¹ And the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, and said, Is not David waiting secretly near us in the hill of Hachilah, before the waste land?

² Then Saul went down to the waste land of Ziph, taking with him three thousand of the best men of Israel, to make search for David in the waste land of Ziph.

³ And Saul put up his tents on the hill of Hachilah, which is in front of the waste land on the road. But David was in the waste land, and he saw that Saul was coming after him.

⁴ And so David sent out watchers, and got word from them that Saul was certainly coming.

⁵ And David got up and came to the place where Saul's tents were: and David had a view of the place where Saul was sleeping with Abner, the son of Ner, the captain of his army: and Saul was sleeping inside the ring of carts, and the tents of the people were all round him.

⁶ Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, Who will go down with me to the tents of Saul? And Abishai said, I will go down with you.

⁷ So David and Abishai came down to the army by night: and Saul was sleeping inside the ring of carts with his spear planted in the earth by his head: and Abner and the people were sleeping round him.

⁸ Then Abishai said to David, God has given up your hater into your hands today; now let me give him one blow through to the earth with his spear, and there will be no need to give him a second.

⁹ And David said to Abishai Do not put him to death; for who, without sin, may put out his hand against the man on whom the Lord has put the holy oil?

¹⁰ And David said, By the living Lord, the Lord will send destruction on him; the natural day of his death will come, or he will go into the fight and come to his end.

¹¹ Never will my hand be stretched out against the man marked with the holy oil; but take the spear which is by his head and the vessel of water, and let us go.

¹² So David took the spear and the vessel of water from Saul's head; and they got away without any man seeing them, or being conscious of their coming, or awaking; for they were all sleeping because a deep sleep from the Lord had come on them.

¹³ Then David went over to the other side, and took his place on the top of a mountain some distance away, with a great space between them;

¹⁴ And crying out to the people and to Abner, the son of Ner, David said, Have you no answer to give, Abner? Then Abner said, Who is that crying out to the king?

¹⁵ And David said to Abner, Are you not a man of war? is there any other like you in Israel? why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? for one of the people came in to put the king your lord to death.

¹⁶ What you have done is not good. By the living Lord, death is the right fate for you, because you have not kept watch over your Lord, the man on whom the Lord has put the holy oil. Now see, where is the king's spear, and the vessel of water which was by his head?

¹⁷ And Saul, conscious that the voice was David's, said, Is that your voice, David, my son? And David said, It is my voice, O my lord king.

¹⁸ And he said, Why does my lord go armed against his servant? what have I done? or what evil is there in me?

¹⁹ Let my lord the king give ear now to the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who is moving you against me, let him take an offering: but if it is the children of men, may they be cursed before the Lord, for driving me out today and keeping me from my place in the heritage of the Lord, saying, Go, be the servant of other gods.

²⁰ Then do not let my blood be drained out on the earth away from the face of the Lord: for the king of Israel has come out to take my life, like one going after birds in the mountains.

²¹ Then Saul said, I have done wrong: come back to me, David my son: I will do you no more wrong, because my life was dear to you today truly, I have been foolish and my error is very great.

²² Then David said, Here is the king's spear! let one of the young men come over and get it.

²³ And the Lord will give to every man the reward of his righteousness and his faith: because the Lord gave you into my hands today, and I would not put out my hand against the man who has been marked with the holy oil.

²⁴ And so, as your life was dear to me today, may my life be dear to the Lord, and may he make me free from all my troubles.

²⁵ Then Saul said to David, May a blessing be on you, David, my son; you will do great things and without doubt you will overcome. Then David went on his way, and Saul went back to his place.

¹ David again gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.

² David arose, and went with all the people who were with him, from Baale Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, even the Name of Yahweh of Armies who sits [above] the cherubim.

³ They set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in the hill: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.

⁴ They brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was in the hill, with the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark.

⁵ David and all the house of Israel played before Yahweh with all kinds of [instruments made of] fir wood, and with harps, and with stringed instruments, and with tambourines, and with castanets, and with cymbals.

⁶ When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put forth [his hand] to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the cattle stumbled.

⁷ The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

⁸ David was displeased, because Yahweh had broken forth on Uzzah; and he called that place Perez Uzzah, to this day.

⁹ David was afraid of Yahweh that day; and he said, "How shall the ark of Yahweh come to me?"

¹⁰ So David would not move the ark of Yahweh to be with him in the city of David; but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

¹¹ The ark of Yahweh remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months: and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom, and all his house.

¹² It was told king David, saying, "Yahweh has blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that pertains to him, because of the ark of God." David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom into the city of David with joy.

¹³ It was so, that, when those who bore the ark of Yahweh had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

¹⁴ David danced before Yahweh with all his might; and David was clothed in a linen ephod.

¹⁵ So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of Yahweh with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

¹⁶ It was so, as the ark of Yahweh came into the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before Yahweh; and she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷ They brought in the ark of Yahweh, and set it in its place, in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh.

¹⁸ When David had made an end of offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of Armies.

¹⁹ He dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, both to men and women, to everyone a cake of bread, and a portion [of flesh], and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed everyone to his house.

²⁰ Then David returned to bless his household. Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, "How glorious the king of Israel was today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!"

²¹ David said to Michal, "It was before Yahweh, who chose me above your father, and above all his house, to appoint me prince over the people of Yahweh, over Israel. Therefore will I celebrate before Yahweh.

²² I will be yet more vile than this, and will be base in my own sight. But of the handmaids of whom you have spoken, they shall honor me."

²³ Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.