the brook, and put them into the shepherd's scrip, which he had with him: and he took a sling in his hand, and went forth against the Philistine. And the Philistine came on, and drew nigh against David, and his armour-bearer before him. And when the Philistine looked, and beheld David, he despised him: for he was a young man, ruddy, and of a comely countenance. And the Philistine said to David: Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with a staff? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And he said to David: Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth. And David said 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, which thou hast defied this day: and the Lord will deliver thee into my hand; and I will slay thee, and take away thy head from thee: and I will give the carcasses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know, that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear for it is His battle, and He will deliver you into our hands. And when the Philistine arose, and was coming, and drew nigh to meet David, David made haste, and ran to the fight to meet the Philistine. And he put his hand into his scrip, and took a stone, and cast it with the sling; and fetching it about, struck the Philistine in the forehead: and he fell on his face upon the earth. And David prevailed over the Philistine, with a sling and a stone: and he struck and slew the Philistine. And as David had no sword in his hand, he ran and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head. And the Philistines seeing that their champion was dead, fled away. And the Israelites pursued them, and smote them with great slaughter. And David took the head of the giant and brought it to Saul, who then asked his name and family.

CHAP. IV. Saul persecutes David.

FROM this time a close friendship sprung up between Jonathan and David, which lasted unchanged till the death of Jonathan. Saul, however, could not endure the sight of the young conqueror; though he knew not yet that he was to be his successor on the throne. He was jealous of the fame he had won by his victory; and when David again played upon the harp to soothe the dark melancholy that oppressed him, he suddenly struck at him with a spear; and but for David's quickness in starting aside, would have murdered him on the spot. Nevertheless, as he had promised his daughter to the conqueror of Goliath, whoever he might be, he gave his daughter Michol to be David's wife. David's prudent conduct, however, exasperated him more and more, while it won the hearts of all the people.

At one time Saul again tried to strike David with a spear, as he played before him. At another, he sent men to kill him in his own house; and he was only saved by being let down from a window by his wife, who gained time for David to escape by putting an image in his bed, and by persuading the men who came to murder him that he lay there sick. The future sovereign thus became an outlaw in the land which he was to rule; and it was only the warnings sent him by Jonathan that enabled him to escape the fury of his persecutor. At one time he and his companions were reduced to such a state of starvation, that he was compelled to beg of Achimelech the priest some of the consecrated loaves, which were offered to God on the table of shew-bread. At another he fell into the hands of the sovereign of Geth, the birth-place of Goliath, whom he had slain; and only saved himself by feigning to be mad. Achimelech's charity to him also brought down the vengeance of Saul upon his head, and the king slew the charitable priest, and all the priests who were with him; one of Achimelech's sons, Abiathar, alone escaping. In the end his hatred grew so wild, that he followed after David with a large body of

men, to hunt him out from his hiding-places among the mountains. There David was living the life of an outcast, though he had gathered together a considerable band of companions, who served under him as their chief. Twice, however, did the oppressor fall unwittingly into the power of his intended victim; and twice did David spare the life of Saul, because he was the anointed of the Lord, only reproaching him for his cruelty and bloody intentions.

CHAP. V. Saul and the Witch of Endor.

THE days of Saul were now drawing to their close. The Philistines once more attacked the Israelites; and Saul, now no longer answered by God when he consulted Him in his difficulties, was terrified, and sought unlawful means for discovering what was to be the result of the coming fight. God answered him neither by dreams, nor by priests, nor by prophets. And Saul said to his servants: Seek me a woman that hath a divining spirit; and I will go to her, and inquire by her. And his servants said to him: There is a woman that hath a divining spirit at Endor. Then he diguised himself, and put on other clothes: and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night; and he said to her: Divine to me by thy divining spirit, and bring me up him whom I shall tell thee. And the woman said to him: Behold, thou knowest all that Saul hath done, how he hath rooted out the magicians and soothsayers from the land: why then dost thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to be put to death? And Saul swore unto her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord liveth, there shall no evil happen to thee for this thing. And the woman said to him: Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said: Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and said to Saul: Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said to her: Fear not: what hast thou seen? And the woman said to Saul: I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said to her: What form is he of? And she said: An old man cometh

up, and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul understood that it was Samuel: and he bowed himself with his face to the ground, and adored. And Samuel said to Saul: Why hast thou disturbed my rest, that I should be brought up? And Saul said: I am in great distress: for the Philistines fight against me; and God is departed from me, and would not hear me, neither by the hand of prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest shew me what I shall do. And Samuel said: Why askest thou me, seeing the Lord has departed from thee, and is gone over to thy rival: for the Lord will do to thee as He spoke by me: and He will rend thy kingdom out of thy hand, and will give it to thy neighbour David: because thou didst not obey the voice of the Lord, neither didst thou execute the wrath of His indignation upon Amalek. Therefore hath the Lord done to thee what thou sufferest this day. And the Lord also will deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines: and to-morrow thou and thy sons shall be with me: and the Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines. And forthwith Saul fell all along on the ground: for he was frightened with the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all that day. And the woman came to Saul (for he was very much troubled) and said to him: Behold, thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice; and I have put my life in my hand and I hearkened unto the words which thou spokest to me. Now therefore hear thou also the voice of thy handmaid; and let me set before thee a morsel of bread, that thou mayest eat and recover strength, and be able to go on thy journey. But he refused and said: I will not eat. But his servants and the woman forced him: and at length hearkening to their voice, he arose from the ground, and sat upon the bed. Now the woman had a fatted calf in the nouse; and she made haste, and killed it: and taking meal kneaded it, and baked some unleavened bread, and set it before Saul, and before his servants. And when they had eaten they rose up, and walked all that night.

CHAP. VI. The Death of Saul. David made King.

IN the battle that followed, the Israelites fled before their enemies; and Saul was wounded by the archers, and Jonathan and two of his other sons were slain. And seeing that all was lost, he took his sword and threw himself upon it, and died upon the field of battle. Tidings of his death were brought to David, by a man who boasted that with his own hand he had slain the king, hoping for a reward from David. But David had him slain upon the spot, for lifting up his hand against the Lord's anointed. And he mourned for Saul and Jonathan, and said: Consider, O Israel, for them that are dead, wounded on thy high places. The illustrious of Israel are slain upon thy mountains: how are the valiant fallen! Tell it not in Geth; publish it not in the streets of Ascalon: lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice; lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. Ye mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew nor rain come upon you, neither be they fields of first-fruits: for there was cast away the shield of the valiant, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the valiant, the arrow of Jonathan never turned back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty. Saul and Jonathan, lovely and comely in their life, even in death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with scarlet in delights, who gave ornaments of gold for your attire. How are the valiant fallen in battle! Jonathan slain in the high places! I grieve for thee, my brother Jonathan, exceeding beautiful, and amiable to me above the love of women. As the mother loveth her only son, so did I love thee. How are the valiant fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

When the mourning was past, the people who were of the tribe of Juda lost no time in acknowledging David as their sovereign, and he at once assumed the royal power over them. Isboseth, however, a surviving