1 Samuel 19 - Easy To Read Version

^1-3 Saul told his son Jonathan and his officers to kill David. But Jonathan liked David very much.

⁴ Jonathan talked to his father Saul. Jonathan said good things about David. Jonathan said, “You are the king. David is your servant. David hasn’t done anything wrong to you. So don’t do anything wrong to him. David has always been good to you.

⁵ David risked his life when he killed the Philistine (Goliath). The Lord won a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and you were happy. Why do you want to hurt David? He’s innocent. There is no reason to kill him!”

⁶ Saul listened to Jonathan. Saul made a promise. Saul said, “As surely as the Lord lives, David won’t be put to death.”

⁷ So Jonathan called David and told him everything that was said. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul. So David was with Saul like before.

⁸ War started again and David went out to fight the Philistines. David defeated the Philistines, and they ran away from him.

⁹ But a bad spirit from the Lord came on Saul. Saul was sitting in his house. Saul had his spear in his hand. David was playing the harp.

¹⁰ Saul tried to throw his spear into David’s body and pin him to the wall. But David jumped out of the way. The spear missed David and stuck in the wall. That night, David ran away.

¹¹ Saul sent men to David’s house. The men watched David’s house. They stayed there all night. They were waiting to kill David in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him. She said, “You must run away tonight and save your life. If you don’t, then you will be killed tomorrow.”

¹² Then Michal let David down out of a window. David escaped and ran away.

¹³ Michal took the household god and put clothes on it. Then she put that statue in the bed. She also put goats’ hair on its head.

¹⁴ Saul sent messengers to take David prisoner. But Michal said, “David is sick.”

¹⁵ The men went and told Saul, but he sent the messengers back to see David. Saul told these men, “Bring David to me. Bring him lying on his bed if you must, even if it kills him.”

¹⁶ The messengers went to David’s house. They went inside to get David, but they saw it was only a statue on the bed. And they saw its hair was only goat’s hair.

¹⁷ Saul said to Michal, “Why did you trick me like this? You let my enemy escape! David has run away!”

¹⁸ David escaped and ran away to Samuel at Ramah. David told Samuel everything that Saul had done to him. Then David and Samuel went to the camps {where the prophets stayed}. David stayed there.

¹⁹ Saul heard that David was there in the camps near Ramah.

²⁰ Saul sent men to arrest David. But when those men came to the camps, there was a group of prophets prophesying. [169] Samuel was standing there leading the group. God’s Spirit came on Saul’s messengers and they began prophesying.

²¹ Saul heard about this, so he sent other messengers. But they also began prophesying. So Saul sent messengers a third time. And they also began prophesying.

²² Finally, Saul himself went to Ramah. Saul came to the big well by the threshing floor [170] at Secu. Saul asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”

²³ So Saul went out to the camps near Ramah. God’s Spirit also came on Saul, and Saul began prophesying. [171] Saul continued prophesying all the way to the camps at Ramah.

²⁴ Saul even took off his clothes. Saul lay there naked all day and all night. So even Saul was prophesying there in front of Samuel.