SAUL HUNTS FOR DAVID IN THE WILDERNESS. DAVID GOES, BY NIGHT, TO HIS CAMP, AND TAKES AWAY HIS SPEAR AND CRUSE OF WATER. THE PHILISTINES BRING AN ARMY AGAINST SAUL. SAUL GOES TO A WOMAN WHO HAS A FAMILIAR SPIRIT. HE AND HIS SONS ARE SLAIN, AND THE ARMY OF ISRAEL FLEES.
AND the people called Ziphites, who once before had helped Saul to find David, came again, and told him where David was hidden out in the wilderness. Now Saul's wicked heart was not changed; although the feelings of hatred had left it for a little while, when David spared his life at the cave, yet those feelings soon came back, so that he wanted to kill him as much as ever. Therefore, when the Ziphites told where David was, Saul took three thousand men and went into the wilderness to find him.
And David heard of it and sent out spies to watch for him, and they brought back word that Saul had come indeed. Then David went secretly near to the place where Saul made his camp; and he said to the men who were with him, Who will go down with me to Saul in his camp? And Abishai, David's nephew, answered, I will go with thee. So David and Abishai came down in the night. And Saul lay sleeping in the camp, with his spear stuck into the ground by his pillow; and Abner, the captain of Saul's army, and the rest of his soldiers, were sleeping around him. Then Abishai asked David to let him kill Saul. He would strike the sharp spear through his body into the ground, he said, and would not have to do it a second time. But David answered, Destroy him not, for who can kill the Lord's anointed without sin? He called Saul the Lord's anointed, because it was the Lord who commanded Samuel to anoint him for king.
And David told Abishai that the Lord might kill Saul, or that the time might come for him to die, or he might be killed in battle, but that he would not kill him. Then David said to Abishai, But I pray thee take the spear that is by his pillow, and the cruse (or bottle) of water, and let us go. So they took the spear and cruse of water from Saul's pillow, and left him; and no man saw them, or knew of it, because the Lord had sent a deep sleep upon Saul and his men. Then David went and stood on the top of a hill, a good way off. And he cried to Saul's men, and to Abner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? And Abner awaked out of his sleep, and answered, Who art thou that criest to the king? David said, Why hast thou not kept better watch over the king, thy master, that no one should come into the camp to kill him? And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was by his pillow.
And Saul heard David speaking, and knew his voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? David answered, It is my voice, my lord, O king. Then David asked Saul what he had done, and how he had sinned, that Saul still followed after him to kill him. If he had been wicked, he was willing to confess his fault, and to offer up a sacrifice that he might be forgiven. But if Saul was following him only because evil men persuaded him to do it, David prayed that the Lord would punish those men; and he begged Saul not to slay him.
Then Saul said, I have sinned; come back, my son David, for I will no more do thee harm. I have done wrong exceedingly. David answered, See the king's spear! let one of his young men come over and take it. And David told Saul how he might have killed him that day, but he would not, Then David prayed to the Lord that he would save him out of all his troubles. And Saul heard him, and spoke kindly to him, and did not try to do him any harm. So David went away, and Saul came back to his own home.
But though Saul spoke kindly to him, David did not believe his words, for he had spoken so before, and wept, and called him his son, yet afterward had come out with three thousand men to take him. Therefore David thought that Saul would never stop seeking after him. He said to himself, He will surely find me some day, and kill me. There is nothing better for me to do, than to flee into the land of the Philistines; then Saul will give up looking for me, so I shall escape out of his hand.
And David arose and went with his six hundred men into the land of the Philistines, to the city of Gath. And Achish, the king, when he saw them, hoped to make them his servants; therefore he let them stay in his land and gave them a city, called Ziklag, to live in. When it was told Saul that David had fled, he sought no more after him. David was in the land of the Philistines a year and four months. While he was there, all the Philistines gathered their armies together to fight against Saul. And Achish said to David, Thou shalt go out with me to the battle, thou and thy men. He wanted David to go with the Philistines and fight against Saul and the children of Israel. But David did not say he would go.
And the Philistines came and made their camp at a place called Shunem; and Saul and all the men of Israel made their camp at Gilboa. When Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he trembled, for he was greatly afraid. And he asked of the Lord what he should do; but the Lord did not answer him, neither did he send any prophet to answer him.
Now there were at that time in the land of Israel, persons who had evil spirits that would come when they called them. Then they talked with the spirits, and questioned them about what would happen in the future, and asked the spirits to help them in doing things that were wicked. These spirits were called familiar spirits. It was a great sin to have a familiar spirit. The Lord commanded that all those persons who had them should be put to death, and he forbade the people from going to such persons to inquire, or ask any questions: and Saul had sent many who had them out of the land. But now he was in great trouble. He had asked the Lord what he should do against the Philistines, and the Lord would not answer him. Then he said to his servants, Seek for me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her and ask. His servants answered, There is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.
And Saul put on other raiment that no one might know him, and took two men with him, and came to the woman by night; and she knew not that it was Saul. And he asked her to let the familiar spirit bring up for him a man who was dead, but whom he wanted to speak with. Saul should have known that the evil spirit could not bring up a man from the dead: God alone can do that. Yet Saul said, Bring up the one I shall name to thee. The woman asked, Whom shall I bring up to thee? Saul answered, Bring me up Samuel. Then Samuel, who had been dead and buried for years, rose up before them. But it was not the evil spirit that brought him up; the Lord sent him to speak with Saul. And Saul stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself down to the ground.
