Psa 18:2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psa 18:3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.

Psa 18:4 The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.

Psa 18:5 The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.

Psa 18:6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

Psa 18:7 Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.

Psa 18:8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it.

Psa 18:9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.

Psa 18:10 He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He sped upon the wings of the wind.

Psa 18:11 He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

Psa 18:12 From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, Hailstones and coals of fire.

Psa 18:13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.

Psa 18:14 He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.

Psa 18:15 Then the channels of water appeared, And the foundations of the world were laid bare At Your rebuke, O Lord, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

Psa 18:16 He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.

Psa 18:17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

Psa 18:18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my stay.

Psa 18:19 He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

Psa 18:20 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

Psa 18:21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God.

Psa 18:22 For all His ordinances were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me.

Psa 18:23 I was also blameless with Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.

Psa 18:24 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

Psa 18:25 With the kind You show Yourself kind; With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;

Psa 18:26 With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.

Psa 18:27 For You save an afflicted people, But haughty eyes You abase.

Psa 18:28 For You light my lamp; The Lord my God illumines my darkness.

Psa 18:29 For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall.

Psa 18:30 As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

Psa 18:31 For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God,

Psa 18:32 The God who girds me with strength And makes my way blameless?

Psa 18:33 He makes my feet like hinds' feet, And sets me upon my high places.

Psa 18:34 He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

Psa 18:35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great.

Psa 18:36 You enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped.

Psa 18:37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed.

Psa 18:38 I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise; They fell under my feet.

Psa 18:39 For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

Psa 18:40 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me.

Psa 18:41 They cried for help, but there was none to save, Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

Psa 18:42 Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.

Psa 18:43 You have delivered me from the contentions of the people; You have placed me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me.

Psa 18:44 As soon as they hear, they obey me; Foreigners submit to me.

Psa 18:45 Foreigners fade away, And come trembling out of their fortresses.

Psa 18:46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God of my salvation,

Psa 18:47 The God who executes vengeance for me, And subdues peoples under me.

Psa 18:48 He delivers me from my enemies; Surely You lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from the violent man.

Psa 18:49 Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O Lord, And I will sing praises to Your name.

Psa 18:50 He gives great deliverance to His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.

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1Sa 28:1 Now it came about in those days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, "Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men."

1Sa 28:2 David said to Achish, "Very well, you shall know what your servant can do." So Achish said to David, "Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life."

1Sa 28:3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists.

1Sa 28:4 So the Philistines gathered together and came and camped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together and they camped in Gilboa.

1Sa 28:5 When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly.

1Sa 28:6 When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.

1Sa 28:7 Then Saul said to his servants, "Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her." And his servants said to him, "Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at En-dor."

1Sa 28:8 Then Saul disguised himself by putting on other clothes, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, "Conjure up for me, please, and bring up for me whom I shall name to you."

1Sa 28:9 But the woman said to him, "Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?"

1Sa 28:10 Saul vowed to her by the Lord, saying, "As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing."

1Sa 28:11 Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" And he said, "Bring up Samuel for me."

1Sa 28:12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, "Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul."

1Sa 28:13 The king said to her, "Do not be afraid; but what do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a divine being coming up out of the earth."

1Sa 28:14 He said to her, "What is his form?" And she said, "An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe." And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage.

1Sa 28:15 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul answered, "I am greatly distressed; for the Philistines are waging war against me, and God has departed from me and no longer answers me, either through prophets or by dreams; therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I should do."

1Sa 28:16 Samuel said, "Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has departed from you and has become your adversary?

1Sa 28:17 The Lord has done accordingly as He spoke through me; for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David.

1Sa 28:18 As you did not obey the Lord and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, so the Lord has done this thing to you this day.

1Sa 28:19 Moreover the Lord will also give over Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed the Lord will give over the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines!"

1Sa 28:20 Then Saul immediately fell full length upon the ground and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; also there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day and all night.

1Sa 28:21 The woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified, and said to him, "Behold, your maidservant has obeyed you, and I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me.

1Sa 28:22 So now also, please listen to the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of bread before you that you may eat and have strength when you go on your way."

1Sa 28:23 But he refused and said, "I will not eat." However, his servants together with the woman urged him, and he listened to them. So he arose from the ground and sat on the bed.

1Sa 28:24 The woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly slaughtered it; and she took flour, kneaded it and baked unleavened bread from it.

1Sa 28:25 She brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and went away that night.

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1Sa 29:1 Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel.

1Sa 29:2 And the lords of the Philistines were proceeding on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were proceeding on in the rear with Achish.

1Sa 29:3 Then the commanders of the Philistines said, "What are these Hebrews doing here?" And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, "Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and I have found no fault in him from the day he deserted to me to this day?"

1Sa 29:4 But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, "Make the man go back, that he may return to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, or in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For with what could this man make himself acceptable to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of these men?

1Sa 29:5 Is this not David, of whom they sing in the dances, saying, 'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands'?"

1Sa 29:6 Then Achish called David and said to him, "As the Lord lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army are pleasing in my sight; for I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords.

1Sa 29:7 Now therefore return and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines."

1Sa 29:8 David said to Achish, "But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day when I came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?"

1Sa 29:9 But Achish replied to David, "I know that you are pleasing in my sight, like an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of the Philistines have said, 'He must not go up with us to the battle.'

1Sa 29:10 Now then arise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in the morning and have light, depart."

1Sa 29:11 So David arose early, he and his men, to depart in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

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1Sa 30:1 Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire;

1Sa 30:2 and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way.

1Sa 30:3 When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive.

1Sa 30:4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.

1Sa 30:5 Now David's two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.

1Sa 30:6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

1Sa 30:7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Please bring me the ephod." So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

1Sa 30:8 David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?" And He said to him, "Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all."

1Sa 30:9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained.

1Sa 30:10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained behind.

1Sa 30:11 Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink.

1Sa 30:12 They gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; then his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.

1Sa 30:13 David said to him, "To whom do you belong? And where are you from?" And he said, "I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind when I fell sick three days ago.

1Sa 30:14 We made a raid on the Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire."

1Sa 30:15 Then David said to him, "Will you bring me down to this band?" And he said, "Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band."

1Sa 30:16 When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

1Sa 30:17 David slaughtered them from the twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.

1Sa 30:18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives.

1Sa 30:19 But nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that they had taken for themselves; David brought it all back.

1Sa 30:20 So David had captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the other livestock, and they said, "This is David's spoil."

1Sa 30:21 When David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David, who had also been left at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them.

1Sa 30:22 Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart."

1Sa 30:23 Then David said, "You must not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us.

1Sa 30:24 And who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike."

1Sa 30:25 So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

1Sa 30:26 Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, "Behold, a gift for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord:

1Sa 30:27 to those who were in Bethel, and to those who were in Ramoth of the Negev, and to those who were in Jattir,

1Sa 30:28 and to those who were in Aroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa,

1Sa 30:29 and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites,

1Sa 30:30 and to those who were in Hormah, and to those who were in Bor-ashan, and to those who were in Athach,

1Sa 30:31 and to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to go."

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1Sa 31:1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

1Sa 31:2 The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul.

1Sa 31:3 The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers.

1Sa 31:4 Then Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and pierce me through and make sport of me." But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it.

1Sa 31:5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him.

1Sa 31:6 Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.

1Sa 31:7 When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and lived in them.

1Sa 31:8 It came about on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

1Sa 31:9 They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people.

1Sa 31:10 They put his weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

1Sa 31:11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

1Sa 31:12 all the valiant men rose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there.

1Sa 31:13 They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.