1 Samuel 19

Jonathan Defends David 1 Samuel 19:3–6

³Verse 3. I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father about you; and if I see anything, I will tell you.” ⁴Verse 4. Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Don’t let the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you; ⁵Verse 5. for he put his life in his hand, and struck the Philistine, and Yahweh worked a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”

⁶Verse 6. Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swore, “As Yahweh lives, he shall not be put to death.”

David's Return to Saul 1 Samuel 19:7–8

⁷Verse 7. Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as before. ⁸Verse 8. There was war again. David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and killed them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him.

Saul's Attempt on David's Life 1 Samuel 19:9–10

⁹Verse 9. An evil spirit from Yahweh was on Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand. ¹⁰Verse 10. Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he stuck the spear into the wall. David fled, and escaped that night.

Michal Helps David Flee 1 Samuel 19:11–16

¹¹Verse 11. Saul sent messengers to David’s house, to watch him, and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ¹²Verse 12. So Michal let David down through the window. He went away, fled, and escaped. ¹³Verse 13. Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with clothes. ¹⁴Verse 14. When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” ¹⁵Verse 15. Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.”

¹⁶Verse 16. When the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head.

David Seeks Samuel 1 Samuel 19:17–19

¹⁷Verse 17. Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus, and let my enemy go, so that he is escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’” ¹⁸Verse 18. Now David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and lived in Naioth. ¹⁹Verse 19. Saul was told, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.”

Saul's Messengers Prophesy 1 Samuel 19:20–24

²⁰Verse 20. Saul sent messengers to seize David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, God’s Spirit came on Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied. ²¹Verse 21. When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. ²²Verse 22. Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” One said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” ²³Verse 23. He went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then God’s Spirit came on him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴Verse 24. He also stripped off his clothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”