From the Greek Septuagint text as was used by First Century Christians

Chapter 1

¹ There was man from RamAh of Zophim in the Hills of EphraIm, whose name was ElKanah. He was the son of JerHam, grandson of EliHu, great-grandson of ToHu, and the great-great grandson of Zuph, who were also from the hills of EphraIm. ² He had two wives, the first was named HanNah, and the second was PeninNah. Now, PeninNah had [given birth to] children, but HanNah had no children.

³ Well, each day [ElKanah] would leave his city and go up to Shiloh to bow and offer sacrifices to Jehovah of armies, along with Eli and two of his sons, Hophni and Phineas, who were Priests of Jehovah. ⁴ And one day, when ElKanah was offering sacrifices, he gave his wife PeninNah and her sons and daughters their inheritances, ⁵ but he only gave HanNah a single portion, because she didn’t have any children. However, ElKanah loved HanNah more than he loved PeninNah, yet Jehovah had kept her womb locked, ⁶ for He hadn’t given her a child to love and to remove her sorrow, so she became depressed, and she believed that Jehovah wouldn’t allow her to have a baby.

⁷ And each year she would go up to the House of Jehovah, and cry and fast there. ⁸ Then her husband ElKanah asked her, ‘HanNah, why are you always crying; why won’t you eat; and why is your heart [so sad]? Why, I [love you more] than ten children.’

⁹ And after she had gone without anything to eat or drink at Shiloh, HanNah stood up before Eli (who was the High Priest at the time), ¹⁰ and because her life was in such pain, she prayed and cried there before Jehovah. ¹¹ Then she made a vow, saying, ‘O Jehovah of armies; if You will look at me, You will see how Your slave woman has been disgraced. Please remember me and don’t forget that I’m your servant. Remember me and don’t forget me; and if You’ll give me a son, I will stand him before You and dedicate him to You throughout his entire life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.’

¹² As she was praying there before Jehovah, the Priest Eli was watching her mouth, ¹³ and he recognized that she was speaking from her heart. However, he could see her lips moving, but he couldn’t hear her saying anything, so he figured that she was probably drunk. ¹⁴ And he said to her, ‘How long have you been drinking? Why don’t you get rid of your wine!’

¹⁵ But HanNah said, ‘No my lord, I’m just a woman who has had hard times. I haven’t had any wine or liquor to drink, and I’m not drunk. Rather, I’m pouring out my soul before Jehovah. ¹⁶ Please don’t consider your servant a delinquent daughter, for my worries and depression have grown into a mountain.’

¹⁷ And Eli answered, ‘Then go in peace, for the God of Israel will give you all that you’ve asked from Him!’

¹⁸ And she said, ‘Then your servant has found favor in your eyes.’ So, she went back to her husband and started eating and drinking again, and her face wasn’t sad anymore.

¹⁹ Then, when they got up early the next morning, they bowed before Jehovah and went back home. And after ElKanah returned home to RamAh, he [had sex] with his wife HanNah, and Jehovah remembered her and she got pregnant.

²⁰ Well, when the time came, HanNah gave birth to a son who she named SamuEl, for as she said, ‘I asked the Almighty God for him.’

²¹ And when ElKanah left his house to go up and offer the required sacrifices at Shiloh and to pay his vows, ²² HanNah didn’t go there with him, for she said, ‘I will wait until the boy is weaned before I bring him before Jehovah, then he can spend the rest of the age there.’

²³ And ElKanah said, ‘You do whatever you see is best. But after he’s weaned, may [Jehovah hold you responsible] for the things you’ve said.’

So, the woman nursed her son until the time he was weaned, ²⁴ then they took him up to Shiloh along with a three-year-old calf, a quart of fine flour, and a skin flask of wine. There they entered the house of Jehovah in Shiloh, and took the boy inside with them ²⁵ and stood him before Jehovah. Then, after they slaughtered the calf, HanNah brought the child to Eli ²⁶ and said, ‘My Lord, may you live a long life. I’m the woman who stood before you while praying to Jehovah, and here’s my son. ²⁷ This is the boy that I prayed for, and Jehovah gave me what I asked of Him, so may he now serve Jehovah all the days of his life. [We are presenting him to you here] to be used by the Lord.’

Chapter 2

¹ And HanNah prayed and sang:

‘Now my [faith] is firm, O God;
For my heart [belongs to Jehovah];
My horn has been raised by my God;
And against my enemies my mouth’s opened wide.

‘I thank You for my salvation,
For, Your salvation has made me so happy.
² There’s no one as holy as Jehovah;
There’s no one who is as righteous as our God… none are holier than You.

³ ‘We should never boast
Or allow haughty words to come from our mouths,
For, Jehovah is a God of [great] knowledge,
And a God who plans all that He does.

⁴ ‘He has weakened the bows of the mighty; 
He’s given power to those who are weak.

⁵ ‘Those full of bread now have less,
And those who are hungry have neglected the land.
Yet the sterile have given birth to seven,
While the one with many children has grown weak.

⁶ ‘For, Jehovah kills and gives birth to the living;
He takes them to the grave and leads them back out.
⁷ It’s Jehovah who makes the poor and the rich; Yes, He humbles and raises.

⁸ ‘He resurrects the needy from the ground,
And He raises the poor from the dirt,
To seat them with the mighty of the people,
Where a throne of glory they’ll inherit.

⁹ ‘He repaid the little vow of the one that was vowing;
And He’s blest the years of the righteous.
For man can do nothing in his own strength,
¹⁰ And it’s Jehovah who weakens our enemies… yes Jehovah is holy.

‘May the intelligent not boast of their smartness,
And may the mighty not brag of their strength,
Nor the rich of their wealth.
But let them boast now in this:

Let he who is bragging now see,
And know that it comes from Jehovah;
May they observe the ways that He judges,
And see His justice in the midst of the land.

‘For, Jehovah has ascended into heaven,
And there in the sky He has thundered.
He will [find] and judge all the wicked,
And to the ends of the earth [He’ll search] for the righteous.

‘It is He who gives strength to kings,
And it’s He who’ll raise the horn of His anointed.’

¹¹ She then left him there before Jehovah and went back home to their house in RamAh. And there the boy served Jehovah before Eli the Priest.

Now, Eli’s Sons were very wicked, ¹² because they didn’t [really believe in Jehovah]. ¹³ And these Priests felt that all the sacrifices the people brought belonged to them, so whenever there was boiled meat in the kettle, they would reach in with the three-pronged hook and take it. ¹⁴ They would drop the meat hook down into the large kettle and grab whatever they could. So, rather than allowing [the people to eat their portion of the sacrifice], the Priests took whatever they wanted. And that’s how they treated the people of Israel who came to Shiloh to offer sacrifices to Jehovah.

¹⁵ And when the servants of the Priests were burning the [sacrificial] fat on the Altar, one of them would say to the one who was doing the sacrificing, ‘Give me the roasted meat for the Priests, because we don’t want any of that boiled meat in the kettle.’

¹⁶ ‘But if the one who was doing the sacrificing said, ‘Allow me to burn the fat first, because that’s what’s required,’ they would say, ‘No! If you don’t give it to me, I’ll take it myself.’

¹⁷ And that’s how the young men were sinning before Jehovah in such a great way, and how they made the His sacrifices worthless.’

¹⁸ So, SamuEl served there in the presence of Jehovah as a boy, wearing a sacred chest piece of linen. ¹⁹ He wore little doubled robes that his mother had made for him, for she carried them to him when she returned with her husband to offer the sacrifices that were required back then.

²⁰ And Eli praised ElKanah and his wife, saying, ‘Jehovah has taken the seed of this woman as a loan, for the way that she has acted toward the Lord.’ And then they went back home.

²¹ Well, Jehovah visited HanNah once more, and she got pregnant again. So, she gave birth to three more sons and two daughters. But the boy SamuEl was given the responsibility of serving in the presence of Jehovah.

²² Now, Eli was very old, and he knew all that his sons were doing to the people of Israel, for they were even sleeping with the women who stood around near the Tent of Proofs. ²³ And he asked them, ‘Why are you doing all these bad things that the people of Jehovah are talking about? ²⁴ No, my sons, no! The things I’m hearing aren’t good! I don’t want to listen to the things that I’m hearing, for you’re here to serve the people of God. ²⁵ Why, if you’re sinning against the people, they will go and pray to Jehovah about it. And if you’re the one who is sinning against Jehovah, who will pray for you?’

But they wouldn’t listen to their father, because Jehovah preferred to destroy them.

²⁶ However, the boy SamuEl went on to become great, for he was in good standing with both Jehovah and with men.

²⁷ Then a man from God came to Eli and said, ‘This is what Jehovah has said: I revealed Myself to the house of your fathers in the land of Egypt who were servants in the house of Pharaoh. ²⁸ And I chose the house of your father from all the tribes of Israel to serve Me as Priests to come up to My Altar, burn incense, and wear My sacred chest piece. I also gave the house of your father all the sacrifices that were burned on the fire as their food. ²⁹ So, why have you looked at My incense and My sacrifices in disgust? And why have you treated your sons better than Me by allowing them to bless themselves with the first fruitage of all the sacrifices that Israel brings before Me?

³⁰ ‘Now, because of this, says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Your house and the house of your father will fall before Me through the age. Then those who glorify Me will be glorified, and those who treat Me with contempt will be disgraced.

³¹ ‘Look! The days are coming when I will destroy your seed… the sons of the house of your father. ³² Then you will see how well things will be done in Israel. But never again will there be a man who will grow old in your house. ³³ For, I will destroy every man among you that serves at My Altar. I will make their eyes fail and cause their lives to flow out of them, and then men will cut your family down with swords.

³⁴ ‘This is the sign that I will give to your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, in the day that they’re both going to die: ³⁵ I will appoint Myself a [High] Priest who is trustworthy, and I will do for him whatever things are in My heart and soul. Then I’ll build his house into one that I can trust, and he will be My anointed for the rest of his life. ³⁶ And then anyone who is left in your house will have to come and bow before him bearing a silver coin and a loaf of bread and say, Allow me to be one of your Priests, so I may eat some of the food.’

Chapter 3

¹ Well, the boy SamuEl served as an official of Jehovah under Eli the [High] Priest. And back then, the word of Jehovah was highly esteemed, because the [Priests] weren’t being given visions of what to do. ² Then one day, Eli went to sleep inside [the Tent of God], and because his eyes had grown weak and he was [almost] blind, ³ the [sacred] lampstand of God had been left burning.

Well, SamuEl also lied down in the Holy Place of Jehovah near the Chest of Proofs. ⁴ Then the Lord called SamuEl… He said, ‘SamuEl!’

And SamuEl replied, ‘Here I am.’ ⁵ Then he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am… you called me.’

And Eli replied, ‘I didn’t call you, go back to sleep!’ So he went back to his bed.

⁶ And then the Lord called him again, saying, ‘SamuEl.’

And he went over to Eli again and said, ‘Look, here I am, for you called me.’

And Eli said, ‘I didn’t call you child, go back to sleep!’

⁷ Well, SamuEl didn’t realize that it was God speaking, and that the words of Jehovah were about to be revealed to him. ⁸ So when the Lord called SamuEl a third time, he got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Look, here I am. For, you did call me!’

Then Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy, ⁹ and he told SamuEl, ‘Go back to sleep child, but if you hear Him calling again, you should say, Speak to me O Lord, because Your servant is listening.’

Then SamuEl went back to his bed, ¹⁰ and Jehovah came and called as He had done before. He said, ‘SamuEl… SamuEl.’

And SamuEl replied, ‘Speak, because Your servant is listening!’

¹¹ And the Lord said to SamuEl, ‘Look! People think that My words have been extinguished in Israel, but now everyone will hear the sound [of My voice] in both ears. ¹² For, the day has come when I will bring all the things that I said against the house of Eli, and I will finish them off. ¹³ Because, I told him that I would punish him and his house through the ages for the unrighteousness of his sons; because he knows the evil things they are doing against God and he hasn’t punished them. ¹⁴ So, I swore an oath to the house of Eli that they would pay through the ages for the sins that they committed while offering up the incense and the sacrifices.’

¹⁵ Then SamuEl went back to bed [and lay there] until morning. And when he got up early in the morning and opened the entrance to the House of Jehovah, he was afraid to tell Eli what he saw.

¹⁶ But Eli called, ‘SamuEl… SamuEl… child!’

And he replied, ‘Here I am!’

¹⁷ Then [Eli] said, ‘Tell me every word that you were told… don’t try to hide it from me! May God [punish you] if you don’t tell me every word that was spoken into your ears!’

¹⁸ So, SamuEl reported everything that was said to him… he didn’t try to hide a single word. And Eli said, ‘Jehovah is good, and He will do everything that He says He will do.’

¹⁹ Well SamuEl became great, because Jehovah was with him, and there wasn’t a word he was told that failed to come true in the land. ²⁰ And all Israel from Dan to BeerSheba came to know that SamuEl was a faithful Prophet of Jehovah.

²¹ So, Jehovah started to show Himself at Shiloh again, for He was revealing Himself to SamuEl, and Jehovah was speaking to him there. Then SamuEl became the trusted Prophet of Jehovah throughout Israel, from one end of the land to the other.

But Eli was very old, and his sons kept doing things that were wicked before Jehovah.

Chapter 4

¹ Thereafter, the things that SamuEl said [were spread] throughout Israel.

Then the Philistines got together to go to war against Israel, and Israel went out to meet them in battle. They were camped at EbenEzer, and the Philistines had camped in Aphek. ² Then the Philistines attacked, and the battle went badly for Israel, for they lost four thousand men. ³ And when they returned to camp, the people asked, ‘Why has Jehovah allowed us to lose against the Philistines today? Perhaps we should take Jehovah’s Chest of Proofs from Shiloh and carry it in our midst [in battle], for it will protect us from the hands of our enemies!’

⁴ So they sent people to Shiloh to get the Chest of Jehovah’s Sacred Agreement [to summon the power] of the cherubs [on its cover], and both sons of Eli (Hophni and Phineas) traveled with the [sacred] Chest of God. ⁵ Then, when the Chest was brought into the camp, the Israelites let out a shout that resounded throughout the land. ⁶ And when the Philistines heard it, they started asking each other, ‘Why are they shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?’

Well, they concluded that the Chest of Jehovah had been brought into the camp, ⁷ and this frightened them, so they said, ‘They’ve brought their gods into their camp. ⁸ Woe to us! Please save us, O Lord Shmeron, as you’ve done for the past three days. Oh, woe to us, for who will rescue us from the hand of their mighty gods? Why, they’re the gods that brought the calamity on Egypt and [to those] in the desert. ⁹ May we be strong and act as men, O Philistines, so we won’t have to serve the Hebrews, but they will have to serve us. Let’s act like men when we go to battle against them!’

¹⁰ So, the Philistines attacked, and the men of Israel started falling before them… they chased them all the way back to their tents. It was a huge defeat and thirty thousand of their soldiers were lost. ¹¹ Also, the Chest of God was captured, and both sons of Eli (Hophni and Phineas) were killed.

¹² Now, there was a man of the tribe of BenJamin who came from the battle; and when he got back to Shiloh that day, his clothes were torn, and it looked as though the earth had fallen on his head. ¹³ And when he got there, he saw Eli sitting on his chair [atop] the gate facing the road.

Now, his heart was broken over the loss of the Chest of God, and when he got there, he yelled out his report to the whole city. ¹⁴ And when Eli heard him yelling, he asked, ‘Who’s doing all that shouting?’ Then the man went in and reported to Eli.

¹⁵ Now, Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were dim and he couldn’t [hear well]. ¹⁶ So he asked the Priests around him, ‘What is he saying?’

And when the man came inside, ¹⁶ he said, ‘I just came from the camp, and we all had to run from the battle today.’

Then Eli asked, ‘And then what happened, my [son]?’

¹⁷ And [the man] replied, ‘All the men of Israel turned and ran from the Philistines. It was a huge loss for our people… then both your sons were killed and the Chest of God was captured!’

¹⁸ And when he heard [the news] about the Chest of God, Eli fell backward out of his chair [from the top of] the gate and landed on the ground. This broke his back and he died, because he was old and fat. But he had judged Israel for forty years.

¹⁹ Then, when his daughter-in-law (Phineas’ wife – who was pregnant) heard the message that the Chest of God had been captured and that both her husband and her father-in-law had died, she started crying and went into labor… ²⁰ and then she started to die. But the women around her said, ‘Don’t be afraid, for you’ve given birth to a son.’ However, she didn’t answer, because she didn’t understand them.

²¹ Then she named the boy IchaBod (Where’s the Glory?) after the [Sacred] Chest of God, her father-in-law, and her husband. ²² For she said, ‘The glory of Israel is gone, because they’ve taken the Chest of God.’

Chapter 5

¹ Then the Philistines took the Chest of God from EbenEzer and carried it to AshDod, ² where they put it in the Temple of Dagon, next to his [image]. ³ But when the people of AshDod got up early the next morning and entered the Temple, {Look!} they found Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground before the Chest of God. So, they lifted Dagon up and set him back in place.

Well, Jehovah’s hand continued to be heavy against the people of AshDod and the surrounding country, for He tormented them and struck them [with boils] on their backsides.

⁴ Then, when they got up the next morning, {Look!} they found that Dagon had once again fallen on his face before the Chest of Jehovah’s Sacred Agreement, but this time his head had fallen off and both hands had broken off at their wrists, and were lying by the [front] door. So, all that was left of him was his torso. ⁵ And this is the reason why the Priests of Dagon will no longer cross the threshold of Dagon’s Temple in AshDod.

⁶ Well, Jehovah continued to oppress and torment the people of AshDod, and He struck them [with boils] on their backsides throughout all its borders. ⁷ And when the men of AshDod realized what was happening, they said, ‘Don’t leave the Chest of the God of Israel with us, because that’s [what is making Him angry] with us and our God Dagon.’

⁸ So, the Philistines sent officials throughout the land asking, ‘What should we do with the Chest of the God of Israel?’

And the people of Gath said, ‘Send it to us!’

So, they sent the Chest of the God of Israel to Gath. ⁹ And as they were moving it there, Jehovah created a tremendous problem for them, for He struck all the men of the city (both the small and the great) [with boils] on their backsides.

¹⁰ Then they sent the Chest of God on to Ekron, but when it got there, the people started shouting, ‘Why are you bringing the Chest of the God of Israel to us? Are you trying to kill us all?’

