wherewith should hee reconcile himselfe unto his master? should

Is not this David, of

it not be with the heads of these men?
whom they sang one to another in daunces, saying,
Saul slew his thousands,

And David his ten thousands?

Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the LORD liveth, thou hast bene upright, and thy going out and thy comming in with me in the hoste is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee, since the day of thy comming unto me unto this day : nevertheles, the lords favour thee not. Wherefore now returne and goe in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.

And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have bene with thee unto this day, that I may not goe fight against the enemies of my lord the king? 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, Hee shall not goe up with us to the battell. Wherfore now rise up early in the morning, with thy masters servants that are come with thee: and assoone as yee be up early in the morning, and have light, depart. So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to returne into the land of the Philistines; and the Philistines went up to Iezreel.

AN

CHAPTER XXX

ND it came to passe 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 burnt it with fire and had taken the women captives, that were therein; they slewe not any either great or smal, but caried them away, and went on their way.

:

So David and his men came to the citie, and beholde, it was burnt with fire, and their wives, and their sonnes, and their daughters were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him, lift up their voice, and wept, untill they had no more power to weepe. And Davids two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Iezreelitesse, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed: for the people spake of stoning him, because the soule of all the people was grieved, every man for his sonnes, and for his daughters: but David encouraged himselfe in the LORD his God. And David said to Abiathar the Priest Ahimelechs sonne, I pray thee, bring

XXX

mee hither the Ephod: and Abiathar brought thither the Ephod CHAPTER to David. And David enquired at the LORD, saying; Shall I pursue after this troupe? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without faile recover all. So David went, hee, and the sixe hundred men that were with him, and came to the brooke Besor, where those that were left behinde, stayed. But David pursued, he and foure hundred men: (for two hundred abode behinde, which were so faint that they could not goe over the brooke Besor.) And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to By the meanes of a revived David, and gave him bread, and he did eate, and they made him Egyptian he is drinke water. And they gave him a piece of a cake of figges, and brought to the two clusters of raisins: and when hee had eaten, his spirit came enemies, and againe to him for hee had eaten no bread, nor drunke any water, the spoile. three dayes and three nights. And David sayde unto him, To whome belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a yong man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me, because three dayes agone I fell sicke. Wee made an invasion upon the South of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Iudah, and upon the South of Caleb, and wee burnt Ziklag with fire. And David sayde to him, Canst thou bring me downe to this company? And he said, Sweare unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver mee into the handes of my master, and I will bring thee downe to this company.

And when he had brought him downe, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dauncing, because of all the great spoile that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Iudah. And David smote them from the twilight, even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save foure hundred yong men which rode upon camels, and fled. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had caried away: and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sonnes nor daughters, neither spoile, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all. And David tooke all the flockes, and the herds, which they drave before those other cattell, and said, This is Davids spoile.

And David came to the two hundred men which were so faint that they could not follow David, whome they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meete the people, that were with him; and when David came neere to the people, he saluted them. Then answered all the wicked men, and men of Belial, of those that went with David,

recovereth all

CHAPTER
XXX

Davids law to

divide the spoile equally betweene them that fight, and

them that keepe the stuffe.

He sendeth

and said, Because they went not with us, we wil not give them ought of the spoile, that wee have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may leade them away, and depart. 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 companie that came against us, into our hand. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? But as his part is that goeth downe to the battell, so shall his part bee that tarieth by the stuffe: they shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute, and an ordinance for Israel, unto this day.

And when David came to Ziklag, hee sent of the spoile unto presents to his the Elders of Iudah, even to his friends, (saying, Behold a Present friends. for you, of the spoile of the enemies of the LORD) to them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in South Ramoth, and to them which were in Iattir, and to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa, and to them which were in Rachal, and them which were in the cities of the Ierahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites, and to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach, and to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himselfe and his men were wont to haunt.

Saul having lost his armie, and his sonnes slaine, he and his armour bearer kill themselves.

The Philistines possesse the

forsaken townes

N°

CHAPTER XXXI

OWE the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell downe slaine in mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul, and upon his sonnes, and the Philistines slewe Ionathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Sauls sonnes. And the battell went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was sore wounded of the archers. Then said Saul unto his armour bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse mee. But his armour bearer would not, for he was sore afraid: therfore Saul tooke a sword, and fell upon it. And when his armour bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour bearer, and all his men that same day together.

And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Iordane, saw that the of the Israelites, men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sonnes were dead, they forsooke the cities and fled, and the Philistines came and dwelt in

carkeises.

them. And it came to passe on the morrow when the Philistines: CHAPTER came to strip the slaine, that they found Saul, and his three sons XXXI fallen in mount Gilboa. And they cut off his head, and stripped They triumph off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round over the dead about to publish it in the house of their idoles, and among the people. And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.

And when the inhabitants of Iabesh Gilead heard of that which They of Iabesh the Philistines had done to Saul: all the valiant men arose, and Gilead, recovering the bodies went all night, and tooke the body of Saul, and the bodies of by night, burne his sonnes from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Iabesh, them at labesh, and mournfully and burnt them there. And they tooke their bones, burie their and buried them under a tree at Iabesh, and fasted seven dayes.

bones.

THE SECOND BOOKE OF SAMUEL

otherwise called, The SECOND BOOKE of the KINGS

CHAPTER I

OW it came to passe after the death of Saul, when The Amalekite, David was returned from the slaughter of the who brought tidings of the Amalekites, and David had abode two daies in overthrow, and Ziklag, it came even to passe on the third day, accused himselfe of that behold, a man came out of the campe from Sauls death, Saul, with his clothes rent, and earth upon his is slaine. head and so it was when he came to David, that hee fell to the earth, and did obeysance. And David said unto him, From whence commest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the campe of Israel am I escaped. And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell mee. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battell, and many of the people also are fallen and dead, and Saul and Ionathan his sonne are dead also. And David said unto the yong man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Ionathan his sonne be dead? And the yong man that told him, said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his speare: and loe, the charets and horsemen followed hard after him. And when he looked behind him, he

J GROGMATO

II. SAMUEL

CHAPTER saw me, and called unto mee: and I answered, Here am I. And hee said unto mee, Who art thou? and I answered him, I am an Amalekite. He said unto me againe, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon mee, because my life is yet whole in me. So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that hee could not live after that hee was fallen: And I tooke the crowne that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arme, and have brought them hither unto my lord. Then David tooke hold on his clothes, and rent them, and likewise all the men that were with him. And they mourned and wept, and fasted untill Even, for Saul and for Ionathan his sonne, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword.

And David said unto the yong man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the sonne of a stranger, an Amalekite. And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch foorth thine hand, to destroy the LORDS Anointed? And David called one of the yong men, and sayd, Goe neere, and fall upon him. And hee smote him, that hee dyed. And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head: for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slaine the LORDS Annoynted. And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul, and over lamenteth Saul Ionathan his sonne: (Also hee bade them teach the children of Iudah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the booke of Iasher.)

David

and Ionathan

with a song.

The beauty of Israel is slaine upon thy high places:

How are the mightie fallen!

Tell it not in Gath,

Publish it not in the streetes of Askelon:

Lest the daughters of the Philistines reioyce,

Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

Yee mountaines of Gilboa,

Let there bee no dewe, neither let there be raine upon you,

nor fields of offerings:

For there the shield of the mightie is vilely cast away,

The shield of Saul, as though hee had not beene annointed

with oile.

From the blood of the slaine, from the fat of the mightie,

The bow of Ionathan turned not backe,

And the sword of Saul returned not emptie.

Saul and Ionathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives,

And in their death they were not divided:

They were swifter then Eagles,