Why then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
10 And Saul swore to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.
11 Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.
13 And the king said to her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said to Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
14 And he said to her, What is his form? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. [1]
15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am grievously distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God hath departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known to me what I shall do. [2]
16 Then said Samuel, Why then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD hath departed from thee, and hath become thy enemy?
17 And the LORD hath done to him, as he spoke by me: for the LORD hath torn the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: [3] [4]
18 Because thou didst not obey the voice of the LORD, nor execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing to thee this day.
19 Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.
20 Then Saul fell immediately all along on the earth, and was exceedingly afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night. [5]
21 And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was greatly troubled, and said to him, Behold, thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened to thy words which thou spoke to me.
22 Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way.
23 But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened to their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.
24 And the woman had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from it:
25 And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they ate. Then they arose, and went away that night.
CHAP. 29.
1 Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel.
2 And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rear with Achish.
3 Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here ? And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell to me to this day?
4 And the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; and the princes of the Philistines said to him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he should be an adversary to us: for how should he reconcile himself to his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?
5 Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
6 Then Achish called David, and said to him, Surely, as the LORD liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee from the day of thy coming to me to this day: nevertheless the lords favour thee not. [6]
7 Therefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. [7]
8 And David said to Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king? [8]
9 And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: however the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.
10 Therefore now rise early in the morning with thy master’s servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye shall have risen early in the morning, and have light, depart.
11 So David and his men rose early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
- ↑ What...: Heb. What is his form?
- ↑ by prophets: Heb. by the hand of prophets
- ↑ to him: or, for himself
- ↑ me: Heb. mine hand
- ↑ fell...: Heb. made haste, and fell with the fulness of his stature
- ↑ the lords...: Heb. thou art not good in the eyes of the lords
- ↑ displease...: Heb. do not evil in the eyes of the lords
- ↑ with...: Heb. before thee
