David Spares Saul’s Life

24 ^[a]After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.^(A)” ² So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look^(B) for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

³ He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave^(C) was there, and Saul went in to relieve^(D) himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. ⁴ The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke^(E) of when he said^[b] to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’”^(F) Then David crept up unnoticed and cut^(G) off a corner of Saul’s robe.

⁵ Afterward, David was conscience-stricken^(H) for having cut off a corner of his robe. ⁶ He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed,^(I) or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” ⁷ With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

⁸ Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.^{(J) 9} He said to Saul, “Why do you listen^(K) when men say, ‘David is bent on harming^(L) you’? ¹⁰ This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared^(M) you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ ¹¹ See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut^(N) off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty^(O) of wrongdoing^(P) or rebellion. I have not wronged^(Q) you, but you are hunting^(R) me down to take my life.^{(S) 12} May the Lord judge^(T) between you and me. And may the Lord avenge^(U) the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. ¹³ As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,^(V)’ so my hand will not touch you.

¹⁴ “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog?^(W) A flea?^{(X) 15} May the Lord be our judge^(Y) and decide^(Z) between us. May he consider my cause and uphold^(AA) it; may he vindicate^(AB) me by delivering^(AC) me from your hand.”

¹⁶ When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice,^(AD) David my son?” And he wept aloud. ¹⁷ “You are more righteous than I,”^(AE) he said. “You have treated me well,^(AF) but I have treated you badly.^{(AG) 18} You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered^(AH) me into your hands, but you did not kill me. ¹⁹ When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward^(AI) you well for the way you treated me today. ²⁰ I know that you will surely be king^(AJ) and that the kingdom^(AK) of Israel will be established in your hands. ²¹ Now swear^(AL) to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.^(AM)”

²² So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.^(AN)

David, Nabal and Abigail

25 Now Samuel died,^(AO) and all Israel assembled and mourned^(AP) for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah.^(AQ) Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran.^[c]

² A certain man in Maon,^(AR) who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy.^(AS) He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing^(AT) in Carmel. ³ His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail.^(AU) She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite.^(AV)

⁴ While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. ⁵ So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. ⁶ Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health^(AW) to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!^(AX)

⁷ “‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat^(AY) them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. ⁸ Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever^(AZ) you can find for them.’”

⁹ When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David’s name. Then they waited.

¹⁰ Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who^(BA) is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. ¹¹ Why should I take my bread^(BB) and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”

¹² David’s men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. ¹³ David said to his men^(BC), “Each of you strap on your sword!” So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went^(BD) up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.^(BE)

¹⁴ One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings,^(BF) but he hurled insults at them. ¹⁵ Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat^(BG) us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing.^{(BH) 16} Night and day they were a wall^(BI) around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. ¹⁷ Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked^(BJ) man that no one can talk to him.”

¹⁸ Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs^[d] of roasted grain,^(BK) a hundred cakes of raisins^(BL) and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.^{(BM) 19} Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead;^(BN) I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell^(BO) her husband Nabal.

²⁰ As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. ²¹ David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing.^(BP) He has paid^(BQ) me back evil^(BR) for good. ²² May God deal with David,^[e] be it ever so severely,^(BS) if by morning I leave alive one male^(BT) of all who belong to him!”

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground.^{(BU) 24} She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord,^(BV) and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. ²⁵ Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool^(BW),^(BX) and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. ²⁶ And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed^(BY) and from avenging^(BZ) yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal.^{(CA) 27} And let this gift,^(CB) which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you.

²⁸ “Please forgive^(CC) your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting^(CD) dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles,^(CE) and no wrongdoing^(CF) will be found in you as long as you live. ²⁹ Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life,^(CG) the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl^(CH) away as from the pocket of a sling.^{(CI) 30} When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler^(CJ) over Israel, ³¹ my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember^(CK) your servant.”^(CL)

³² David said to Abigail, “Praise^(CM) be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. ³³ May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed^(CN) this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. ³⁴ Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal^(CO) would have been left alive by daybreak.”

