1 Samuel 19

₁Saul told his son Jonathan and all his officials that they must kill David. But Saul's son, Jonathan, liked David very much ₂and Jonathan warned David. He said to David: ‘My father, Saul, wants to kill you. You must be very careful. You must go and hide tomorrow morning. No one must know where you are. ₃I will talk to my father in the field near the place where you are and I will ask him about you. When I know what he wants to do, I will tell you.’

₄Jonathan talked to his father, Saul, and he begged his father not to do anything bad to David. He said: ‘David is your servant. He has done nothing wrong to you. Everything that David did was very good for you. ₅He knew it was dangerous to go and fight against the Philistine but he did it and he defeated the Philistine. The Lord then helped the men of Israel win the war. You saw it and you were happy. Why do you want to do wrong and kill David? He is innocent. He has done nothing wrong to make you want to kill him.’

₆Saul listened to Jonathan and he promised: ‘As sure as the Lord lives, no one will kill David.’ ₇So Jonathan called David and he told him everything and he took David back to Saul. Everything was as it had been before.

₈There was war again and David went to fight against the Philistines. David fought so hard against the Philistines that they all ran away. ₉An evil_spirit that came from God came into Saul. Saul was in his house and he had his spear in his hand while David was playing the harp. ₁₀Saul tried to kill David with his spear. He wanted to pierce David and nail him against the wall. David moved away quickly and Saul threw his spear into the wall. David ran away and escaped that night. ₁₁Saul sent his men to David's home to stand guard there and to kill David in the morning, but David's wife, Michal, warned him and said: ‘You must run away tonight to save your life. If you don't, they will kill you tomorrow morning.’

₁₂Michal helped David to get down through a window and he ran away to a safe place. ₁₃Michal took a statue and she put it on David's bed. She put clothes over the statue and a goatskin over its head. ₁₄Saul sent men to catch David, but Michal told them that he was sick. ₁₅Again Saul sent the men to get David. He told them: ‘Carry David to me in his bed so that I can kill him.’

₁₆When the men came to his bed, they saw the statue with the goatskin over its head. ₁₇Saul asked Michal: ‘Why did you deceive me? You have helped my enemy get away.’ Michal said to Saul: ‘He told me to help him get away, or he would kill me.’

₁₈David ran away and escaped. He went to Samuel in Ramah and he told Samuel everything Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went to stay in the village of Naioth. ₁₉Someone told Saul that David was in the village of Naioth near Ramah ₂₀and he sent men to catch David. But when the men saw a group of prophets and heard them prophesying with Samuel, who was their leader, the Spirit of God came into Saul's men and they also started to prophesy. ₂₁Someone told Saul what had happened and he sent other men. But when they came there, they also started to prophesy. Saul sent a 3rd group of men and they also started to prophesy. ₂₂Then Saul himself went to Ramah. When he came to the big water-well at Seku, he asked: ‘Where are Samuel and David?’ They said to him: ‘They are here at Ramah at the village of Naioth.’

₂₃When Saul went to the village of Naioth near Ramah, the Spirit of God also came into him. Saul also started to prophesy and he walked and prophesied until he came to the village of Naioth near Ramah. ₂₄He took off his clothes and he prophesied there with Samuel. He lay there without clothes all day and night. This is why people say: ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’