28¹ And it cometh to pass in those days, that the Philistines gather their camps for the war, to fight against Israel, and Achish saith unto David, 'Thou dost certainly know that with me thou dost go out into the camp, thou and thy men.' ² And David saith unto Achish, 'Therefore—thou dost know that which thy servant dost do.' And Achish saith unto David, 'Therefore—keeper of my head I do appoint thee all the days.'

Saul and the Medium at En-dor

³ And Samuel hath died, and all Israel mourn for him, and bury him in Ramah, even in his city, and Saul hath turned aside those having familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. ⁴ And the Philistines are gathered, and come in, and encamp in Shunem, and Saul gathereth all Israel, and they encamp in Gilboa, ⁵ and Saul seeth the camp of the Philistines, and feareth, and his heart trembleth greatly, ⁶ and Saul asketh at Jehovah, and Jehovah hath not answered him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.

⁷ And Saul saith to his servants, 'Seek for me a woman possessing a familiar spirit, and I go unto her, and inquire of her;' and his servants say unto him, 'Lo, a woman possessing a familiar spirit in En-dor.' ⁸ And Saul disguiseth himself and putteth on other garments, and goeth, he and two of the men with him, and they come in unto the woman by night, and he saith, 'Divine, I pray thee, to me by the familiar spirit, and cause to come up to me him whom I say unto thee.' ⁹ And the woman saith unto him, 'Lo, thou hast known that which Saul hath done, that he hath cut off those having familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land; and why art thou laying a snare for my soul—to put me to death?' ¹⁰ And Saul sweareth to her by Jehovah, saying, 'Jehovah liveth, punishment doth not meet thee for this thing.' ¹¹ And the woman saith, 'Whom do I bring up to thee?' and he saith, 'Samuel—bring up to me.' ¹² And the woman seeth Samuel, and crieth with a loud voice, and the woman speaketh unto Saul, saying, 'Why hast thou deceived me—and thou Saul?' ¹³ And the king saith to her, 'Do not fear; for what hast thou seen?' and the woman saith unto Saul, 'Gods I have seen coming up out of the earth.' ¹⁴ And he saith to her, 'What 'is' his form?' and she saith, 'An aged man is coming up, and he 'is' covered with an upper robe;' and Saul knoweth that he 'is' Samuel, and boweth—face to thee earth—and doth obeisance.

¹⁵ And Samuel saith unto Saul, 'Why hast thou troubled me, to bring me up?' And Saul saith, 'I have great distress, and the Philistines are fighting against me, God hath turned aside from me, and hath not answered me any more, either by the hand of the prophets, or by dreams; and I call for thee to let me know what I do.' ¹⁶ And Samuel saith, 'And why dost thou ask me, and Jehovah hath turned aside from thee, and is thine enemy? ¹⁷ And Jehovah doth for Himself as He hath spoken by my hand, and Jehovah rendeth the kingdom out of thy hand, and giveth it to thy neighbour—to David. ¹⁸ Because thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, nor didst the fierceness of His anger on Amalek—therefore this thing hath Jehovah done to thee this day; ¹⁹ yea, Jehovah giveth also Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow thou and thy sons 'are' with me; also the camp of Israel doth Jehovah give into the hand of the Philistines.'

²⁰ And Saul hasteth and falleth—the fulness of his stature—to the earth, and feareth greatly because of the words of Samuel; also power was not in him, for he had not eaten bread all the day, and all the night. ²¹ And the woman cometh in unto Saul, and seeth that he hath been greatly troubled, and saith unto him, 'Lo, thy maid-servant hath hearkened to thy voice, and I put my soul in my hand, and I obey thy words which thou hast spoken unto me; ²² and now, hearken, I pray thee, also thou, to the voice of thy maid-servant, and I set before thee a morsel of bread, and eat, and there is in thee power when thou goest in the way.' ²³ And he refuseth, and saith, 'I do not eat;' and his servants urge on him, and also the woman, and he hearkeneth to their voice, and riseth from the earth, and sitteth on the bed. ²⁴ And the woman hath a calf of the stall in the house, and she hasteth and slaughtereth it, and taketh flour, and kneadeth, and baketh it unleavened things, ²⁵ and bringeth nigh before Saul, and before his servants, and they eat, and rise, and go on, during that night.

