David Saves the City of Keilah

23 Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against aKeilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.”

2 Therefore David binquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and 1attack these Philistines?”

And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”

3 But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 4 Then David inquired of the Lord once again.

And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” 5 And David and his men went to Keilah and cfought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

6 Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech dfled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand.

7 And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

9 When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, ehe said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah fto destroy the city for my sake. 11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.”

And the Lord said, “He will come down.”

12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah 2deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?”

And the Lord said, “They will deliver you.”

13 So David and his men, gabout six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.

David in Wilderness Strongholds

14 And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in hthe mountains in the Wilderness of iZiph. Saul jsought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. 15 So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph 3in a forest. 16 Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and 4strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, k“Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. lEven my father Saul knows that.” 18 So the two of them mmade a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.

19 Then the Ziphites ncame up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? 20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and oour part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.”

21 And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. 22 Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty. 23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the 5clans of Judah.”

24 So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness pof Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. 25 When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down 6to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. 26 Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. qSo David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men rwere encircling David and his men to take them.

27 sBut a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” 28 Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place 7the Rock of Escape. 29 Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at tEn Gedi.

David Spares Saul

24 Now it happened, awhen Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, “Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.” 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and bwent to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and cSaul went in to dattend to his needs. (eDavid and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.) 4 fThen the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’ ” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5 Now it happened afterward that gDavid’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe. 6 And he said to his men, h“The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 So David irestrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.

8 David also arose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down. 9 And David said to Saul: j“Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Indeed David seeks your harm’? 10 Look, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is kneither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you lhunt my life to take it. 12 mLet the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, n‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand shall not be against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? oA dead dog? pA flea? 15 qTherefore let the Lord be judge, and judge between you and me, and rsee and splead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.”

16 So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, t“Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 uThen he said to David: “You are vmore righteous than I; for wyou have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. 18 And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when xthe Lord delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. 20 And now yI know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. 21 zTherefore swear now to me by the Lord athat you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s house.”

22 So David swore to Saul. And Saul went home, but David and his men went up to bthe stronghold.

Death of Samuel

25 Then aSamuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and blamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down cto the Wilderness of 1Paran.

David and the Wife of Nabal

2 Now there was a man din Maon whose business was in eCarmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of fCaleb.

4 When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was gshearing his sheep, 5 David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. 6 And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: h‘Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! 7 Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, inor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore 2let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on ja feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

9 So when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited.

10 Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, k“Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. 11 lShall I then take my bread and my water and my 3meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?”

12 So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words. 13 Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred mstayed with the supplies.

14 Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he 4reviled them. 15 But the men were very good to us, and nwe were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields. 16 They were oa wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. 17 Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for pharm is determined against our master and against all his household. For he is such a qscoundrel 5that one cannot speak to him.”

18 Then Abigail made haste and rtook two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her servants, s“Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

20 So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men, coming down toward her, and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has trepaid me evil for good. 22 uMay God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I vleave wone male of all who belong to him by morning light.”

23 Now when Abigail saw David, she xdismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. 24 So she fell at his feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant 6speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. 25 Please, let not my lord 7regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: 8Nabal is his name, and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. 26 Now therefore, my lord, yas the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the Lord has zheld you back from coming to bloodshed and from aavenging 9yourself with your own hand, now then, blet your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now cthis present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For dthe Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord efights the battles of the Lord, fand evil is not found in you throughout your days. 29 Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be gbound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall hsling out, as from the pocket of a sling. 30 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you iruler over Israel, 31 that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”

32 Then David said to Abigail: j“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kkept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. 34 For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has lkept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely mby morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” 35 So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, n“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and orespected your person.”

36 Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, pholding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. 37 So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. 38 Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord qstruck Nabal, and he died.

39 So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, r“Blessed be the Lord, who has spleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has tkept His servant from evil! For the Lord has ureturned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.”

And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, “David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife.”

41 Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to vwash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, 1attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife. 43 David also took Ahinoam wof Jezreel, xand so both of them were his wives.

44 But Saul had given yMichal his daughter, David’s wife, to 2Palti the son of Laish, who was from zGallim.