1Then Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan delighted greatly in David,[ † ]1 Samuel 18:51 Samuel 8:8-9 2so he warned David, saying, “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning; find a secret place and hide there. 3I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, so I can ask about you. And if I find out anything, I will tell you.”[ † ]1 Samuel 18:1
4Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you.[ † ]1 Samuel 20:8-131 Samuel 20:32Proverbs 31:8-9 5He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”[ † ]Genesis 42:22Proverbs 17:13Jeremiah 18:20Judges 9:17Judges 12:31 Samuel 17:49-501 Samuel 11:131 Chronicles 11:141 Samuel 20:32
6Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan and swore an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.”
7So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.[ † ]Deuteronomy 19:10-13
8When war broke out again, David went out and fought the Philistines and struck them with such a mighty blow that they fled before him.[ † ]1 Samuel 16:211 Samuel 18:2-10, 13
9But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the Lord came upon him. While David was playing the harp,[ † ]1 Samuel 18:271 Samuel 23:5 10Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But David eluded him and the spear struck the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
11Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him, “If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!”[ † ]1 Samuel 16:141 Samuel 18:10-11 12So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped.[ † ]Judges 16:2Psalms 59:title
13Then Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment. 14When Saul sent the messengers to seize David, Michal said, “He is ill.”
15But Saul sent the messengers back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so I can kill him.” 16And when the messengers entered, there was the idol in the bed with the goat hair on its head.
17And Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!” Michal replied, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away, or I will kill you!’”[ † ]Joshua 2:15Acts 9:252 Corinthians 11:33
18So David ran away and escaped. And he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.[ † ]2 Samuel 2:221 Samuel 16:13
19When Saul was told that David was at Naioth in Ramah, 20he sent messengers to seize him. But when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came upon them, and Saul’s messengers also began to prophesy.[ † ]1 Samuel 7:171 Samuel 19:11-14John 7:321 Samuel 10:5-6, 101 Corinthians 14:3-24, 25
21When this was reported to Saul, he sent more messengers, but they began to prophesy as well. So Saul tried again and sent messengers a third time, and even they began to prophesy.
22Finally, Saul himself left for Ramah and came to the large cistern at Secu, where he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “At Naioth in Ramah,” he was told.
23So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. But the Spirit of God came upon even Saul, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah.[ † ]Numbers 11:25Joel 2:28 24Then Saul stripped off his robes and also prophesied before Samuel. And he collapsed and lay naked all that day and night. That is why it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”[ † ]1 Samuel 10:10Isaiah 20:2Micah 1:8