The Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah opposite Jeshimon?" Then Saul got up and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, and three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.

Now Saul was on the hill of Hakilah, which is opposite Jeshimon by the road, but David was staying in the wilderness. When he realized that Saul had come to the wilderness after him, David sent spies, and he learned that Saul had come for certain. Then David got up and came to the place where Saul had encamped, and David saw the place where Saul was lying down, as well as Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. (Now Saul was lying in the encampment, and the army was encamping around him.)

David answered and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah the brother of Joab, saying, "Who will go down with me to Saul, in the camp?" And Abishai said, "I will go down with you." So David and Abishai came to the army by night, and there was Saul lying asleep in the encampment with his spear thrust into the ground near his head, and Abner and the army were lying all around him. Then Abishai said to David, "God has handed over your enemy into your hand today! So then, please let me pin him to the ground with the spear one time, and I will not strike him twice." But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him! For who has stretched out his hand against Yahweh’s anointed one and remained blameless?" And David said, "As Yahweh lives, certainly Yahweh will strike him, or his day will come and he will die, or he will go down in the battle and perish. Yahweh forbid me from stretching out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed one! So then, please take the spear that is near his head and the jar of water, and let us go." So David took the spear and the jar of water from near Saul’s head, and they went away. No one saw, no one knew, and no one awakened, for all of them were sleeping because a deep sleep of Yahweh had fallen upon them.

Then David went to the other side and stood on the top of the hill at a distance; the distance was great between them. David called out to the army and to Abner the son of Ner, "Will you not answer, Abner?" And Abner answered and said, "Who are you that you call to the king?" So David said to Abner, "Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why did you not keep watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy your lord the king. This thing that you have done is not good. As Yahweh lives, surely you people deserve to die since you have not kept watch over your lord, over Yahweh’s anointed one! So then, see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was near his head!" Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" And David said, "It is my voice, my lord the king." Then he said, "Why is my lord pursuing after his servant? For what have I done? And what evil is in my hand? And so then, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant: If Yahweh has incited you against me, may he delight in an offering; but if it is mortals, may they be accursed before Yahweh, for they have driven me away today from sharing in the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods!’ And so then, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of Yahweh, for the king of Israel has gone out to seek a single flea, as one hunts a partridge in the mountains."

Then Saul said, "I have sinned! Come back, David my son, for I will not harm you again, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Look, I have acted like a fool and have made a terrible mistake." David answered and said, "Here is the king’s spear; let one of the young men come over and take it. Yahweh repays to each one his righteousness and his faithfulness, for Yahweh gave you into my hand today, but I was not willing to stretch out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed. Look, as your life was precious in my eyes this day, may my life be great in the eyes of Yahweh, and may he rescue me from all trouble." Then Saul said to David, "Blessed are you, my son David; you will not only do many things, but also will always succeed!" Then David went on his way and Saul returned to his place.

Then David thought to himself, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me but that I must certainly escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will desist from searching for me further in all of the territories of Israel, and so I will escape from his hand." So David got up and crossed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, the king of Gath. David settled with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each with his household. David took along his two wives Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him.

Then David said to Achish, "Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, then let them give me a place in one of the country towns that I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?" So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (Therefore, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this day.) The number of days that David lived in the countryside of the Philistines was one year and four months.

Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites, for they had been living in the land for a long time in the direction of Shur and as far as the land of Egypt. So David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive; he took the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish. And Achish said, "Against whom have you raided today?" David said, "Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites." And David did not leave alive a man or a woman to bring them back to Gath, thinking, "So that they will not report about us, saying, ‘David did thus and so.’" Thus was his practice all the days that he lived in the countryside of the Philistines. And Achish trusted David, saying, "He has made himself utterly hated among his people in Israel, and he will be my servant forever."

Now Benjamin fathered Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third, Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth. And Bela had sons: Addar, Gera, Abihud, Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram. And these are the sons of Ehud (these were heads of the families for the inhabitants of Geba, and they took them away to Manahath): Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera, who took them away. And he fathered Uzza and Ahihud. And Shaharaim fathered children in the fields of Moab after he had sent them away—Hushim and Baara, his wives. And he fathered by Hodesh his wife Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, Jeuz, Sakia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of the families. And by Husham he fathered Abitub and Elpaal. The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, Shemed (he built Ono and Lod with its towns), and Beriah and Shema who were the heads of the families of the inhabitants of Aijalon (they themselves chased away the inhabitants of Gath). Now Ahio, Shashak, Jeremoth, Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, Michael, Ishpah, and Joha were sons of Beriah. And Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber, Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal. And Jakim, Zikri, Zabdi, Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei. And Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, Abdon, Zikri, Hanan, Hananiah, Elam, Antothijah, Iphdeiah, and Peniel were the sons of Shashak. And Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah, Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zikri were the sons of Jeroham. These were the heads of the families according to their generations, chiefs. These lived in Jerusalem. And Jeiel the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon. And the name of his wife was Maacah. And his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, Gedor, Ahio, Zeker, and Mikloth (he fathered Shimeah). Now these also lived nearby their brothers in Jerusalem with their kinsmen. And Ner fathered Kish, and Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-Shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah. And the sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz. And Ahaz fathered Jehoaddah, and Jehoaddah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. And Zimri fathered Moza. And Moza fathered Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, and Azel his son. And Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel. And the sons of Eshek his brother: Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third. And the sons of Ulam were men who were mighty warriors, bowmen, and they had many sons and grandsons, one hundred and fifty. All these were Benjaminites.

After these things he departed from Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus who had arrived recently from Italy along with Priscilla his wife, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to depart from Rome, and he went to them. And because he was practicing the same trade, he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. And he argued in the synagogue every Sabbath, attempting to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

Now when both Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began to be occupied with the message, solemnly testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they resisted and reviled him, he shook out his clothes and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am guiltless! From now on I will go to the Gentiles!" And leaving there, he entered into the house of someone named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God whose house was next door to the synagogue. And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his whole household. And many of the Corinthians, when they heard about it, believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul by a vision in the night, "Do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent, because I am with you and no one will attack you to harm you, because many people are mine in this city." So he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Now when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up with one purpose against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, saying, "This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law!" But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it was some crime or wicked villainy, O Jews, I would have been justified in accepting your complaint. But if it is questions concerning a word and names and your own law, see to it yourselves! I do not wish to be a judge of these things." And he drove them away from the judgment seat. So they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. And none of these things was a concern to Gallio.

So Paul, after remaining many days longer, said farewell to the brothers and sailed away to Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head at Cenchrea, because he had taken a vow. So they arrived at Ephesus, and those he left behind there, but he himself entered into the synagogue and discussed with the Jews. And when they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not give his consent, but saying farewell and telling them, "I will return to you again if God wills," he set sail from Ephesus.

And when he arrived at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch. And after spending some time there, he departed, traveling through one place after another in the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Now a certain Jew named Apollos, a native Alexandrian, arrived in Ephesus—an eloquent man who was well-versed in the scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being enthusiastic in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately. And when he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he assisted greatly those who had believed through grace. For he was vigorously refuting the Jews in public, demonstrating through the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.