¹¹ Well, they called all the Philistine governors together and they decided, ‘Let’s send the Chest of the God of Israel back to where it belongs, so it doesn’t kill us and all our people.’

¹² But then confusion set in, and throughout the city people started dying just as the Chest of the God of Israel was being brought there. And both the living and the dying were struck [with boils] on their backsides, and cries from the city reached into the heavens.

Chapter 6

¹ Well, the Chest of Jehovah just laid there in a Philistine field for seven months, and soon their land became overrun with mice. ² So the Philistines called a meeting of their priests, clairvoyants, and witches, and they asked, ‘What should we do with the Chest of Jehovah? Tell us how we can go about returning it to where it belongs!’

³ And they replied, ‘If you return the Chest of the Sacred Agreement of Jehovah the God of Israel, return it empty. For, by doing this you will really upset them, but the thing will be settled. [Their God] will no longer [oppress you] and everyone will be healed [from the plague].’

⁴ But [the leaders] asked, ‘Then, what should we do in return for all the torment that it caused?’

And they replied, ⁵ ‘Each of the five Philistine governors should send along a gold [model of their] buttocks, because the fault was theirs… both the rulers and the people. Also, send along a representation of five gold mice, the type that are overrunning the land; and [don’t forget to] give glory to Jehovah if you wish Him to [stop being angry] with you, your gods, and your land.

⁶ ‘Why do you keep allowing Him to oppress your hearts the way that He oppressed the hearts of Egypt and its Pharaoh? For, it was only after He mocked them that [His people] were finally set free. ⁷ So now, take a new wagon and two first-born oxen that have given birth to their first calves, and hook them to a yoke. Then hitch the oxen to the wagon and lock their calves inside the Temple. ⁸ Next, take the Chest of Jehovah and put it on the wagon, then replace the things in the Chest with the gold representations of your torment and send it on. ⁹ Then, as you travel along the road to their border and get to BethShemesh, watch to see if He does the same evil things to them. And if not, we’ll know that it wasn’t His hand that touched us, but it was just a coincidence.’

¹⁰ And that’s what the Philistines did. They took two first-born oxen and hitched them to the wagon, and locked their calves inside the Temple. ¹¹ Then they put the Chest of Jehovah on the wagon and placed the gold mice and the images of their buttocks inside the chest, ¹² and they removed the [sacred] things that were in there and sent it along the road to BethShemesh… they [didn’t stop] and they didn’t turn right or left. And the Philistine governors followed behind, until they reached the borders of BethShemesh.

¹³ Well at the time, the people of BethShemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley. And when they saw the Chest of Jehovah, they started cheering and ran to meet it.

¹⁴ Then they took the wagon into the field of Joshua (which was near BethShemesh), up to a huge rock, where they split the wood of the wagon and sacrificed the oxen as whole burnt offerings to Jehovah. ¹⁵ The Levites then took the Chest of Jehovah and removed the items of gold that were in it, and placed them on the large rock. Then the men of BethShemesh sacrificed the whole burnt offerings (along with other sacrifices) to Jehovah.

¹⁶ And when the five Philistine governors saw this, they returned to Ekron that same day.

¹⁷ Now, these are the gold buttocks that the Philistines sent to remove the torment of Jehovah: There was one from AshDod, one from Gaza, one from AshKelon, one from Gath, and one from Ekron. ¹⁸ And each of the well-fortified Philistine cities sent gold mice, one from each of the five governors… they were also removed from the Chest of Jehovah and placed on the large rock. [You can still find that rock] in the field of JoShua near BethShemesh today.

¹⁹ But then Jehovah struck the men of BethShemesh, because they had [been examining] the Chest of Jehovah. He struck down seventy of their [leaders] and fifty thousand of their people, and they went into mourning, because Jehovah had struck so many people with such a great calamity. ²⁰ And the men of BethShemesh asked, ‘Who can stand in the presence of this holy God Jehovah, and who can we send to carry this Chest? ²¹ So they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath JaIrim saying, The Philistines have returned the Chest of Jehovah, so come here and take it.’

Chapter 7

¹ Then the men of Kiriath JaIrim went and took the Chest of Jehovah’s Sacred Agreement and carried it to the House of AminAdab on the hill, and EliEzer and his son were [purified] there, so they could serve as guardians of the Chest. ² But the ‘day’ that the Chest was to be kept in Kiriath JaIrim became many days… in fact, it stayed there for twenty years!

Meanwhile, the whole house of Israel started [turning to Jehovah]. ³ So, SamuEl spoke to the house of Israel and said, ‘If you wish to return to Jehovah with your whole hearts, you must remove the gods of the foreigners that live among you and their sacred poles, and prepare your hearts for Jehovah and serve Him alone. Then He will rescue you from the hands of the Philistines!’

⁴ So, the sons of Israel [got rid of their images of] Baal Im and their sacred poles of AstarOth, and they started serving just Jehovah.

⁵ Then SamuEl said, ‘All of Israel must gather at Mizpah, and I will pray to Jehovah for you there.’

⁶ So, all the people went to Mizpah, where they drew water and poured it out on the ground before Jehovah, and they fasted throughout the whole day. For, they said, ‘We have sinned against Jehovah.’ Then SamuEl prayed in behalf of the sons of Israel there at Mizpah.

⁷ Now, when the Philistines heard that all the sons of Israel had gone to Mizpah, the Philistine governors gathered their armies to attack Israel. And when the Israelites heard of this, they were frightened, [because they were scared] of the Philistines. ⁸ So they went to SamuEl and said, ‘Don’t remain silent! Call out to Jehovah your God so He will save us from the hands of the Philistines!’

⁹ Then SamuEl took a newborn lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to Jehovah before all the people, and he called to Jehovah on behalf of Israel, and Jehovah listened.

¹⁰ Well, just as SamuEl was offering up the sacrifice, the Philistines attacked. And then the voice of Jehovah spoke like thunder to the Philistines, which confused them, so they retreated. ¹¹ So the men of Israel came out of Mizpah and they pursued the Philistines, cutting them down to just outside of BethCar.

¹² And thereafter, SamuEl took a [block of] stone and erected it between Mizpah and the old city, which he named EbenEzer, which means, ‘The Rock of the Helper.’ For, he said, ‘This is where Jehovah helped us.’

¹³ So, Jehovah humbled the Philistines that day, and they didn’t enter the borders of Israel again, for the hand of Jehovah was against the Philistines during the entire lifetime of SamuEl. ¹⁴ And the Philistines had to give back all the cities that they had taken from the sons of Israel, from Ekron to Gath. So, the borders of Israel were free of the Philistines, and there was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵ Well, SamuEl served as the mediator between Israel [and God] for the rest of his life. ¹⁶ And each year he would make the circuit between BethEl, GilGal, and MizPah, where he would speak to God on behalf of Israel. ¹⁷ Then he would return to his home in RamAh, where he served as the mediator for Israel and where he built an Altar to Jehovah.

Chapter 8

¹ And when SamuEl grew old, he appointed his sons as judges in Israel. ² The firstborn was JoEl, and the second was AbiJah. They each served as judges in BeerSheba, ³ but they weren’t like [SamuEl], because they accepted contributions and took bribes, so they didn’t [always] make righteous decisions.

⁴ Well, the men of Israel got together and went to SamuEl at RamAh ⁵ and said, ‘Look, you’re getting old and your sons aren’t doing things the way you do. So, appoint a king to settle matters between us, as the rest of the nations have.’

⁶ But SamuEl viewed this as something wicked when they said, ‘Appoint a king to settle matters between us,’ so he prayed to Jehovah. ⁷ And Jehovah replied, ‘Listen to the voice of the people and do whatever they’re asking. For, they aren’t treating you with contempt, ⁸ they’re just doing the same things they’ve been doing to Me from the day that I led them out of Egypt until now. And as they’ve abandoned Me to serve other gods, that’s how they’re treating you now. ⁹ So, do whatever they ask. However, explain what will happen when you appoint a king to rule over them.’

¹⁰ So, SamuEl told them everything that Jehovah said about kings. ¹¹ He told them, ‘These are the things that you can expect from the kings who will rule over you: They will take your sons and mount them on chariots, or appoint them as cavalry to ride in front of their chariots. ¹² Then they will appoint commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and [your sons] will have to plow and harvest their fields and pick their grapes, before they’re sent to war on chariots.

¹³ ‘They will also take your daughters to serve as perfume makers, cooks, and bakers, ¹⁴ and they will take the best food from your fields, vineyards, and olive groves to feed their servants. ¹⁵ Then they will claim a tenth of your grain and grapes for their eunuchs and servants, ¹⁶ and they will take the best of your male and female slaves, and your burros… they will take a tenth of everything you own! ¹⁷ They will take a tenth of your flocks, and you will be their servants. ¹⁸ And the day will come when you’ll call out to the king that you chose for yourselves, and he won’t pay any attention to Jehovah.’

¹⁹ Well, the people didn’t want to listen to what SamuEl was saying, so they told him, ‘We want you to appoint a king over us ²⁰ just like all the other nations have… someone who can settle matters between us, lead us, and wage our wars.’

²¹ And after SamuEl heard what the people said, he spoke to them before Jehovah and said, ²² ‘Jehovah told me to listen to whatever you have to say and to appoint a king over you. Now, each of you should return to your cities.’

Chapter 9

¹ Well, there was a man from the sons of BenJamin named Kish (the son of ZerOr, the grandson of BechOrath, and the great-grandson of AphiAh, of BenJamin), and he was very strong. ² He had a son named Saul who was very tall and handsome… none among the sons of Israel were taller, for he stood head and shoulders above everyone else in the land.

³ Well, Saul’s father Kish had lost two burros, so he said to Saul: ‘Take one of the servants with you and go look for my burros.’ ⁴ So he traveled through the hills of EphraIm and through the land of ShaliSha [searching for them], but he couldn’t find them.

⁵ And when they got to Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was traveling with him, ‘Come on, let’s just go back to my father [and tell him that we couldn’t find] the burros, because he’s probably worried about us.’

⁶ But his servant said, ‘Look, there’s a man of God in this city. He’s an honorable man, and whatever he says will happen. So, let’s go to him and ask which way we should travel.’

⁷ And Saul replied, ‘Okay, let’s go there; but what do we have with us that we can offer to the man of God, since even the loaves of bread that we were carrying are gone?’

⁸ And the servant said, ‘Look, I’ve been carrying a coin in my hand. We can give it to the man of God, and then he’ll show us the way.’

⁹ Well in Israel back then, whenever someone wanted to ask something of God, they would say, ‘Let’s go ask the Seer,’ because the people used to call the Prophets Seers. ¹⁰ So Saul said to his servant: ‘What you’ve suggested is a good idea. Come on, let’s go there.’ And they went to the city where the man of God lived.

¹¹ Well, as they were going up to the city, they noticed some young women who were coming out to draw water, and they asked them: ‘Is the Seer here?’

¹² And they answered, ‘Yes, he is. Look, he’s just ahead of you. But hurry, because he’s going to the house of worship to offer sacrifices for the people. ¹³ As you enter the city, you’ll find him getting ready to go there for a meal, for the people won’t start their meal before he blesses the sacrifice. But after he does that, the people will [sit down to] eat. So go on, because this may be the only day you can find him!’

¹⁴ Well, they entered the city, and as they were traveling toward its center, they saw SamuEl coming to meet them, since he was on his way to the place of worship. ¹⁵ However, Jehovah had opened the ears of SamuEl [the previous day] and told him, ¹⁶ ‘At this time tomorrow, I will send a man from the land of BenJamin to you. You must anoint him to be the ruler over My people Israel, and he will save My people from the hands of the Philistines, for I’ve watched their humiliation [long enough], and I’ve heard them calling to Me.’

¹⁷ So when SamuEl noticed Saul, Jehovah said to him, ‘Look, this is the man that I was talking to you about. He will rule My people.’

¹⁸ Well, as Saul walked up to SamuEl there in the center of the city, he asked, ‘Tell me; where does the Seer live?’

¹⁹ And SamuEl replied, ‘I am he. Come with me to the place of worship and eat with me today. Then in the morning, I’ll show you everything that’s in your heart, ²⁰ and I’ll also tell you where the burros are that you’ve been looking for over the past three days. Don’t let your heart be concerned about them, because they’ve been found. For, what is more beautiful among the things of Israel than you and the house of your father?’

²¹ Then Saul answered, ‘I’m just a man of the sons of BenJamin, one of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family is the least of all the families of BenJamin. So, why have you spoken to me like that?’

²² Then SamuEl took Saul and his servant along with him to the place where they would eat, and he called for them to sit at the head of the table before the thirty men who were there. ²³ And he told the cook, ‘Give him the portion [of the meat] that I gave you and asked you to set aside.’

²⁴ Well, the cook brought out a whole hindquarter and placed it before Saul. And SamuEl said, ‘Look, we have placed what is left before you. Eat it, for this is proof that you’ve been placed over the people… pull off a piece!’

So, Saul ate with SamuEl that day, ²⁵ and when he returned to the city from the place of worship, the [people] spread some carpets on the roof for Saul, and he went to bed.

²⁶ Then at dawn, SamuEl called up to the roof for Saul, and said, ‘Get up, for I’m going to send you on!’

So, Saul got up and went outside to meet SamuEl. ²⁷ And as they were walking from the city into the fields, SamuEl said to Saul, ‘Tell the young man to walk in front of us. Then you stop here, and you’ll hear the Word of God!’

Chapter 10

¹ Then SamuEl took a flask of oil and poured it over [Saul’s] head, and kissed him and said: ‘Jehovah is anointing you to be the ruler over His inheritance. ² Then, just as soon as I leave you today, you will find two men near the tomb of Rachel on Mount BenJamin, who will be jumping up and down; for they will tell you that they’ve found the burros you are searching for. However, your father has already stopped worrying about the burros and now he’s worried about you and asking, What should I do about my son?

³ ‘But when you get there, you must travel on until you reach the oak tree at Tabor, where you’ll find three men going up to [worship] God at BethEl. One will be carrying three goat kids, the second will be carrying three containers of bread, and the third will have a skin of wine. ⁴ They will all wish you peace and offer you two loaves of their first-fruit bread… go ahead and accept them, ⁵ then travel on to the hill of God where there’s a Philistine fort. And when you enter the city, you’ll meet a group of Prophets who will be dancing as they leave the place of worship to the music of a harp, a tambourine, pipes, and a harp, and they will be prophesying. ⁶ Then the Breath of Jehovah will come over you and you should prophesy with them, for you will become another man. ⁷ And when you see these signs happening to you, do everything that you’re moved to do, because God is with you.’

⁸ ‘Thereafter, I want you to come and meet me at GilGal, where I’ll give you [animals] to sacrifice as whole burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then you must stay with me for seven days as I teach you what to do.’

⁹ Well, just as he turned his shoulder to leave SamuEl, God changed [SamuEl’s] heart, and then all the signs started coming true that day. ¹⁰ And when he finally reached the hill and saw the group of Prophets dancing directly opposite him, God’s Breath came over him and he started prophesying in their midst.

¹¹ So, all the things that he was told would happen to him came true during those three days, and there he was in the midst of the Prophets prophesying, as the people were asking each other, ‘What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul become one of the Prophets?’

¹² And then one of them asked, ‘So, who is his father?’

Well, because of this, a saying was created, ‘Might Saul be one of the Prophets?’

¹³ And after he had finished prophesying, he went back down the hill. ¹⁴ Then his uncle asked [Saul’s] servant, ‘Where have you been?’

And he replied, ‘We’ve been looking for the burros, and when we couldn’t find them we went to see SamuEl.’

¹⁵ Then the uncle went to Saul and asked, ‘Tell me, what did SamuEl say to you?’

¹⁶ And Saul replied, ‘He told me where to find the burros.’ (However, he didn’t say anything about what SamuEl told him about becoming the king.)

¹⁷ Then SamuEl summoned all the people of Jehovah and told them to assemble at MizPah. ¹⁸ And there he told the sons of Israel, ‘This is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said: I led Israel out of Egypt and I rescued them from the hand of its Pharaoh and from the hands of all the kingdoms that oppressed them. ¹⁹ Yet, today you’re treating the God who saved you from all of this badness and oppression with contempt!

‘Now, you’ve all said that you want me to appoint a king over you. So, that’s why you’re all standing here before Jehovah today by tribes, states, and families.’

²⁰ Then SamuEl led each of the tribes of Israel [past Jehovah], and the tribe of BenJamin was chosen. Then he led the tribe of BenJamin [past Jehovah] and the family of Matri was chosen. ²¹ Then they drew lots, and Saul (the son of Kish) was chosen. But when they went to look for him, he couldn’t be found.

²² So SamuEl asked Jehovah: ‘Is the man still here?’

And Jehovah replied: ‘Look, he’s hiding in the tool shed.’

²³ Then [SamuEl] ran there and ²⁴ brought him back, and stood him in the midst of the people.

Well, [he was easy to see] because he stood head and shoulders above everyone else. ²⁴ Then SamuEl said to the people, ‘Do you see who Jehovah Himself has chosen? There isn’t another man like him among you!’

Well, all the people recognized this and they shouted, ‘Long live the king!’

²⁵ Thereafter, SamuEl explained all the rules of kingship to the people, and then he wrote everything in a scroll and set it before Jehovah.

So, he sent the people away and they each returned home. ²⁶ And when Saul got home to GibeAh, many powerful men whose hearts had been touched by Jehovah were there to meet with him. ²⁷ But the worst of them asked, ‘Just who is he that he should be appointed our savior?’

Well, they said a lot of bad things about him and they didn’t bring him any gifts. However, Saul just kept silent.

Chapter 11

¹ Thereafter, NaHash the Ammonite [went to attack] JabIsh Gilead, and the people of the city said, ‘Make peace with us and we’ll become your servants.’

² But NaHash replied, ‘I’ll make an agreement with you if I can gouge out all your right eyes, for I detest Israel!’

³ And the men of JabIsh said, ‘Give us seven days and we’ll send messengers throughout Israel. Then if no one comes to save us, we’ll just surrender to you.’

⁴ So, they sent messengers to Saul at GibeAh who told the people there what NaHash had said. Then the people there started wailing and crying. ⁵ And when Saul returned from the fields behind the town with his oxen, he asked, ‘Why are all the people crying?’ And they gave him the message that came from the people of JabIsh.

⁶ Well, the Breath of Jehovah came over Saul when he heard what they said, and he was outraged. ⁷ So he took his two oxen and cut them up, then he sent [the pieces] throughout all Israel via messengers who said, ‘Whoever refuses to follow Saul and SamuEl will be treated like my oxen.’

