"Yah!" "David?" "David." "You all right?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "I'm fine." "We have to call in the soldiers!" "They're not gonna send soldiers to... to Bethlehem to kill a lion!" "This..." "This can't continue!" "This can't continue." "20 sheep this month, 14 last." "How are we going to kill a lion?" "They will beat us for not paying the taxes we owe." "We will all be flogged." "I-I will go to Gibeah and reason with the tax collectors." "Father, I should be the one to go." "David." "The flock was my responsibility." "Yes, but I am responsible to the tax collector." "I will go and ask them to give your brother leave from the army so he can come home and kill the beast." "My brother." "Well, he's clearly more responsible than you." "No." "I'm not gonna let you risk a flogging for my failure." "I'll do it." "I admire your courage." "Less brave than bored." "If I had to spend another moment in that village," "I'd have fed myself to the lion." "To Gibeah, to women, and to wine." "Hear, hear." "By the time we're done, you won't even feel your flogging." "Forward!" "You look beautiful, Merav." "Thank you." "Your husband will be pleased." "I only hope he's as pleasing to you as you are to him." "I'm certain he will be." "What if he's fat as a cow or hairy as a bear?" "Mother assures me I'll be pleased." "Mother's pleased she arranged it." "I'm not sure your pleasure was a consideration." "If you had your way, you'd marry a commoner." "As long as I got to meet him before we're married." "Pardon, my ladies." "Your father has returned from the battlefield." "We're blessed you're back." "I hate it when you go to battle." "Well, I'm home now." "Jonathan." "Michal." "Ishbaal." "Sister." "And here's our bride." "Welcome home, Father." "The dress isn't finished." "I didn't mean for you to see it like this." "Merav, you look beautiful... more beautiful than your mother, even." "I heard that." "Allow a man his indulgence when he gives his daughter's hand." "Indulgence granted." "I understand the Philistines made it all the way to Kadesh." "Well, we taught them a lesson." "Still, it exposes our weaknesses at the northern borders." "We'll speak of this later?" "Soon my daughter marries a son of Judah." "Eitan was complaining that you're asking too much for the bride price." "He's a rug merchant with only half the scruples." "Look how beautiful she is." "Eitan's son is the luckiest man on earth." "Until he meets her." "Michal." "When your sister marries Mattiyahu, at last, the 12 tribes of Israel will unite." "And I'm home with the ones I love." "What more could a man want?" "¶¶" "You can't afford her." "Neither can you." "Yeah, but I could play her a song." "Yeah." "I've seen you make it work before." "Think it might work on the tax collector?" "Don't think he'll open his legs, if that's what you're asking." "Come on." "Let's get this over with." "Make way for the queen!" "Out of the way!" "Make way!" "Make way!" "All the tribes have come to see your sister marry." "She's nervous." "She hasn't seen Mattiyahu since they were 8 years old." "Your father and I worked for years to bring the tribe of Judah into the fold." "After she's married, I'll turn my attention to a match for you." "A match or an alliance?" "Make way!" "With a tongue like yours, I'm not sure I can arrange either." "¶¶" "Make way!" "Make way!" "Our shortfall will be made up as soon as we're able to get back into the field..." "Take him to get whipped." "What?" "You can't blame him for a lion!" "Do you want to get flogged, as well?" "Stop." "Stop!" "Michal." "What's the matter?" "They can't pay their taxes." "There's a lion that kills our sheep." "He's killing all our neighbors' sheep, as well." "Well, how can you expect him to pay his taxes if his flock is attacked?" "A shepherd's job is to protect his flock." "He's failed." "The law is clear." "Flog him." "Wait." "Wait." "Wait." "Wait!" "Let me kill the lion instead." "If I succeed, you forgive my father's debt and those of our neighbors." "And if you perish, you will have received your punishment." "Which one is Mattiyahu?" "I don't think he's arrived." "I hope for your sake that he's kind and attentive... and taller than when he was 8." "Excuse me, my lady." "Might I speak with you in private?" "You must let me go, sir." "I have news regarding the signing of your marriage contract." "I'm afraid the bride price your father is asking is too high." "Is it?" "I didn't think I'd last until I saw you again." "Mattiyahu of Judah, you are bold." "You are beautiful." "Gosh, my mother thinks she arranges everything, but only God could have arranged this." "As is custom three days before the marriage," "I bring you the bride price of 100 ingots of gold, barrels of our finest olive oil, casks of wine, silk imported from the East." "Fine treasure, indeed, Eitan of Judah, although there is no bride price on this earth that can equal the beauty of my daughter Merav." "Now, although, there is something on offer that is more precious than all this luxury." "That is the union of the 12 tribes of Israel." "Together we will be a light among nations." "We have fought long against