So now do as they say. But seriously warn them and make them aware of the policies of the king who will rule over them.”

But David struck them down from twilight until the following evening. None of them escaped, with the exception of four hundred young men who got away on camels.

So the army rushed greedily on the plunder, confiscating sheep, cattle, and calves. They slaughtered them right on the ground, and the army ate them blood and all.

He will take your best fields and vineyards and give them to his own servants.

The Lord sent you on a campaign saying, ‘Go and exterminate those sinful Amalekites! Fight against them until you have destroyed them.’

Jonathan replied, “All right! We’ll go over to these men and fight them.

David had also married Ahinoam from Jezreel; the two of them became his wives.

David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Should I pursue this raiding band? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them and carry out a rescue!”

David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire and tried to walk around, but he was not used to them. David said to Saul, “I can’t walk in these things, for I’m not used to them.” So David removed them.

The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites on another hill, with the valley between them.

He lifts the weak from the dust; he raises the poor from the ash heap to seat them with princes and to bestow on them an honored position. The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord, and he has placed the world on them.

But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he was the one leading them out to battle and back.

They took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh; then they fasted for seven days.

Now I hear that they are shearing sheep for you. When your shepherds were with us, we neither insulted them nor harmed them the whole time they were in Carmel.

So now go and make a new cart. Get two cows that have calves and that have never had a yoke placed on them. Harness the cows to the cart and take their calves from them back to their stalls.

But all the evil and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Since they didn’t go with us, we won’t give them any of the loot we retrieved! They may take only their wives and children. Let them lead them away and be gone!”

Then the men of Israel left Mizpah and chased the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth Car.

The next day Saul placed the people in three groups. They went to the Ammonite camp during the morning watch and struck them down until the hottest part of the day. The survivors scattered; no two of them remained together.

He said to them, “Why do you behave in this way? For I hear about these evil things from all these people.

When Saul counted them at Bezek, the Israelites were 300,000 strong and the men of Judah numbered 30,000.