Then Jehovah caused a change of heart to come over the people [of Israel], and they started shouting together as one person. ⁸ And when [Saul] counted his forces in the house of worship at AbEzek, he found that there were three hundred thousand in the army of Israel, and thirty thousand more from the tribe of Judah. ⁹ So he said to the messengers who came there, ‘Tell the men of JabIsh Gilead this: Tomorrow, by the time the sun warms [the ground], you will be saved.’

So, the messengers returned to their city and reported what he said to the people of JabIsh, and they were jubilant. ¹⁰ Then the men of JabIsh told NaHash the Ammonite, ‘We will come out of the city tomorrow, and then you may treat us any way you wish.’

¹¹ Well, very early the next morning, Saul divided his army into three companies and they attacked the Ammonite camp… and they kept slaughtering them until the day got hot. By then [the Ammonites] were all scattered and not even two men were still together.

¹² Then the people went to SamuEl and said, ‘Who was it that said Saul shouldn’t be our king? Hand them over and we’ll kill them.’

¹³ But Saul said, ‘No; none of them are going to die today, because this is the day that Jehovah has brought salvation to Israel.’

¹⁴ Then SamuEl spoke to the people and said, ‘Come on! Let’s go to GilGal and we’ll establish the kingdom there.’

¹⁵ So, everyone went to GilGal, and SamuEl anointed Saul as king there before Jehovah. Then he offered sacrifices before Jehovah, and Saul and all the people of Israel were very happy.

Chapter 12

¹ Then SamuEl spoke to all the men of Israel and said, ‘Look, I’ve listened to everything you’ve asked for and I’ve given you a king to rule over you. ² So, now you can see that you have a king who is leading you. And as for me, I’ve grown old and I’m ready to retire (although my sons are still among you). For, I’ve been your leader since I was very young. ³ And look, here I am! So, answer before Jehovah and His anointed one: Whose calf or burro have I taken? Whom have I tyrannized or pressured? And from whose hand have I taken a bribe or even a sandal? Tell me what I’ve taken and I’ll return it to you!’

⁴ And they replied to SamuEl, ‘You haven’t wronged us or tyrannized us, nor have you taken anything from us… not a single thing.’

⁵ Then SamuEl said to the people, ‘So Jehovah is my witness among you today, as is His anointed one, that you haven’t found anything in my hands that I’ve taken from you.’

And they replied, ‘It’s a fact.’

⁶ And SamuEl said, ‘Then Jehovah, the One who prepared Moses and Aaron and who led our ancestors out of Egypt, is my witness. ⁷ So now, come here and I will judge you before Jehovah, and I’ll tell you of the righteous things that Jehovah has done for you and your ancestors.

⁸ ‘After Jacob and his sons moved to Egypt, the Egyptians made them slaves. So, our ancestors called to Jehovah and He sent Moses and Aaron. They led our ancestors out of Egypt and settled them here. ⁹ But [our ancestors soon] forgot Jehovah their God, so He gave them into the hands of Sisera (the commander-in-chief of JabIsh, the king of Hazor), then into the hands of the Philistines, then into the hands of Moab, and they had to go to war with [each of] them. ¹⁰ But when they called to Jehovah and admitted that they had sinned by abandoning Him to serve Baal Im and the sacred poles and they asked Him to rescue them, ¹¹ Jehovah sent JeruBaal, then Barak, then JephThah, and finally SamuEl. So, He has continued to save you from the hands of the enemies that live all around you, and you’ve started to feel safe.

¹² ‘Then, when you saw NaHash (the king of the sons of Ammon) coming against you, you said, We want a king to rule over us… yet our God Jehovah is your king.

¹³ ‘So now, look… here’s the king that I got for you and whom you chose. Yet, Jehovah was the One who appointed him as your king, ¹⁴ so you must serve Him and listen to His voice. Don’t argue with Jehovah… ⁷ both you and the king who rules over you must follow Jehovah your God! ¹⁵ But if you ever stop listening to the voice of Jehovah and you start arguing with Him, His hand will come against you and against your king.

¹⁶ ‘Now, stand and behold the great thing that Jehovah is going to do before your eyes today! ¹⁷ Since this is the time of the wheat harvest, I will call upon Jehovah and He will send thunder and rain. And then you will see and know the bad thing that you did before Jehovah when you asked for a king.’

¹⁸ So SamuEl called to Jehovah and He sent thunder and rain that day. Well, this made the people afraid of SamuEl and Jehovah. ¹⁹ And the people begged SamuEl, ‘Pray to Jehovah your God on behalf of your servants, so we don’t die for this great sin of asking for a king!’

²⁰ But SamuEl told them, ‘Don’t be afraid of any of the bad things you’ve done. Rather, be in fear of ever turning away from Jehovah! You must keep serving Jehovah with your whole hearts! ²¹ Never turn aside to the things which amount to nothing, which can get you nothing, and which can rescue you from nothing, because they are nothing! ²² Never allow Jehovah to be pushed away from His people, because His Name is great, and He chose you to be His people.

²³ ‘Now as for me; may I not sin against Jehovah by ceasing to pray that you will live good and straight lives. ²⁴ Fear Jehovah and truly serve Him with your whole hearts, for you see what He has done among you! ²⁵ But if you ever start doing bad things and become evil and start sinning, your king will be numbered among your dead.’

Chapter 13

¹ This all happened during the first year of Saul’s reign. And after the second year, ² he selected three thousand men from Israel, two thousand of whom stayed with him in MichMash (in the hills of BethEl), and the other thousand were with his son JoNathan in GibeAh of BenJamin. He sent everyone else back home.

³ Well, JoNathan had attacked the Philistine [leader] Nasib (who lived in the hills), and the rest of the Philistines came to hear of it. So, Saul sent trumpeters throughout the land ⁴ who told all Israel about how they had killed Nasib the Philistine, and how [the Philistines] were planning to get even with Israel. As the result, the people of Israel gathered to Saul at GilGal, ⁵ as the Philistines prepared for war against them. Then they came with thirty thousand chariots, six thousand mounted horsemen, and foot soldiers that were numbered as the sands of the sea; and they camped at BethAven just south of MichMash.

⁶ Well, when the Israelites saw what they were facing, they were afraid to fight, so they went and hid in caves, in animal dens, behind rocks, in quarries, and in sink holes. ⁷ Many ran away and crossed the Jordan into the lands of Gad and Gilead, abandoning Saul at GilGal. ⁸ Then (after Saul’s people had deserted him) Saul called for SamuEl, but SamuEl didn’t come to GilGal immediately. ⁹ And after seven days, Saul said, ‘Bring us some [animals] and I’ll sacrifice a whole burnt offering and a peace offering myself.’ So he [personally] offered the sacrifices.

¹⁰ Well, it was shortly after he did this that SamuEl finally arrived. And when Saul came to meet him and to give him his blessing, ¹¹ SamuEl asked, ‘What have you done?’

And Saul replied, ‘I did this because I saw that my men had left me, and you didn’t come when you said you would. After all, the Philistines are camped [just outside] of MichMash. ¹² So I [thought to myself], Now the Philistines are going to attack me at GilGal, and I haven’t been able to beg Jehovah for help. So, I just took charge and sacrificed the whole burnt offerings myself.’

¹³ But SamuEl told Saul, ‘You’ve done a foolish thing by not obeying the instructions that I gave you from Jehovah, for He had meant for your kingdom to last through the ages. ¹⁴ But now the kingdom [of your family line] will not stand, and Jehovah will search for another man – one who [pleases] His heart – and He will appoint him to be the ruler over His people, because you didn’t do as Jehovah said.’

¹⁵ Then SamuEl got up and left GilGal, and traveled into the hills of BenJamin.

So, Saul counted to see how many people he still had left, and he only found about six hundred men. ¹⁶ And as the result, he, his son JoNathan, and his remaining army stayed inside [the walls of] GibeAh of BenJamin, while the Philistines were camped in MichMash.

¹⁷ Then the Philistines planned their attack and they stationed one division along the road that leads from Ophrah to the land of ShuAl, ¹⁸ a second along the road to BethHoron, and a third along the road from GibeAh to The City of ZeboIm in the desert.

¹⁹ Now, back then there were no ironworks anywhere in the land of Israel, for the Philistines had kept them from [learning this trade], because they didn’t want the Israelites to make broadswords or spear [tips]. ²⁰ So the Israelites had to go to the land of the Philistines to forge their own pruning hooks, tools, axes, and sickles. ²¹ And whenever such things were needed for the harvesting, the [Philistines] charged the same price (three small silver coins) for a pruning hook, an axe, or a sickle. ²² As the result, none of Saul’s soldiers had any spears or broadswords. The only ones among them belonged to Saul and his son JoNathan.

²³ The Philistines had also placed a contingent of guards just outside MichMash.

Chapter 14

¹ And that day, JoNathan (Saul’s son) said to the servant who was carrying his weapons, ‘Come with me! Let’s go around to the other side of the Philistine garrison’ (but he didn’t tell his father what he was doing).

² Meanwhile, Saul had moved to the peak of a hill in MagAdon, and he was camping there under a pomegranate tree. Then, some of his [remaining] six hundred (or so) men came there to meet with him, ³ and AhiJah (the son AhiTub, the brother of Ichabod, who was the son of Phinehas and the grandson of Eli) the Priest of Jehovah in Shiloh, came carrying the sacred chest piece of the Priest. However, no one knew that JoNathan had left.

⁴ Now, JoNathan had crossed through the middle of the river on his way to the Philistine camp, at a ford where there were jagged rocks on both sides (on one side it was called Bozez, and on the other side it was called Seneh), ⁵ along the road that leads from MichMash in the north, to Geba in the south. ⁶ Then JoNathan said to the servant who was carrying his weapons, ‘Come on, let’s go to the town of MesSab [and attack] the uncircumcised who are camped there, for, perhaps Jehovah will give them [into our hands]. After all, doesn’t [Jehovah give victory] over many to just a few?’

⁷ And the man who was carrying his weapons replied, ‘You do whatever your heart moves you to do. Look, I’m with you. For, whatever is in your heart is in my heart also.’

⁸ And JoNathan said, ‘Then we’ll go up there [and stand in front of them]. ⁹ And if they say to us, Wait there, we’ll just stay away and we won’t go any closer. ¹⁰ But if they tell us to come forward, that will be our sign… we’ll know that Jehovah has given them into our hands, so we’ll attack.’

¹¹ Then they walked up to the Philistine camp at MesSab, and a Philistine guard shouted, ‘Look! Here come some Hebrews who have crawled out of the burrows they’ve been hiding in.’

¹² So the men of MesSab called to JoNathan and the man who was carrying his weapons, and said: ‘Come on up here to us and we’ll show you a few things.’

Then JoNathan said to the man who was carrying his weapons, ‘Now follow me, for Jehovah has given them into the hands of Israel!’

¹³ And JoNathan crawled up the hill on his hands and feet, with the man carrying his weapons close behind. ¹⁴ Then JoNathan and [his attendant] attacked, killing twenty men using arrows, slings, and rocks that they’d found in the field. ¹⁵ And this caused quite a change in attitude among the [Philistines] in and around MesSab, for they had caught the men they destroyed off guard. And everyone was very disturbed over what [Jehovah had done among them].

¹⁶ Well, Saul’s watchmen in GibeAh of BenJamin noticed that there was a lot of confusion on both sides of the enemy camp. ¹⁷ And Saul said to the people who were meeting with him: ‘Take a head count and see who has left us.’

So, they took a head count and found that JoNathan and the man carrying his weapons were missing. ¹⁸ Then Saul said to AhiJah, ‘Bring the sacred chest piece!’ (It was inside the Chest of God that day, before Israel).

¹⁹ And as Saul was speaking to the Priest, he noticed that the sound in the Philistine camp kept getting louder and louder. So he said to the Priest, ‘Put your hands together [and pray].’ ²⁰ Then Saul went and gathered his troops and they joined the battle.

Well, confusion reigned in the Philistine camp and the men started attacking each other with swords. ²¹ Then [Saul’s] men (who had [been hiding] for the previous two days) got up and joined the battle with Saul and JoNathan. ²² And when the Israelites who had run to the hills of EphraIm heard that the Philistines were retreating, they all came and joined in the battle, and Jehovah gave victory to Israel that day.

Well, the battle raged through BethAven, and by then, about ten thousand men had joined Saul. ²³ And from there the war continued to be fought in many cities and into the hills of EphraIm.

²⁴ Then Saul did something very foolish; he placed a curse on the people when he said, ‘Any man who eats before the evening is cursed, because I want my enemies punished!’ As the result, none of his men had anything to eat.

Well, his people had gathered in a grove of trees, ²⁵ and nearby (at the edge of a field), there were some beehives. ²⁶ And when some of his people went up to them, they found that they were full of honey; but no one would taste any, because of the oath that [Saul] had made before Jehovah.

²⁷ However, JoNathan didn’t know about the oath his father had spoken in front of people, so he stuck his walking stick into a hive, snagged some honeycomb, and ate it. Then, when he looked up, ²⁸ one of the men said, ‘Your father swore an oath before the people that anyone who eats anything today is cursed.’

Well, the people were famished, ²⁹ and JoNathan realized this, so he said, ‘My father is still cleaning out the land; and look, I’ve already eaten a little of this honey. ³⁰ Why, if our people [could have eaten] what they took from their enemies today, they would have killed more Philistines!’

³¹ Well, they had destroyed many Philistines at MichMash, and the people were extremely tired. ³² So in [the evening], they went and divided up [the Philistine’s] flocks and herds. Then they slaughtered many calves and started eating the [raw] meat with its blood. ³³ And when the report was brought to Saul that the people were sinning against Jehovah by eating the blood, Saul said, ‘You have sinned! Now roll a large rock over here.’

³⁴ Then Saul sent orders for his men to each bring a calf and a sheep, and they were to slaughter them there on the rock and eat them. For he said: ‘You must not sin against Jehovah by eating blood!’

So, everyone brought [the animals] that night and slaughtered them there. ³⁵ Then Saul built an altar to Jehovah ³⁶ and he said, ‘Now, let’s go after the Philistines tonight and keep cutting them to pieces until the morning dawns… don’t leave a single man!’

And they replied, ‘We’ll do whatever you say!’

Then [Saul] called the Priest and said, ‘Bring [the Chest] of our God here.’ ³⁷ And Saul asked God, ‘Shall I attack the Philistines, and will you give them into the hands of Israel?’ But [God] wouldn’t answer him, ³⁸ so Saul said, ‘Then bring [all the men of] Israel here and stand them in front of me, because I want everyone to know if someone has been [guilty of sin] today! ³⁹ Why, as Jehovah (the One who saves Israel) lives; if someone were to even tell me that it was my son JoNathan, he would die.’

But nobody said anything.

⁴⁰ Then he spoke before all the men of Israel, and said, ‘You are part of this, and my son JoNathan and I [are part] of it.

And the people replied to Saul, ‘Then do whatever you must!’

⁴¹ And Saul said, ‘O Jehovah, God of Israel, give us a sign.’

Then lots were thrown, and Saul and JoNathan were chosen, so the people were excused. ⁴² And Saul said, ‘Now throw the lots between me and my son JoNathan, and whoever Jehovah chooses must die!’

So, they threw the lots between him and JoNathan, and JoNathan was chosen. ⁴³ And Saul asked JoNathan, ‘Tell me, what did you do?’

And JoNathan replied ‘I took a little honey on the tip of my walking stick and tasted it. So look, I must die!’

⁴⁴ Then Saul said, ‘May God [kill] me again and again rather than to allow JoNathan to die today.’

⁴⁵ Then Saul spoke to the people and said, ‘Shall I now kill the one who brought deliverance to Israel? As Jehovah lives, not a hair of his head should fall to the ground over the mercy that God has performed for Israel today.’

Then the people prayed on behalf of JoNathan, and he wasn’t put to death.

⁴⁶ So, Saul didn’t chase after the Philistines that day… everyone just went back home.

⁴⁷ Now, after Saul was chosen by lottery to rule over Israel, he waged war with his enemies all around the land… the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the king of Zobah, and the Philistines. And wherever he went, he was saved. ⁴⁸ He acted decisively and struck down the Amalechites and anyone else who tried to walk on Israel.

⁴⁹ Saul’s sons were JoNathan, IshVi, and MelchiShua. He also had two daughters, Merob and Michal. ⁵⁰ Saul’s wife’s name was AhinoAm, and she was the daughter of AhimaAz.

The commander-in-chief of Saul’s army was AbNer (the son of Ner), who was related to Saul. ⁵¹ Kish was Saul’s father, and AbNer’s father Ner was the son of AbiEl. ⁵² He was a strong fighter against the Philistines throughout the life of Saul.

And whenever Saul found a valiant or a very strong man, he was recruited to serve Saul.

Chapter 15

¹ Thereafter, SamuEl said to Saul: ‘It was Jehovah who sent me to anoint you as king over His people Israel, so now, listen to what He has to say! ² This is what Jehovah of armies says to you: Now I shall punish Amalech for what they did to Israel when they were coming from Egypt. ³ So, go and cut down the Amalechites… destroy them… burn them and everything that belongs to them. Kill the men, the women, the children, the babies, the cows, the sheep, the camels, and the burros!’

⁴ So, Saul gave these instructions to his people, and then he counted his troops at GilGal (there were two hundred thousand, plus ten thousand from Judah). ⁵ And thereafter, Saul marched toward the cities of the Amalechites and he camped along a creek. ⁶ Then he gave this warning to the Kenites: ‘Get away from the Amalechites, or I’ll destroy you along with them. For, you showed mercy to the sons of Israel when they were coming out of Egypt.’

So the Kenites got away from Amalech, ⁷ and then Saul attacked Amalech all the way from HaviLah to Shur (which is across from Egypt), ⁸ and he captured the Amalechite king AgAg, and he had all the people killed with swords. ⁹ However, Saul and his men [didn’t destroy] their flocks, their herds, their food, their vineyards, or any of their good things; they only destroyed the things that were worthless.

¹⁰ So Jehovah said to SamuEl, ‘I have changed My mind about having Saul rule as king, because he has turned away from Me and he doesn’t listen to what I say.’

¹¹ Well, this saddened SamuEl, and he kept calling to Jehovah all night long. ¹² Then, when he got up the next morning and went to meet with Israel, he was told that Saul had left for Carmel. So he raised his arm and turned his chariot, then he headed for GilGal.

