Study Desk

The Lord pays every man for what he does—he rewards him if he does right, and he punishes him if he does wrong. The Lord gave you to me today, but I wouldn't harm the Lord 's chosen king.

But David thought to himself, "Saul will catch me some day. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up looking for me in Israel. That way I will escape from Saul."

People told Saul that David had run away to Gath, so Saul stopped looking for him.

David answered, "Certainly, then you can see for yourself what I can do." Achish said, "Fine, I will make you my permanent bodyguard."

After Samuel died, all the Israelites mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his hometown. Saul had removed the mediums and fortunetellers from Israel.

The Philistines prepared for war. They came to Shunem and made their camp at that place. Saul gathered all the Israelites together and made his camp at Gilboa.

That night, Saul put on different clothes so that no one would know who he was. Then Saul and two of his men went to see the woman. Saul said to her, "I want you to bring up a ghost who can tell me what will happen in the future. You must call for the ghost of the person I name."

Saul used the Lord 's name to make a promise to the woman. He said, "As surely as the Lord lives, you won't be punished for doing this."

The woman asked, "Who do you want me to bring up for you?" Saul answered, "Bring up Samuel."

Samuel said, "The Lord left you and is now your enemy, so why are you asking me for advice?

The Philistine captains asked, "What are these Hebrews doing here?" Achish told the Philistine captains, "This is David. He was one of Saul's officers, but he has been with me for a long time. I found nothing wrong in David since the time he left Saul and came to me."

The Egyptian had not had any food or water for three days and nights, so they gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins. He felt better after eating.

David attacked them and killed them. They fought from sunrise until the evening of the next day. None of the Amalekites escaped, except for 400 young men who jumped onto their camels and rode away.

No one will listen to what you say. The share will be the same for the man who stayed with the supplies and for the man who went into battle. Everyone will share alike."

David made this an order and rule for Israel. This rule continues even today.

When David got to Ziklag, he sent some of the things he took from the Amalekites to his friends, the leaders of Judah. David said, "Here is a present for you that we took from the Lord 's enemies."

Later, they buried the bones of Saul and his three sons under the big tree in Jabesh. Then the people of Jabesh showed their sadness—they did not eat for seven days.

They were very sad and cried. They did not eat until evening. They cried because Saul and his son Jonathan were dead. David and his men cried for the Lord 's people, and they cried for Israel. They cried because Saul, his son Jonathan, and many Israelites had been killed in battle.

Then David told the Amalekite, "You are responsible for your own death. You said you killed the Lord 's chosen king, so your own words prove you are guilty." Then David called one of his young servants and told him to kill the Amalekite. So the young Israelite killed him.

Daughters of Israel, cry for Saul! Saul gave you beautiful red dresses and covered them with gold jewelry!