Saul's rash adjuration.

1. SAMUEL Jonathan's trespass discovered. them here, and eat; and sin not against the LORD in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there.

90 And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.

21 Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.

22 Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines filed, even they also followed hard after them in the battle.

35 And Saul built an altar unto the LORD: the same was the first altar that he built unto the LORD.

36And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoi! them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemneth good un to thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God.

37 And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistineswilt thou deliver them into the band of Israel? But he answered him not that day.

23 So the LORD saved Israel that day; and the battle passed over unto Beth-aven. 35 And Saul said, Draw ye near hi24 And the men of Israel were dis-ther all the chief of the people: and tressed that day: for Saul had adjured know and see wherein this sin bath the people, Saying, Cursed be the man been this day. that eateth any food until, evening, that 1 may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food. 25 And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground.

26 And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped, but no man put his band to his inouth: for the people feared the oath.

27 But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honey-comb, and pat his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.

29 Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day. And the people were faint.

29 Then said Jonathan, My father bath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.

30 How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to-day of the spoil of their enemies which they found for had there, not been now a much greater slaughter among the

Philistines?

39 For, as the LORD liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him.

40 Then said he unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth good unto thee.

41 Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were ta ken: but the people escaped.

42 And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jona than was taken.

43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tel me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod. that was in mine band, and lo, I must die.

44 And Saul answered, God do so, and more also: for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan.

45 And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the LORD liveth, there shail not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not.

31 And they smote the Philistines 46 Then Saul went up from followthat day from Michmash to Ajalon:ing the Philistines: and the Philistines and the people were very faint. went to their own place.

32 And the people fiew upon the 47 So Saul took the kingdom over spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and Israel, and fought against all his enecalves, and slew them on the ground: mies on every side, against Moab, and and the people did eat them with the against the children of Ammon, and blood. against Edom, and against the kings 33 Then they told Sau!, saying, Be-of Zobah, and against the Phistines: hold, the people sin against the LORD, and whithersoever be turned himself in that they eat with the blood. And he vexed them.

he said, Ye have transgressed: roli a 48 And be gathered an ost, and great stone unto me this day. smcte the Amalekites, and delivered 34 And Sau! said, Disperse your-Israel out of the hands of them that selves among the people, and say unto spoiled them. ahem, Bring me hither every man his 0%, and every man his sheep, and slay

49 Now the sons of Sau! were Jona. than, and ishus, and Melchi-situa and

Saul sent to destroy the Amalekites. CHAP. XV. He spareth Agag the names of his two daughters were] 13 And Samuel came to Saul: and these; the name of the first-born Me- Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of rab, and the name of the younger the LORD: I have performed the comMichal: mandment of the LORD.

50 And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz: and the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.

51. And Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

52 And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him.

CHAP. XV.

AMUEL also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.

2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israei, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?

19 And the LORD sent thee en a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.

4 And Saul gathered the people to-I gether, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.

6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest 1 destroy you with them for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD

20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, have obeyed the voice of the LORD. and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of 8 And he took Agag the king of the witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniAmalekites alive, and utterly destroy-quity and idolatry. Because thou hast ed all the people with the edge of the rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

sword.

9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

10 Then came the word of the 10RD unto Samuel, saying,

11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he s turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Sariue!; and he cried unto the LORD all night.

12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set him up a place and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.

24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.

26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.

27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.

28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is bet ter than thou.

1. SAMUEL. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that 1 may worship the LORD thy God.

31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD. 32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the AmaJelites. And Agag cane unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.

33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so sha!l thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces betore the LORD in Gilgal.

34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.

35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Now the Philistines gathered to

gether their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochob, which belonarth to Judah, and pitched hetween Shochoh and Azekal in Ephes-dammim.

And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered toge:ber, and pitched

Goliath's challenge.

CHAP. XVII.

David accepteth is.

by the valley of Elah, and set the battle, keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse in array against the Philistines. had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.

3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side and there was a valley between them.

4¶ And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

5 And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail: and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

6 And he had greaves of brass upon bis legs, and a target of brass between Lis shoulders.

7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six bundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before

him.

8 And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down

to me.

9 If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if 1 prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.

10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.

11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

18 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehein-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Sau!.

13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

14 And David was the youngest and the three eldest followed Saul.

15 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Beth-lehem.

16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented. himself forty days.

17 And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;

18 And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.

19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elab, fighting with the Philistines.

20 And David rose up early in the Morning, and left the sheep with a

21 For Israel and the Phuistines had put the battle in array, army against army,

22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.

23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from hiin, and were sore afraid.

25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich hi with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel.

26 And David spake to the men tha: stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men: and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom bast thou left those few sheep in the wil derness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest sce the battle.

29 And David said, What have I now done is there not a/cause?

30 And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner and the people answered bim again after the former manner.

31 And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.

32 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:

35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against

David killeth Goliath. me, I caught him by his beard, smote him, and slew him.

Y. SAMUEL.

and

36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, see ing he hath defied the armies of the Living God.

37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, be will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

38 And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.

39 And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, i cannot go with these; for 1 have not proved them. And David put them off him.

onathan's love for David. his forehead; and he fell upon hi

face to the earth.

50 So David prevailed over the Ph listine with a sling and with a stone and smote the Philistine, and siev him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

51 Therefore David ran and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Phi listines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

52 And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

53 And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philis tines, and they spoiled their tents.

40 And he took his staff in his hand, 54 T And David took the head of the and chose him five smooth stones out Philistine, and brought it to Jerusa of the brook, and put them in a sheplem; but he put his armour in his herd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand : and he drew near to the Philistine.

41 And the Philistine came on, and drew near unto David; and the anan that bare the shield went before

him.

42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

tent.

55 And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.

56 And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is.

57 And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took 43 And the Philistine said unto Da-him, and brought him before Saul, vid, Am I a dog, that thou comest to with the head of the Philistine in his me with staves? And the Philistine hand. cursed David by his gods.

44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

45 Then said David to the Philistine,

Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee: and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands.

49 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in is forehead, that the stone sunk into

58 And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Beth-chemite. CHAP. XVIII.

AND it came to pass, when he

had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

2 And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house.

3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.

4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

5 And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved him self wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

6 And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and wALD instruments of music.