<p class="bodytext">Then he said to all Israel, &#8220;You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.&#8221; The army replied to Saul, &#8220;Do whatever you think is best.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">So Saul said to Jonathan, &#8220;Tell me what you have done.&#8221; Jonathan told him, &#8220;I used the end of the staff that was in my hand to taste a little honey. I must die!&#8221;<n id="1" />

Saul said to the Kenites, &#8220;Go on and leave! Go down from among the Amalekites! Otherwise I will sweep you away<n id="1" /> with them! After all, you were kind to all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.&#8221; So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites.p>

<p class="bodytext">The men of Israel said, &#8220;Have you seen this man who is coming up? He does so<n id="1" /> to defy Israel. But the king will make the man who can strike him down very wealthy! He will give him his daughter in marriage, and he will make his father&#8217;s house exempt from tax obligations in Israel.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">David asked the men who were standing near him, &#8220;What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation?<n id="1" /> For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?&#8221;

He risked his life<n id="1" /> when he struck down the Philistine and the <sc>Lordsc> gave all Israel a great victory. When you saw it, you were happy. So why would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death for no reason?&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Now David had run away and escaped. He went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed at Naioth.

<t /><p class="bodytext">David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked,<n id="1" /> &#8220;What have I done? What is my offense?<n id="2" /> How have I sinned before your father? For he is seeking my life!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Jonathan<n id="1" /> said to him, &#8220;By no means are you going to die! My father does nothing<n id="2" /> large or small without making me aware of it.<n id="3" /> Why would my father hide this matter from me? It just won&#8217;t happen!&#8221;p>

You must be loyal<n id="1" /> to your servant, for you have made a covenant with your servant in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s name.<n id="2" /> If I am guilty,<n id="3" /> you yourself kill me! Why bother taking me to your father?&#8221;p>

But if my father intends to do you harm, may the <sc>Lordsc> do all this and more to Jonathan, if I don&#8217;t let you know<n id="1" /> and send word to you so you can go safely on your way.<n id="2" /> May the <sc>Lordsc> be with you, as he was with my father.

<p class="bodytext">Then David went from there to Mizpah in Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, &#8220;Please let my father and mother stay<n id="1" /> with you until I know what God is going to do for me.&#8221;

He said to his men, &#8220;May the <sc>Lordsc> keep me far away from doing such a thing to my lord, who is the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s chosen one,<n id="1" /> by extending my hand against him. After all,<n id="2" /> he is the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s chosen one.&#8221;<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">So Abigail quickly took two hundred loaves of bread, two containers<n id="1" /> of wine, five prepared sheep, five seahs<n id="2" /> of roasted grain, a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred lumps of pressed figs. She loaded them on donkeys

This failure on your part isn&#8217;t good!<n id="1" /> As surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives, you people who have not protected your lord, the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s chosen one, are as good as dead!<n id="2" /> Now look where the king&#8217;s spear and the jug of water that was by his head are!&#8221;p>

Neither man nor woman would David leave alive so as to bring them back to Gath. He was thinking, &#8220;This way they can&#8217;t tell on us, saying, &#8216;This is what David did.&#8217;&#8221; Such was his practice the entire time<n id="1" /> that he lived in the country of the Philistines.

David replied to Achish, &#8220;That being the case, you will come to know what your servant can do!&#8221; Achish said to David, &#8220;Then I will make you my bodyguard<n id="1" /> from now on.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">But the woman said to him, &#8220;Look, you are aware of what Saul has done; he has removed<n id="1" /> the mediums and magicians<n id="2" /> from the land! Why are you trapping me<n id="3" /> so you can put me to death?&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">But David said to Achish, &#8220;What have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day that I first came into your presence until the present time, that I shouldn&#8217;t go and fight the enemies of my lord the king?&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">But David said, &#8220;No! You shouldn&#8217;t do this, my brothers. Look at what the <sc>Lordsc> has given us!<n id="1" /> He has protected us and has delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us.