the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of
old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even
unto the land of Egypt.
09:027:009 And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman
alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses,
and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to
Achish.
09:027:010 And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David
said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the
Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.
09:027:011 And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings
to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did
David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in
the country of the Philistines.
09:027:012 And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people
Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant
for ever.
09:028:001 And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines
gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with
Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that
thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.
09:028:002 And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy
servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I
make thee keeper of mine head for ever.
09:028:003 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and
buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put
away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of
the land.
09:028:004 And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and
pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and
they pitched in Gilboa.
09:028:005 And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid,
and his heart greatly trembled.
09:028:006 And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not,
neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
09:028:007 Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a
familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And
his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a
familiar spirit at Endor.
09:028:008 And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he
went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by
night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the
familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto
thee.
09:028:009 And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul
hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar
spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then
layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
09:028:010 And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth,
there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.
09:028:011 Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he
said, Bring me up Samuel.
09:028:012 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice:
and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived
me? for thou art Saul.
09:028:013 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest
thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out
of the earth.
09:028:014 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old
man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul
perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to
the ground, and bowed himself.
09:028:015 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring
me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the
Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me,
and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams:
therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto
me what I shall do.
09:028:016 Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing
the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?
09:028:017 And the LORD hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD
hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy
neighbour, even to David:
09:028:018 Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor
executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the
LORD done this thing unto thee this day.
09:028:019 Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the
hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons
be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel
into the hand of the Philistines.
09:028:020 Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was
sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no
strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor
all the night.
09:028:021 And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore
troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath
obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have
hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.
09:028:022 Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice
of thine handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before
thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest
on thy way.
09:028:023 But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants,
together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto
their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.
09:028:024 And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and
killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake
unleavened bread thereof:
09:028:025 And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and
they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night.
09:029:001 Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to
Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in
Jezreel.
09:029:002 And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by
thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rereward
with Achish.
09:029:003 Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these
Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the princes of the
Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king
of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years,
and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto
this day?
09:029:004 And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and
the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow
return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast
appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest
in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should
he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with
the heads of these men?
09:029:005 Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances,
saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
09:029:006 Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the
LORD liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy
coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have
not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me
unto this day: nevertheless the lords favour thee not.
09:029:007 Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not
the lords of the Philistines.
09:029:008 And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what
hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with
thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the
enemies of my lord the king?
09:029:009 And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art
good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the
princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with
us to the battle.
09:029:010 Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master's
servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up
early in the morning, and have light, depart.
09:029:011 So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning,
to return into the land of the Philistines. And the
Philistines went up to Jezreel.
09:030:001 And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to
Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the
south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with
fire;
09:030:002 And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew
not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and
went on their way.
09:030:003 So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was
burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their
daughters, were taken captives.
09:030:004 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their
voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
09:030:005 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the
Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
09:030:006 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of
stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved,
every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David
encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
09:030:007 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray
thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither
the ephod to David.
09:030:008 And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after
this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him,
Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail
recover all.
09:030:009 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him,
and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind
stayed.
09:030:010 But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred
abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over
the brook Besor.
09:030:011 And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to
David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him
drink water;
09:030:012 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters
of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to
him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three
days and three nights.
09:030:013 And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence
art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to
an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone
I fell sick.
09:030:014 We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and
upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of
Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.
09:030:015 And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this
company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt
neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master,
and I will bring thee down to this company.
09:030:016 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread
abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing,
because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the
land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
09:030:017 And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening
of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save
four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.
09:030:018 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away:
and David rescued his two wives.
09:030:019 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor
great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any
thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.
09:030:020 And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave
before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.
09:030:021 And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint
that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to
abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David,
and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came
near to the people, he saluted them.
09:030:022 Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those
that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us,
we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have
recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that
they may lead them away, and depart.
09:030:023 Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that
which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and
delivered the company that came against us into our hand.
09:030:024 For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part
is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that
tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.
09:030:025 And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute
and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.
09:030:026 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the
elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present
for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;
09:030:027 To them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south
Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir,
09:030:028 And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in
Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa,
09:030:029 And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in
the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the
cities of the Kenites,
09:030:030 And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in
Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach,
09:030:031 And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where
David himself and his men were wont to haunt.
09:031:001 Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of
Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain
in mount Gilboa.
09:031:002 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons;
and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and
Melchishua, Saul's sons.
09:031:003 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit
him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
09:031:004 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and
thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and
thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would
not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and
fell upon it.
09:031:005 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell
likewise upon his sword, and died with him.
09:031:006 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and
all his men, that same day together.
09:031:007 And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the
valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that
the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead,
they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came
and dwelt in them.
09:031:008 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came
to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons
fallen in mount Gilboa.
09:031:009 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and
sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish
it in the house of their idols, and among the people.
09:031:010 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they
fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.
09:031:011 And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which
the Philistines had done to Saul;
09:031:012 All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the
body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of
Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.
09:031:013 And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at
Jabesh, and fasted seven days.