¹³ And when SamuEl reached Saul, he said to him, ‘Saul, you were blest by Jehovah and I’ve told you everything that He said to me. ¹⁴ So, why is it that I can hear the sound of herds of sheep and cows?’

¹⁵ And Saul replied, ‘My men took them from the Amalechites. We only took the best of the herds, and we’re going to use them as sacrifices to your God Jehovah… we destroyed all the rest.’

¹⁶ And SamuEl said to Saul, ‘Listen and I’ll tell you what Jehovah said to me last night!’

And [Saul] said, ‘Speak!’

¹⁷ Then SamuEl said, ‘Weren’t you just a nobody before you became the chief of Israel? And wasn’t it Jehovah who anointed you to be the king of Israel? ¹⁸ Then Jehovah sent you here and He told you to go and destroy the Amalechites for sinning against Him… He told you to war against them until you destroyed them all! ¹⁹ Yet, you didn’t pay attention to what He said, for you took a lot of loot and you acted wickedly before Jehovah.’

²⁰ And Saul replied, ‘Well, I did this because I was listening to the people. I [personally] followed Jehovah’s instructions; and although I took the Amalechite king captive, I killed all his people. ²¹ It was my men who took their flocks, herds, good things, and food… but they took it in order to sacrifice it before Jehovah our God in GilGal.’

²² And SamuEl asked, ‘Does Jehovah prefer whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, or does He want you to listen to what He says? Look! Obeying is better than sacrificing, and paying attention is better than the fat of rams! ²³ Now, this sin is an omen of the grief and misery that’s going to come upon you. Because of the contempt you’ve shown for the words of Jehovah, Jehovah is going to treat you with contempt, and you’ll no longer be the king of Israel.’

²⁴ Then Saul said to SamuEl, ‘I have sinned by violating the instructions that you gave me from Jehovah. But I was afraid of the people, so I did whatever they asked. ²⁵ Now, please take away my sin and reinstate me [as king], and I’ll prostrate myself before your God Jehovah!’

²⁶ But SamuEl replied, ‘I won’t reinstate you, because you’ve treated the words of Jehovah with contempt. And now Jehovah is going to treat you with contempt by removing you as king over Israel.’

²⁷ Then, as SamuEl turned to go, Saul grabbed [the fringe] on his robe and ripped it. ²⁸ And SamuEl said to him, ‘That’s how Jehovah has torn your kingship over Israel from your hands today, and He’s going to give it to your neighbor; someone who’s better than you. ²⁹ Then Israel is going to be divided in two! The Holy One of Israel isn’t going to change His mind or be dissuaded, because He isn’t like a man who changes his mind.’

³⁰ And again, Saul said, ‘I have sinned! Please glorify me before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back to me and I’ll prostrate myself before your God Jehovah!’

³¹ But SamuEl just walked around Saul, and then he bowed before Jehovah. ³² And he said, ‘Bring the king of Amalech to me.’

Well, when they brought him in, he was trembling. And AgAg asked, ‘Is this how I will meet my bitter end?’

³³ And SamuEl replied, ‘As you have used your sword to make orphans and widows, your mother is going to be childless.’ Then SamuEl killed AgAg there in the presence of Jehovah in GilGal.

³⁴ Well, from there, SamuEl went to RamAh, and the saying was started, ‘Whatever is captured will be split.’

So, Saul returned home to his house in GibeAh, ³⁵ and SamuEl never went to see Saul again until the day he died. Yet, he mourned over Saul, for Jehovah was unhappy that He had appointed Saul as king over Israel.

Chapter 16

¹ Then Jehovah asked SamuEl, ‘How long are you going to mourn for Saul? Don’t I treat him with contempt, and am I not removing his rulership from Israel? Now, fill your horn with oil and come, because I’m sending you to Jesse in BethLehem… for I have found My king among his sons.’

² And SamuEl asked, ‘How can I go there… won’t Saul hear about it and kill me?’

And Jehovah replied, ‘Take along a brown heifer cow and say, I’m going to offer a sacrifice to Jehovah. ³ Then call Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice. I’ll tell you what to do then… anoint whoever I make known to you.’

⁴ So, SamuEl did everything that Jehovah said… he went to BethLehem. But the city elders were startled when they saw him, and they asked, ‘Is your mission here peaceful?’

⁵ And he replied, ‘Peace! I’ve come to sacrifice to Jehovah. So make yourselves holy, then come and recline with me [and share in] the sacrifice!’

Then he went [to the house of] Jesse and made him and his sons holy, and invited them to the sacrifice. ⁶ And when they got there, he said to [Jesse’s eldest son] EliAb, ‘What stands before [me] is Jehovah’s anointed.’

⁷ Then Jehovah said to SamuEl, ‘Don’t pay any attention to what [a man] looks like, nor treat his size with contempt, for God doesn’t look at what a man appears to be on the surface… He sees what’s in the heart.’

⁸ So Jesse called AminAdab to stand before SamuEl. And [SamuEl] said, ‘This isn’t the one that Jehovah has chosen.’

⁹ Then Jesse brought ShamMah forward. But [SamuEl] said, ‘Nor has Jehovah chosen this one.’

¹⁰ Well, Jesse sent seven of his sons to stand before SamuEl, and he said to Jesse, ‘Jehovah hasn’t chosen any of these.’ ¹¹ Then SamuEl asked, ‘Are these all the boys you have?’

And Jesse said, ‘Well, there’s still the youngest, but {Look!} he’s out tending my flock.’

And SamuEl said to Jesse, ‘Then send someone to get him, for we aren’t going to rest [tonight] until he gets here!’ ¹² So they sent for [David] and brought him there.

[Now, David] had a ruddy complexion, beautiful eyes, and he was very handsome. Then Jehovah said to SamuEl, ‘Get up and anoint him, for he’s the one!’

¹³ So, SamuEl took his horn full of oil and anointed him there in the midst of his brothers, and the Breath of Jehovah came to be upon David from that day forward. Then SamuEl got up and returned to RamAh.

¹⁴ Well, the Breath of Jehovah then left Saul, and Jehovah brought a ferocious smothering spirit over him. ¹⁵ So, even Saul’s servants were saying, ‘Look! For, a fact, there’s a ferocious spirit from Jehovah that’s smothering you! ¹⁶ Please, O lord, allow your servants to speak before you, and allow us to search for a man who will play his harp for you. Then, whenever the ferocious Breath of God comes over you, he can play his harp and make you feel better.’

¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants: ‘Then go search for a man who’s a skilled musician and bring him to me!’

¹⁸ And one of his servants said: ‘Look, I’ve seen the son of the BethLehemite Jesse, who knows how to play. He’s very alert, he’s a warrior, he’s good with words, he’s handsome, and Jehovah is with him.’

¹⁹ So Saul sent messengers to Jesse, who said: ‘Send your son David to me, the one who shepherds your sheep.’

²⁰ Then Jesse loaded his burro to carry a bushel of bread, a skin of wine, and a kid goat, and he gave it to David to carry to Saul. ²¹ And when David reached Saul and stood before him, Saul came to love him, and then he appointed David to be in charge of his weapons. ²² So he sent a message to Jesse asking, ‘Please allow David to stay with me, because he has found my favor.’

²³ Then, whenever the ferocious Breath of God would come over Saul, David would take his harp and play it, which made Saul feel better, for then the ferocious Breath of God would leave him.

Chapter 17

¹ Thereafter, the Philistines again gathered for war with their forces, and they set up camp near Socoh in Judea (between Socoh and AzeKah in EphesDamMin). ² So, Saul summoned the men of Israel and they set up their camp in the Valley of Pines, across from the Philistines. ³ For, the Philistines took up positions on one mountain, and Israel took up positions on the other, with the valley between them.

⁴ Then a mighty man came out from the Philistine camp who was known as GoliAth from Gath. He was more than seven feet tall, ⁵ he wore a bronze helmet, an iron and brass chain-link chest covering that weighed more than a hundred-and-fifty pounds, ⁶ brass leg coverings, and he carried a shield between his shoulders. ⁷ The shaft of the spear that he carried looked like a weaving support, and its iron tip weighed eighteen pounds.

So, out he came in all his armor and weapons, ⁸ and he stood and yelled to the battle lines of Israel: ‘Why have you come to fight against us? Am I not a Philistine, and aren’t you the Hebrews of Saul? Choose [your best] man and have him come down to fight me. ⁹ And if he can beat me and kill me, then we’ll be your servants. But if I beat and kill him, you’ll be our servants and you’ll serve us.’

¹⁰ Then the Philistine shouted, ‘Look! Here I am mocking the battle lines of Israel today… send out a man and we’ll fight for both sides!’

¹¹ Well, Saul and all Israel heard what the Philistine said, which startled and frightened them.

¹² Then Jesse (an Ephrathite from BethLehem, who was very old) sent David to Saul, ¹³ for three of Jesse’s oldest sons (EliAb, AminAdab, and ShamMah) had gone to fight along with Saul in the war. ¹⁴ And because David was the youngest, these three older ones were sent.

¹⁵ Now, David had left Saul and returned to tend his father’s sheep in BethLehem. ¹⁶ And by the time he was ready to leave for the battle, the Philistine lines had been facing Israel for some forty days.

¹⁷ Jesse had told his son David, ‘Take a bushel of toasted grain and ten loaves of bread to your brothers who are in the camp [of Saul]. ¹⁸ Also, carry along ten rounds of cheese for your brothers and their generals. Check to see if they’re all well and how they’re getting along.’

¹⁹ Well, it was early in the morning, and Saul and all the men of Israel were already down in the Valley of Pines ready to fight the Philistines ²⁰ by the time that David got up [to go]. He left his sheep [in a safe place], and following Jesse’s instructions, he set out with the things he was carrying. But when he got to the battle lines, the war had already begun… ²¹ the war cries had gone up and both Israel and the Philistines were confronting each other.

²² So, David handed over the things he brought to the provisions officer, and then he ran down toward the battle to see how his brothers were doing. ²³ And as he was speaking to them, {Look!} a man walked out [between the lines]… it was GoliAth the Philistine from Gath. Then he stood in front of the Philistine lines and shouted the words that David heard.

²⁴ Well, all the men of Israel retreated before him, because they were afraid of him. ²⁵ Then one of the Israelite soldiers said [to David], ‘Did you see that man who just stepped forward? He stepped out to make fun of Israel. And if any man can beat him, the king promises to make him very rich, he will give him his daughter, and the house of his father [will never be taxed] in Israel.’

²⁶ So David said to the men who were standing near him, ‘Then, who will cut down that Philistine and remove his scorn from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine who berates the battle lines of the living God?’

²⁷ And the men replied to him, ‘Why don’t you go and strike him down?’

²⁸ Well, his older brother EliAb overheard him talking to the men, and he was furious with David. He shouted: ‘Why did you come down here, and why did you leave the sheep alone in the desert? I know that it’s your pride and the evil in your heart that made you come down here to the battle!’

²⁹ And David asked, ‘What have I done now? Did I say something wrong?’ ³⁰ Then he turned to the soldiers he had been speaking to and said the same thing, and they repeated their words. ³¹ And when they heard David’s reply, they went and told Saul.

³² So, David went to Saul and said, ‘My lord; don’t allow that man to upset you, for your servant will go out to fight this Philistine.’

³³ And Saul said to David, ‘There’s no way that you can go to fight against the Philistine, because you’re just a boy, and he has been a mighty warrior since he was young.’

³⁴ But David told Saul: ‘Why, your servant was tending his father’s flock when both a lion and a bear came to grab sheep from the herd. ³⁵ Yet I ran after each one and pulled the sheep from their mouths. Then, when they turned against me, I grabbed each of them by the throat and beat them to death! ³⁶ So now, if a lion and a bear can’t beat your servant, how can this uncircumcised Philistine who berates the battle lines of the living God do so?’

³⁷ And David said, ‘It is Jehovah who rescued me from [the mouth] of the lion and the bear, so He will rescue me from the hands of this uncircumcised Philistine.’

Then Saul said to David, ‘Well then, go… and may Jehovah be with you!’

³⁸ So, Saul clothed David in his armor… he put the brass helmet on his head, and put on his chest covering, ³⁹ then David tied on his sword, but he could barely walk in the [armor], because he had never done this before. So David said to Saul, ‘There’s no way that I can wear this, because I’ve never used [such things] before.’ And they took everything off.

⁴⁰ Then he picked up his walking stick and went out and found five smooth rocks in the stream bed, and put them into his shepherd’s pouch. And with just his sling in his hand, he went out to meet the Philistine man.

⁴¹ Then the Philistine walked out to meet David carrying his shield in front of him and his spear in his hand. ⁴² And when the Philistine (GoliAth) saw David, he was disgusted, because he was just a boy with a ruddy complexion and pretty eyes. ⁴³ So he shouted at David, ‘Am I a dog that you’re coming to me with sticks and stones?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

⁴⁴ Then the Philistine said to David, ‘Come here so I can feed your flesh to the flying creatures in the sky and the wild animals of the ground!’

⁴⁵ And David said to the Philistine, ‘You’re coming to me with a broadsword, a spear, and a shield; but I’m coming to you in the Name of Jehovah the God of armies… the God of the army of Israel who you’re making fun of today. ⁴⁶ May Jehovah give you into my hands, for I will kill you, then cut off your head and leave your body in the Philistine camp [where it will be eaten by] the flying creatures in the sky and the wild animals of the ground. Then they will know that the whole earth belongs to the God of Israel, ⁴⁷ and these called ones will know that Jehovah doesn’t need their swords or spears to save them, for He’s the God of war, and He will save them from you!’

⁴⁸ Then the Philistine approached to meet David, and David ran right up to the Philistine battle lines, ⁴⁹ reached into his pouch and grabbed a rock and slung it, hitting the Philistine in his forehead, penetrating his head, and he fell with his face to the ground. ⁵⁰ Then David stood over the Philistine with a sword, struck him with it and killed him… and it wasn’t David’s sword. ⁵¹ David just ran up and stood over him, then he grabbed [GoliAth’s] broadsword out of its sheath, and killed him, cutting off his head.

Well, when the Philistines saw that their mighty one had been killed, they all ran away. ⁵² Then the men of Israel and Judah shouted and chased the Philistines all the way to Gath and the city gate of Ekron, and they kept on killing the Philistines there on the roads to the gates of Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ Then, after the men of Israel finally stopped chasing the Philistines, they went back and looted their camps.

⁵⁴ So, David took the head of the Philistine and his weapons, and brought them to Jerusalem, where he put them in his tent.

⁵⁵ Now, when Saul first saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he had asked AbNer (his general), ‘Whose son is this young man, AbNer?’

And AbNer replied, ‘May you live a long life, my lord the king, but I don’t know.’

⁵⁶ Then the king told him, ‘Then find out who he is.’

⁵⁷ Well, after David returned from killing the Philistine, AbNer invited him in and took him before Saul (as he was still carrying the head of the Philistine in his hand). ⁵⁸ Then Saul asked him, ‘Whose son are you, young man?’

And David replied, ‘I’m the son of your servant Jesse from BethLehem.’

Chapter 18

¹ Well, as Saul was speaking, [the heart of his son] JoNathan became bound to David… he loved him as much as his own life. ² So, Saul took him back that day, and he wouldn’t allow him to return to the house of his father. ³ And JoNathan made an agreement with David, because he loved him as much as his own life. ⁴ So, JoNathan took off the [royal] robes he wore and put them on David, as well as his uniform, his broadsword, his bow, and his belt.

⁵ Thereafter, David went wherever Saul would send him, and Saul put him in charge of his entire army.

Well, all the people were very pleased with David, as were Saul’s servants. ⁶ Then one day, when David was returning to the city from a war with the Philistines, the people came from all the cities of Israel to meet Saul, joyfully singing and dancing with tambourines and cymbals. ⁷ And the women were out in front singing and playing: ‘Saul has cut down thousands, And David his ten thousands.’

⁸ Well this made Saul very angry, for he considered this [treasonous]. He said, ‘They gave David ten thousands and they only gave me thousands! So, what’s left for him now other than my kingdom?’ ⁹ As the result, Saul was suspicious of David from that day on.

¹⁰ Then the next day, the ferocious Breath of God came over Saul, and he started prophesying there in his house. So, David picked up [his har[] and played it throughout the whole day.

Well, Saul’s wooden spear was [nearby], ¹¹ and he picked it up and shouted, ‘I’m going to pin David to the wall!’ And David had to run from him twice.

¹² Well, Saul came to fear David, for he realized that Jehovah was with him, so he finally had to leave Saul’s [house]. ¹³ And after he left, Saul demoted him to the commander over a thousand men. But he still [marched in victories] before the people, ¹⁴ for David was capable in everything he did, and Jehovah was with him. ¹⁵ And Saul recognized this, so he was always cautious when dealing with [David].

¹⁶ Well, all of Israel and Judah came to love David, because he was always [marching in victory] before them. ¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, ‘Look, I’ll give you my older daughter Merab as your wife, so you can be a powerful son to me. And then you can [lead] the battles of Jehovah!’

Well, what Saul [was thinking] was: ‘That way I won’t have to kill him, I’ll let the Philistines do it for me.’

¹⁸ But David replied to Saul, ‘Who am I, and how important is the life of my father in Israel, that I should be an in-law of the king?’

¹⁹ Then Saul eventually gave his daughter Merab (who he had promised to David) to AdriEl the Meholathite as his wife. ²⁰ However, Saul’s daughter Michal was in love with David, and when this was reported to Saul, he was very pleased, ²¹ for he [thought]: ‘Then I’ll give her to him, because she’ll always be a trap to him, and she’ll drive him into the hands of the Philistines.’

So, Saul said to David, ‘I want you to form a marriage alliance with me today.’ ²² And Saul gave orders to his servants, saying, ‘Talk to David in private and say to him, Look, the king wants you, and all his servants love you, so form a marriage alliance with the king!’

²³ Well, as Saul’s servants were speaking to David about these things, David asked, ‘Do you really think it’s right for me to form a marriage alliance with the king? Why, I’m just a commoner and I’m unworthy of such honor.’

²⁴ So Saul’s servants went back and reported everything that David said. ²⁵ And Saul told them, ‘Say this to David: Well, the king is asking a dowry for her, and all he wants is the foreskins of a hundred Philistines as vengeance against his enemies.’ However, Saul had come up with a plan to put David into the hands of the Philistines, ²⁶ and that’s why he told his servants to say these things to him.

