The Lord again called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli ¹  said, “I didn’t call you, my son. Go back and lie down.”

Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” Saul ¹  replied, “To look for the donkeys. But when we realized they were lost, ²  we went to Samuel.”

Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed ¹  the commandment that the Lord your God gave ²  you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever!

The leaders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish said to the leaders of the Philistines, “Isn’t this David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me for quite some time? ¹  I have found no fault with him from the day of his defection until the present time!” ² 

In the same way that I valued your life this day, ¹  may the Lord value my life ²  and deliver me from all danger.”

Saul became angry with Jonathan ¹  and said to him, “You stupid traitor! ²  Don’t I realize that to your own disgrace and to the disgrace of your mother’s nakedness you have chosen this son of Jesse?

When everyone who had known him previously saw him prophesying with the prophets, the people all asked one another, “What on earth has happened to the son of Kish? Does even Saul belong with the prophets?”

David settled with Achish in Gath, along with his men and their families. ¹  David had with him his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s widow.

Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.” ¹ 

Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.

Then the people said to Samuel, “Who were the ones asking, ‘Will Saul reign over us?’ Hand over those men so we may execute them!”

Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan River ¹  to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal; the entire army that was with him was terrified.

When they came down from the high place to the town, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof.

The next morning Jonathan, along with a young servant, went out to the field to meet David.

Saul ¹  again replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel. Go back with me so I may worship the Lord your God.”

David went on to say, “The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine!” Then Saul said to David, “Go! The Lord will be with you.” ¹ 

The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you are coming after me with sticks?” ¹  Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed so I can kill him.”

I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw, strike it, and kill it.

If your father happens to miss me, you should say, ‘David urgently requested me to let him go ¹  to his city Bethlehem, ²  for there is an annual sacrifice there for his entire family.’