1 Samuel 19

Jonathan speaks up for David

¹Saul spoke to his son Jonathan and to all his officials about killing David. But Saul’s son Jonathan was deeply fond of David. ²Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is looking for a way to kill you. So please be careful in the morning. Stay in a hidden place and keep out of sight. ³I will go out and take my place at my father’s side in the field where you are, and talk with him about you. Whatever I find out, I will let you know.”

⁴Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul. “May the king not sin against David his servant,” he said. “David has committed no sin against you, and what he has done has served you very well. ⁵He took his life in his hands and struck down the Philistine, and the LORD won a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and were glad. So why would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death for no reason?” ⁶Saul listened to Jonathan and swore, “As surely as the LORD lives, he will not be put to death.” ⁷Then Jonathan called David and told him everything that had been said. Jonathan brought David to Saul, and David served him as he had before.

⁸War broke out again. David went out and fought the Philistines. He defeated them with heavy losses, and they ran from him. ⁹Then an evil spirit from the LORD came on Saul. He was sitting in his house, spear in hand, while David played the lyre. ¹⁰Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but David slipped away from him, and Saul drove the spear into the wall. David fled and got away that night.

Michal helps David escape

¹¹Saul sent messengers to David’s house to keep watch on him and kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead.” ¹²So Michal let David down through the window, and he went off, fled, and escaped. ¹³Then Michal took the household god and laid it on the bed. She put a mat of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with a garment.^a

¹⁴When Saul sent messengers to seize David, she said, “He is sick.”

¹⁵Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David for themselves. He told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed, so that I can kill him.” ¹⁶When the messengers came in, there was the household god on the bed, with the mat of goats’ hair at its head. ¹⁷Saul said to Michal, “Why did you trick me like this and let my enemy go, so that he got away?” Michal answered, “He told me, ‘Let me go! Why should I have to kill you?’” ¹⁸So David fled and escaped. He went to Samuel at Ramah and reported to him everything Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went off and stayed at Naioth.^{b 19}Saul was told, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” ²⁰Saul sent messengers to seize David. But when they saw the company of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied. ²¹When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied too. Saul sent messengers a third time, and they also prophesied. ²²Then Saul himself went to Ramah. He came to the great cistern at Secu and asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” Someone said, “They are at Naioth in Ramah.”^{c 23}So he went there, toward Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God came on him too, and he kept walking along, prophesying, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴He too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay there naked all that day and all that night. That is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”