The Philistines Distrust David

29¹ And the Philistines gather all their camps to Aphek, and the Israelites are encamping at a fountain which 'is' in Jezreel, ² and the princes of the Philistines are passing on by hundreds, and by thousands, and David and his men are passing on in the rear with Achish. ³ And the heads of the Philistines say, 'What 'are' these Hebrews?' and Achish saith unto the heads of the Philistines, 'Is not this David servant of Saul king of Israel, who hath been with me these days or these years, and I have not found in him anything 'wrong' from the day of his falling away till this day.' ⁴ And the heads of the Philistines are wroth against him, and the heads of the Philistines say to him, 'Send back the man, and he doth turn back unto his place whither thou hast appointed him, and doth not go down with us into battle, and is not to us for an adversary in battle; and wherewith doth this one reconcile himself unto his lord—is it not with the heads of those men?' ⁵ Is not this David, of whom they answer in choruses, saying, Saul hath smitten among his thousands, and David among his myriads?'

⁶ And Achish calleth unto David, and saith unto him, 'Jehovah liveth, surely thou 'art' upright, and good in mine eyes is thy going out, and thy coming in, with me in the camp, for I have not found in thee evil from the day of thy coming in unto me till this day; and in the eyes of the princes thou art not good; ⁷ and now, turn back, and go in peace, and thou dost do no evil in the eyes of the princes of the Philistines.' ⁸ And David saith unto Achish, 'But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant from the day that I have been before thee till this day—that I go not in and have fought against the enemies of my lord the king?' ⁹ And Achish answereth and saith unto David, 'I have known that thou 'art' good in mine eyes as a messenger of God; only, the princes of the Philistines have said, He doth not go up with us into battle; ¹⁰ and now, rise thou early in the morning, and the servants of thy lord who have come with thee, when ye have risen early in the morning, and have light, then go ye.' ¹¹ And David riseth early, he and his men, to go in the morning, to turn back unto the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines have gone up to Jezreel.

David Defeats the Amalekites

30¹ And it cometh to pass, in the coming in of David and his men to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites have pushed unto the south, and unto Ziklag, and smite Ziklag, and burn it with fire, ² and they take captive the women who 'are' in it; from small unto great they have not put any one to death, and they lead away, and go on their way. ³ And David cometh in—and his men—unto the city, and lo, burnt with fire, and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters have been taken captive! ⁴ And David lifteth up—and the people who 'are' with him—their voice and weep, till that they have no power to weep. ⁵ And the two wives of David have been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelite; ⁶ and David hath great distress, for the people have said to stone him, for the soul of all the people hath been bitter, each for his sons and for his daughters; and David doth strengthen himself in Jehovah his God.

⁷ And David saith unto Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, 'Bring nigh, I pray thee, to me the ephod;' and Abiathar bringeth nigh the ephod unto David, ⁸ and David asketh at Jehovah, saying, 'I pursue after this troop—do I overtake it?' And He saith to him, 'Pursue, for thou dost certainly overtake, and dost certainly deliver.' ⁹ And David goeth on, he and six hundred men who 'are' with him, and they come in unto the brook of Besor, and those left have stood still, ¹⁰ and David pursueth, he and four hundred men, (and two hundred men stand still who have been too faint to pass over the brook of Besor), ¹¹ and they find a man, an Egyptian, in the field, and take him unto David, and give to him bread, and he eateth, and they cause him to drink water, ¹² and give to him a piece of a bunch of dried figs, and two bunches of raisins, and he eateth, and his spirit returneth unto him, for he hath not eaten bread nor drunk water three days and three nights. ¹³ And David saith to him, 'Whose 'art' thou? and whence 'art' thou?' And he saith, 'An Egyptian youth I 'am', servant to a man, an Amalekite, and my lord forsaketh me, for I have been sick three days, ¹⁴ we pushed 'to' the south of the Cherethite, and against that which 'is' to Judah, and against the south of Caleb, and Ziklag we burned with fire.' ¹⁵ And David saith unto him, 'Dost thou bring me down unto this troop?' and he saith, 'Swear to me by God—thou dost not put me to death, nor dost thou shut me up into the hand of my lord—and I bring thee down unto this troop.' ¹⁶ And he bringeth him down, and lo, they are spread out over the face of all the earth, eating, and drinking, and feasting, with all the great spoil which they have taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. ¹⁷ And David smiteth them from the twilight even unto the evening of the morrow, and there hath not escaped of them a man, except four hundred young men who have ridden on the camels, and are fled. ¹⁸ And David delivereth all that the Amalekites have taken; also his two wives hath David delivered. ¹⁹ And there hath not lacked to them 'anything', from small unto great, and unto sons and daughters, and from the spoil, even unto all that they had taken to themselves, the whole hath David brought back, ²⁰ and David taketh the whole of the flock, and of the herd, they have led on before these cattle, and they say, 'This 'is' David's spoil.'

