1 Samuel 19 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Saul Tries to Kill David

1Sa 19:1And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David.

1Sa 19:2

1Sa 19:2And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself.

1Sa 19:3

1Sa 19:3And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.”

1Sa 19:4

1Sa 19:4And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you.

1Sa 19:5

1Sa 19:5For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?”

1Sa 19:6

1Sa 19:6And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.”

1Sa 19:7

1Sa 19:7And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.

1Sa 19:8

1Sa 19:8And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him.

1Sa 19:9

1Sa 19:9Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre.

1Sa 19:10

1Sa 19:10And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

1Sa 19:11

1Sa 19:11Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”

1Sa 19:12

1Sa 19:12So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped.

1Sa 19:13

1Sa 19:13Michal took an image[fn] and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with the clothes.

1Sa 19:14

1Sa 19:14And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

1Sa 19:15

1Sa 19:15Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.”

1Sa 19:16

1Sa 19:16And when the messengers came in, behold, the image was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head.

1Sa 19:17

1Sa 19:17Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’”

1Sa 19:18

1Sa 19:18Now David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and lived at Naioth.

1Sa 19:19

1Sa 19:19And it was told Saul, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.”

1Sa 19:20

1Sa 19:20Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

1Sa 19:21

1Sa 19:21When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.

1Sa 19:22

1Sa 19:22Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.”

1Sa 19:23

1Sa 19:23And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

1Sa 19:24

1Sa 19:24And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(19:13)

Or a household god

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

1 Samuel Chapter 19 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

1 Samuel 19 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Saul Tries to Kill David

ESV Footnotes

1 Samuel Chapter 19 — Additional Translations:

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