our enemies and sometimes against each other." "But today a new promise emerges, and I pray that you have asked the prophet for his blessing on this marriage." "The king has chosen to grace us with his presence." "Prophet, I come to ask Elohim for His blessings for the union of our tribes and the marriage of my daughter to a son of Judah." "I humbly ask for His favor and His blessing on my house." "The Lord is pleased with your victory against the Philistines, but there is another enemy who has done us grievous harm." "As Moses brought our people out of Egypt, the Amalekites killed our women and children." "That was 10 generations ago." "Elohim, our Lord, has commanded that, in retribution, you destroy their men, destroy their women, and destroy their children." "The Amalekites are no threat to us." "They are nothing." "Our enemies now are the Philistines." "Do you defy Elohim's command?" "I ask for His blessings for the union of my people." "Slay the Amalekites, and you will have it." "Samuel, I..." "I am tired and... my men are tired." "Surely it is more important that first we unite the 12 tribes." "And then if it is still Elohim's wish, we then march on the Amalekites." "You are to do it now." "Elohim has spoken." "¶¶" "The Amalekites are no threat at all." "Your daughter's wedding is in three days." "And I'll be back in two." "Wine." "Leave us." "Rizpah." "How many times have I watched you take our sons into battle, not knowing if any of you would come back?" "How many years have I raised Michal, the daughter that you fathered with that Kushite concubine?" "And never have I protested, not once." "It is not your place to protest!" "Marry your daughter." "Unite the tribes." "The Amalekites can wait." "The Lord commands I do it now." "The Lord?" "Or Samuel?" "He is a jealous, old man." "Before you were anointed, his word was law." "And now he just tries to wield his influence by sending you on a needless task in the name of Elohim." "Moses called for retribution..." "Against the Amalekites when we were at rest from our enemies, and we are hardly at rest." "The Philistines still breach our northern borders at will." "Samuel is the prophet." "And you are the king." "You have given me much to consider." "Send Rizpah back when you leave." "I lay with her tonight." "¶¶" "By my reckoning, the lion came from the caves along the Arnon." "You see up there?" "That's a direct route to our fields." "Nice." "Thanks." "You remember Pedaiah's boys, the twins that went missing after the Day of Atonement?" "They say the lion got them." "They've even given it a name." "Have you heard it?" "No." "But I'm certain I'm about to." "Tsalmaveth." "The death shadow." "You know, you don't have to do this, Yoab." "What, and let you have all the glory?" "Not a chance." "Men will be lifting their cups and women their skirts to the great lion killers." "Well, I'm not doing it for glory." "Yeah." "Then why?" "I don't know." "I just have to." "Don't." "Don't." "No." "Don't." "Don't." "David, don't." "No!" "Our bronze is no match for their Philistine iron." "Eitan of Judah brokers Philistine weapons to the nations of the east." "Maybe we need to trick the Philistines into sending us their iron." "That's a risky proposition." "Trick the Philistines." "Eitan of Judah would never agree to deceive the Philistines to get iron for us." "Fine." "If not the father, then perhaps his son Mattiyahu." "After all, he's about to marry our sister." "It would be dangerous." "Yes." "Yes, it would." "But we need their iron." "Mattiyahu, yours is the only Israelite tribe that does business with the Philistines." "I need your help." "Of course." "Anything." "Your tribe..." "they broker Philistine weapons to the east, yes?" "I want you to divert one shipment here to Gibeah." "The Philistines prohibit any of our tribes from possessing weaponry." "They have no knowledge of our alliance yet." "I wipe out the Amalekites, and you fortify us against the Philistines." "Think of it as a last charge for my daughter's hand." "Of course, my king." "Come here." "¶¶" "I have to go." "No, no." "I have to..." "Yes, I have to go." "No." "No." "I have to go." "Mnh-mnh." "Your father would kill us both if he found me here." "You going on some errand for him?" "How do you know that?" "I heard my brothers talking." "What is it?" "I will tell you when I come home and make you my wife." "Stay." "Stay." "Okay." "We leave him here, take a position up on that rock." "Fat little thing was getting heavy." "So, enlighten me." "We leave this poor fellow as bait, and when the lion comes, you shoot him with your slingshot." "Yeah." "What if you miss?" "I have plenty of rocks." "What if you strike him and only make him angry?" "Then we run." "That's a stupid plan." "You have a better one?" "Go home?" "We spotted the Amalekite caravan at the edge of the desert." "It's a four-hour ride." "How many warriors?" "100, maybe more." "Women?" "Children?" "At least twice as many." "Killing women and children..." "that's what Amalekites do." "We are meant to be a light among nations." "But to doubt the prophet is to doubt the Lord." "Yeah." "We march in one hour." "You are a