But what they told him sounded good to David, so he decided to form a marriage alliance with the king. And when the time came, ²⁷ David gathered his men and went out to fight the Philistines… and he brought back the foreskins of two hundred of their men and carried them to the king.

²⁸ Well, when Saul saw this, he knew for sure that Jehovah was with David, and his daughter Michal and all Israel loved him. ²⁹ So, Saul came to fear David throughout the rest of his life.

³⁰ Now, the rulers of the Philistines also came to realize that David was the most important of Saul’s servants, and that he was highly regarded by the people.

Chapter 19

¹ Then Saul spoke to his son JoNathan and his servants about murdering David. ² But JoNathan was very fond of David, so he reported it to him. He said, ‘Saul is looking to kill you, so be on guard tomorrow morning, and find someplace to hide! ³ Then I’ll go into the field with my father when he goes looking for you, and I’ll stand there and talk to him about you, and I’ll report back to you whatever he says.’

⁴ So, JoNathan did speak to his father about David, pointing out his good qualities. He said: ‘The king shouldn’t sin against his servant David, because he hasn’t sinned against you, and he has always done the right thing. ⁵ Why, he put his life on the line when he struck down the Philistine, and Jehovah brought a great salvation that day… then all Israel saw it and rejoiced. So, why do you want to sin against the blood of an innocent man and kill David when he hasn’t really been charged with anything?’

⁶ Well, Saul [was moved by] what JoNathan had to say, and he swore an oath, saying, ‘As Jehovah lives, he shall [live]!’

⁷ Then JoNathan called for David and told him everything. And he brought David back to Saul, and everything was as it used to be.

⁸ Well, there was another war, and David was put in charge of the battle against the Philistines. Then he soundly defeated them and they ran from him. ⁹ But then the ferocious Breath of Jehovah came upon Saul as he was sitting his house (with a spear in his hand), and David was there playing his [harp]. ¹⁰ Well, Saul again threw the spear at David, and this time it stuck into the wall. So he left Saul, because he had barely escaped with his life that night.

¹¹ Thereafter, Saul sent guards to David’s house to keep an eye on him, for he planned to execute him the next morning. But [David’s] wife Michal warned him, ‘You’d better do something tonight if you value your life, for they’re planning to execute you in the morning.’

¹² Then Michal let David down through a window, and he escaped and ran away. ¹³ So she took a statue and put it in his bed, put some goat hair over its head, and covered it with a nightgown. ¹⁴ Then, when Saul’s guards came to take David, she told them he was sick.

¹⁵ But the guards said, ‘Well, he’ll have to get out of bed, because we’re taking him to be executed.’ ¹⁶ Then the guards went to his [bedroom] and found the statue with the goat hair on its head.

¹⁷ So, Saul then asked Michal, ‘Why did you try to deceive me? Why did you protect my enemy and help him get away?’

And Michal replied, ‘He told me to protect him or else he’d kill me.’

¹⁸ Well, David got away safely and he went to SamuEl at RamAh, and there he reported everything that Saul tried to do to him. Then SamuEl and David went and stayed at NaiOth. ¹⁹ And it was reported to Saul, ‘Look, David is in NaiOth of RamAh.’

²⁰ So, Saul sent [guards] to take David, but when they saw a troop of Prophets who were prophesying with SamuEl taking the lead, God’s Breath came over the [troops] and they started prophesying.

²¹ Well, when Saul heard about this, he sent more troops, and they started prophesying too. Then Saul sent troops a third time, and they started prophesying. ²² So, Saul was furious, and he went to RamAh himself. And when he got to the threshing floor there, he asked the Prophets, ‘Where are SamuEl and David?’

And they replied, ‘Look, they’re in NaiOth.’

²³ So [Saul] traveled on to NaiOth, but then the Breath of God came over him and he started prophesying just as he was entering the city… ²⁴ he took off all his clothes and started prophesying in front of SamuEl, and he went around naked all that day and night. And [once again], the people were asking, ‘Is Saul also one of the Prophets?’

Chapter 20

¹ Then David fled the city of NaiOth and he went to see JoNathan. And he asked, ‘What have I done? What’s my offence? How have I sinned against your father so that he’s searching for my life so vigorously?’

² And JoNathan replied, ‘That isn’t what’s happening; he isn’t going to kill you. Look, there’s no way that my father would do anything, whether it’s great or small, without telling me. And why would my father hide such a thing from me? It just isn’t so.

³ But David told JoNathan, ‘Your father knows that I’ve found favor in your eyes, so he told the others, Don’t tell JoNathan, because he cares for him. But as Jehovah lives and as you live, I tell you that the only thing certain between your father and me is death.’

⁴ Then JoNathan said to David, ‘So, what do you want… what can I do for you?’

⁵ And David told him, ‘Look, tomorrow is the New Moon [Festival] and I’m supposed to come here to eat with the king. But I want you to send me away. I’ll go out into the fields and hide there sometime after noon. ⁶ And when your father notices that I’m missing, I want you to say to him, David asked me to excuse him, because he had to return to his city of BethLehem to offer a sacrifice for the Festival on behalf of his whole tribe. ⁷ And if he says, Fine, then your servant is at peace with him. But if he gives you a harsh reply, that will indicate he has evil plans for me.

⁸ ‘Now, you’ve shown great mercy to your servant, for you’ve made an agreement between you and me before Jehovah. And if you think your servant has done anything wrong, then condemn me to death and take me to your father.’

⁹ But JoNathan replied, ‘That won’t happen. Do you think that if I find that my father has evil plans for you, I won’t tell you?

¹⁰ And David said to JoNathan, ‘Then who will you send to tell me if your father answers harshly?’

¹¹ And JoNathan replied, ‘Come, let’s walk out into the fields.’ And they both walked outside [the city].

¹² Then JoNathan said to David, ‘Jehovah the God of Israel knows that I’ll question my father at least two or three times. And if things look good for you, I’m not going to send you to [live in] the fields. ¹³ For, may God [curse] me and add to it if I’ll allow anything bad to happen to you. [However, if the message is bad], I’ll tell you and send you away in peace. Then Jehovah will have to watch over you as He once did my father.

¹⁴ ‘Now, you’ve met with me while I’m alive, and after I die (by the mercy of Jehovah), ¹⁵ [please] be merciful to my house through the age. And when Jehovah destroys the enemies of David from the face of the earth, ¹⁶ may the name of JoNathan always remain in the house of David, even if Jehovah should allow me to die at the hands of your enemies.’

¹⁷ Then JoNathan swore an oath to David because of his love for him… for he loved him as much as his own life. ¹⁸ He said, ‘Tomorrow is the New Moon, and everyone will look for you [to come and sit] in your chair, [but you must go and hide in the fields]. ¹⁹ Then after three days, look around, then come to this place and sit behind that boulder. ²⁰ And then I’ll come here and shoot three arrows at a target. ²¹ And when I send my servant to look for them, if I say to him, Here they are in front of you, come pick them up,’ you may come back, because everything is peaceful. As Jehovah lives, let’s do it this way, so there’s no miscommunication. ²² But if I tell the young man, The arrows are way beyond you, I’ll be sending you away to Jehovah!

²³ ‘Now concerning these things that you and I have agreed to; may Jehovah serve as the witness between you and me through the age.’

²⁴ Then David went and hid in the fields. And when the New Moon [Festival] started, the king arrived to eat at his table. And as always, he sat in his chair by the wall. ²⁵ Now, JoNathan and AbNer were already seated there next to Saul, and everyone looked over to where David usually sat. ²⁶ However, Saul didn’t say anything that day, for he thought is was just a coincidence. He thought that David had likely become unclean and he had gone to cleanse himself that day. ²⁷ But on the next day (the second day of the month), Saul looked at the place where David sat, and he asked his son JoNathan, ‘Why isn’t the son of Jesse here? This is the second day that he hasn’t been at the table!’

²⁸ And JoNathan replied, ‘He asked to be excused so he could go to his city of BethLehem. ²⁹ He asked me to send him there so he could offer a sacrifice for his whole tribe. Now, since you’ve put me in charge of my brothers, and if it pleases you, let me go to check on my brother and find out why he hasn’t come to the table of the king.’

³⁰ Well, Saul was furious with JoNathan and said to him, ‘You son of a divorced woman; don’t you know that when you call the son of Jesse [your brother] it shames you, and it shames the nakedness of your mother? ³¹ For, as long as the son of Jesse is alive on this earth, my kingdom will never be yours. Now, go and catch that young man, for he’s the son of death!’

³² But JoNathan asked his father Saul, ‘Why must he die? What did he do?’

³³ Then Saul grabbed his spear and shoved it toward JoNathan in an attempt to kill him, so JoNathan knew that his father planned to put David to death. ³⁴ As the result, he jumped up from the table in a rage, and he wouldn’t eat anything for the rest of that day, for he was devastated by the fact that his father wanted to finish off David.

³⁵ Well, the next morning, JoNathan went out into the field with his servant to meet with David as he said he would, ³⁶ and he told his servant to run and search for the arrows after he shot them. ³⁷ Well, he shot way over [the target], and when his servant got to the place where he shot them, JoNathan yelled, ‘They’re way out beyond that.’ ³⁸ And he added, ‘Hurry, don’t just stand there!’

Well, JoNathan’s servant finally retrieved all the arrows that his master had shot, ³⁹ and he wasn’t aware of what was actually happening. But JoNathan and David both understood the meaning of this. ⁴⁰ Then JoNathan handed his weapons to his servant and told him to take them back to the city. ⁴¹ And as he was leaving, David stood up from [inside] a box and fell with his face to the ground, bowing before him three times. Then he kissed his friend and they both cried over this end to David’s greatness.

⁴² Then JoNathan said to David, ‘Go in peace! And as we both swore an oath in the Name of the Lord; Jehovah is the witness between you and me, and between my seed and your seed through the ages.’

Then David got up and left, and JoNathan returned to the city.

Chapter 21

¹ From there, David went to AhiMelech the Priest at Nob, and he was surprised to see David. So he asked him, ‘Why did you come alone… why didn’t anyone come with you?’

² And David replied, ‘The king sent me today, and he told me not to tell anyone why I came. For, I’ve been instructed to tell you and your servants to go to the place called PhalanNi AlomNi.

³ ‘Now, if you can find five loaves of bread, please give them to me.’

⁴ And the Priest said, ‘I don’t have any regular bread, just the holy loaves that the servants have set aside for their women to eat.

⁵ And David said, ‘Yes, those that have been set aside for the women will do, for we’ve been traveling for three days, and my servants and I are clean. And although the reason for my journey is secular, it will be made made pure by my weapons.’

⁶ So, the Priest removed the loaves from the presence of Jehovah and gave it to them, because there was no other bread nearby, and [David] took them.

⁷ Now on that day, there was a certain servant of Saul [who had come to worship] before Jehovah. He was called Doyo the Edomite. And at the time, he was out feeding Saul’s mules.

⁸ Then David said to AhiMelech: ‘See if you can find a spear or a broadsword, because I don’t have my weapons. Hurry, because this is a matter of the king.’

⁹ And the Priest said, ‘Look, here’s the broadsword of the Philistine GoliAth who you cut down in the Ela Valley. I have it wrapped in a cape behind his chest covering. Take it, because there isn’t anything else like it here.’

And David said, ‘No, there’s nothing else like it. [Please] give it to me!’

¹⁰ So he went and got it, then he gave it to David, and David continued running from Saul.

Then when he reached AchIsh the king of Gath, AkIsh’s servants asked, ‘Isn’t this David, the king of the land? ¹¹ Isn’t he the one about whom the dancing women sang, Saul cut down his thousands and David his ten thousands?

¹² Well, David took those words to heart, and he was afraid to appear before AchIsh. ¹³ So, he started [putting on an act] in front of them. He crawled around on his hands [and knees], laid on the floor at the [city] gate, and allowed spit to run down his beard.

¹⁴ So, AchIsh said to his servants, ‘Look, you can see that the man is having convulsions! Why have you brought him to me? ¹⁵ Do you want to bring someone who is possessed to me? Should I invite him into my house?’

Chapter 22

¹ Therefore, David got away safely and he went to the cave of OdolLam. And when his brothers and the rest of his family heard about it, they went to him there.

² Well thereafter, men who were poor, the debtors, and those with a lot of problems starting coming to him, and he became their leader. ⁷ Altogether, there were about four hundred men.

³ Then David moved from there to MizPah in Moab, and he asked the king of Moab: ‘Please allow my mother and father to stay with you until I know what my God has planned for me.’

⁴ Well, he had appealed to the king of Moab personally, and the king allowed them to live with him in his citadel.

⁵ Then the Prophet Gad told David, ⁶ ‘Don’t settle there in the citadel; go back to the land of Judah.’ So, David went and settled in the city of Hareth.

⁶ Well, Saul heard where David and his men were. So, he stood on the hill (the one by the plowed fields at RamAh) with his spear in his hand and all his servants around him, ⁷ and he said to his servants, ‘Listen, you sons of BenJamin! Should I really give fields and vineyards to the son of Jesse? Why, then he would appoint all of you to be his lieutenants and generals, ⁸ because you’re all against me. For, which of you bothered to tell me that my own son had made an agreement with the son of Jesse? And which of you told me that my son has turned my servants into my enemies today?’

⁹ Well, Doyo the Edomite (the one who was in charge of Saul’s mules) said, ‘I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob to visit the Priest AhiMelech (the son of AhiTub). ¹⁰ He went there to inquire of God, and the Priest gave him food and the broadsword of the Philistine GoliAth.’

¹¹ So, the king sent for the Priest AhiMelech (the son of AhiTub) and his brothers, who were also Priests (they lived in Nob). And they all came to the king. ¹² Then Saul said, ‘Listen up, O son of AhiTub, for it’s me your lord speaking!’

¹³ Then Saul asked him, ‘Why did you go against me and agree to give the son of Jesse bread and a broadsword, and speak to God on his account… this man who has been my enemy to this day?’

¹⁴ And AhiMelech replied, ‘Why, who of all your servants is as trustworthy as David? He’s the son-in-law of the king, he’s in charge of your army, and he’s a man of honor in your house. ¹⁵ So, why are you asking me why I went to God for him? Now, please don’t accuse your servant and the entire house of my father of the things you’re saying, for your servant just didn’t know of any of these matters, whether small or great.’

¹⁶ And King Saul said, ‘You’re going to die AhiMelech; you and the entire house of your father!’ ¹⁷ Then he told his guards who were standing there, ‘Take them out and kill the Priests of Jehovah, because they’ve sided with David. They knew where he had run and they didn’t tell me!’

However, the [guards] weren’t willing to lift a hand against the Priests of Jehovah. ¹⁸ So, he said to Doyo, ‘Then you [kill] the Priests.’

And Doyo the Edomite slaughtered the Priests of Jehovah that day… eighty-five men who wore the sacred vests. ¹⁹ Then [Saul] attacked the city of the Priests (Nob) and killed all the men, women, children, babies, oxen, sheep, and burros with broadswords. ²⁰ However, one of AhiMelech’s sons survived (his name was AbiAthar), and he ran to find David.

²¹ Now, when AbiAthar told David that Saul had executed all the Priests of Jehovah, David said, ‘I knew that this would happen when I saw Doyo the Edomite… ²² I knew that he would report [seeing me] to Saul, so I’m to blame for the deaths of the house and family of your father. ²³ Now, you stay here with me! Don’t be afraid, because when I’m watching out for my life, I’ll also be watching out for yours… I’m going to be your protector.’

Chapter 23

¹ Then this report came to David: ‘{Look!} The Philistines have attacked KeiLah and they’re destroying all the barns.’

² So David asked Jehovah: ‘Shall I go and fight these Philistines?’

And Jehovah replied: ‘Go fight the Philistines, and you’ll save KeiLah!’

³ Then the men who were there with David said, ‘Look, we’re already afraid and we’re still here in Judea, so how can we go [to help] KeiLah? Do we want to add ourselves to the Philistine’s spoils of war?’

⁴ So, David went and asked Jehovah again, and Jehovah replied, ‘Go go down to KeiLah, for I’m giving the Philistines into your hands!’

⁵ Then David went to KeiLah with his men, and they fought the Philistines and routed them. It was a great victory, and they took the Philistine’s cattle and saved the people in KeiLah. ⁶ Then after the [Philistine] retreated, AbiAthar (the son of AhiMelech) went to David at KeiLah, carrying his sacred vest in his hands.

⁷ Now, when Saul heard that David had gone to KeiLah, he said, ‘Now God has sold him into my hands, for he’s locked into a city of doors and bars.’ ⁸ So, Saul told his people to go and attack David and his band of men there at KeiLah.

⁹ Well, David realized that Saul would soon hear [that he was there in KeiLah], and that he would plan to do something evil. So David said to AbiAthar the Priest: ‘Bring the sacred vest!’ ¹⁰ Then David prayed, ‘O Jehovah, God of Israel; please hear Your servant, for Saul is planning to attack me in KeiLah. Why, he’ll destroy the whole city because of me. ¹¹ So, should we lock it up? For Saul will surely come here, now that he has heard that your servant is here, O Lord, the God of Israel. Please tell your servant what to do.’

And Jehovah replied, ‘Lock it up!’

¹² And David asked: ‘Then, will the people of KeiLah hand me and my men over to Saul?’

And Jehovah replied, ‘Yes they will, to save themselves.’

¹³ So David took his men (about eight hundred of them) and left KeiLah, and went someplace else. And when Saul heard that David had left KeiLah, he spared that city.

¹⁴ Then from there, David traveled to the desert, where he lived in narrow passes, and he settled in the Ziph Desert.

Well, Saul kept searching for him for quite a long time, but Jehovah kept him out of Saul’s hands.

¹⁵ Now, David knew that Saul would keep on looking for him, so he stayed in New City in the Ziph Desert. ¹⁶ And then Saul’s son JoNathan came to David in New City, which strengthened his faith in Jehovah. ¹⁷ For, [JoNathan] told him, ‘Don’t be afraid, because my father Saul will never find you. Then you will become the ruler over Israel and I’ll be your second in command… and my father knows that.’

¹⁸ And they [once again] made an agreement there in the presence of Jehovah.

Well, David stayed in New City, but JoNathan returned home. ¹⁹ Then people from the Ziph Desert went to Saul [in GibeAh] and said, ‘Look, David is hiding among us in New City, down in the narrows next to the hill of HachiLah, just to the right of JeshiMon. ²⁰ So now, every desire of the life of the king is here among us. Come down to us, for everything has now been revealed before the king.’

