1 Samuel 19 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Saul Tries to Kill David

1Sa 19:1Saul now urged his servants and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan, because of his strong affection for David,

1Sa 19:2

1Sa 19:2told him what his father was planning. “Tomorrow morning,” he warned him, “you must find a hiding place out in the fields.

1Sa 19:3

1Sa 19:3I’ll ask my father to go out there with me, and I’ll talk to him about you. Then I’ll tell you everything I can find out.”

1Sa 19:4

1Sa 19:4The next morning Jonathan spoke with his father about David, saying many good things about him. “The king must not sin against his servant David,” Jonathan said. “He’s never done anything to harm you. He has always helped you in any way he could.

1Sa 19:5

1Sa 19:5Have you forgotten about the time he risked his life to kill the Philistine giant and how the LORD brought a great victory to all Israel as a result? You were certainly happy about it then. Why should you murder an innocent man like David? There is no reason for it at all!”

1Sa 19:6

1Sa 19:6So Saul listened to Jonathan and vowed, “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be killed.”

1Sa 19:7

1Sa 19:7Afterward Jonathan called David and told him what had happened. Then he brought David to Saul, and David served in the court as before.

1Sa 19:8

1Sa 19:8War broke out again after that, and David led his troops against the Philistines. He attacked them with such fury that they all ran away.

1Sa 19:9

1Sa 19:9But one day when Saul was sitting at home, with spear in hand, the tormenting spirit[fn] from the LORD suddenly came upon him again. As David played his harp,

1Sa 19:10

1Sa 19:10Saul hurled his spear at David. But David dodged out of the way, and leaving the spear stuck in the wall, he fled and escaped into the night.

Michal Saves David’s Life

1Sa 19:11

1Sa 19:11Then Saul sent troops to watch David’s house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead by morning.”

1Sa 19:12

1Sa 19:12So she helped him climb out through a window, and he fled and escaped.

1Sa 19:13

1Sa 19:13Then she took an idol[fn] and put it in his bed, covered it with blankets, and put a cushion of goat’s hair at its head.

1Sa 19:14

1Sa 19:14When the troops came to arrest David, she told them he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed.

1Sa 19:15

1Sa 19:15But Saul sent the troops back to get David. He ordered, “Bring him to me in his bed so I can kill him!”

1Sa 19:16

1Sa 19:16But when they came to carry David out, they discovered that it was only an idol in the bed with a cushion of goat’s hair at its head.

1Sa 19:17

1Sa 19:17“Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal.
“I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.”

1Sa 19:18

1Sa 19:18So David escaped and went to Ramah to see Samuel, and he told him all that Saul had done to him. Then Samuel took David with him to live at Naioth.

1Sa 19:19

1Sa 19:19When the report reached Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah,

1Sa 19:20

1Sa 19:20he sent troops to capture him. But when they arrived and saw Samuel leading a group of prophets who were prophesying, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men, and they also began to prophesy.

1Sa 19:21

1Sa 19:21When Saul heard what had happened, he sent other troops, but they, too, prophesied! The same thing happened a third time.

1Sa 19:22

1Sa 19:22Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah and arrived at the great well in Secu. “Where are Samuel and David?” he demanded.
“They are at Naioth in Ramah,” someone told him.

1Sa 19:23

1Sa 19:23But on the way to Naioth in Ramah the Spirit of God came even upon Saul, and he, too, began to prophesy all the way to Naioth!

1Sa 19:24

1Sa 19:24He tore off his clothes and lay naked on the ground all day and all night, prophesying in the presence of Samuel. The people who were watching exclaimed, “What? Is even Saul a prophet?”

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

NLT Footnotes

(19:9)

Or evil spirit.

(19:13)

Hebrew teraphim; also in 19:16.

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1 Samuel Chapter 19 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard 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 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

NLT Footnotes

1 Samuel Chapter 19 — Additional Translations:

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