The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

And as thy life hath been much set by this day in my eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me from all distress.

Then Saul said to David: Blessed art thou, my son David: and truly doing thou shalt do, and prevailing thou shalt prevail. And David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

And David said in his heart: I shall one day or other fall into the hands of Saul: is it not better for me to flee, and to be saved in the land of the Philistines, that Saul may despair of me, and cease to seek me in all the coasts of Israel? I will flee then out of his hands.

And David arose, and went away, both he and the six hundred men that were with him, to Achis, the son of Maoch, king of Geth.

And David dwelt with Achis at Geth, he and his men; every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Achinoam, the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

And it was told Saul that David was fled to Geth, and he sought no more after him.

And David said to Achis: If I have found favour in thy sight, let a place be given me in one of the cities of this country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

Then Achis gave him Siceleg that day: for which reason Siceleg belongeth to the kings of Juda unto this day.

And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines, was four months.

And David and his men went up, and pillaged Gessuri, and Gerzi, and the Amalecites: for these were of old the inhabitants of the countries, as men go to Sur, even to the land of Egypt.

And David wasted all the land, and left neither man nor woman alive: and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achis.

And Achis said to him: Whom hast thou gone against to day? David answered: Against the south of Juda, and against the south of Jerameel, and against the south of Ceni.

And David saved neither man nor woman, neither brought he any of them to Geth, saying: Lest they should speak against us. So did David, and such was his proceeding all the days that he dwelt in the country of the Philistines.

And Achis believed David, saying: He hath done much harm to his people Israel: Therefore he shall be my servant for ever.

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.

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.

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.

And the Philistines were gathered together, and came and encamped in Sunam: and Saul also gathered together all Israel, and came to Gelboe.

And Saul saw the army of the Philistines, and was afraid, and his heart was very much dismayed.

And he consulted the Lord, and he answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by priests, nor by prophets.

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.

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.

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?

And Saul swore unto her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord liveth, there shall no evil happen to thee for this thing.

And the woman said to him: Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

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.

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.

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.

And Samuel said: Why askest thou me, seeing the Lord has departed from thee, and is gone over to thy rival?

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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,

And set it before Saul, and before his servants. And when they had eaten they rose up, and walked all that night.

Now all the troops of the Philistines were gathered together to Aphec: and Israel also encamped by the fountain, which is in Jezrahel.

And the lords of the Philistines marched with their hundreds and their thousands: but David and his men were in the rear with Achis.

And the princes of the Philistines said to Achis: What mean these Hebrews? And Achis said to the princes of the Philistines: Do you not know David who was the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, and hath been with me many days, or years, and I have found no fault in him, since the day that he fled over to me until this day?

But the prices of the Philistines were angry with him, and they said to him: Let this man return, and abide in his place, which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest he be an adversary to us, when we shall begin to fight: for how can he otherwise appease his master, but with our heads?

Is not this David, to whom they sung in their dances, saying: Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

Then Achis called David, and said to him: As the Lord liveth, thou art upright and good in my sight: and so is thy going out, and thy coming in with me in the army: and I have not found any evil in thee, since the day that thou camest to me unto this day: but thou pleasest not the lords.

Return therefore, and go in peace, and offend not the eyes of the princes of the Philistines.

And David said to Achis: But what have I done, or what hast thou found in me thy servant, from the day that I have been in thy sight until this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

And Achis answering, said to David: I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: But the princes of the Philistines have said: He shall not go up with us to the battle.

Therefore arise in the morning, thou, and the servants of thy lord, who came with thee: and when you are up before day, and it shall begin to be light, go on your way.

So David and his men arose in the night, that they might set forward in the morning, and returned to the land of the Philistines: and the Philistines went up to Jezrahel.

Now when David and his men were come to Siceleg on the third day, the Amalecites had made an invasion on the south side upon Siceleg, and had smitten Siceleg, and burnt it with fire,

And had taken the women captives that were in it, both little and great: and they had not killed any person, but had carried them with them, and went on their way.

So when David and his men came to the city, and found it burnt with fire, and that their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives,

David and the people that were with him, lifted up their voices, and wept till they had no more tears.

For the two wives also of David were taken captives, Achinoam, the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

And David was greatly afflicted: for the people had a mind to stone him, for the soul of every man was bitterly grieved for his sons and daughters: but David took courage in the Lord his God.

And he said to Abiathar, the priest, the son of Achimelech: Bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I pursue after these robbers, and shall I overtake them, or not? And the Lord said to him: Pursue after them: for thou shalt surely overtake them and recover the prey.

So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor: and some, being weary, stayed there.

