CEB Common English Bible with Apocrypha - eBook [ePub]. Common English Bible
![CEB Common English Bible with Apocrypha - eBook [ePub] - Common English Bible](limg_read715844.jpg "CEB Common English Bible with Apocrypha - eBook [ePub] - Common English Bible")
an area, he wouldn't leave anyone alive, man or woman. He would take the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothes and would then go back to Achish. 10When Achish asked, "Where did you raid today?"r David would say, "The southern plain of Judah," or "The southern plain of the Jerahmeelites," or "The southern plain of the Kenites."11David never spared a man or woman so they could be brought back alive to Gath. "Otherwise," he said, "they might talk about us, and say, 'David did this or that.'" So this was David's practice during the entire time he lived in the Philistine countryside.
12Achish trusted David, thinking, David has alienated himself so badly from his own people in Israel that he'll serve me forever.
1Samuel 28At that time, the Philistines gathered their troops for war to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, "Count on you and your soldiers marching out with me in the army."
2"Excellent," David answered Achish. "Now you'll see for yourself what your servant can do."
"Excellent," Achish replied. "I will make you my permanent bodyguard."
Saul and the woman of En-dor
3Now Samuel had died, and all Israel mourned him and buried him in Ramah, his hometown. And Saul had banned all mediums and diviners from the land.
4The Philistines gathered their forces and advanced to camp at Shunem. Saul gathered all Israel, and they camped at Gilboa. 5When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was so afraid that his heart beat wildly. 6When Saul questioned the LORD, the LORD didn't answer him--not by dreams, not by the Urim, and not by the prophets. 7So Saul said to his servants, "Find me a woman who communicates with ghosts! I'll then go to her and ask by using her techniques."s
"There is such a medium in En-dor," his servants replied.
8So Saul disguised himself, dressing in different clothes. Then he and two men set out, going to the woman at nighttime.
"Please call up a ghost for me! Bring me the one I specify," Saul said.
9"Listen," the woman said to him, "you know what Saul has done, how he has banned all mediums and diviners from the land. What are you doing? Trying to get me killed?"
10But Saul promised to her by the LORD, "As surely as the LORD lives, you won't get into trouble for this."
11So the woman said, "Who do you want me to bring up for you?"
"Bring up Samuel," he said.
12When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed at Saul, "Why have you tricked me? You are Saul!"
13"Don't be afraid!" the king said to her. "What do you see?"
The woman said to Saul, "I see a godt coming up from the ground."
14"What does he look like?" Saul asked her.
"An old man is coming up," she said. "He's wrapped in a robe." Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed low out of respect, nose to the ground.
15"Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" Samuel asked Saul.
"I'm in deep trouble!" Saul replied. "The Philistines are at war with me, and God has turned away from me and no longer answers me by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what I should do."
16"Why do you ask me," Samuel said, "since the LORD has turned away from you and has become your enemy?u 17The LORD has done to youv exactly what he spoke through me: The LORD has ripped the kingdom out of your hands and has given it to your friend David. 18The LORD has done this very thing to you today because you didn't listen to the LORD's voice and didn't carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites. 19The LORD will now hand over both you and Israel to the Philistines. And come tomorrow, you and your sons will be with me!w The LORD will hand Israel's army over to the Philistines."
20Saul immediately fell full length on the ground, utterly terrified at what Samuel had said. He was weak because he hadn't eaten anything all day or night. 21The woman approached Saul, and after seeing how scared he was, she said, "Listen, your servant has obeyed you. I risked my life and did what you told me to do. 22Now it's your turn to listen to me, your servant. Let me give you a bit of food. Eat it, then you'll have the strength to go on your way."
23But Saul refused. "I can't eat!" he said. But his servants and the woman urged him to do so, and so he did. He got up off the ground and sat on a couch. 24The woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly butchered it.x She took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread. 25She served this to Saul and his servants, and they ate. They got up and left that very night.
David sent home from fighting Saul
1Samuel 29The Philistines assembled all their forces at Aphek, and the Israelites camped by the spring in Jezreel. 2As the Philistine rulers went out marching in units of hundreds and thousands, David and his soldiers were in the rear with Achish.
3"Who are these Hebrews?" the Philistine commanders asked.
"That's David," Achish told them, "the servant of Israel's King Saul. He's been with me a year or so now. I haven't found anything wrong with him from the day he defected until now."
4But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish. "Send the man home!" they told Achish. "He can go back to the place you gave him, but he won't go with us into battle. Couldn't he turn against us in the middle of the fight? How better to please his former master than by taking the heads of our soldiers?5After all, this is the same David people sing about in their dances,
'Saul has killed his thousands,
but David has killed his tens of thousands!'"
6So Achish summoned David and told him, "As surely as the LORD lives, you are an upstanding individual. I would very much like you to serve with me in the army because I haven't found anything wrong with you from the day you came to me until now. But the rulers don't approve of you. 7So go back home now, and go in peace. Don't do anything to upset the Philistine rulers."
8"But what have I done?" David asked Achish. "What wrong have you found in me, your servant, from the day I came to you until now? Why shouldn't I go and fight the enemies of my master the king?"
9"I agree," Achish answered David. "I think you're as good as one of God's own messengers. Despite that, the Philistine commanders have ordered, 'He can't go into battle with us.'10So get up early in the morning, both you and your master's servants who came with you, and return to the place I gave you. Don't worry about this negative report, because you've done well before me.y Now get up early in the morning and leave as soon as it is light."
11So David and his soldiers got up early in the morning to go back to Philistine territory, but the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
The Amalekite raid on Ziklag
1Samuel 30Three days later, David and his soldiers reached Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided the arid southern plain and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it down, 2taking the women and everyone in the city prisoner, whether young or old.z They hadn't killed anyone but carried them off and went on their way. 3When David and his soldiers got to the town and found it burned down, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters taken prisoner, 4David and the troops with him broke into tears and cried until they could cry no more. 5David's two wives had been captured as well: Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal's widow from Carmel.
6David was in deep trouble because the troops were talking about