¹ `When Jehovah thy God doth cut off the nations, whose land Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, and thou hast succeeded them, and dwelt in their cities, and in their houses,

² three cities thou dost separate for thee in the midst of thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it.

³ Thou dost prepare for thee the way, and hast divided into three parts the border of thy land which Jehovah thy God doth cause thee to inherit, and it hath been for the fleeing thither of every man-slayer.

⁴ `And this [is] the matter of the man-slayer who fleeth thither, and hath lived: He who smiteth his neighbour unknowingly, and is not hating him heretofore,

⁵ even he who cometh in with his neighbour into a forest to hew wood, and his hand hath driven with an axe to cut the tree, and the iron hath slipped from the wood, and hath met his neighbour, and he hath died -- he doth flee unto one of these cities, and hath lived,

⁶ lest the redeemer of blood pursue after the man-slayer when his heart is hot, and hath overtaken him (because the way is great), and hath smitten him -- the life, and he hath no sentence of death, for he is not hating him heretofore;

⁷ therefore I am commanding thee, saying, Three cities thou dost separate to thee.

⁸ `And if Jehovah thy God doth enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn to thy fathers, and hath given to thee all the land which He hath spoken to give to thy fathers --

⁹ when thou keepest all this command to do it, which I am commanding thee to-day, to love Jehovah thy God, and to walk in His ways all the days -- then thou hast added to thee yet three cities to these three;

¹⁰ and innocent blood is not shed in the midst of thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee -- an inheritance, and there hath been upon thee blood.

¹¹ `And when a man is hating his neighbour, and hath lain in wait for him, and risen against him, and smitten him -- the life, and he hath died, and he hath fled unto one of these cities,

¹² then the elders of his city have sent and taken him from thence, and given him into the hand of the redeemer of blood, and he hath died;

¹³ thine eye hath no pity on him, and thou hast put away the innocent blood from Israel, and it is well with thee.

¹⁴ `Thou dost not remove a border of thy neighbour, which they of former times have made, in thine inheritance, which thou dost inherit in the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it.

¹⁵ `One witness doth not rise against a man for any iniquity, and for any sin, in any sin which he sinneth; by the mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three witnesses, is a thing established.

¹⁶ `When a violent witness doth rise against a man, to testify against him apostacy,

¹⁷ then have both the men who have the strife stood before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges who are in those days,

¹⁸ and the judges have searched diligently, and lo, the witness [is] a false witness, a falsehood he hath testified against his brother:

¹⁹ `Then ye have done to him as he devised to do to his brother, and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst,

²⁰ and those who are left do hear and fear, and add not to do any more according to this evil thing in thy midst;

²¹ and thine eye doth not pity -- life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

¹ Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David.

² Jonathan told David, saying, "Saul my father seeks to kill you. Now therefore, please take care of yourself in the morning, and live in a secret place, and hide yourself.

³ I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father about you; and if I see anything, I will tell you."

⁴ Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, "Don't let the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you;

⁵ for he put his life in his hand, and struck the Philistine, and Yahweh worked a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?"

⁶ Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swore, "As Yahweh lives, he shall not be put to death."

⁷ Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as before.

⁸ There was war again. David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and killed them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him.

⁹ An evil spirit from Yahweh was on Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand.

¹⁰ Saul sought to pin David even to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he stuck the spear into the wall. David fled, and escaped that night.

¹¹ Saul sent messengers to David's house, to watch him, and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, "If you don't save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed."

¹² So Michal let David down through the window. He went, fled, and escaped.

¹³ Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' [hair] at its head, and covered it with the clothes.

¹⁴ When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, "He is sick."

¹⁵ Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, "Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him."

¹⁶ When the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats' hair at its head.

¹⁷ Saul said to Michal, "Why have you deceived me thus, and let my enemy go, so that he is escaped?" Michal answered Saul, "He said to me, 'Let me go! Why should I kill you?'"

¹⁸ Now David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and lived in Naioth.

¹⁹ It was told Saul, saying, "Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah."

²⁰ Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came on the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

²¹ When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.

²² Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked, "Where are Samuel and David?" One said, "Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah."

²³ He went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then the Spirit of God came on him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴ He also stripped off his clothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"