³⁵ Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted^(CP) your request.”

³⁶ When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high^(CQ) spirits and very drunk.^(CR) So she told^(CS) him nothing at all until daybreak. ³⁷ Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.^{(CT) 38} About ten days later, the Lord struck^(CU) Nabal and he died.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.”

Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. ⁴⁰ His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.”

⁴¹ She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” ⁴² Abigail^(CV) quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife. ⁴³ David had also married Ahinoam^(CW) of Jezreel, and they both were his wives.^{(CX) 44} But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel^[f](CY) son of Laish, who was from Gallim.^(CZ)

David Again Spares Saul’s Life

26 The Ziphites^(DA) went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding^(DB) on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?^(DC)”

² So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand select Israelite troops, to search^(DD) there for David. ³ Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah^(DE) facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had followed him there, ⁴ he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived.

⁵ Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner^(DF) son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him.

⁶ David then asked Ahimelek the Hittite^(DG) and Abishai^(DH) son of Zeruiah,^(DI) Joab’s brother, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?”

“I’ll go with you,” said Abishai.

⁷ So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.

⁸ Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.”

⁹ But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed^(DJ) and be guiltless?^{(DK) 10} As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “the Lord himself will strike^(DL) him, or his time^(DM) will come and he will die,^(DN) or he will go into battle and perish. ¹¹ But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.”

¹² So David took the spear and water jug near Saul’s head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the Lord had put them into a deep sleep.^(DO)

¹³ Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away; there was a wide space between them. ¹⁴ He called out to the army and to Abner son of Ner, “Aren’t you going to answer me, Abner?”

Abner replied, “Who are you who calls to the king?”

¹⁵ David said, “You’re a man, aren’t you? And who is like you in Israel? Why didn’t you guard your lord the king? Someone came to destroy your lord the king. ¹⁶ What you have done is not good. As surely as the Lord lives, you and your men must die, because you did not guard your master, the Lord’s anointed. Look around you. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were near his head?”

¹⁷ Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is that your voice,^(DP) David my son?”

David replied, “Yes it is, my lord the king.” ¹⁸ And he added, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done, and what wrong^(DQ) am I guilty of? ¹⁹ Now let my lord the king listen^(DR) to his servant’s words. If the Lord has incited you against me, then may he accept an offering.^(DS) If, however, people have done it, may they be cursed before the Lord! They have driven me today from my share in the Lord’s inheritance^(DT) and have said, ‘Go, serve other gods.’^{(DU) 20} Now do not let my blood^(DV) fall to the ground far from the presence of the Lord. The king of Israel has come out to look for a flea^(DW)—as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.^(DX)”

²¹ Then Saul said, “I have sinned.^(DY) Come back, David my son. Because you considered my life precious^(DZ) today, I will not try to harm you again. Surely I have acted like a fool and have been terribly wrong.”

²² “Here is the king’s spear,” David answered. “Let one of your young men come over and get it. ²³ The Lord rewards^(EA) everyone for their righteousness^(EB) and faithfulness. The Lord delivered^(EC) you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. ²⁴ As surely as I valued your life today, so may the Lord value my life and deliver^(ED) me from all trouble.”

²⁵ Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed,^(EE) David my son; you will do great things and surely triumph.”

So David went on his way, and Saul returned home.

David Among the Philistines

27 But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

² So David and the six hundred men^(EF) with him left and went^(EG) over to Achish^(EH) son of Maok king of Gath. ³ David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives:^(EI) Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. ⁴ When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

⁵ Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

⁶ So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag,^(EJ) and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. ⁷ David lived^(EK) in Philistine territory a year and four months.

⁸ Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites,^(EL) the Girzites and the Amalekites.^(EM) (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur^(EN) and Egypt.) ⁹ Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive,^(EO) but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.

¹⁰ When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel^(EP)” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.^(EQ)” ¹¹ He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. ¹² Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious^(ER) to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.^(ES)”