Now at your own discretion, ¹  O king, come down. Delivering him into the king’s hand will be our responsibility.”

Ahimelech replied to the king, “Who among all your servants is faithful like David? He is the king’s son-in-law, the leader of your bodyguard, and honored in your house!

The king said, “Find out whose son this boy is!”

Now look! Here is the king you have chosen – the one that you asked for! Look, the Lord has given you a king!

So David hid in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat his meal.

But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house!

David replied, “Here is the king’s spear! Let one of your servants cross over and get it.

Then the king arranged for a meeting with the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and all the priests of his father’s house who were at Nob. They all came to the king.

David said to Abner, “Aren’t you a man? After all, who is like you in Israel? Why then haven’t you protected your lord the king? One of the soldiers came to kill your lord the king.

So now do as they say. ¹  But seriously warn ²  them and make them aware of the policies of the king who will rule over them.” ³ 

He said, “Here are the policies of the king who will rule over you: He will conscript your sons and put them in his chariot forces and in his cavalry; they will run in front of his chariot.

Now look! This king walks before you. As for me, I am old and gray, though my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from the time of my youth till the present day.

The king sat down in his usual place by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him ¹  and Abner at his side. ²  But David’s place was vacant.

When Saul recognized David’s voice, he said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” David replied, “Yes, it’s my voice, my lord the king.”

The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What have you seen?” The woman replied to Saul, “I have seen one like a god ¹  coming up from the ground!”

Then the king said to the messengers ¹  who were stationed beside him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, for they too have sided ²  with David! They knew he was fleeing, but they did not inform me.” But the king’s servants refused to harm ³  the priests of the Lord.

Then Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one whom the Lord has chosen? Indeed, there is no one like him among all the people!” All the people shouted out, “Long live the king!”

If you fear the Lord, serving him and obeying him ¹  and not rebelling against what he says, ²  and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the Lord your God, all will be well. ³ 

The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? He does so 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’s house exempt from tax obligations in Israel.”

¹ Now as Saul watched David going out to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the general in command of the army, “Whose son is this young man, Abner?” Abner replied, “As surely as you live, O king, I don’t know.”