²¹ And David cometh in unto the two hundred men who were too faint to go after David, and whom they cause to abide at the brook of Besor, and they go out to meet David, and to meet the people who 'are' with him, and David approacheth the people, and asketh of them of welfare. ²² And every bad and worthless man, of the men who have gone with David, answereth, yea, they say, 'Because that they have not gone with us we do not give to them of the spoil which we have delivered, except each his wife and his children, and they lead away and go. ²³ And David saith, 'Ye do not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah hath given to us, and He doth preserve us, and doth give the troop which cometh against us into our hand; ²⁴ and who doth hearken to you in this thing? for as the portion of him who was brought down into battle, so also 'is' the portion of him who is abiding by the vessels—alike they share.' ²⁵ And it cometh to pass from that day and forward, that he appointeth it for a statute and for an ordinance for Israel unto this day. ²⁶ And David cometh in unto Ziklag, and sendeth of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, (saying, 'Lo, for you a blessing, of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah),' ²⁷ to those in Beth-El, and to those in South Ramoth, and to those in Jattir, ²⁸ and to those in Aroer, and to those in Siphmoth, and to those in Eshtemoa, ²⁹ and to those in Rachal, and to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those in the cities of the Kenites, ³⁰ and to those in Hormah, and to those in Chor-Ashan, and to those in Athach, ³¹ and to those in Hebron, and to all the places where David had gone up and down, he and his men.

The Death of Saul and His Sons

31¹ And the Philistines are fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel flee from the face of the Philistines, and fall wounded in mount Gilboa, ² and the Philistines follow Saul and his sons, and the Philistines smite Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, sons of Saul. ³ And the battle is hard against Saul, and the archers find him—men with bow—and he is pained greatly by the archers; ⁴ and Saul saith to the bearer of his weapons, 'Draw thy sword, and pierce me with it, lest they come—these uncircumcised—and have pierced me, and rolled themselves on me;' and the bearer of his weapons hath not been willing, for he is greatly afraid, and Saul taketh the sword, and falleth upon it. ⁵ And the bearer of his weapons seeth that Saul 'is' dead, and he falleth—he also—on his sword, and dieth with him; ⁶ and Saul dieth, and three of his sons, and the bearer of his weapons, also all his men, on that day together. ⁷ And they see—the men of Israel, who 'are' beyond the valley, and who 'are' beyond the Jordan—that the men of Israel have fled, and that Saul and his sons have died, and they forsake the cities and flee, and Philistines come in, and dwell in them.

⁸ And it cometh to pass on the morrow, that the Philistines come to strip the wounded, and they find Saul and his three sons fallen on mount Gilboa, ⁹ and they cut off his head, and strip off his weapons, and send into the land of the Philistines round about, to proclaim tidings 'in' the house of their idols, and 'among' the people; ¹⁰ and they place his weapons 'in' the house of Ashtaroth, and his body they have fixed on the wall of Beth-Shan. ¹¹ And they hear regarding it—the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead—that which the Philistines have done to Saul, ¹² and all the men of valour arise, and go all the night, and take the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Beth-Shan, and come in to Jabesh, and burn them there, ¹³ and they take their bones, and bury 'them' under the tamarisk in Jabesh, and fast seven days.