mighty warrior." "It will be another great victory." "When you sleep, what do you see?" "Do you see the faces of your loved ones?" "They are no more." "I cannot remember their faces." "I..." "I see the faces of the men I've torn apart." "I hear their screams." "Is this how I'm to be remembered, as Saul the Butcher?" "If you follow the Lord's command... then you are Saul the Deliverer." "¶¶" "The Philistine armory is impressive, King Achish." "Mattiyahu." "Of course you know my nieces." "I spoil them?" "How's your father?" "Well." "He sends his greetings." "Didn't expect to see you so soon." "Nothing amiss, I hope." "Far from it." "We received a large order for weapons from Moab." "I brought four chests of gold..." "payment in advance." "My men brought it to your treasury for counting." "Merav, we gather to sanctify and purify you before your marriage to Mattiyahu of Judah." "May your entry into the waters of the mikvah strengthen you for the journey that lies ahead." "Everything in order?" "Yes, my sovereign." "Mattiyahu, meet my general..." "Goliath." "By the way, congratulations on your marriage into the House of Saul." "Saul must be desperate." "I'm hungry." "There's bread in the satchel." "Maybe we should cook her." "The lion doesn't seem much interested." "What was that?" "I didn't hear anything." "I swear I heard something." "I heard that." "Yoab!" "Yoab!" "Yoab!" "Yoab." "Wait." "Wait." "Wait." "Wait." "Wait." "Don't move." "He's bigger than you think." "Shh, shh, shh." "I think I got my knife in him." "You have to get out of here now." "I'm gonna finish it." "Are you mad?" "!" "Take the low road below the Arnon." "I am not going back on my own!" "You have to get this wound cleaned, and there are Bedouins in the valley." "I'm gonna kill that lion." "There's other ways to get women." "Here." "Come here." "Get up." "You have to go, get help." "Who's going to help you?" "Come on." "Go." "Go." "¶¶" "Halt!" "Halt!" "Mattiyahu." "Our alliance with Judah will be lost." "And we don't have their iron." "I told you this was a risk." "We needed weapons." "Yeah." "We sent him to his death." "We have his blood on our hands." "And you would wait idly for their next attack." "Enough." "It was my choice to send him." "The Lord's favor is the only weapon we need." "To get it, we must heed the word of the prophet." "We'll slay the Amalekites, every single one... every one." "¶¶" "Archers, draw!" "¶¶" "Yah!" "Father." "Agag." "The Amalekite king." "You are their king?" "And you are Israelite scum." "Kill him." "He will be whipped before my people as a mark of our victory." "The prophet said every man, woman, and child." "Prophet be damned!" "Today I am the one who speaks." "¶¶" "Open the gate!" "They say the pelt would cover this floor." "And you killed it yourself?" "I did." "How?" "My sling." "And cleared your family's debt in the doing." "Impressive." "Perhaps we can find something for you here at the palace." "You are a shepherd, you say?" "Yes, my queen." "Do you play the harp?" "Many shepherds do." "Since I was a child." "The king finds the music of the harp restful." "Perhaps when he returns, we will see if your music is of his liking." "Word of this will spread." "You will be famous." "Kneel." "Princess." "Were you not off fighting a lion?" "I was." "What happened?" "I killed it." "Were you frightened?" "No." "Yeah." "I was terrified." "You killed a lion alone." "Yeah." "No." "The Lord was with you." "Let's move." "Put the chargers in the stable." "Get all the breastplates." "Where's Mattiyahu?" "Father, is he with you?" "Where is he?" "Where is he?" "Where is he?" "Where is he?" "Look at me!" "Look at me!" "Where is he?" " Princess!" " It's the king!" "The Amalekite scum!" "The Amalekite king must die." "I spared their king as an example to the other tribes so they can see what we do to our enemies." "You were to destroy them all." "You spared this king to mark your own triumph." "Samuel..." "I have listened to your commands all the years I have sat on that throne and not once have I questioned you." "But now you sanction murder in the name of Elohim." "In your weakness, you put yourself above the Lord." "You are not the Lord." "I am the prophet." "And I am the king!" "You do not question His will." "Then, if He cannot be questioned... what is His purpose?" "The Lord I revere does not slaughter women and children." "Don't you..." "Don't you understand?" "No." "No, I do not." "He made you in His image." "¶¶" "Just as your ancestor's sword slaughtered my people, my sword will slaughter you." "Get him!" "You defy me?" "It's you who defies the word of our Lord." "Your words." "You think I fear you?" "I do not fear you." "It's not me you should fear." "It is a sign." "Elohim will tear the kingdom of Israel from you and choose another in your place." "You lie." "The Lord has spoken." "He will take the throne from you." "Who are you?" "Your servant, my king." "I'm the new court harpist." "Then play." "Their soldiers are tired, their weapons inferior, and now Saul has angered his prophet." "And you know this how?" "I have a spy in the House of Saul." "Rizpah." "I'm at your service, King Achish."