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39 coat of mail, he essayed to walk about once or twice. Then

David said to Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not been 40 accustomed to them. So they took them off him. Then he took his staff in his hand, and having chosen for himself five smooth stones, out of the brook, he put them in the shepherd's scrip, which he kept for a purse, and with a sling in 42 his hand, he went out to meet the man—the Philistine. When Goliath saw David, He despised him exceedingly; for he was a mere youth, and was of a ruddy complexion with beautiful 43 eyes. And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that thou

shouldst come out against me with a stick, and with stones? 44 And David said, Nay, but worse than a dog. Upon which the

Philistine cursed David by his gods. And when the Philistine said to David, Come hither to me, and I will give thy flesh to 45 the birds of the air, and the beasts of the earth, David said to the Philistine, Thou comest against me with a sword, and a spear, and a shield, but I am coming to thee with the name of the Lord God of Sabbaoth, of the army of Israel, which thou 46 hast, this day, defied. And the Lord will deliver thee this day into my hand, and I will kill thee, and cut off thy head, and give thy carcass, and the carcasses of the army of the Philistines this day, to the birds of the air, and to the wild beasts of 47 the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in

Israel; and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saveth not with a sword or a spear. For the battle is the Lord's, 48 and the Lord will deliver you into our hands. Then the Phi49 listine arose and went to meet David. And David put his hand in the scrip, and took out a stone, and slinged it, and smote the Philistine on the forehead, and the stone pierced through the helmet, into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the 51 ground. And David ran, and stood upon him, and took his 52 sword, and killed him, and cut off his head. And when the

Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled; and the men of Israel, and Juda, arose, and shouted, and pursued them to the entrance of Geth, and to the gate of Ascalon. And the wounded of the Philistines fell on the road to the gates, all 53 the way to Geth, and even to Akkaron. And when the men of

Israel returned from pursuing the Philistines, they trampled 54 down their camps. And David took the head of the Philistine, and carried it to Jerusalem; but his arms he laid up in his tent.

XVIII. 6 Now when the choirs of women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet David, dancing to tympanums, and 7 singing songs of triumph, accompanied with cymbals, and the women in responsive strains, said,

Saul hath slain his thousands;

And David his ten thousands,

8 the thing appeared evil in the eyes of Saul, because of this expression; and he said, The ten thousands they have ascribed 12 to David; and to me they have ascribed thousands. And

Saul became afraid of David, and removed him from about 13 his person, and made him a captain over a thousand, and he 14 went out and came in before the people. And David behaved 15 wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. And when

Saul saw with what great wisdom he conducted himself, he 16 was afraid of him; but all Israel and Juda loved David, be20 cause he went out and came in before the people. And Mel21 chol, the daughter of Saul, fell in love with David. When this

was told Saul, it was well pleasing in his sight, and Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him. Now 22 the hand of the Philistines was against Saul, therefore Saul gave orders to his servants, saying, Speak privately to David, and say, Behold the king is well pleased with thee; and all his servants love thee, therefore thou must be the king's son in law. 23 But when the servants of Saul rehearsed these words in the hearing of David, David said, Is it a light matter in your eyes to be son in law to a king? As for me, I am a man of 24 humble condition, and not entitled to honour. And when

Saul's servants told him the words which David had spoken, 25 Saul said, Thus shall you say to David, The king desireth no other dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. Now Saul thought to throw 26 him into the hands of the Philistines. When Saul's servants told David these words, the condition on which he was to be the 27 king's son in law, pleased David. Therefore he arose and went with his men, and smote among the Philistines a hundred men, and brought their foreskins, and contracted to be the king's son in law, and he gave him his daughter Melchol to wife.

28 But when Saul saw that the Lord was with David, and that XIX. all Israel loved him, he still continued to fear David; there

fore Saul spoke to his son Jonathan, and all his servants, to kill 2 David. Now Jonathan, the son of Saul, loved David exceed

ingly; therefore Jonathan told David, and said, Saul seeketh 3 to kill thee, therefore be on thy guard till to-morrow morning, and hide thyself, and keep close, and I will go out, and stand near my father in the field where thou art, and speak to my father about thee, and see what may be the matter, and tell thee. 4. So Jonathan spoke to his father in commendation of David, and said to him, Let not the king sin against thy servant David; for he hath not sinned against thee; and his services are 5 very good. For he hath put his life in his hands, and smitten the Philistines, and the Lord hath wrought a great deliverance, and all Israel have seen and rejoiced. Why then wilt thou sin against innocent blood by putting David to death without 6 cause? And Saul hearkened to the voice of Jonathan, and swore, saying, As the Lord liveth, he shall not be put to death. 7 Thereupon Jonathan called David, and told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in 8 his presence as heretofore: and as the war continued against Saul, David took courage and fought against the Philistines, and smote them with a very great slaughter, and they fled before 9 him. But the evil spirit from God came upon Saul when he

was sitting in his house, with his spear in his hand, and while David's hands were engaged in playing, Saul sought to strike 10 the spear into David; but David darted from before him, and 11 he struck the spear into the wall. As David had withdrawn,

and escaped, Saul sent messengers that night to David's house, to watch him, with an intent to put him to death in the morning. But Melchol, David's wife, told him, and said, Unless thou save thy life this night, to-morrow thou wilt be put to 12 death. Then Melchol let David out through a window, and 13 he departed, and fled, and escaped. And Melchol took the

cenotaphs, and laid them on the bed, and placed a goat skin 14 pillow for his head, and covered them with a mantle. So when

