Page 213 - Bible History

Dav
Saul pursued David into the desert of Engaddi, on the shore of the Dead Sea. David and his men saw him coming and they hid in a cave. Night came and Saul, not.knowing that David and his men were there, went into the cave to sleep. While the king slept, David stole up and with his sword cut o a piece of the hem of his garment.
The next morning, Saul awoke and, rising up, left the cave. When he had gone a short distance, he heard a voice calling, '' :My lord, the king.'' He turned about
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186 GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE UNDER KINGS
save thyself this night, tomorrow thou shalt die." So she let him down from a window and he ed away. Then Michol took a statue and laid it on the bed and put a hairy goat skin at the head of it and cov­ ered it with clothes. In the morning the o cers of the king came to arrest David, but she told them that her
husband was sick.
When they reported this to Saul, he sent them back
with orders to bring David to him so that he could kill him. When the soldiers came into the room, they dis­ covered the trick Michol had played on them. Instead of David, they found the statue in bed, with the goat skin at its head. After this, David became a fugi­ tive and wandered from place to place with a band of four hundred men. Sometimes he hid in the forests. Whenever he heard that the Philistines were about to attack the Israelites, he left his hiding place to help his people. God was with David and he was generally victorious. But each new victory that David won in­ creased Saul's envy and he was determined that David must die.