²¹ And Saul replied, ‘May Jehovah bless you for coming to me. ²² Now, quickly go back and see if he’s still there and that he hasn’t tricked you. ²³ Search all the places where he can hide and then come back and tell me, and I’ll be ready to go there with you. For, if he’s somewhere in that land, I’ll send thousands of soldiers from Judah to search for him!’

²⁴ Then the Ziphites left the presence of Saul.

Well, David and his men were in the MaOn Desert at the time, which is to the west and right of JeshiMon. ²⁵ And when Saul took his men to search for David, this was reported to David, and he retreated to the [mountain called] ‘The Rock,’ in the MaOn Desert. But Saul heard about it and followed David into the desert.

²⁶ Well, Saul had camped his men on one side of the mountain, and David had camped his men on the other side. But, although David was trying to hide from Saul, Saul had camped his men close to David so he could catch him.

²⁷ Then a messenger came to Saul saying, ‘Hurry and come, because the Philistines are attacking our land.’

²⁸ So Saul had to break off his chase of David, and go back to fight the Philistines. And that’s why that mountain is now called ‘Slippery Rock.’

²⁹ Well, from there David went and settled in the EnGedi Narrows.

Chapter 24

¹ Then, after Saul returned from driving away the Philistines, he heard that David was in the EnGedi Desert. ² So he selected three thousand of the best soldiers in all Israel and went to look for David along the edge of the Trap of the Hinds. ³ And when their march was blocked by herds and flocks along the road, Saul stopped and entered a cave to review his plans… and it so happened that this was the same cave where David and his men were hiding.

⁴ So David’s men said to him: ‘Look! This is the day that Jehovah spoke to you about when He said, I will give your enemy into your hands and you may deal with him in any way you wish.’

Well, David crept up to Saul [while he was sleeping] and quietly cut the fringe off his robe. ⁵ But afterward, David’s heart was bothered by the fact that he had done this. ⁶ And he said to his men, ‘Jehovah certainly didn’t mean for me to do such a thing to my lord. I should never have raised a hand against him, because he truly is the anointed of Jehovah.’ ⁷ And after David said this, he persuaded his men not to kill Saul.

Then, when Saul woke up and left the cave, ⁸ David got up and followed him outside. And David shouted after Saul, ‘O my Lord! O king!’

⁸ And when Saul looked back, David bowed to him with his face to the ground, ⁹ and he said to Saul, ‘Why do you believe people when they say that David wants to kill you? ¹⁰ For look! Today you’ve seen with your own eyes how Jehovah gave you into my hands, and I didn’t want to kill you… I spared you. I said, I won’t lift a hand against my lord, because he’s the anointed of Jehovah.

¹¹ ‘Why look, my father; I’m holding the fringe of your robe in my hand. [I got so close] that I could remove it, and yet I didn’t kill you. So you should know that I don’t wish you any evil, nor am I disrespectful or rebellious. I haven’t sinned against you, but you’re still determined to take my life! ¹² So, may Jehovah judge between you and me, and may He find me righteous when it comes to you, because He knows that I wouldn’t lift a hand against you. ¹³ For as the [song] goes: Sin comes from the elder’s lawless ways, But I’ve not raised a hand against you.

¹⁴ ‘So who are you chasing O king of Israel? And who are you pursuing… after someone who has died, or after a flea? ¹⁵ May Jehovah be the judge! And may He serve as judge between me and you. Yes, may Jehovah look down and judge my case, and may He save me from your hands.’

¹⁶ Well, after David said this to Saul, Saul asked, ‘Is that the voice of my child David?’

Then he broke into tears, ¹⁷ and he said to David, ‘You’re a better man than I, because you repaid the bad things I’ve done to you with good things. ¹⁸ Then you [took the time to] tell me about these good things, and of how Jehovah gave me into your hands, but you didn’t kill me. ¹⁹ For, what other man, if he were to find his enemy vulnerable, would be good enough to send him away? So, may Jehovah repay the goodness that you’ve shown today.

²⁰ ‘And now I know that you’re going to become the king and that you’ll rule over the kingdom of Israel. ²¹ So, [please] swear an oath to me by Jehovah, that you won’t destroy me or my seed, and that you’ll never remove my name from the house of my father.’

²² So, David swore by an oath to Saul, and then Saul went back home.

Thereafter, David and his men went up into the narrows of MesSara.

Chapter 25

¹ Well shortly thereafter, SamuEl died, and all Israel came to mourn him, and they entombed him inside his house in RamAh.

Then David traveled to the MaOn Desert. ² And a great man was there who had helped to build Carmel. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and at the time he was shearing his flock at Carmel. ³ This man’s name was NaBal, and his wife’s name was AbiGail. Now, the wife was not only smart, she was also very pretty; however, her husband [had the reputation for being] hardheaded and dishonest.

⁴ Well, while David was there in the desert, he heard that NaBal the Carmelite was out shearing his flock. ⁵ So David sent ten of his servants to NaBal at Carmel, and he told them to say: ‘May you have peace, ⁶ and may you and yours live a long and healthy life. Look, I’ve heard that your shepherds are shearing your sheep. ⁷ And when we saw them out in the desert, we didn’t bother them or take [any of your sheep] as you were leading them to Carmel. ⁸ Just ask your servants and they’ll tell you. Now, if we (your servants) have found favor in your eyes (and we hope that we’ve come on a good day), we’re asking you to give whatever you can to your servants and to your son David.’

⁹ So David’s servants went to NaBal and said all of that in the name of David. ¹⁰ But NaBal jumped to his feet and asked, ‘And just who is David? Who does this son of Jesse think he is? Why, today he has many servants, and they’ve all run away from their masters. ¹¹ So, shall I take my bread, my wine, and my sacrifices with which I must pay those who are shearing my sheep and give them to others, when I don’t know who they are or where they’ve come from?’

¹² And with that, he sent the servants of David on their way. And when they got back, they told David what he said.

¹³ Then David told his men to tie on their swords, and David tied on his sword. And four hundred of them followed David, while the other two hundred stayed behind to watch their things.

¹⁴ Then one of NaBal’s servants brought a message to his wife AbiGail, saying, ‘Look, David sent messengers from [his camp] in the desert to bless our master, but he sent them away. ¹⁵ Now, [David’s] men were very good to us, for they didn’t get in our way, and they didn’t mistreat us when we were out in the fields. ¹⁶ In fact, they protected us both day and night while we were watching over the flocks. ¹⁷ So, think about what you should do, because our master has brought evil down upon his house… he’s being unreasonable, and there’s no way we can talk him out of it!’

¹⁸ Then AbiGail ran and took two hundred loaves of bread, two large jugs of wine, five roasted sheep, five bushels of toasted grain, ten bushels of raisins, and two hundred clusters of dried figs, and put them on burros. ¹⁹ And she said to her servants, ‘Take these on ahead and I’ll follow behind.’ (But she didn’t say anything to her husband).

²⁰ Then she mounted her burro and traveled alongside the mountain until she reached David and his men, and they came to greet her. ²¹ Well at the time, David was saying, ‘Perhaps I was foolish when I guarded all of NaBal’s things in the desert and I didn’t try to take anything. For, now he has repaid my good deeds with evil. ²² So, may God [curse] David and add to it if I leave anyone who belongs to NaBal [alive] that can urinate against a wall by [tomorrow] morning.’

²³ Well, when AbiGail saw David, she got down off her burro and fell to her face before him, bowing low. And she said, ²⁴ ‘O my lord, hold me to blame. Please allow your female servant to speak to you, and hear what I have to say. ²⁵ Please, my master, don’t set your heart against this despicable man NaBal, for his name means foolishness, and he truly is foolish!

‘I didn’t see the servants that you sent to my master. ²⁶ But, O my lord; as Jehovah lives and as you live, may Jehovah keep you from shedding the blood of the innocent, for in so doing you may save your own life. And may your enemies who are trying to do bad things become as NaBal.

²⁷ ‘Now, please accept these blessings that I’ve brought to my lord, and distribute them among your servants. ²⁸ Then forgive your female servant, and may Jehovah make the house of my master one that can be trusted. May Jehovah fight your wars and may He never find you guilty of anything evil. ²⁹ And if any man chases you and tries to kill you, may Jehovah God save the life of my master, and may the lives of your enemies be thrown down as with a sling. ³⁰ And may Jehovah do all the good things for you that He said He would do and make you the leader over Israel.

³¹ ‘So, please don’t offend your heart by doing this terrible thing to my master, and don’t shed innocent blood without a reason. Please save my master from himself, and then Jehovah will do good things for you… and don’t overlook your female servant or fail to treat her kindly.’

³² Then David said to AbiGail, ‘Praise Jehovah the God of Israel who sent you to me today. ³³ And may the way that you’ve handled this matter today be praised, for you’ve kept me from shedding blood and you’ve saved me from myself. ³⁴ As Jehovah the God of Israel lives, you’ve kept me from doing something bad to you. And if you hadn’t hurried and come to meet me here, none in the house of NaBal who can urinate against a wall would have lived to see the light of dawn.’

³⁵ Then David accepted all the things that she brought, and he said her, ‘Now return to your house in peace, for I’ve listened to what you’ve said and I respect the person that you are.’

³⁶ Well, when AbiGail got back home to NaBal, he was holding a banquet in his house that was fit for a king; and he was quite happy, because he’d had too much to drink. So AbiGail didn’t tell him what she’d done until the next morning.

³⁷ Then in the morning (after NaBal had sobered up from the wine), she told him everything that had happened. And his heart just died inside him and it became [as heavy as] a rock. ³⁸ And after ten days, Jehovah struck NaBal and he died.

³⁹ Well, when David heard that NaBal had died, he said, ‘May Jehovah be praised, for He judged the case of my being scorned by NaBal, and He brought NaBal’s evil down upon his own head. Yet, He kept His servant from doing anything bad.’

Then David sent for AbiGail, because he was talking about taking her as his wife. ⁴⁰ So his servants went to AbiGail at Carmel and spoke to her, saying, ‘David sent us, because he wishes to take you as his wife.’

⁴¹ Well, she bowed with her face to the ground and said, ‘Look, your female servant… a girl to wash the feet of my master’s servants.’

⁴² Then AbiGail quickly mounted her burro, and she brought along five of her young women (who followed behind). And she went with David’s servants and became his wife.

⁴³ Now, David was also married to AhinoAm of JezreEl, ⁴⁴ and [he had been married to] Michal (Saul’s daughter); however Saul then gave her to Phalti (the son of LaIsh) from GalLim.

Chapter 26

¹ Well, the Ziphites went up to see Saul again, and told him, ‘Look, David is hiding among us on HachiLah Hill, in front of JesSemon.’

² So, Saul again went into the Ziph Desert with three thousand of Israel’s best men to look for David. ³ And Saul set up camp along the road to HachiLah Hill, in front of JesSemon, as David was camped in the desert. And when he saw that Saul had come to the desert again looking for him, ⁴ he sent spies who found out where and how prepared he was. ⁵ And then David personally went to the place where Saul was and found him sleeping near his commander-in-chief AbNer (the son of Ner)… Saul was asleep in his royal chariot, and his men were camped around him.

⁶ Then David asked AhiMelech the Hittite and AbiShai (the son of ZeruiAh and the brother of JoAb), ‘Who will come with me into the camp of Saul?’

And AbiShai said, ‘I’ll go with you.’

⁷ So, David and AbiShai went down into the camp that night and walked among [Saul’s] Men. Well, {Look!} there was Saul sound asleep in his royal chariot and his was spear stuck into the ground next to his head… as AbNer and his men were asleep all around him. ⁸ So, AbiShai said to David, ‘Jehovah has given your enemy into your hands today, so I’m going to run him through with his spear… I’ll only do it once, because I won’t have to do it a second time.’

⁹ But David said, ‘No, don’t kill him; for who can lift a hand against the anointed of Jehovah and not be guilty?’ ¹⁰ And he added, ‘As Jehovah lives, it is up to the Lord to strike him and kill him, or for him to die in battle and to be [buried] with his ancestors. ¹¹ For, Jehovah hasn’t instructed me to raise a hand against His anointed. So, we’ll just take the spear that’s next to his head, and his canteen of water, and leave.’

¹² Then David picked up [Saul’s] spear and canteen, and they left… and no one saw them or knew that they had been there, for no one woke up. All were sleeping tightly, because Jehovah had put them to sleep.

¹³ Then David walked through the camp and up the mountain, leaving some distance between them. ¹⁴ And David called to [Saul’s] men and to AbNer (the son of Ner) saying, ‘AbNer… will you answer?’

And AbNer answered ‘Who’s calling me?’

¹⁵ And David said, ‘Aren’t you a man? For, who else is like you in Israel? So, why weren’t you guarding your lord the king? Why, a man came there to destroy your lord the king tonight, ¹⁶ so what you’ve done is not a good thing! As Jehovah lives, you are sons of death for not guarding your lord the king… the anointed of Jehovah. Now look! Where is the king’s spear… and where’s his canteen of water… these things that he kept by his head?’

¹⁷ Well, Saul recognized the voice of David and said, ‘Is that the voice of my child David?’

And David replied, ‘It’s my voice O lord… your servant, O king!’ ¹⁸ And he asked, ‘So, why is my lord chasing his servant? How have I sinned and what is the charge against me?

¹⁹ ‘And now listen, O my lord the king, to the words of his servant: If it’s God that’s sending you against me, then may you smell your sacrifice. But if it’s the sons of men, may they be cursed before Jehovah. Because, they’ve driven me away from the inheritance I received from Jehovah, saying, Go and serve other gods! ²⁰ Now, may my blood not be spilled on the ground away from the face of Jehovah, for the king of Israel is searching for a flea the way he hunts for long-eared owls in the mountains.’

²¹ And Saul said, ‘I have sinned. Come back to me, my child David, for I won’t do anything bad to you anymore, now that you’ve shown me how much you value my life. I’ve acted foolishly and ignorantly.’

²² And David replied, ‘Look! Here’s the king’s spear; send one of your servants to take it. ²³ For, Jehovah will repay each one for his righteousness and faithfulness, as Jehovah saved you from my hands today, since I didn’t wish to raise a hand against the anointed of Jehovah. ²⁴ And look… as I have valued your life today, may my life be considered more valuable before my lord. May he shelter me and rescue me from all my problems.’

²⁵ And Saul said to David, ‘You are blest, my child David; for whatever you do will succeed, and you can do whatever you wish.’

So, David went his way, and Saul returned home.

Chapter 27

¹ And David said in his heart, ‘I’d better run to the land of the Philistines where I’ll be safe, for things don’t look too good for me here. Saul will keep searching for me in Israel, and by tomorrow I could be handed over to him.’

² So David got up and left, taking his six hundred men with him, and he went to see AchIsh (the son of MaOch), the king of Gath. ³ Then David, his men, and both his wives (AhinoAm the JezreElite, and AbiGail the wife of NaBal the Carmelite) sat down to meet with AchIsh in his house in Gath. ⁴ And when Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he stopped searching for him.

⁵ So David said to AchIsh: ‘If your servant has found favor in your eyes, please give me a place in one of your rural cities, and I’ll settle there; for why should you settle your servant in a city to rule next to you?’

⁶ Then AchIsh gave him Ziklag, which still belongs to the Judean kings to this day.

⁷ Well, David had stayed there in the land of the Philistines for four months, ⁸ when he and his men attacked the Geshurites, the Gezrites, and the Amalechites… for they inhabited the land all the way from Shurand to the land of Egypt. ⁹ He attacked the entire land and didn’t leave a man or woman alive, but he took their flocks, herds, burros, camels, and clothing, then he returned to AchIsh.

¹⁰ Well, AchIsh asked David, ‘Who did you attack today?’

And David replied, ‘The [land] south of Judea, from JerahMeEl south to the [land of the] Kenezites. ¹¹ And I didn’t bring anyone back alive to Gath, so no one can say, Look at what David did!’

And that’s the way David handled matters for as long as he stayed in the land of the Philistines. ¹² And AchIsh trusted David, for he said, ‘It’s a shame that he’s being treated this way by his people in Israel, but he can serve me here through the age.’

Chapter 28

¹ Well, the Philistines started gathering their troops to go to war against Israel, and AchIsh said to David: ‘Now, I know that you and your men who are staying with me will join us in this war.’

² And David replied, ‘This may show you [the faithfulness] of your servant.’

And AchIsh said to David, ‘Then I’ll appoint you as the chief of my royal guards during this period.’

³ Well, SamuEl had already died, and Israel had mourned him at his tomb in his city of RamAh; and Saul had [killed off] all those who search for omens and those who call to [the dead] in the land.

⁴ Then the Philistines went and camped at Shunem, and Saul gathered the army of Israel and camped in Gilboa. ⁵ Well, when Saul looked at the camp of the Philistines, it frightened him and he became weak at heart. ⁶ Then he started asking [the direction of Jehovah], but Jehovah wouldn’t answer him in his dreams, give him signs, or answer through the Prophets. ⁷ So he said to his servants, ‘Search for a woman who can tell the future, and I’ll go ask her!’

And his servants told him, ‘Look, there’s a woman who can tell the future in EnDor.’

⁸ So, Saul disguised himself [by wearing] different clothes, and he covered his face, then he took two men with him and they went to see the woman at night. And he said to her, ‘Use your powers for me and lead me to the one that I want to speak to!’

⁹ And the woman replied, ‘Look! Now you know as much as Saul did… he who killed off all those in the land who ask of the [dead] and who look for omens. So, have you come here to trap and kill me?’

¹⁰ And Saul swore an oath to her by God, saying, ‘As Jehovah lives, I won’t treat you unjustly in this matter.’

¹¹ So the woman asked Saul, ‘Then, who should I bring up for you?’

And Saul replied, ‘Bring SamuEl to me!’

¹² Well, when the woman saw SamuEl, she screamed. Then she said to Saul, ‘Why have you misled me? Why, you are Saul!’

¹³ And the king said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid! Who did you see?’

And she said, ‘I see Judges rising from the ground.’

¹⁴ Then he asked her, ‘What else do you see?’

And she replied, ‘A very old man coming up [from the ground] wearing a doubled robe.’

Well, Saul knew that it was SamuEl, so he fell with his face to the ground and bowed low before him. ¹⁵ And SamuEl said, ‘Why are you bothering me and why did you bring me up?’

