Samuel & King Saul

And the woman came to Saul, (for he was very much troubled) and said to him: Behold thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand: and I hearkened unto the words which thou spokest to me.

Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set before thee a morsel of bread, that thou mayst eat and recover strength, and be able to go on thy journey.

But he refused, and said: I will not eat. But his servants and the woman forced him, and at length hearkening to their voice, he arose from the ground, and sat upon the bed.

Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she made haste and killed it: and taking meal, kneaded it, and baked some unleavened bread,

And set it before Saul, and before his servants. And when they had eaten they rose up, and walked all that night.

Now all the troops of the Philistines were gathered together to Aphec: and Israel also encamped by the fountain, which is in Jezrahel.

And the lords of the Philistines marched with their hundreds and their thousands: but David and his men were in the rear with Achis.

And the princes of the Philistines said to Achis: What mean these Hebrews? And Achis said to the princes of the Philistines: Do you not know David who was the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, and hath been with me many days, or years, and I have found no fault in him, since the day that he fled over to me until this day?

But the prices of the Philistines were angry with him, and they said to him: Let this man return, and abide in his place, which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest he be an adversary to us, when we shall begin to fight: for how can he otherwise appease his master, but with our heads?

Is not this David, to whom they sung in their dances, saying: Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

Then Achis called David, and said to him: As the Lord liveth, thou art upright and good in my sight: and so is thy going out, and thy coming in with me in the army: and I have not found any evil in thee, since the day that thou camest to me unto this day: but thou pleasest not the lords.

Return therefore, and go in peace, and offend not the eyes of the princes of the Philistines.

And David said to Achis: But what have I done, or what hast thou found in me thy servant, from the day that I have been in thy sight until this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

And Achis answering, said to David: I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: But the princes of the Philistines have said: He shall not go up with us to the battle.

Therefore arise in the morning, thou, and the servants of thy lord, who came with thee: and when you are up before day, and it shall begin to be light, go on your way.

So David and his men arose in the night, that they might set forward in the morning, and returned to the land of the Philistines: and the Philistines went up to Jezrahel.

Now when David and his men were come to Siceleg on the third day, the Amalecites had made an invasion on the south side upon Siceleg, and had smitten Siceleg, and burnt it with fire,

And had taken the women captives that were in it, both little and great: and they had not killed any person, but had carried them with them, and went on their way.

So when David and his men came to the city, and found it burnt with fire, and that their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives,

David and the people that were with him, lifted up their voices, and wept till they had no more tears.

For the two wives also of David were taken captives, Achinoam, the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

And David was greatly afflicted: for the people had a mind to stone him, for the soul of every man was bitterly grieved for his sons and daughters: but David took courage in the Lord his God.

And he said to Abiathar, the priest, the son of Achimelech: Bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I pursue after these robbers, and shall I overtake them, or not? And the Lord said to him: Pursue after them: for thou shalt surely overtake them and recover the prey.

So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor: and some, being weary, stayed there.