19 Soothly Saul spake to Jonathan, his son, and to all his servants, that they should slay David;

² certainly Jonathan, the son of Saul, loved David greatly. And Jonathan showed to David, and said, Saul, my father, seeketh to slay thee; wherefore, I beseech, keep thyself tomorrow early; and thou shalt dwell privily, and thou shalt be hid. (but Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly loved David. And Jonathan told David, My father Saul seeketh to kill thee; and so, I beseech thee, be careful tomorrow morning; remain thou in secret, and be thou hid.)

³ And I shall go out, and stand beside my father in the field, wherever he shall be; and I shall speak of thee to my father, and whatever thing I shall see/and whatever thing I shall understand of him, I shall tell thee (and whatever I shall learn from him, I shall tell thee).

⁴ Then Jonathan spake good things of David to Saul, his father, and said to him, King, do thou not sin against thy servant David, for he hath not sinned to thee, and his works be full good to thee; (Then Jonathan spoke good things about David to his father Saul, and said to him, O king, do not thou sin against thy servant David, for he hath not sinned against thee, and his works be very good towards thee;)

⁵ and he putted his life in his hand, and he killed the Philistine. And the Lord made great help to all Israel; thou sawest, and were glad; why therefore sinnest thou in guiltless blood, and wilt slay David, that is without guilt? (and he put his life in his hands, and he killed the Philistine. And the Lord won a great victory for all Israel; thou sawest this, and wast glad; and so why sinnest thou against innocent blood, and wilt kill David, who is without guilt?)

⁶ And when Saul had heard this, he was pleased with the speaking of Jonathan, and he swore, (As) The Lord liveth, for David shall not be slain.

⁷ And so Jonathan called David, and showed to him all these words (and told him all these things). And Jonathan brought in David to Saul, and he was before him as [he was] yesterday and the third day ago.

⁸ Forsooth (the) battle was moved again; and David went out, and fought against the Philistines, and he smote them with a great wound/with great fierceness, and they fled from his face.

⁹ And the evil spirit of the Lord was made upon Saul (And then again an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul); and he sat in his house, and held a spear; certainly David harped with his hand.

¹⁰ And Saul enforced to preen, that is pierce, with the spear (right through) David in(to) the wall; and David bowed [aside] from the face of Saul; and the spear without hurt of David was fixed into the wall; and David fled, and so he was saved in that night. (And Saul endeavoured to preen David with the spear, that is, to pierce right through him, into the wall; but David veered away from the spear thrown by Saul; and it was fixed into the wall without hurting him; and David fled, and so he was saved that night.)

¹¹ Therefore Saul sent his knights in the night into the house of David, that they should keep him, and that he should be slain in the morrowtide. And when Michal, the wife of David, had told this to David, and said, If thou savest not thee in this night, thou shalt die tomorrow; (And so Saul sent his sergeants in the night to David’s house, to keep watch over him, and then to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told this to David, and said, If thou savest not thyself this night, thou shalt die tomorrow;)

¹² and she let him down by a window. And David went, and fled thence, and (so) he was saved.

¹³ And Michal took an image (And Michal took an idol), and laid it on the bed of David, and she put a rough goatskin at the head thereof, and covered it with clothes.

¹⁴ Forsooth Saul sent sergeants, that should ravish David, and it was answered, that he was sick. (Then when Saul’s sergeants entered to take hold of David, she said that he was sick.)

¹⁵ And again Saul sent messengers, that they should see David, and he said, Bring ye him to me in the bed, that he be slain. (And Saul sent the men back to see David for themselves, and he said, Bring ye him to me in his bed, and then I shall kill him myself!)

¹⁶ And when the messengers had come, a simulacrum was found on the bed, and skins of goat at the head thereof. (And when the men had come in, they found the idol on the bed, with a goatskin at its head.)

¹⁷ And Saul said to Michal, Why scornedest thou me so (Why hast thou so scorned me), and deliveredest mine enemy, (so) that he fled? And Michal answered to Saul, For he spake to me, and said, Deliver thou me, (or) else I shall slay thee.

¹⁸ Forsooth David fled, and was saved; and he came to Samuel into Ramah, and told to him all things which Saul had done to him; and he and Samuel went, and dwelled in Naioth.

¹⁹ And it was told to Saul of men (And some men told this to Saul), saying to him, Lo! David is in Naioth in Ramah.

²⁰ Therefore Saul sent men-slayers, that they should ravish (from) thence David; and when they had seen the company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing over them, the Spirit of the Lord was made in them, and they also began to prophesy. (And so Saul sent some men-killers to take hold of David there; and when they had seen the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing at their head, the Spirit of the Lord was made upon them, and they also began to prophesy.)

²¹ And when this was told to Saul, he sent also other messengers; soothly and they prophesied. And again Saul sent the third messengers, and they prophesied. (And when this was told to Saul, he sent other men; and they also prophesied. And a third time Saul sent even more men, and they also prophesied.)

²² And Saul was wroth with irefulness; and he also went into Ramah (and then he went to Ramah), and he came unto the great cistern which is in Sechu, and he asked, and said, In what place be Samuel and David? And it was said to him, Lo! they be in Naioth in Ramah.

²³ And he went (thither) into Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of the Lord was made also on him (And he went on toward Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of the Lord was also made upon him); and he went (on), and entered, and prophesied, till the while he came into Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴ And Saul also unclothed him(self) of his clothes, and he prophesied with other men before Samuel, and he prophesied naked all that day and night. Wherefore a common saying went out, Whether and Saul be among [the] prophets? (And so a common saying went out, Is Saul now also among the prophets?)