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Saul now urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan, because of his strong affection for David,
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told him what his father was planning. “Tomorrow morning,” he warned him, “you must find a hiding place out in the fields.
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I’ll ask my father to go out there with me, and I’ll talk to him about you. Then I’ll tell you everything I can find out.”
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The next morning Jonathan spoke with his father about David, saying many good things about him. “The king must not sin against his servant David,” Jonathan said. “He’s never done anything to harm you. He has always helped you in any way he could.
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Have you forgotten about the time he risked his life to kill the Philistine giant and how the LORD brought a great victory to all Israel as a result? You were certainly happy about it then. Why should you murder an innocent man like David? There is no reason for it at all!”
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So Saul listened to Jonathan and vowed, “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be killed.”
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Afterward Jonathan called David and told him what had happened. Then he brought David to Saul, and David served in the court as before.
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War broke out again after that, and David led his troops against the Philistines. He attacked them with such fury that they all ran away.
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But one day when Saul was sitting at home, with spear in hand, the tormenting spirit from the LORD suddenly came upon him again. As David played his harp,
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Saul hurled his spear at David. But David dodged out of the way, and leaving the spear stuck in the wall, he fled and escaped into the night.
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Then Saul sent troops to watch David’s house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead by morning.”
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So she helped him climb out through a window, and he fled and escaped.
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Then she took an idol and put it in his bed, covered it with blankets, and put a cushion of goat’s hair at its head.
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When the troops came to arrest David, she told them he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed.
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But Saul sent the troops back to get David. He ordered, “Bring him to me in his bed so I can kill him!”