1 SamuelChapter 19
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1Then Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan liked David very much. 2So he warned David. "My father Saul is trying to kill you," he said. "Be careful in the morning. Find a secret place and hide there. 3I'll go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are. I'll talk to him about you. If I find out anything, I'll tell you." 4Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul. He said to him, "The king should not sin against his servant David. He hasn't sinned against you. In fact, what he has done has been a great help to you. 5He put his life in danger when he struck down the Philistine. And the LORD won a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and were glad. So why would you sin by killing an innocent man? Why kill David for no reason?" 6Saul listened to Jonathan. He made a promise. "As surely as the LORD lives," he said, "David will not be put to death." 7So Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul. And David served Saul as he had before. 8War broke out again. David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them so hard that they ran away from him. 9But a troubling spirit from the LORD came on Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. David was playing the harp. 10Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear. But David got out of the way, and the spear stuck in the wall. David ran away and escaped that night. 11Then Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch it. They were to kill him in the morning. But David's wife Michal warned him. "If you don't run for your life tonight," she said, "tomorrow you'll be dead!" 12So Michal let David down through the window. He ran away and escaped. 13Then Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed. She put some goat hair at its head and covered it with a piece of clothing. 14Saul sent the messengers to capture David. But Michal said, "He's sick." 15Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David. He told them, "Bring him up to me in his bed so I can kill him." 16The messengers went in. There in the bed was the idol, with the goat hair at its head. 17Saul said to Michal, "Why did you trick me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!" Michal answered, "He said to me, 'Help me get away, or I'll kill you!'" 18So David ran away and escaped. He went to Samuel at Ramah. He told him everything Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. 19Someone told Saul, "David is at Naioth in Ramah." 20So Saul sent messengers to capture him. They saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel leading them. Then the Spirit of God came on Saul's messengers, and they began to prophesy too. 21Saul was told about this. So he sent more messengers, but they began to prophesy too. Saul tried again. He sent messengers a third time. And they began to prophesy too. 22At last Saul himself left for Ramah. He came to the large cistern at Secu. There he asked, "Where are Samuel and David?" Someone told him, "At Naioth in Ramah." 23So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on Saul. He walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24Saul took off his robes. He also prophesied in front of Samuel. He fell down and lay there naked all that day and all that night. That is why people say, "Is Saul also one of the prophets?"