Thanksgiving for Deliverance

18¹ To the Overseer.—By a servant of Jehovah, by David, who hath spoken to Jehovah the words of this song in the day Jehovah delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul, and he saith:—I love Thee, O Jehovah, my strength. ² Jehovah 'is' my rock, and my bulwark, And my deliverer, My God 'is' my rock, I trust in Him: My shield, and a horn of my salvation, My high tower. ³ The 'Praised One' I call Jehovah, And from my enemies I am saved. ⁴ Compassed me have cords of death, And streams of the worthless make me afraid. ⁵ Cords of Sheol have surrounded me, Before me have been snares of death. ⁶ In mine adversity I call Jehovah, And unto my God I cry. He heareth from His temple my voice, And My cry before Him cometh into His ears. ⁷ And shake and tremble doth the earth, And foundations of hills are troubled, And they shake—because He hath wrath. ⁸ Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils, And fire from His mouth consumeth, Coals have been kindled by it. ⁹ And He inclineth the heavens, and cometh down, And thick darkness 'is' under His feet. ¹⁰ And He rideth on a cherub, and doth fly, And He flieth on wings of wind. ¹¹ He maketh darkness His secret place, Round about Him His tabernacle, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. ¹² From the brightness over-against Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire. ¹³ And thunder in the heavens doth Jehovah, And the Most High giveth forth His voice, Hail and coals of fire. ¹⁴ And He sendeth His arrows and scattereth them, And much lightning, and crusheth them. ¹⁵ And seen are the streams of waters, And revealed are foundations of the earth. From Thy rebuke, O Jehovah, From the breath of the spirit of Thine anger. ¹⁶ He sendeth from above—He taketh me, He draweth me out of many waters. ¹⁷ He delivereth me from my strong enemy, And from those hating me, For they have been stronger than I. ¹⁸ They go before me in a day of my calamity And Jehovah is for a support to me. ¹⁹ And He bringeth me forth to a large place, He draweth me out, because He delighted in me.

²⁰ Jehovah doth recompense me According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, He doth return to me. ²¹ For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, And have not done wickedly against my God. ²² For all His judgments 'are' before me, And His statutes I turn not from me. ²³ And I am perfect with him, And I keep myself from mine iniquity. ²⁴ And Jehovah doth return to me, According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, Over-against his eyes. ²⁵ With the kind Thou showest Thyself kind, With a perfect man showest Thyself perfect. ²⁶ With the pure Thou showest Thyself pure, And with the perverse showest Thyself a wrestler, ²⁷ For Thou a poor people savest, And the eyes of the high causest to fall. ²⁸ For Thou—Thou lightest my lamp, Jehovah my God enlighteneth my darkness.

²⁹ For by Thee I run—a troop! And by my God I leap a wall. ³⁰ God! perfect 'is' His way, The saying of Jehovah is tried, A shield 'is' He to all those trusting in Him. ³¹ For who 'is' God besides Jehovah? And who 'is' a rock save our God? ³² God! who is girding me 'with' strength, And He maketh perfect my way. ³³ Making my feet like hinds, And on my high places causeth me to stand. ³⁴ Teaching my hands for battle, And a bow of brass was brought down by my arms. ³⁵ And Thou givest to me the shield of Thy salvation, And Thy right hand doth support me, And Thy lowliness maketh me great. ³⁶ Thou enlargest my step under me, And mine ankles have not slidden. ³⁷ I pursue mine enemies, and overtake them, And turn back not till they are consumed. ³⁸ I smite them, and they are not able to rise, They fall under my feet, ³⁹ And Thou girdest me 'with' strength for battle, Causest my withstanders to bow under me. ⁴⁰ As to mine enemies—Thou hast given to me the neck, As to those hating me—I cut them off. ⁴¹ They cry, and there is no saviour, On Jehovah, and He doth not answer them. ⁴² And I beat them as dust before wind, As mire of the streets I empty them out. ⁴³ Thou dost deliver me From the strivings of the people, Thou placest me for a head of nations, A people I have not known do serve me. ⁴⁴ At the hearing of the ear they hearken to me, Sons of a stranger feign obedience to me, ⁴⁵ Sons of a stranger fade away, And are slain out of their close places. ⁴⁶ Jehovah liveth—and blessed 'is' my rock, And exalted is the God of my salvation. ⁴⁷ God—who is giving vengeance to me, And He subdueth peoples under me, ⁴⁸ My deliverer from mine enemies, Above my withstanders Thou raisest me, From a man of violence dost deliver me. ⁴⁹ Therefore I confess Thee among nations, O Jehovah, And to Thy name I sing praise, ⁵⁰ Magnifying the salvation of His king, And doing kindness to His anointed, To David, and to his seed—unto the age!