So Samuel followed Saul back, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

So Saul feared David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.

When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David,

Saul accepted Jonathan’s advice and took an oath, “As surely as the Lord lives, he will not be put to death.”

The Lord both kills and gives life; he brings down to the grave and raises up.

The ropes of Sheol tightened around me; the snares of death trapped me.

They live out their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace.

The underworld is naked before God; the place of destruction lies uncovered.

Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.

All Israel heard this message, “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel is repulsive to the Philistines!” So the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the general in command of his army was Abner son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.

There was fierce war with the Philistines all the days of Saul. So whenever Saul saw anyone who was a warrior or a brave individual, he would conscript him.

When Samuel came to him, Saul said to him, “May the Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord said.”

Saul became even more afraid of him. Saul continued to be at odds with David from then on.

Then Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much.

Saul tried to nail David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence and the spear drove into the wall. David escaped quickly that night.

Saul and his men went to look for him. But David was informed and went down to the rock and stayed in the desert of Maon. When Saul heard about it, he pursued David in the desert of Maon.

When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly. The woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”

The Philistines stayed right on the heels of Saul and his sons. They struck down Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua.

However, the war was prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David. David was becoming steadily stronger, while the house of Saul was becoming increasingly weaker.