Chapter 19

  And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. 

  But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now, therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself: 

  And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee. 

  And Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been toward thee very good: 

  For he put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: Why then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? 

  And Saul hearkened to the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swore, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain. 

  And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past. 

  And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him. 

  And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. 

  And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away from Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. 

  Saul also sent messengers to David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, If thou dost not save thy life to-night, to-morrow thou wilt be slain. 

  So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. 

  And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. 

  And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. 

  And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him to me in the bed, that I may slay him. 

  And when the messengers had come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster. 

  And Saul said to Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away my enemy, that he has escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said to me, Let me go; why should I kill thee? 

  So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. 

  And it was told to Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. 

  And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 

  And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. 

  Then he went also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah. 

  And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 

  And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?