Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

§ And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. And now, behold, the king walketh before you; and I am old and gray-headed; and behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. Behold, here I am; witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed; whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand. And he said unto them, The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.

And Samuel died and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah.

LIFE OF DAVID.

AND the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. And Samuel came to Beth-lehem. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

And when they were come, he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him:

for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. Then Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him. And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, arise, anoint him: for this is he. Then Samuel anointed him, and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.

But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul's servants said unto him, Let our lord now command to seek out a man who is a cunning player on a harp: and when the evil spirit is upon thee, he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. And Saul said, Provide me now a man that can play well. Then answered one, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is cunning in playing.

Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son. And David came to Saul: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer. And when the evil spirit was upon Saul, David took a harp, and played: so Saul was refreshed, and the evil spirit departed from him.

§ Now the Philistines gathered together their armies at Shochoh, and Saul and the men of Israel set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

And there went a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six

cubits and a span. And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I kill him, then shall ye be our servants. I defy the armies of Israel this day. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were greatly afraid.

And David said to Saul, thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: and I went out after him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.

And Saul armed David with his armour, and put a helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armour, and assayed to go. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in

a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? and the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem.

§ And when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

And on the morrow, the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. And

Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David. even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him. Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

§ And there was war again, and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him. And the evil spirit of the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand; and David played with his hand. And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning; and Michal, David's wife, let David down through a window: and he fled, and escaped. And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goat's hair for his bolster.

So David came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred

« ÎnapoiContinuă »