And Saul said, ‘I’m in a lot of trouble, for the Philistines have come to war against me, and God has left me. He doesn’t listen to me anymore, nor does He answer the Prophets or reply to me in dreams… all I want to know is what I should do.’

¹⁶ And SamuEl replied, ‘Then why are you asking me, if Jehovah has left you and taken up with your neighbor? ¹⁷ For, Jehovah has just done the things to you that I told you He would do. He will rip your kingdom from your hands and give it to your neighbor David, ¹⁸ because you didn’t listen to His voice when He was showing His rage on the Amalechites. ¹⁹ So, Jehovah will give Israel into the hands of the Philistines, and by tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, while the camp of Israel will be handed over to the Philistines.’

²⁰ Well at that, Saul dropped to the ground shaking, because he was so afraid of what SamuEl had said… he was already weak in the knees, because he hadn’t eaten all that day or night.

²¹ Then the woman came up to Saul, and when she saw that he was shaking, she said, ‘Now look at me and listen to your female servant, for I’ve put my life in your hands. I trust what you said. ²² So now, do what I say, because I’m going to give you a little food to eat so you can regain your strength, and you should leave now.’

²³ But he wouldn’t listen, because he didn’t want anything to eat. However, both his assistants and the woman kept insisting, so he got up off of the ground and sat in a chair. ²⁴ Then the woman went out and butchered a calf that was by her house, and took some flour and made some fermentation-free bread, ²⁵ and brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate… then they returned home that night.

Chapter 29

¹ Then the Philistines marched all their troops to Aphek, and Israel set up camp at EnDor in JezreEl, ² as the Philistine governors were coming by the hundreds and thousands.

Well, David and his men showed up last with AchIsh. ³ And the Philistine governors asked, ‘Who did they come with?’

And AkIsh replied, ‘That’s David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel. This is the second year he’s been staying with me, and I’ve found no fault with him to this point.’

⁴ Well, the Philistine governors were outraged, and they said to him, ‘Return this man to the people that you put him over; don’t allow him to come with us to the battle, for he could be a traitor in our camp. After all, how do we know that he won’t reconcile with his lord, and then our men will pay with their heads. ⁵ For, isn’t this the same David of whom the dancers sang Saul killed his thousands and David his ten thousands?’

⁶ So, AchIsh called David and said to him, ‘As Jehovah lives, I know that you’re a good and honest man, and that’s why I invited you with me to the camp. For, I haven’t found anything evil in you since you came to me. But the governors don’t trust you; ⁷ so return to [your city] in peace, and don’t allow yourself to be seen doing anything wrong in the eyes of the Philistine governors.’

⁸ And David said, ‘But what have I done… what have you found wrong with your servant? Why won’t you let me fight against the enemies of my lord the king?’

⁹ And AchIsh answered, ‘I know that you’re a good man… like a messenger from God. But the Philistine governors are saying He shouldn’t come with us to the battle. ¹⁰ So, you and your men should get up early in the morning and return to the city that I gave you!’

¹¹ Well, David and his men did get up early and they went back to guard the land of the Philistines, as the Philistines started their war against Israel.

Chapter 30

¹ And as David and his men were returning to Ziklag (after three days [of travel]), the Amalechites came from the south and attacked Ziklag… they captured it and burned it. ² However, they didn’t kill any of the young men or any of the women; they just led them away as captives. ³ Then, when David and his men got back to the city and found it burned, and that their wives, sons, and daughters had been taken away as captives, ⁴ David and his men cried and wailed until they were just too weak to cry anymore.

⁵ Well, both of David’s wives (AhinoAm the JezreElite, and AbiGail, the wife of NaBal the Carmelite) had been captured, ⁶ which hurt David so much that his men said they should stone him, because he was so grieved over the people, and for each of his sons and daughters. However, his God Jehovah then gave him strength, ⁷ and he said to the Priest AbiAthar (the son of AhiMelech), ‘Bring the sacred vest to me.’

So, AbiAthar came to David carrying the vest, ⁸ and David asked Jehovah, ‘Should I chase after them?’

And Jehovah replied, ‘Chase after them; for if you chase them, you’ll catch up with them and rescue [your people].’

⁹ So, David went after them with all of his six hundred-men, and when they reached the Bosor Wadi, two hundred of them were left behind [to guard their things], ¹⁰ leaving him with about four hundred men. So, he went on with the four hundred, leaving the two hundred on the other side of the Bosor Wadi.

¹¹ Then [his men] found an Egyptian man [lying] in a field, and they took him to David, then they gave him some food and water. ¹² They gave him part of a dried cluster of figs and two portions of raisins, which revived him, for he had gone without anything to eat or drink for more that three days. ¹³ And David asked him, ‘What are you doing here, and where did you come from?’

And the Egyptian replied, ‘I’m the servant of an Amalechite man. And my master left me here because I was sick… and I’ve been here for three days. ¹⁴ We had made an attack south of the Cherethites on parts of Judea, to the south of Caleb, and we burned the city of Ziklag.’

¹⁵ And David asked him, ‘Can you lead me to your troops?’

And he said, ‘Yes… if you’ll swear by God that you won’t kill me or return me to my master, I’ll lead you to them.’

¹⁶ So he led them, and by the time they caught up with them, everyone was scattered throughout the land, and they were eating, drinking, and celebrating over the great quantity of loot that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

¹⁷ Well, David kept on slaughtering them from morning to evening, and then into the next day. He didn’t leave a man, and all that escaped was just four hundred boys who fled on camels. ¹⁸ Then David took back everything that the Amalechites had captured, and he rescued both of his wives. ¹⁹ No one had been killed, from the small to the great, and all the sons, daughters, and loot that they had taken was returned.

²⁰ Then David took all their flocks, herds, and the loot, which was thereafter referred to as ‘the spoils of David.’

²¹ Well, when they got back to the two hundred men that David had left behind at the Bosor Wadi, they came to greet David and all the people who were returning with him. And David went up to them and wished them peace. ²² However, all the wicked men and troublemakers among the warriors who went with David said, ‘They didn’t go with us, so why should we divide any of the loot we recovered with them? Let them just find their wives and children, and [be happy with that]!’

²³ However, David said, ‘You must not mistreat the brothers of this confederation. For, it was Jehovah who guarded us and gave the enemy to us, and it was He who saved the troops that came with us. ²⁴ So, watch your words, because these men are in no way inferior, and they’ll receive their share of the war for staying here and watching our equipment… they will be given the same share as everyone else.’

²⁵ And from that day on, that was the rule in Israel.

²⁶ Well, when David got back to Ziklag, he sent [a portion of] the spoils to the elders of Judah, and he gave some to his neighbors, saying, ‘Look, here’s a blessing from the spoils of the enemies of Jehovah.’

²⁷ [He also sent some of the spoils to the people in] BethEl, Southern RamOth, JatTir, ²⁸ AroEr, SiphMoth, EshTemoa, ²⁹ RachAl, and to those in the JerahMeElite cities, the Kenite cities, ³⁰ the people in Hormah, and BeerAshan, and Athach, ³¹ and to those in Hebron… David and his men carried it to each of those places.

Chapter 31

¹ Well, in the war between the Philistines and Israel, the Israelites were routed by the Philistines, and they were slaughtered all the way to Mount Gilboa. ² Then the Philistines caught up with Saul and his sons, and they were able to cut down JoNathan, AbinAdab, and MelchiShua (Saul’s sons), ³ but the battle got bogged down when they were fighting Saul. Then the bowmen shot at Saul and wounded him in the spleen. ⁴ And Saul said to his weapons bearer, ‘Unsheathe your broadsword and run me through with it, so one of these uncircumcised men doesn’t kill me and then make fun of me!’

But the man carrying his weapons was afraid and he didn’t want to do it, so Saul took his broadsword and fell on it. ⁵ And when the man carrying his weapons saw that Saul was dead, he fell on his sword and died also.

⁶ So, Saul, all three of his sons, his weapons bearer, and all his men died that same day. ⁷ And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the Jordan Valley saw that Saul and his sons were dead, they all ran away… they just left their cities and ran, and then the Philistines took [their cities] and lived there.

⁸ Well, it was when the Philistines came to strip the dead that they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ Then they cut off [Saul’s] head, took his weapons, and sent them all around the land of the Philistines to announce the good news to their idols and their people. ¹⁰ They also presented his weapons [to the goddess] Astarte, and they nailed [Saul’s] body to a wall in BethSham.

¹¹ Well, when the people in JabIsh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all their mighty men went that night and recovered the bodies of Saul and his son JoNathan from the wall in BethSham, and brought them back to JabIsh, where they were burned [in a funeral pyre]. ¹³ Then they took their bones and placed them in a tomb in the plowed field of JabIsh, and they fasted for seven days.

Notes

Soul

The Greek word psyche (as in psychology) has been translated many ways, including soul, life, etc. However, psyche actually means something that breathes. It is used in the Bible to describe both breathing animals and breathing humans. So by definition, a soul cannot leave the body, because a soul is what the living body (whether human or animal) is (see Genesis 2:7).

In ancient Greece, philosophers eventually added another meaning to psyche: The inner person (as opposed to the person that others see and come to know). And with time, the pagan religion of Greece started to teach that this inner person is its own entity and can never die (is immortal). Over the centuries, this pagan Greek doctrine thereafter crept into the Christian religions. Please see the link Soul for more history of the word.

However, such Greek philosophical thought never influenced Jesus and his Apostles. So, they consistently used psyche to indicate a living person or animal. Therefore, the later teaching that the soul is immortal stands in direct conflict with Jesus’ promise of a resurrection, because, if a person is immortal (can never die) he/she can never be resurrected (brought back to life).

In addition, the teaching of the immortality of the human soul is totally without support from the Bible. For the word immortal(ity) (Gr: athanasia or undying) is only mentioned in the Bible in two places, and it isn’t used with or applied to the word soul in either case. Both of these scriptures show that immortality is only given by God as a reward for righteousness. And as Ezekiel 18:4 says, ‘The person (gr. psyche or ‘soul’) that is sinning will die (gr. apothaneitai).’

Of course, there are places in the Bible where the word soul means more than just a living, fleshly body. For example, God is recorded to have spoken of ‘My Soul’ in several places. Obviously, God is much more than just a ‘soul’ as most people think of that term, and He surely wasn’t talking about His having a human body. So we must conclude that what He was referring to is His life.

Then there are Jesus’ words found at Matthew 10:28, which read, ‘Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but can’t kill the person (psyche or soul). Rather, be afraid of him who can destroy both the person (soul) and the body in the garbage dump.’ Here, Jesus is using the word psyche (soul) to refer to the value of life that remains with God until the resurrection. And he obviously isn’t referring the soul as immortal in this instance, because he says God will destroy (gr. apolesai) the [unrighteous] soul or person.

Unfortunately, no single word can be used to translate psyche in every possible Bible application, so various terms are used herein, depending on the circumstances, but always in an attempt to harmonize with the meaning.

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Bible Measurements

The most common unit for measuring length, height, and depth in the Bible is a cubit, which is the length of a man’s forearm. And of course, the lengths of forearms vary depending on the size of the person, so a cubit may be anywhere between eighteen and twenty-two inches. However, to give you a better idea of the size and proportions of things in the Bible, we have converted the units of measure to more familiar terms, such as feet and inches. And we have roughly averaged the sizes or lengths.

Also, some units of measure, such as a cor (about 32 bushels), hin, or bath (about 6 gallons), have been roughly estimated, since such terms are obsolete.

We have also dropped the obscure names of coins, since most readers have no idea of their value, and simply inserted the type of coin they are (gold, silver, or copper), and sometimes their size, to provide you some frame of reference.

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Hebrew Songs and Poetry

While we as translators claim no in-depth knowledge of the Hebrew language (this is a GREEK Bible translation), we do find its poetry, blessings, and songs interesting and beautiful. For, rather than putting the words together in a rime (as we do in English, where ending words must sound alike), the sentences fit together where the thoughts follow each other, so that they could be easily remembered and sung. Therefore, the actual words didn’t have to be memorized, for, as long as a person understands the thought, the poetry can be correctly repeated using slightly different words.

You’ll notice that each song seemed to have about four verses, for the verses followed in a logical order. However, in our translation we sometimes find only three verses… or sometimes two or six. And this may be due to our misunderstanding of their methods, or due to problems with translation (both ancient and ours).

However, as you go along in the Bible, you will also find entire books written in poetry (such as Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, etc.), and most prophecies (such as those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.) were spoken and written in a form that is similar to songs, especially where God and His messengers are speaking. It was probably done this way to be remembered and repeated… perhaps even as songs, for that was an ancient Hebrew means of mass communication.

Why, many of Jesus’ parables were spoken and recorded as poetry, such as that portion called the beatitudes (Matthew 5).

Notice that; where we find the natural poetic rhythm in our translating, we have tried to restore the cadence for your benefit. This requires some rearranging and the addition or removal of extraneous words, but we have zealously worked to maintain the true meaning of the texts. Why is this necessary? Well, not only does it provide pleasant reading, but in places where the lyrics can’t be resolved, this provides a clear indication that something has been lost through the years. Proverbs 25 and 26, for example, by their lack of natural cadence and harmony, indicate questionable inspiration or a corruption of the original text. Also, God must consider the beauty of the text important, because that was the way He inspired it to be written.

You might notice the two verses of a song that the Israelite women were singing when Saul and David returned from a battle (1 Samuel 18:7): ‘Saul has cut down thousands,
And David his ten thousands.’
Although these were just a few words of a much longer victory song, those particular words offended Saul, for he felt that David was being considered more important than he was. Yet, if you understand Hebrew poetry, you would see that the words were part of a natural progression of words and they weren’t actually chosen to elevate David or to offend Saul. Rather, Saul was being petty.

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The Heavens or Sky, the Earth or the Land?

In both the Ancient Scriptures of Israel (OT) and the Christian Era Scriptures (NT), we find all the realm of creation divided into three entities; the heavens (or sky), the earth (the land or ground), and the seas (the waters). Now, in contemporary English, we understand that there is a difference between the heavens and the sky, the earth and the land (or ground), and the seas and waters. However, in both Hebrew and Greek, these fine distinctions that we accept because of our modern technology, can’t be found. So, Genesis 1:1 could literally be translated as, ‘In the beginning, God created the sky and the ground.’

This is accurate, because it was the view of man from the earth. There was the land that he stood on, the sky above him, and the waters or seas over there. There was no technical understanding of the earth as a planet, because men didn’t view the earth as we do today, as a ball in space… it just wasn’t necessary at the time! However, because of these distinctions that we understand so well today, translators must choose the proper words to provide the right nuances in English, in order for readers to grasp the proper meaning of each text.

This is why you’ll find the Greek word ourano translated as both heaven(s) and sky herein, depending on the context. You’ll also find the Greek words ge and ges translated as earth, ground, or land, depending on the context. So, the symbolic words at 2 Peter 3:5, 6, for example, are translated herein as, ‘The thing that they don’t want to understand is this: That the ancient earth and sky were out of the water, but (in obedience to God’s instructions) they stood together between the waters.’ (For an example of the problems created by the wrong use of the words ge and ges, see the linked document Isaiah 24 - Is It Speaking of Armageddon?).

Notice that the ‘earth and sky’ were located ‘between the water.’ So, although other Bibles translated this verse as speaking of the ‘heavens and earth,’ the reference is to the portion of the heavens that are close to the earth… to the sky. Likewise, at Matthew 5:5, where Jesus spoke of the ‘meek’ as inheriting ‘the earth; since he was talking about people receiving an ‘allotment’ on the earth,’ we have chosen to translate ges as earth, not land or ground. However, the words land and ground are equally correct.

And finally, when it comes to the seas (gr. thalassa), there are already distinctions as to different types of waters in the Greek text. For instance, seas are called thalassa and rivers are called potamos (or ‘flowing’). However, notice (in Revelation 20: 13) how the resurrection of the dead is divided between those who died on land and those who were lost in the water, ‘The sea gave up its dead, death and the grave gave up those dead in them, and they were all judged by the things that they did.’

We again find all three of these realms of creation brought together symbolically at Revelation 21:1, where it says, ‘Then I saw a new earth and sky, because the previous earth and sky had disappeared, as did the sea.’

Also, in the case of where EliJah was taken in a celestial chariot, most people think he was taken to (as their Bibles put it) ‘heaven,’ where he went to live with God. This isn’t true, because King JehoRam later received a letter from Elijah (see 2 Chronicles 21:12). So, God had apparently used the celestial chariot to take him into the sky (the proper translation here), where he was then taken to another place here on the earth. For more information on this, see the linked document, The Hereafter.

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Hades: Hell or the Grave?

The Greek word Hades (they pronounced it hah-des) has been translated both as Hell (which is thought of as a place of torture) and as the Grave in other Bible versions (such as the King James). Since one word can’t mean two very different things, which translation is correct?

Hades (like the English word Hell) actually means the place of the dead. However, as pagan Greek philosophy started to develop and creep into Christianity, the later-day Greek view of Hades (a place of torture) was applied to it. Was this a correct application?

An insight into how the ancient Hebrews and the early Christians understood the word can be gained by looking at how it was applied in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Ancient Scriptures of Israel (the ‘Old Testament’ Bible of Jesus’ day). There, the Hebrew word Sheol is translated into Greek as Hades in every instance; yet in each case, these are obvious references to the grave (the place of the dead), not to a place of conscious torture (see Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10).

Another revealing application of the word Hades is found at Revelation the 20:13. It says there, ‘The sea (gr. he thalassa) gave up its dead, death and the grave (gr. thanatos kai ho hades) gave up those dead in them, and they were all judged by the things that they did.’

So, notice that those who die at sea are differentiated from those who are buried in graves (Hades) and in other places (thanatos). Therefore, Hades is better translated as grave.

In the book of Job, another word that is used once in the Christian-era Scriptures and often translated as Hell, is found in two places. That Greek word is Tartarus, which refers to the place where evil gods or angels are sent. For more information, see the linked document, Is There a Burning Hell?

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The Resurrection

It has often been said that the Ancient Scriptures of Israel (Old Testament) don’t really speak of the hope of a resurrection of the dead. However, the Hebrew word, which might be rendered as resurrection, is simply never translated that way in most other Bibles. But in the Greek Septuagint version of the OT, the word for resurrection, anastasia, appears several times.

For example: we find it first used in the song that HanNah sang to Jehovah after she had offered her young son SamuEl to serve at God’s Sacred Tent (in First Samuel 2:8). We find this particularly interesting, for, although most would consider her words just a record of an unimportant song, the woman spoke a truly inspired and important prophecy, which applied back then and is still being fulfilled in our day. Yet, resurrections had apparently never been seen on earth before her time. For more information, see the linked document, The Resurrection.

