.
5 And Saul saw the army of the Philistines, and was afraid, and his heart was very much dismayed.
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But when Saul saw the Philistine troops, he shook in his boots, scared to death.
6 And he consulted the Lord, and he answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by priests, nor by prophets.
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Saul prayed to God, but God didn't answer - neither by dream nor by sign nor by prophet.
7 And Saul said to his servants: Seek me a woman that hath a divining spirit, and I will go to her, and enquire by her. And his servants said to him: There is a woman that hath a divining spirit at Endor.
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So Saul ordered his officials, "Find me someone who can call up spirits so I may go and seek counsel from those spirits." His servants said, "There's a witch at Endor."
8 Then he disguised himself: and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night, and he said to her: Divine to me by thy divining spirit, and bring me up him whom I shall tell thee.
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Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes. Then, taking two men with him, he went under the cover of night to the woman and said, "I want you to consult a ghost for me. Call up the person I name."
9 And the woman said to him: Behold thou knowest all that Saul hath done, and how he hath rooted out the magicians and soothsayers from the land: why then dost thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to be put to death?
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The woman said, "Just hold on now! You know what Saul did, how he swept the country clean of mediums. Why are you trying to trap me and get me killed?"
10 And Saul swore unto her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord liveth, there shall no evil happen to thee for this thing.
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Saul swore solemnly, "As God lives, you won't get in any trouble for this."
11 And the woman said to him: Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
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The woman said, "So whom do you want me to bring up?" "Samuel. Bring me Samuel."
12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and said to Saul: Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.
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When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly to Saul, "Why did you lie to me? You're Saul!"
13 And the king said to her: Fear not: what hast thou seen? and the woman said to Saul: I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
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The king told her, "You have nothing to fear . . . but what do you see?" "I see a spirit ascending from the underground."
14 And he said to her: What form is he of? And she said: An old man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul understood that it was Samuel, and he bowed himself with his face to the ground, and adored.
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"And what does he look like?" Saul asked. "An old man ascending, robed like a priest." Saul knew it was Samuel. He fell down, face to the ground, and worshiped.
15 And Samuel said to Saul: Why hast thou disturbed my rest, that I should be brought up? And Saul said: I am in great distress: for the Philistines fight against me, and God is departed from me, and would not hear me, neither by the hand of prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayst shew me what I shall do.
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Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by calling me up?" "Because I'm in deep trouble," said Saul. "The Philistines are making war against me and God has deserted me - he doesn't answer me any more, either by prophet or by dream. And so I'm calling on you to tell me what to do."
16 And Samuel said: Why askest thou me, seeing the Lord has departed from thee, and is gone over to thy rival?
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"Why ask me?" said Samuel. "God has turned away from you and is now on the side of your neighbor.
17 For the Lord will do to thee as he spoke by me, and he will rend thy kingdom out of thy hand, and will give it to thy neighbour David:
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God has done exactly what he told you through me - ripped the kingdom right out of your hands and given it to your neighbor.
18 Because thou didst not obey the voice of the Lord, neither didst thou execute the wrath of his indignation upon Amalec. Therefore hath the Lord done to thee what thou sufferest this day.
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It's because you did not obey God, refused to carry out his seething judgment on Amalek, that God does to you what he is doing today.
19 And the Lord also will deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines: and to morrow thou and thy sons shall be with me: and the Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.
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Worse yet, God is turning Israel, along with you, over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. And, yes, indeed, God is giving Israel's army up to the Philistines."
20 And forthwith Saul fell all along on the ground; for he was frightened with the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all that day.
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Saul dropped to the ground, felled like a tree, terrified by Samuel's words. There wasn't an ounce of strength left in him - he'd eaten nothing all day and all night.
21 And the woman came to Saul, (for he was very much troubled) and said to him: Behold thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand: and I hearkened unto the words which thou spokest to me.
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The woman, realizing that he was in deep shock, said to him, "Listen to me. I did what you asked me to do, put my life in your hands in doing it, carried out your instructions to the letter.
22 Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set before thee a morsel of bread, that thou mayst eat and recover strength, and be able to go on thy journey.
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It's your turn to do what I tell you: Let me give you some food. Eat it. It will give you strength so you can get on your way."
23 But he refused, and said: I will not eat. But his servants and the woman forced him, and at length hearkening to their voice, he arose from the ground, and sat upon the bed.
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He refused. "I'm not eating anything."
24 Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she made haste and killed it: and taking meal, kneaded it, and baked some unleavened bread,
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The woman moved swiftly. She butchered a grain-fed calf she had, and took some flour, kneaded it, and baked some flat bread.
25 And set it before Saul, and before his servants. And when they had eaten they rose up, and walked all that night.
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Then she served it all up for Saul and his servants. After dining handsomely, they got up from the table and were on their way that same night.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.