But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred stayed, who, being weary, could not go over the torrent Besor.

And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David: and they gave him bread to eat, and water to drink,

As also a piece of a cake of figs, and two bunches of raisins. And when he had eaten them, his spirit returned, and he was refreshed: for he had not eaten bread, nor drunk water, three days and three nights.

And David said to him: To whom dost thou belong; or whence dost thou come? and whither art thou going? He said: I am a young man of Egypt, the servant of an Amalecite: and my master left me, because I began to be sick three days ago.

For we made an invasion on the south side of Cerethi, and upon Juda, and upon the south of Caleb, and we burnt Siceleg with fire.

And David said to him: Canst thou bring me to this company? and he said: Swear to me by God, that thou wilt not kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee to this company. And David swore to him.

And when he had brought him, behold they were lying spread abroad upon all the ground, eating and drinking, and as it were keeping a festival day, for all the prey and the spoils which they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Juda.

And David slew them from the evening unto the evening of the next day, and there escaped not a man of them, but four hundred young men, who had gotten upon camels, and fled.

So David recovered all that the Amalecites had taken, and he rescued his two wives.

And there was nothing missing small or great, neither of their sons or their daughters, nor of the spoils, and whatsoever they had taken, David recovered all.

And he took all the flocks and the herds, and made them go before him: and they said: This is the prey of David.

And David came to the two hundred men, who, being weary, had stayed, and were not able to follow David, and he had ordered them to abide at the torrent Besor: and they came out to meet David, and the people that were with him. And David coming to the people, saluted them peaceably.

Then all the wicked and unjust men, that had gone with David, answering, said: Because they came not with us, we will not give them any thing of the prey which we have recovered: but let every man take his wife, and his children, and be contented with them, and go his way.

But David said: You shall not do so, my brethren, with these things, which the Lord hath given us, who hath kept us, and hath delivered the robbers that invaded us into our hands:

And no man shall hearken to you in this matter. But equal shall be the portion of him that went down to battle, and of him that abode at the baggage, and they shall divide alike.

And this hath been done from that day forward, and since was made a statute and an ordinance, and as a law in Israel.

Then David came to Siceleg, and sent presents of the prey to the ancients of Juda, his neighbours, saying: Receive a blessing of the prey of the enemies of the Lord.

To them that were in Bethel, and that were in Ramoth to the south, and to them that were in Jether.

And to them that were in Aroer, and that were in Sephamoth, and that were in Esthamo,

And that were in Rachal, and that were in the cities of Jerameel, and that were in the cities of Ceni,

And that were in Arama, and that were in the lake Asan, and that were in Athach,

And that were in Hebron, and to the rest that were in those places, in which David had abode with his men.

And the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gelboe.

And the Philistines fell upon Saul, and upon his sons, and they slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchisua, the sons of Saul.

And the whole weight of the battle was turned upon Saul: and the archers overtook him, and he was grievously wounded by the archers.

Then Saul said to his armourbearer: Draw thy sword, and kill me: lest these uncircumcised come, and slay me, and mock at me. And his armourbearer would not: for he was struck with exceeding great fear. Then Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.

And when his armourbearer saw this, to wit, that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.

So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men that same day together.

And the men of Israel, that were beyond the valley, and beyond the Jordan, seeing that the Israelites were fled, and that Saul was dead, and his sons, forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt there.

And on the morrow the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons lying in mount Gelboe.

And they cut off Saul's head, and stripped him of his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the temples of their idols and among their people.

And they put his armour in the temple of Astaroth, but his body they hung on the wall of Bethsan.

Now when the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad had heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,

All the most valiant men arose, and walked all the night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Bethsan: and they came to Jabes Galaad, and burnt them there.

And they took their bones, and buried them in the wood of Jabes: and fasted seven days.

Now it came to pass, after Saul was dead, that David returned from the slaughter of the Amalecites, and abode two days in Siceleg.

And on the third day, there appeared a man who came out of Saul's camp, with his garments rent, and dust strewed on his head: and when he came to David, he fell upon his face, and adored.

And David said to him: From whence comest thou? And he said to him: I am fled out of the camp of Israel.

And David said unto him: What is the matter that is come to pass? tell me: He said: The people are fled from the battle, and many of the people are fallen and dead: moreover Saul and Jonathan his son are slain.

And David said to the young man that told him: How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son, are dead?

And the young man that told him, said: I came by chance upon mount Gelboe, and Saul leaned upon his spear: and the chariots and horsemen drew nigh unto him,

And looking behind him, and seeing me, he called me. And I answered, Here am I.