¹Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants , that they should kill David . But Jonathan , Saul ’s son , greatly delighted in David .

²Jonathan told David , saying, “Saul my father seeks to kill you . Now therefore , please take care of yourself in the morning , live in a secret place , and hide yourself.

³I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are , and I will talk with my father about you ; and if I see anything , I will tell you .”

⁴Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him , “Don’t let the king sin against his servant , against David ; because he has not sinned against you , and because his works have been very good towards you ;

⁵for he put his life in his hand and struck the Philistine , and the LORD worked a great victory for all Israel . You saw it and rejoiced . Why then will you sin against innocent blood , to kill David without a cause ?”

⁶Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan ; and Saul swore , “As the LORD lives , he shall not be put to death .”

⁷Jonathan called David , and Jonathan showed him all those things . Then Jonathan brought David to Saul , and he was in his presence as before .

⁸There was war again . David went out and fought with the Philistines , and killed them with a great slaughter ; and they fled before him .

⁹An evil spirit from the LORD was on Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand ; and David was playing music with his hand .

¹⁰Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear , but he slipped away out of Saul ’s presence ; and he stuck the spear into the wall . David fled and escaped that night .

¹¹Saul sent messengers to David ’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning . Michal , David ’s wife, told him , saying, “If you don’t save your life tonight , tomorrow you will be killed .”

¹²So Michal let David down through the window . He went away , fled , and escaped .

¹³Michal took the teraphim and laid it in the bed , and put a pillow of goats ’ hair at its head and covered it with clothes.[#19:13 teraphim were household idols that may have been associated with inheritance rights to the household property.]

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

¹⁵Saul sent the messengers to see David , saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed , that I may kill him .”

¹⁶When the messengers came in, behold , the teraphim was in the bed , with the pillow of goats ’ hair at its head .

¹⁷Saul said to Michal , “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go , so that he has escaped ?”

Michal answered Saul , “He said to me , ‘Let me go ! Why should I kill you ?’”

¹⁸Now David fled and escaped , and came to Samuel at Ramah , and told him all that Saul had done to him . He and Samuel went and lived in Naioth .

¹⁹Saul was told , saying, “Behold , David is at Naioth in Ramah .”

²⁰Saul sent messengers to seize David ; and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying , and Samuel standing as head over them , God ’s Spirit came on Saul ’s messengers , and they also prophesied .

²¹When Saul was told , he sent other messengers , and they also prophesied . Saul sent messengers again the third time , and they also prophesied .

²²Then he also went to Ramah , and came to the great well that is in Secu : and he asked , “Where are Samuel and David ?”

One said, “Behold , they are at Naioth in Ramah .”

²³He went there to Naioth in Ramah . Then God’s Spirit came on him also , and he went on , and prophesied , until he came to Naioth in Ramah .

²⁴He also stripped off his clothes. He also prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night . Therefore they say, “Is Saul also amongst the prophets ?”