Saul sent messengers to take David, they said he was sick. 15 Then Saul sent them for David, saying, Bring him to me on 16 the bed, that I may put him to death. And when the messen

gers came, behold! There were the cenotaphs on the bed, and 17 a goat skin pillow for his head. Whereupon Saul said to Mel

chol, Why hast thou thus deceived me, and sent away my enemy, so that he hath escaped? And Melchol said to Saul, 18 He said, Let me go, else I will put thee to death. So David

fled, and escaped, and went to Samuel, to Armathaim, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And Samuel went with 19 David, and they made their abode at Navath in Rama. And 20 when it was told Saul, saying, Behold David is at Navath, in Rama, Saul sent messengers to take David. But when they saw the assembly of the prophets, with Samuel, standing at the head of them, a Spirit of God came upon the messengers 21 of Saul, and they prophesied. When this was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And when Saul sent a third set of messengers, and they also prophesied, 22 he was exceedingly enraged, and went himself to Armathaim. And when he came to the well of Alo, which is at Sephi, he inquired, and said, Where are Samuel and David? And they 23 said, Behold at Navath, in Rama. Thereupon he went thence to Navath, in Rama, and a Spirit of God came upon him also, and he went on prophesying till he came to Navath, in Rama. 24 And having stripped off his upper garments, he prophesied before them, and lay uncovered that whole day, and the whole night. For this cause they said, Is Saul also among the pro. phets? XX. And David fled from Navath in Rama, and came to Jonathan, and said, What have I done? And what is my offence? And wherein have I sinned in the sight of thy father, that he 2 seeketh my life? And Jonathan said to him, God forbid! Thou must not die. Behold my father can do nothing, great or small, without telling me. Why then should he conceal from me 3 such a thing as this? It is not so. And David in reply to Jonathan, said, Thy father knoweth well, that I have found favour in thy sight, therefore he said, Jonathan must not know this. He will not consent. But as the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, it is as I said. There is but a step between me and 4 death. Then Jonathan said to David, What doth thy soul 5 desire? And, What shall I do for thee? And David said to

Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is the new moon. As for me, I will not sit down to eat. Thou shalt let me go, and I will hide 6 myself in the field till evening. And if thy father look and in

quire for me, thou shalt say, David earnestly intreated me, that he might run to Bethlehem, his city, because there is an 7 annual sacrifice there, for the whole community. If he say, Very well; there is peace for thy servant. But if he answer thee sharply, be assured that this mischief is fully determined 8 on by him. Now thou must deal mercifully with thy servant, because thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee. If indeed there be iniquity in thy servant, put me to death thyself. Why shouldst thou in that case bring me 9 to thy father? And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee. For if I know certainly that this mischief is fully determined on by my father, to come upon thee, provided it be not against thy 10 cities, I will tell thee. Then David said to Jonathan, Who 11 shall tell me, if thy father hath answered roughly? Whereupon

Jonathan said to David, Come and stay in the field. So they 12 both went out to the field. Then Jonathan said to David, The Lord God of Israel knoweth, that I will, as occasion offereth, during the three days, sound my father, and whether good or ill be determined in respect to David, I will send thee word 13 into this field. God do so to Jonathan, and more also, if I do

not disclose the evils against thee, and send thee away that thou mayst go in peace. And the Lord be with thee as he hath 14 been with my father, provided that while I am alive, thou deal 15 kindly with me, and, when I die, thou withdraw not thy kind

ness from my house forever; and with this further proviso, that when the Lord removeth the enemies of David, every one from the face of the earth, the family of Jonathan be not sought for by the house of David, may the Lord search out the ene17 mies of David. And Jonathan repeated again his oath to Da18 vid, for he loved the soul of one who loved him. Then Jona

than said, To-morrow is new moon, therefore thou shalt hide thyself, that thy seat may be vacant; and when thou hast done 19 so for three days, thou shalt watch an opportunity, and come

to this place, where thou mayst conceal thyself on that busy 20 day, and thou shalt sit near that Ergab. And I will come on

the third day, and throw darts, taking aim at this Amattari. 21 And behold I will send a servant and say, Go, find me the dart. If I say to the servant, Here, the dart is from thee, even here, pick it up. Come thou to me, for there is peace for thee. And

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