Read the Bible

¹ AND Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants that they should kill David.² But Jonathan, Sauls son, was delighted much in David; and Jonathan spoke to David, saying, Saul my father seeks to kill you; now therefore take heed to yourself, and sit in a secret place and hide yourself;³ And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father concerning you; and I will see what is on his mind, and I will tell you.⁴ And Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant David; for he has not sinned against you, and his works are sufficient proof of his loyalty to you;⁵ For he put his life at your disposal, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel by his hand; you saw it and rejoiced; and now, why then will you sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?⁶ And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan his son; and Saul swore, saying, As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.⁷ Then Jonathan called David and told him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was with him as in times past.

⁸ And there was war again; and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him.⁹ And an evil spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand; and David played the harp in his presence.¹⁰ And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the javelin; but he fled from Sauls presence, and Saul stuck the javelin into the wall; and David fled, and escaped that night.

¹¹ Saul then sent messengers to Davids house to watch him and to slay him in the morning; but Malchel, Davids wife, told him, saying, If you do not save yourself tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death.¹² So Malchel let David down through a window; and he fled and escaped.¹³ And Malchel took an idol, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats skin at the head of it, and covered it with a bedcover.¹⁴ And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.¹⁵ And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.¹⁶ And when the messengers came in, behold, there was an idol in the bed, with a pillow of goats skin at its head.¹⁷ And they told Saul, and Saul said to Malchel, Why have you deceived me so, and let my enemy depart, so that he has escaped? And Malchel said to Saul, He said to me, Let me go; or else I will kill you.

¹⁸ So David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramtha and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Jonath which is in Ramtha.¹⁹ And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Jonath which is in Ramtha.²⁰ And Saul sent messengers to take David; and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying and Samuel standing as a leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.²¹ And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.²² Then he himself went to Ramtha, and came as far as the great cistern which is at the end of the town; and Saul said, Where are Samuel and David? And they said to him, Behold, they are at Jonath which is in Ramtha.²³ And he went toward Jonath in Ramtha; and the Spirit of God came upon him also; and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Jonath in Ramtha.²⁴ And he stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Behold, is Saul also among the prophets?