1 Samuel 28; 1 Samuel 29; 1 Samuel 30; 1 Samuel 31; Psalms 18

1 Samuel 28

1 At that time, the Philistines brought their military units together into one army to fight against Israel. So Achish said to David, "You know, of course, that you and your men must march out in the army with me."

2 David replied to Achish, "Good, you will find out what your servant can do." So Achish said to David, "Very well, I will appoint you as my permanent bodyguard."

3 By this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his city, and Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.

4 The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel, and they camped at Gilboa.

5 When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he was afraid and trembled violently.

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

7 Saul then said to his servants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her." His servants replied, "There is a woman at Endor who is a medium."

8 Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes and set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, "Consult a spirit for me. Bring up for me the one I tell you."

9 But the woman said to him, "You surely know what Saul has done, how he has killed the mediums and spiritists in the land. Why are you setting a trap for me to get me killed?"

10 Then Saul swore to her by the Lord: "As surely as the Lord lives, nothing bad will happen to you because of this."

11 "Who is it that you want me to bring up for you?" the woman asked. "Bring up Samuel for me," he answered.

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

13 But the king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?" "I see a spirit form coming up out of the earth," the woman answered.

14 Then Saul asked her, "What does he look like?" "An old man is coming up," she replied. "He's wearing a robe." Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed his face to the ground and paid homage.

15 "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" Samuel asked Saul. "I'm in serious trouble," replied Saul. "The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He doesn't answer me any more, either through the prophets or in dreams. So I've called on you to tell me what I should do."

16 Samuel answered, "Since the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy, why are you asking me?

17 The Lord has done exactly what He said through me: The Lord has torn the kingship out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David.

18 You did not obey the Lord and did not carry out His wrath against Amalek; therefore the Lord has done this to you today.

19 The Lord will also hand Israel over to the Philistines along with you. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and the Lord will hand Israel's army over to the Philistines."

20 Immediately, Saul fell flat on the ground. He was terrified by Samuel's words and was also weak because he hadn't had any food all day and all night.

21 The woman came over to Saul, and she saw that he was terrified and said to him, "Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me [to do].

22 Now please listen to your servant. Let me set some food in front of you. Eat and it will give you strength so you can go on your way."

23 He refused, saying, "I won't eat," but when his servants and the woman urged him, he listened to them. He got up off the ground and sat on the bed.

24 The woman had a fattened calf at her house, and she quickly slaughtered it. She also took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread.

25 She served it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Afterwards, they got up and left that night.

1 Samuel 29

1 The Philistines brought all their military units together at Aphek while Israel was camped by the spring in Jezreel.

2 As the Philistine leaders were passing [in review with their units of] hundreds and thousands, David and his men were passing [in review] behind them with Achish.

3 Then the Philistine commanders asked, "What are these Hebrews [doing here]?" Achish answered the Philistine commanders, "That is David, servant of King Saul of Israel. He has been with me a considerable period of time. From the day he defected until today, I've found no fault with him."

4 The Philistine commanders, however, were enraged with Achish and told him, "Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the battle. What better way could he regain his master's favor than with the heads of our men?

5 Isn't this the David they sing about during their dances: Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands?"

6 So Achish summoned David and told him, "As the Lord lives, you are an honorable man. I think it is good to have you working with me in the camp, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until today. But the leaders don't think you are reliable.

7 Now go back quietly and you won't be doing [anything] the Philistine leaders think is wrong."

8 "But what have I done?" David replied to Achish. "From the first day I was with you until today, what have you found against your servant to keep me from going along to fight against the enemies of my lord the king?"

9 Achish answered David, "I'm convinced that you are as reliable as an angel of God. But the Philistine commanders have said, 'He must not go into battle with us.'

10 So get up early in the morning, you and your masters' servants who came with you. When you've all gotten up early, go as soon as it's light."

11 So David and his men got up early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

1 Samuel 30

1 David and his men arrived in Ziklag on the third day. The Amalekites had raided the Negev and attacked and burned down Ziklag.

2 They also had kidnapped the women and everyone in it from the youngest to the oldest. They had killed no one but had carried them off as they went on their way.

3 When David and his men arrived at the town, they found it burned down. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been kidnapped.

4 David and the troops with him wept loudly until they had no strength left to weep.

5 David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had also been kidnapped.

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.

7 David said to Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod." So Abiathar brought it to him,

8 and David asked the Lord: "Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?" The Lord replied to him, "Pursue [them], for you will certainly overtake [them] and rescue [the people]."

9 David and the 600 men with him went as far as the Wadi Besor, where where 200 men who were to remain behind would stop.

10 They stopped because they were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor. David and 400 of the men continued in pursuit.

11 They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink.

12 Then they gave him some pressed figs and two clusters of raisins. After he ate he revived, for he hadn't eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights.

13 Then David said to him, "Who do you belong to? Where are you from?" "I'm an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite man," he said. "My master abandoned me when I got sick three days ago.

14 We raided the south country of the Cherethites, [the territory] of Judah, and the south country of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag."

