And the witch brought bread and bade him eat, that he might have strength to go on his way. And Saul and his men ate of the food, and went their way that night.
Now the lords of the Phil-is-tines brought all their troops to a place called A-phek. And the king of Gath went there, and took Da-vid and his men with him. But the lords of the Phil-is-tines would not have the Jews in their midst lest they should turn on them and give them in-to the hands of king Saul.
So Da-vid and his men had to leave the camp, and the Phil-is-tines went out to fight, and the men of Is-ra-el fled from them with great loss. The king's three sons were slain, and an ar-row struck Saul and gave him a bad wound.
And Saul said to the man who bore his shield, Draw thy sword and put me to death. But the man did not dare to kill his king. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it, and thus died by his own hand. And when the man saw that Saul was dead, he fell on his sword and died with him.
And when it was known that Saul and his sons were dead, the Jews fled from that part of the land, and the Phil-is-tines went to live there.
In the course of a few years Da-vid was made king of Is-ra-el, and then went to live at Je-ru-sa-lem. He went to war, and took spoils of rich kings, and the Lord was with him, for he sought to do that which was right and just.
Da-vid had two sons: Sol-o-mon and Ab-sa-lom.
And in all the land there was no man with such a fine face and form as Ab-sa-lom, and he won much praise for his good looks. And he had a thick growth of long hair. But Ab-sa-lom had a bad heart, and his sins made Da-vid weep. But he did not scold Ab-sa-lom as he should have done, for the king was fond of his son, and so Ab-sa-lom went on from bad to worse.
He told what he would do when he was king, and made friends with those who thought it a fine thing to be on good terms with the king's son.
When he was two-score years of age, Ab-sa-lom said to the king, Let me, I pray thee, go up to Heb-ron to pay my vows.