¹Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his slaves about putting David to death; but Jonathan, the son of Saul, delighted in David exceedingly.

²Jonathan told David, saying, “Saul my father is seeking to put you to death. Now, please, keep yourself in the morning, and dwell in the hiding place, and hide yourself.

³And I will go out and stand at the side of my father in the field where you are, and I will speak about you to my father; and I will see whatever there is, and I will tell you.”

⁴Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Let the king not sin against his slave, against David, for he has not sinned against you, and his works are exceedingly good for you.

⁵He put his living being in his palm and struck down the Philistine, and Yahweh worked a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced; so why will you sin against innocent blood, to put David to death for nothing?"

⁶Saul heard the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, "As Yahweh lives, he will not be put to death."

⁷Jonathan called to David, and Jonathan told him all these words; and Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was before his face as in the days before.

⁸Once more there was war, and David went out and fought against the Philistines, and struck them a great blow; and they fled from his face.

⁹There was an evil breath of Yahweh on Saul, as he was dwelling in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing with his hand.

¹⁰Saul sought to strike David with the spear and into the wall, but he slipped away from the face of Saul, and he struck the spear into the wall; and David fled and escaped in that night.

¹¹Saul sent messengers to the house of David to watch him and to put him to death in the morning. Michal, his wife, told David, saying, "If you do not deliver your living being tonight, tomorrow you will be put to death."

¹²Michal let down David through the window, and he went, and fled, and escaped.

¹³Michal took the teraphim and put it on the bed, and she put a netting of goat hair at its head, and covered it with the garment.

¹⁴Saul sent messengers to take David, and she said, "He is sick."

¹⁵Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, "Bring up him on the bed to me, to put him to death."

¹⁶The messengers came in, and look, the teraphim was on the bed, with the netting of goat hair at its head.

¹⁷Saul said to Michal, "Why have you deceived me like this, and sent my enemy off, so that he has escaped?" Michal said to Saul, "He said to me, 'Let me go; why should I put you to death?'"

¹⁸And David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him; and he and Samuel went and dwelled in Naioth.

¹⁹It was told to Saul, saying, "Look, David is in Naioth in Ramah."

²⁰Saul sent messengers to take David, and they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing, stationed over them; and the breath of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

²¹They told Saul, and he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied; and Saul again sent a third set of messengers, and they also prophesied.

²²He too went to Ramah, and came as far as the great cistern that is in Secu; and he asked, saying, "Where are Samuel and David?" And someone said, "Look, in Naioth in Ramah."

²³He went there, to Naioth in Ramah, and the breath of God was upon him too, and he went on and on, prophesying, until he came at Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴He too stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied before the face of Samuel, and fell down naked all that day and all the night. That is why people say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"