Jonathan Intercedes for David
1Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, was very fond of David, 2and Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is looking for a way to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning — stay hidden in a secret place. 3I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to him about you. Whatever I find out, I will tell you.” 4Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul, and said to him, “Let the king not sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5He risked his own life when he struck down the Philistine, and Yahweh brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then would you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” 6Saul listened to Jonathan’s voice, and Saul swore, “As surely as Yahweh lives, David will not be put to death.” 7So Jonathan called David and told him all these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and David was in his presence as before.
Saul Tries to Kill David Again
8War broke out again, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such a heavy blow that they fled before him. 9Then an evil spirit from Yahweh came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand, while David was playing the lyre. 10Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the javelin, but David eluded him, and the javelin struck the wall. David fled and escaped that night. 11Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch it and kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you do not escape tonight, tomorrow you will be dead.” 12So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped. 13Then Michal took the household idol and laid it on the bed, put a garment of goat hair at its head, and covered it with a cloak. 14When Saul sent messengers to seize David, she said, “He is sick.” 15Then Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed, so that I may kill him.” 16But when the messengers came in, there was the household idol on the bed, with the garment of goat hair at its head. 17Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this, letting my enemy get away?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go, or I will kill you.’”
David Flees to Samuel at Ramah
18David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him everything Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed at Naioth. 19It was reported to Saul, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 20So Saul sent messengers to seize David. But when they saw the company of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers too, and they also began to prophesy. 21When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they too prophesied. He sent messengers a third time, and they also prophesied. 22Finally Saul himself went to Ramah. He came to the great well at Secu and asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “At Naioth in Ramah,” someone said. 23So he went on to Naioth in Ramah. But the Spirit of God came upon him too, and he walked along prophesying until he reached Naioth in Ramah. 24He too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence, and he lay naked all that day and all that night. That is why they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
