1 Samuel 28-31

1 Samuel 28

¹Now in those days the Philistines gathered their forces for warfare against Israel. So Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men are to go out to battle with me.”

²David replied, “Then you will come to know what your servant can do.” “Very well,” said Achish. “I will make you my bodyguard for life.”

³Now by this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.

⁴The Philistines gathered together and camped at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.

⁵When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid and trembled violently.

⁶He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.

⁷Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.” “There is a medium at Endor,” his servants replied.

⁸So Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes, and he set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me. Bring up for me the one I name.”

⁹But the woman replied, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has killed the mediums and spiritists in the land. Why have you set a trap to get me killed?”

¹⁰Then Saul swore to her by the LORD: “As surely as the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this.”

¹¹“Whom shall I bring up for you?” the woman asked. “Bring up Samuel,” he replied.

¹²But when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out in a loud voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”

¹³“Do not be afraid,” the king replied. “What do you see?” “I see a god coming up out of the earth,” the woman answered.

¹⁴“What does he look like?” asked Saul. “An old man is coming up,” she replied. “And he is wearing a robe.” So Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed facedown in reverence.

¹⁵Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” “I am deeply distressed,” replied Saul. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”

¹⁶“Why do you consult me,” asked Samuel, “since the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy?

¹⁷He has done exactly what He spoke through me: The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David.

¹⁸Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out His burning anger against Amalek, the LORD has done this to you today.

¹⁹Moreover, the LORD will deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. And the LORD will deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”

²⁰Immediately Saul fell flat on the ground, terrified by the words of Samuel. And his strength was gone, because he had not eaten anything all that day and night.

²¹When the woman came to Saul and saw how distraught he was, she said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice. I took my life in my hands and did as you told me.

²²Now please listen to your servant and let me set a morsel of bread before you so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way.”

²³Saul refused, saying, “I will not eat.” But his servants joined the woman in urging him, and he heeded their voice. He got up from the ground and sat on the bed.

²⁴The woman had a fattened calf at her house, and she quickly slaughtered it. She also took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread.

²⁵She served it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. And that night they got up and left.

1 Samuel 29

¹Now the Philistines brought all their forces together at Aphek, while Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel.

²As the Philistine leaders marched out with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men marched behind them with Achish.

³Then the commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish replied, “Is this not David, the servant of King Saul of Israel? He has been with me all these days, even years, and from the day he defected until today I have found no fault in him.”

⁴But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the war. What better way for him to regain the favor of his master than with the heads of our men?

⁵Is this not the David about whom they sing in their dances: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

⁶So Achish summoned David and told him, “As surely as the LORD lives, you have been upright, and it seems right in my sight that you should march in and out with me in the army, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until this day. But you are not good in the sight of the leaders.

⁷Therefore turn back now and go in peace, so that you will not do anything to displease the leaders of the Philistines.”

⁸“But what have I done?” David replied. “What have you found against your servant, from the day I came to you until today, to keep me from going along to fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

⁹Achish replied, “I know that you are as pleasing in my sight as an angel of God. But the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go into battle with us.’

¹⁰Now then, get up early in the morning, along with your master’s servants who came with you, and go as soon as it is light.”

¹¹So David and his men got up early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

1 Samuel 30

¹On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag, and the Amalekites had raided the Negev, attacked Ziklag, and burned it down.

²They had taken captive the women and all who were there, both young and old. They had not killed anyone, but had carried them off as they went on their way.

³When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

⁴So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.

⁵David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive.

⁶And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

⁷Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,

⁸and David inquired of the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” the LORD replied, “for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.”

⁹So David and his six hundred men went to the Brook of Besor, where some stayed behind

¹⁰because two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook. But David and four hundred men continued in pursuit.

¹¹Now his men found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave the man water to drink and food to eat—

¹²a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. So he ate and was revived, for he had not had any food or water for three days and three nights.

¹³Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” “I am an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I fell ill.

¹⁴We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”

¹⁵“Will you lead me to these raiders?” David asked. And the man replied, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will lead you to them.”

¹⁶So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.

¹⁷And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except four hundred young men who fled, riding off on camels.

¹⁸So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.

¹⁹Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back.

²⁰And he took all the flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, calling out, “This is David’s plunder!”

²¹When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Brook of Besor, they came out to meet him and the troops with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them,

²²but all the wicked and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered, except for each man’s wife and children. They may take them and go.”

²³But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiders who came against us.

²⁴Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”

²⁵And so it has been from that day forward. David established this statute and ordinance for Israel to this very day.

²⁶When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”

²⁷He sent gifts to those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir;

²⁸to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, and Eshtemoa;

²⁹to those in Racal and in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites;

³⁰to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach;

³¹and to those in Hebron and in all the places where David and his men had roamed.

1 Samuel 31

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

²The Philistines hotly pursued Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

³When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically.

⁴Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

⁵When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died with him.

⁶So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died together that same day.

⁷When the Israelites along the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.

⁸The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

⁹They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temples of their idols and among their people.

¹⁰They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.

¹¹When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹²all their men of valor set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there.

¹³Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.