| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted greatly in David. | 1Saul now urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan, because of his strong affection for David, |
| 2So Jonathan told David, saying, “My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. | 2told him what his father was planning. “Tomorrow morning,” he warned him, “you must find a hiding place out in the fields. |
| 3And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe, I will tell you.” | 3I’ll ask my father to go out there with me, and I’ll talk to him about you. Then I’ll tell you everything I can find out.” |
| 4Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you. | 4The next morning Jonathan spoke with his father about David, saying many good things about him. “The king must not sin against his servant David,” Jonathan said. “He’s never done anything to harm you. He has always helped you in any way he could. |
| 5For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?” | 5Have you forgotten about the time he risked his life to kill the Philistine giant and how the LORD brought a great victory to all Israel as a result? You were certainly happy about it then. Why should you murder an innocent man like David? There is no reason for it at all!” |
| 6So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be killed.” | 6So Saul listened to Jonathan and vowed, “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be killed.” |
| 7Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past. | 7Afterward Jonathan called David and told him what had happened. Then he brought David to Saul, and David served in the court as before. |
| 8And there was war again; and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and struck them with a mighty blow, and they fled from him. | 8War broke out again after that, and David led his troops against the Philistines. He attacked them with such fury that they all ran away. |
| 9Now the distressing spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand. | 9But one day when Saul was sitting at home, with spear in hand, the tormenting spirit from the LORD suddenly came upon him again. As David played his harp, |
| 10Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from Saul’s presence; and he drove the spear into the wall. So David fled and escaped that night. | 10Saul hurled his spear at David. But David dodged out of the way, and leaving the spear stuck in the wall, he fled and escaped into the night. Michal Saves David’s Life |
| 11Saul also sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” | 11Then Saul sent troops to watch David’s house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead by morning.” |
| 12So Michal let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped. | 12So she helped him climb out through a window, and he fled and escaped. |
| 13And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goats’ hair for his head, and covered it with clothes. | 13Then she took an idol and put it in his bed, covered it with blankets, and put a cushion of goat’s hair at its head. |
| 14So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” | 14When the troops came to arrest David, she told them he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed. |
| 15Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” | 15But Saul sent the troops back to get David. He ordered, “Bring him to me in his bed so I can kill him!” |
| 16And when the messengers had come in, there was the image in the bed, with a cover of goats’ hair for his head. | 16But when they came to carry David out, they discovered that it was only an idol in the bed with a cushion of goat’s hair at its head. |
| 17Then Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, and sent my enemy away, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’ ” | 17“Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal. “I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.” |
| 18So David fled and escaped, and went to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. | 18So David escaped and went to Ramah to see Samuel, and he told him all that Saul had done to him. Then Samuel took David with him to live at Naioth. |
| 19Now it was told Saul, saying, “Take note, David is at Naioth in Ramah!” | 19When the report reached Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah, |
| 20Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. | 20he sent troops to capture him. But when they arrived and saw Samuel leading a group of prophets who were prophesying, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men, and they also began to prophesy. |
| 21And when Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. Then Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. | 21When Saul heard what had happened, he sent other troops, but they, too, prophesied! The same thing happened a third time. |
| 22Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is at Sechu. So he asked, and said, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “Indeed they are at Naioth in Ramah.” | 22Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah and arrived at the great well in Secu. “Where are Samuel and David?” he demanded. “They are at Naioth in Ramah,” someone told him. |
| 23So he went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. | 23But on the way to Naioth in Ramah the Spirit of God came even upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy all the way to Naioth! |
| 24And he also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” | 24He tore off his clothes and lay naked on the ground all day and all night, prophesying in the presence of Samuel. The people who were watching exclaimed, “What? Is even Saul a prophet?” |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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