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Bless or Praise?

This is a tough one, and we won’t say that our position on the translation of this word can’t be changed. The Greek word that we are struggling with is eulogetos. The first part of the word eu, is Greek for good. The last part of the word, logetos, means words (or expressions). So, a literal translation of eulogetos is good words. And our question is: Is this all that a blessing amounts to?

Yes, we know that this word has been translated as bless, blest, and blessing in other Bibles. So why rock the boat? Because these translators have simply found too many errors in many commonly-accepted renderings. And here, for example, if eulogetos is properly translated as blessing each time (which carries the English nuance, ‘causing good things to happen’), then, how can humans ‘bless God?’ We do know that we can praise God, however.

Eulogetos is the word that we derive the English word eulogy from… that is, the kind words that are said of the deceased at a funeral. Such words are never said as a blessing, (it’s a bit late for that); they are said in praise of the deceased individual. However, there are definitely places where eulogetos can’t be translated as praise or praising.

So, perhaps the real meaning is (or is at least is similar to) praise. And when praises come from God, this means blessings to humans.

This isn’t the same word that we have rendered as blest in other portions of this translation (for an example, see Matthew 5:5). The word in question there is makarios, which is rendered as happy in certain other Bibles. However, we believe that blest is the proper way to translate that Greek word.

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Spirit or Breath?

The Greek word pneuma (as in pneumonia, a breathing disease) means breath or wind – the movement of air. In other Bible translations, this word is often translated as spirit or ghost, as in Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. However, spirit is just a shortened form of the Latin word spiritu, which just means breath in Latin. And ghost conveys another meaning altogether.

The most common use of the word pneuma in the Bible is to imply an unseen force (such as breath or wind). And the problem with translating it as spirit or ghost is that many people have started believing that the unseen force that is called [God’s] Holy Breath herein, is another God-like person and part of a Divine ‘Trinity.’ This can’t be true, because the only scripture that can be used to support this theory (that is, where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Breath’ are spoken of together) is found at Matthew 28:19, which appears to be spurious (See the Note in Matthew). All other scriptures that are used to prove the Trinity theory fail to mention the Holy Breath as part of that group. And the King James wording of 1 John 5:7 (which was used for years to attempt to prove the Trinity) is also spurious (something that was added to the Bible). So, there are no actual Bible references that mention God’s Holy Breath along with the Father and the Son.

Therefore, to prevent confusion, the Greek word pneuma is frequently translated as breath herein. However, there are exceptions, as in instances where the Bible refers to demons as ‘spirits.’ Translating pneuma as breath in these cases, although correct, might just be confusing. There are also places where we have left pneuma translated as spirit, when the word implies a person's tendency (or spirit). And, since the nuance implied by the word spirit in the English language (an unseen power) is correct, we recently changed back to translating pneuma as spirit in several places, when referring to God’s Holy Spirit. However, recognize that pneuma is often best defined by calling it [God’s] Holy Breath. For an example, see the Note Worshiping God In Spirit and Truth.

Another important use of the word pneuma is in the phrase, ‘Breath of Life.’ This phrase appears to mean more than just breathing, for it seems to refer to the entire mechanics of life itself. It’s the unseen force of life for all creatures… it’s what makes each cell alive. However, nowhere does the Bible describe the ‘pneuma’ as immortal, nor is it the same as the soul (a breathing thing), so it can (figuratively) ‘return to God’ at death,’ because all hope of future life depends on God and His promise of a resurrection.

Note in particular how the term Breath is used at Job 27:3, where Job spoke of God’s Breath or Spirit. For there he asked, ‘Does the Breath of the Divine One remain in my nose?’ As you can see from his application of this word, pneuma obviously referred to God’s Breath, not to a person or to an unseen force. He was talking about that which comes from God and which caused him (Job) to breathe… the Breath of Life.

It is interesting that at Genesis 6:3 God says, ‘I won’t allow My Breath to stay with these men through the age, for they are fleshly.’ In Greek that reads, ‘Ou me katameine to pneuma mou en tois anthropois toutoiseis ton aiona, dia ai einai autous sarka,’ or, ‘Not not should stay the Breath Mine with these men the age through, their being flesh.’

While the words Breath Mine (pneuma mou) here can refer to God’s Holy Breath, it seems more likely that He is referring to the breath of life that He gave to Adam. So it appears as though; what God was saying here is that the breath of life (of the people of that age) would be removed prematurely. However, since God referred to it as ‘My Breath,’ there may be a link implied between God’s Holy Breath and the breath of life.
For more information, see the linked document, ‘The Powers of God’s Holy Spirit.’

However, when Jesus died (as the words recorded at John 19:30 say), ‘he hung his head and gave up the breath’ (gr. kai klinas ten kephalen paredoken to pneuma, or, and inclined his head giving/up the breath). In this case, the obvious reference is to ‘the breath of life,’ or that force which gave him life as a human.

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Homosexual Relationship Between JoNathan and David?

These words are found at 1 SamuEl 18:1: ‘Well, as Saul was speaking, [the heart of his son] JoNathan became bound to David… he loved him as much as his own life.’

This verse is often referred to by individuals who wish to condone homosexual practices, to prove that King David had a male lover in JoNathan. However, the Greek word (in the Septuagint) that is used for ‘love’ here, agape, disproves that idea, for if there was a physical, sexual love, the word that would have been used is eros, which implies a sexual attraction. However, the love that JoNathan had for David was principled or pure, which is what agape implies. Yes, one man can love another without being sexually attracted to him, as in the case of JoNathan and David.

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Chest of Proofs

We are sorry to use such an unfamiliar term, but Ark of the Covenant may not accurately describe the sacred box that eventually held the tablets of the Ten Commandments, the writings of Moses and Joshua, the manna, and the walking stick of Aaron. First, the meaning of the ancient English word ‘ark’ has been lost in history. And the second word, ‘covenant’ (meaning, sacred agreement) isn’t always used as part of the name in the Greek text. In some places it is called the kiboton marturion, which literally means Box [of] Testimony. So, although it may have been built to illustrate the Sacred Agreement (Covenant) between God and the Israelites, it was also built to hold the Proofs of the things that God did for Israel. So, wherever the words kiboton marturion appear in the text, we have called it the Chest of Proofs. But it was also referred to as the Chest of the Sacred Agreement (or, Ark of the Covenant) at Exodus 27:21, for example, so that term must also be correct. However, after the Israelites settled in the Promised Land it was always referred to as the kiboton marturion, or the Chest of Proofs.

Unfortunately (during the time of Samuel and the High-Priest Eli), the Philistines captured the Chest, emptied its contents, and then returned it to Israel empty, because, their having it brought a plague on them (see 1 Samuel 6:12). However, later, during the time of King Solomon, the sacred tablets containing the Ten Commandments were found to be still in the Chest, but nothing else (see 1 Kings 8:9); so we have to assume that they had been found and returned.

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Tent of Proofs

We are sure that many will object to our calling God’s place of worship in the desert a ‘tent’ rather than a ‘tabernacle.’ However, tabernacle is just an obsolete word, the true meaning of which most people misunderstand, so for clarification, we have opted to use the modern word, tent. Because, it was for a fact, a portable building made of cloth.

Actually, this tent is often referred to in Greek as the skenes tou marturion, or, Tent (or Temporary Dwelling) of Testimony. And the reason why they called it that, was because it housed the kiboton martyrion (Box [of] Witness), which is also referred to in other Bibles as the Ark of the Covenant. So, we have translated it as the Tent of Proofs wherever these Greek words are found.

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Age, Eternal, Perpetual, Everlasting, Immortal, or Forever?

Two words imply infinite states in the Bible; one is the Greek word athanasia (undying), which is only found in two places, 1 Corinthians 15:53, where it mentions resurrected ones as clothing themselves with immortality, and at 1 Timothy 6:16, where Paul speaks of Jesus as having received it. The other Greek word is aidios, which is used at Romans 1:20 to describe God’s Power and Might as eternal, and at Jude 6 when speaking of the perpetual state of gloomy darkness that rebellious angels have been confined to.

However, the Greek word aionos (pronounced ai-on-oss), which is used throughout the Bible and is often translated as forever and everlasting, is what the English word eon is derived from. It means an indefinite period, and there is no exact English word to translate it. The best equivalents are age(s) or era(s).

Where the plural form of the word (aionion) is used, it refers to a long time… at least multiple generations. However, where the singular form is used (aionos), this appears to mean a much shorter period, such as a lifetime, generation, or era. And where the term ages of the ages is used (such as at Ephesians 3:21), which is usually said in reference to The God, we would assume that this truly means forever.

It is noteworthy that aionos is the word that is used in the Greek Septuagint in place of the Hebrew word ohlam, which is also translated as forever and time indefinite in popular versions of the Ancient Scriptures of Israel. So, this one word (aionos) is translated as forever, everlasting, eternal, system of things, time indefinite, [end of] the world, long ago, from of old, etc. Obviously, something is very wrong here, because the word can’t mean a period having a definite end in one place and infinity in another.

Take for example, the unique way that aionos is used in the question that Jesus’ Apostles asked him, which is found at Matthew 24:3: ‘Tell us; When will these things happen… what will be the signs when you are to arrive and this age will come to its conclusion?’ You can see that the word aionos obviously doesn’t mean forever, everlasting, or eternal in this case, nor did it mean world or system of things. It simply meant the age or, the time before the end would come. And for them, that meant the age when God’s Temple at Jerusalem would be destroyed, because that’s what Jesus had just told them.

The word aionos (which we have translated as age here) is also translated as world (KJ) and as system of things (NW) in other Bibles. However, if the Apostles had meant any of those words, they would have used the Greek word cosmos (world or system of things), not aionos.

The ancient Hebrews viewed everything (and rightly so) as having a beginning and an end. For that reason, you will only find three places in the Bible where words are used that imply no end, and none that imply no beginning. An interesting possible insight on the reason for this can be found at Hebrews 1:10-12, which says: ‘Long ago, O Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and your hands made the heavens. They will destroy themselves, but you will remain. They will grow old just like clothes do. Then, as [you would do to] a robe, you will wrap them up and repair them like clothes. Yes, you are the one, and your years will never expire.’

So, notice; The Bible shows that even our universe will eventually end and need to be ‘wrapped up and repaired,’ which agrees with the conclusions of modern science.

The problem with most Bible translations is that; when they encounter the word aionos in all its different tenses, they interpret it according to accepted doctrine, not according to the way that Jesus and his disciples used it. So, the common renderings forever, eternal, and everlasting are used even when the word is in its singular forms (aioni, aiona, aionos, aionion, aionian, aionios, aioniou), and this totally distorts the meaning of the text.

Take for example, the scripture at John 5:24, where Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth; He who hears what I say and believes in the One that sent me, will have life in this age… he won’t have to be judged, for he has crossed over from death to life!’

Most Bibles translate Jesus as saying that those who believe in the One who sent him will have everlasting life (or the equivalent). However, the words that Jesus used there were, zoe aionos (life age – singular), not zoe aionion (life ages – plural).

Notice how Jesus explained the meaning of these words with his next statement, ‘He won’t have to be judged, for has crossed over from death to life.’

So, what Jesus was saying here, wasn’t that they would have everlasting life, but that they in their current lifetime would be considered among the living, not among the dead (see Revelation 20:12).

This doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t live forever… it’s just that Jesus wasn’t really saying that. What we find (from consideration of the evidence found in the bulk of Jesus’ words about life) is that he never taught the hope of ‘life eternal,’ ‘everlasting life,’ or ‘immortality,’ in those specific words. However, the concept is still there. What he taught was that righteous people will receive ‘life in the age,’ or be considered worthy of (possibly everlasting) life by God during their current lifetimes… that their names would be written in ‘the scroll of life,’ and that they would not have to be judged, but will have already ‘crossed over from death to life,’ as Jesus said at John 5:24.

Yes, we know that this is a difficult concept to understand, but it’s what Jesus actually said.

For more information, select the linked documents, The Hereafter and Does the Bible Promise Everlasting Life?

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Anointing

At Exodus 29:29 we find that Aaron and his sons were to be ‘anointed’ as Priests to Jehovah, and that this action would make them ‘holy’ or clean. It also signified that they had been chosen to this office by God. And in Leviticus, when we read of the ‘anointed’ Priest, the reference seems to be to one of the Priests who has been chosen for the special office of what later became known as the High Priest.

The Greek word that we have translated as anointed here, is chriseis, which can also be translated as Christ (it’s just a conjugation of Christos), since christ and anointed both come from the same root, which is Greek for olive oil (it may also mean Judged, since the words are similar). So, Jesus wasn’t the first or the only one to be correctly referred to as a christ.

Why olive oil? Because, that substance was traditionally poured over the heads of those whom God chose to be Priests and kings over Israel. However, at least in the case of Aaron and his sons, fragrant herbs were added to the oil to give it a pleasing odor. This is implied at Exodus 25:7, where the Israelites were asked to donate ‘fragrances for anointing oil.’ And we find the exact formula for the anointing oil at Exodus 30:34, where we read that it was to be made from ‘sixteen pounds of choice myrrh flowers, eight pounds of sweet-smelling cinnamon, eight pounds of sweet-smelling calamus, sixteen pounds of cassia (for the Holy Place), and a gallon of olive oil.’

The physical anointing with oil also appears to have pictured their receiving of God’s Holy Breath, making them ‘holy,’ which was an appropriate description for Jesus years later. And remember that both the ‘anointed’ priests and the kings pictured Jesus. So, the term christ is apropos.

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Baal

Throughout the Ancient Scriptures of Israel (OT), you will read of Gods, people, and places with names that start with Baal, Beel, and Bel. These terms mean the Lord, the Master, or the Owner, and they refer to various gods of nations, not necessarily to a particular god. The word was just a title for a god, and the God’s name (or the place that he/it represented) follows the title, such as Beel Phegor (as found at Numbers 25:3). And where people called their god just Baal (or Beel), they were referring to their particular lord or god of that city or land. Also, where a person’s name includes one of these terms (such as BelShazzar), it usually means that they were named after a local god (in this case, Shazzar).

Of course, having the title Baal or Beel in a name doesn’t necessarily imply that a person is a worshiper of a pagan god, for several faithful worshipers of Jehovah also had that title as part of their names. For example, the faithful Judge Gideon came to be known as JeroBaal (meaning ‘May Baal Defend Himself’), because of his action in cutting down an altar to Baal. Also, one of King Saul’s grandsons (through faithful JoNathan) was named MeriBaal (meaning ‘Opposer of Baal’); one of King David’s faithful warriors was named BaalJah (meaning ‘Lord Jehovah’); and David named one of his sons BaalJada (meaning ‘Lord Knows’).

By the way, Baal is pronounced Bah-ahl and Beel is pronounced beh-el, not Bayel or Beel.

Also, in places where we find the letters El in a name or place, this is usually just a shortened version of the Hebrew word Elohim, meaning God. So, whereas many Bibles translate the Greek word ‘Baithelbereth’ (found at Judges 9:46) as ‘Bethel Bereth,’ or, ‘the temple of god ElBereth,’ or, ‘the vault of the house of El-Berith;’ recognize that ‘Beth (or Baith)’ means ‘the house (or temple) of,’ ‘El’ means ‘God,’ and ‘Bereth’ is that God’s name. So, we have translated it there as ‘the temple of God Bereth.’

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Why Capitals in Bible Names?

You have likely noticed that we are putting some of the letters in Bible names in capital letters. For example, we’ve started spelling such names as Jonathan as JoNathan, Isaiah as IsaiJah, and Eliezer as EliEzer. Why? Well, partly to help with the correct pronunciations of the names, and partly to show some translating consistency.

We all know that the common English pronunciation of Jonathan (for example) is Jon-uh-thun. But did you know that the first part of the name (Io in Greek, Ieho in Hebrew) refers to the name Jehovah, and the second part of the Name (Nathan) means Gift? So, the name was originally pronounced closer to Ye-hoh-nuh-thahn.

In the case of names that end with an iah, as in Isaiah, the last part of the name often includes the name of God. Isaiah, for example, means Salvation [of] Jehovah, and it was originally pronounced Ee-sai-Yah. So, why have we substituted a capital ‘J’ for the letters ‘ie’ in both of the above cases? Well, we recognize that there is an inconsistency here, because there was no letter ‘J’ in Hebrew or Greek alphabets. However, we have the choice of changing all names that start with ‘J’ (such as Jesus, John, Jonah, Joshua, Jeremiah, etc.) to start with the letters ‘Ie’, or for consistency, we can change all the ‘Ies’ into ‘Js’, which is what we have done. Realize that several other Hebrew consonants are commonly mispronounced in English, which no one objects to, so this minor deviation should not be objectionable to the thinking.

Does this mean then that we are setting out a new rule for name spelling? Absolutely not, for centuries ago, a Bible translator first established this rule when he spelled the name Eliou (Greek spelling, pronounced ay-lee-ou) and wrote it as EliJah, because this name is regarded as meaning ‘My God is Jehovah.’

Also notice that where a name ends with an iah, as in Jeremiah (Jehovah exalts), we have often spelled it as iJah, because the I would typically be pronounced as a long E, followed by a Y in Hebrew, and writing it without the I (as in JeremJah) misses this nuance. So, we have rendered it as JeremiJah, which is similar to the way it is often pronounced by modern-day Hebrew-speaking Jews, YeremiYah.

Another important word in names that we usually capitalize is ‘El’ (from the Hebrew Elohe, or God). So EliEzer (which people commonly pronounce Eelai-eezer and means God [has] Helped) should actually be pronounced El-ee-eh-zer. The same is true for the letters Ai, especially in the names of cities, because Ai in Hebrew refers to the word city. So, AiLam (for example) probably meant the City of Lam.

Similar words, such as Bel (as in BelShazzar), Baal, and Beel, refer to ‘the Lord’ or ‘the God.’ Also, the prefixes ‘Ben’ and ‘Bar’ mean ‘the son of.’ ‘Beth’ means ‘the house of,’ ‘Beer’ refers to a ‘well,’ ‘Is’ or ‘Ish’ means ‘Man,’ etc.

Does this mean that we have put all the capitals in the right places? No, for we make no claim to Hebrew scholarship (all our translating here has been from Greek). So, what we are trying to do is provide a better understanding to how these names were pronounced by First-Century Christians.

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