And Samuel said to him, Why hast thou disturbed me to bring me up? Saul answered, I am sore distressed, for the Philistines make war against me, and God has gone away from me, and answers me no more; therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest tell me what I shall do. Samuel said, Why dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord has gone from thee, and become thine enemy? For the Lord has done to thee what I told thee he would do; he has put thee away from being king, and made David king, because thou didst not obey him. And now he will give the Philistines the victory over thee, and over all the army of Israel; and to-morrow, thou, and thy sons, shall be with me among the dead.
Then Saul fell down on the earth, and was greatly afraid, because of the words that Samuel had spoken, and there was no strength left in him; for he had eaten nothing all that day, nor all the night before. And the woman came to him and saw his distress, and she said, I pray thee, let me set food before thee, that thou mayest eat and gain strength before thou goest on thy way. But he refused and said, I will not eat. Then his servants and the woman begged him, until he consented. So he rose up from the earth and sat upon the bed. And the woman had a fat calf, that she made haste to kill, and she took flour and kneaded it and made bread. And she brought it and set it before Saul and his servants, and they did eat. Then they rose up and went away that night.
Now the lords of the Philistines gathered all their armies together at Aphek. And Achish, the king of Gath, came there and brought David and his six hundred men with him. But when the lords of the Philistines saw them, they said, What are these Hebrews doing here? Achish answered them, This is David, who has been with me now a long while, and I have found nothing wrong in him from the time he came until this day. But the lords of the Philistines were angry at Achish for bringing David; they said to him, Make this fellow go back, and let him not come with us to the battle, lest he turn and fight against us to please Saul, his master. Then Achish called David and told him, saying, Therefore now go back, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. So David and his men rose up early in the morning, and went away from the camp.
On the third day, they came to their homes in Ziklag, but they found their houses burned with fire, for the Amalekites had been there and destroyed the city, and carried away their wives and children captives. Then the men of Israel wept till they could weep no more; and David was greatly distressed, for his men were angry because he had taken them from their homes to go with Achish, and they talked about stoning him; but he trusted in the Lord his God.
And David called Abiathar, the high priest, and told him to ask the Lord for him, saying, Shall I go after the Amalekites, and shall I come up with them? The Lord answered, Go after them, for thou shalt surely come up with them, and get back all they have taken. And David went with his six hundred men, till they came to the brook Besor; there two hundred of them stayed, because they were so weary and faint they could go no further. But David followed on, he and four hundred men.
And they found a man who was sick, alone in a field, and they gave him bread and water, also a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. When he had eaten he grew stronger, for he had taken no food for three days and three nights. And David said to him, From what place hast thou come? and to whom dost thou belong? He answered I am a young man of Egypt, the servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me three days ago when I fell sick.
Then he told David what the Amalekites had done, and how they had burned Ziklag with fire. David asked him, Canst thou bring us to the place where they now are? The young man said, Promise me, before God, that you will not kill me nor give me back to my master, and I will bring you there. And David promised him. So he brought them to the place. When they came there, the Amalekites were scattered over the ground, eating, and drinking, and dancing, because of the spoil they had taken from Ziklag, and from other places where they had been to rob the people. And David and his men fought against them, and slew them, so that none of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. And the men of Israel got back their wives and their children, and all the spoil that the Amalekites had taken, as the Lord said they should. They took also the flocks and the herds which the Amalekites had with them.
And David and his men returned to the brook Besor, and the two hundred men whom they had left there came out to meet them. Then some of David's men, who were selfish and wicked, said, Because these two hundred went not with us, we will not give them any of the spoil we have taken; except to every man we will give his wife and his children, that they may go away from us. But David answered them, Ye shall not do so, my brethren. Then he told them that all should share alike—those who were left behind and those who went down to the battle.
Now the lords of the Philistines, after David had left their camp, went out and fought against Saul and the men of Israel. And the men of Israel fled from them, and many fell down slain on mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard after Saul; and they slew Jonathan and two other of Saul's sons. And the battle went greatly against him. The archers with their bows and arrows hit him, and he was sorely wounded by the archers. Then he said to his armor-bearer, Draw thy sword and put me to death, because I fear the Philistines may take me and treat me cruelly. But his armor-bearer was afraid, and would not. Then Saul took his own sword and stood it on the ground, with its point upward; and he fell upon it, on purpose, so that it ran into his body and killed him.
When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died. So Saul died, and his three sons and his armor-bearer, and great numbers of his men, that same day together. And the Philistines gained the victory, as Samuel had told Saul they should. As soon as the children of Israel who lived in that part of the land heard how their army had fled, they fled also, and the Philistines came and lived in the cities they left. The next day, when the Philistines went to strip off the raiment of the men whom they had killed in the battle, they found Saul and his three sons lying dead on mount Gilboa. Then they cut off Saul's head and took off his armor, and sent word through the land of the Philistines, so that all their people might know it. And they put Saul's armor in the house of their idol, Ashtaroth, and fastened up his dead body, and the dead bodies of his sons, to the wall of the city of Beth-shan.
But when the Israelites, who lived in Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all the brave men of that city arose, and went all night till they came to Beth-shan. And they took down the dead bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, and brought them to Jabesh; there they burnt them, and then took their bones and buried them under a tree. For Saul had been very kind to the people of Jabesh-gilead many years before, when he came with an army and saved them from the Ammonites.