15 David then asked him, "Will you lead me to these raiders?" He said, "Swear to me by God that you won't kill me or turn me over to my master, and I will lead you to them."

16 So he led him, and there were the Amalekites, spread out over the entire area, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.

17 David slaughtered them from twilight until the evening of the next day. None of them escaped, except 400 young men who got on camels and fled.

18 David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken; he also rescued his two wives.

19 Nothing [of theirs] was missing from the youngest to the oldest, including the sons and daughters, of all the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David got everything back.

20 He took all the sheep and cattle, which were driven ahead of the other livestock, and the people shouted, "This is David's plunder!"

21 When David came to the 200 men who had been too exhausted to go with him and had been left at the Wadi Besor, they came out to meet him and to meet the troops with him. When David approached the men, he greeted them,

22 but all the worthless men among those who had gone with David retorted, "Because they didn't go with us, we will not give any of the plunder we recovered to them except for each man's wife and children. They may take them and go."

23 But David said, "My brothers, you must not do this with what the Lord has given us. He protected us and handed over to us the raiders who came against us.

24 Who can agree to your proposal? The share of the one who goes into battle is to be the same as the share of the one who remains with the supplies. They will share equally."

25 And it has been so from that day forward. David established [this policy] as a law and an ordinance for Israel [and it continues] to this very day.

26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, "Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the Lord's enemies."

27 [He sent gifts] to those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negev, and in Jattir;

28 to those in Aroer, in Siphmoth, and in Eshtemoa;

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

30 to those in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, and in Athach;

31 to those in Hebron, and to [those in] all the places where David and his men had roamed.

1 Samuel 31

1 The Philistines fought against Israel, and Israel's men fled from them. Many were killed on Mount Gilboa.

2 The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons and killed his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

3 When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers caught up with him and severely wounded him.

4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me." But his armor-bearer would not do it because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it.

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

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

7 When the men of Israel on the other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordan saw that Israel's men had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.

8 The next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa.

9 They cut off Saul's head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the good news in the temples of their idols and among the people.

10 Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

11 When the residents of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

12 all their brave men set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there.

13 Afterwards, they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

Psalms 18

1 I love You, Lord, my strength.

2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my mountain where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies.

4 The ropes of death were wrapped around me; the torrents of destruction terrified me.

5 The ropes of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

6 I called to the Lord in my distress, and I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears.

7 Then the earth shook and quaked; the foundations of the mountains trembled; they shook because He burned with anger.

8 Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire [came] from His mouth; coals were set ablaze by it.

9 He parted the heavens and came down, a dark cloud beneath His feet.

10 He rode on a cherub and flew, soaring on the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness His hiding place, dark storm clouds His canopy around Him.

12 From the radiance of His presence, His clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals.

13 The Lord thundered from heaven; the Most High projected His voice.

14 He shot His arrows and scattered them; He hurled lightning bolts and routed them.

15 The depths of the sea became visible, the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, Lord, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He pulled me out of deep waters.

17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.

18 They confronted me in the day of my distress, but the Lord was my support.

19 He brought me out to a wide-open place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.

20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; He repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.

21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not turned from my God to wickedness.

22 Indeed, I have kept all His ordinances in mind and have not disregarded His statutes.

23 I was blameless toward Him and kept myself from sinning.

24 So the Lord repaid me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

25 With the faithful You prove Yourself faithful; with the blameless man You prove Yourself blameless;

26 with the pure You prove Yourself pure, but with the crooked You prove Yourself shrewd.

27 For You rescue an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.

28 Lord, You light my lamp; my God illuminates my darkness.

29 With You I can attack a barrier, and with my God I can leap over a wall.

30 God-His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is pure. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

31 For who is God besides the Lord? And who is a rock? Only our God.

32 God-He clothes me with strength and makes my way perfect.

33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer and sets me securely on the heights.

34 He trains my hands for war; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35 You have given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand upholds me, and Your humility exalts me.

36 You widen [a place] beneath me for my steps, and my ankles do not give way.

37 I pursue my enemies and overtake them; I do not turn back until they are wiped out.

38 I crush them, and they cannot get up; they fall beneath my feet.

39 You have clothed me with strength for battle; You subdue my adversaries beneath me.

40 You have made my enemies retreat before me; I annihilate those who hate me.

41 They cry for help, but there is no one to save [them]- [they cry]to the Lord, but He does not answer them.

42 I pulverize them like dust before the wind; I trample them like mud in the streets.

43 You have freed me from the feuds among the people; You have appointed me the head of nations; a people I had not known serve me.

44 Foreigners submit to me grudgingly; as soon as they hear, they obey me.

45 Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their fortifications.

46 The Lord lives-may my rock be praised! The God of my salvation is exalted.

47 God-He gives me vengeance and subdues peoples under me.

48 He frees me from my enemies. You exalt me above my adversaries; You rescue me from violent men.

49 Therefore I will praise You, Lord, among the nations; I will sing about Your name.

50 He gives great victories to His king; He shows loyalty to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.