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1 Samuel 26:21–25

21 Then Saul said, r“I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.” 22 And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it. 23 sThe Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. 24 Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will tsucceed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

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1 Samuel 26:21–25 — The New International Version (NIV)

21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. Because you considered my life precious 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 everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness. The Lord delivered 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 me from all trouble.”

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

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

1 Samuel 26:21–25 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

21 Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. 22 And David answered and said, Behold the king’s spear! and let one of the young men come over and fetch it. 23 The Lord render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the Lord delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed. 24 And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. 25 Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

1 Samuel 26:21–25 — New Living Translation (NLT)

21 Then Saul confessed, “I have sinned. Come back home, my son, and I will no longer try to harm you, for you valued my life today. I have been a fool and very, very wrong.”

22 “Here is your spear, O king,” David replied. “Let one of your young men come over and get it. 23 The Lord gives his own reward for doing good and for being loyal, and I refused to kill you even when the Lord placed you in my power, for you are the Lord’s anointed one. 24 Now may the Lord value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May he rescue me from all my troubles.”

25 And Saul said to David, “Blessings on you, my son David. You will do many heroic deeds, and you will surely succeed.” Then David went away, and Saul returned home.

1 Samuel 26:21–25 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.”

22 And David answered and said, “Here is the king’s spear. Let one of the young men come over and get it. 23 May the Lord repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. 24 And indeed, as your life was valued much this day in my eyes, so let my life be valued much in the eyes of the Lord, and let Him deliver me out of all tribulation.”

25 Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed, my son David! You shall both do great things and also still prevail.”

So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

1 Samuel 26:21–25 — New Century Version (NCV)

21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. Today you respected my life, so I will not try to hurt you. I have been very stupid and foolish.”

22 David answered, “Here is your spear. Let one of your young men come here and get it. 23 The Lord rewards us for the things we do right and for our loyalty to him. The Lord handed you over to me today, but I wouldn’t harm the Lord’s appointed king. 24 As I respected your life today, may the Lord also respect my life and save me from all trouble.”

25 Then Saul said to David, “You are blessed, my son David. You will do great things and succeed.”

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

1 Samuel 26:21–25 — American Standard Version (ASV)

21 Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my life was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly. 22 And David answered and said, Behold the spear, O king! let then one of the young men come over and fetch it. 23 And Jehovah will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; forasmuch as Jehovah delivered thee into my hand to-day, and I would not put forth my hand against Jehovah’s anointed. 24 And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of Jehovah, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation. 25 Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do mightily, and shalt surely prevail. So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

1 Samuel 26:21–25 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

21 And Saul said, I have sinned: return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my life was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have acted foolishly, and have erred exceedingly. 22 And David answered and said, Behold the king’s spear, and let one of the young men come over and fetch it. 23 And Jehovah will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; for Jehovah gave thee into my hand this day, and I would not stretch forth my hand against Jehovah’s anointed. 24 And behold, as thy life was highly esteemed this day in mine eyes, so let my life be highly esteemed in the eyes of Jehovah, that he may deliver me out of all distress. 25 And Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt certainly do great things, and shalt certainly prevail. And David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

1 Samuel 26:21–25 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

21 “My servant David,” Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back. I will not harm you again, because you valued my life today. I’ve acted like a fool and made a terrible mistake.” 

22 David responded, “Here’s the king’s spear. One of the young men should come over and get it. 23 The Lord will reward any person who is righteous and faithful. The Lord handed you over to me today, but I refused to attack the Lord’s anointed king. 24 As I placed great value on your life today, may the Lord place great value on my life and rescue me from all trouble.” 

25 Then Saul said, “Blessed are you, my servant David. You will accomplish many things and certainly will succeed.” 

So David went his way, while Saul returned home. 

1 Samuel 26:21–25 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

21 Saul responded, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David, I will never harm you again because today you considered my life precious. I have been a fool! I’ve committed a grave error.”

22 David answered, “Here is the king’s spear; have one of the young men come over and get it. 23 May the Lord repay every man for his righteousness and his loyalty. I wasn’t willing to lift my hand against the Lord’s anointed, even though the Lord handed you over to me today. 24 Just as I considered your life valuable today, so may the Lord consider my life valuable and rescue me from all trouble.”

25 Saul said to him, “You are blessed, my son David. You will certainly do great things and will also prevail.” Then David went on his way, and Saul returned home.

1 Samuel 26:21–25 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

21 Then Saul said, “I have done wrong; come back, my son David, for I will never harm you again, because my life was precious in your sight today; I have been a fool, and have made a great mistake.” 22 David replied, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and get it. 23 The Lord rewards everyone for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord gave you into my hand today, but I would not raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed. 24 As your life was precious today in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he rescue me from all tribulation.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

1 Samuel 26:21–25 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned! Come back, David my son, for I will not harm you again, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Look, I have acted like a fool and have made a terrible mistake.” 22 David answered and said, “Here is the king’s spear; let one of the young men come over and take it. 23 Yahweh repays to each one his righteousness and his faithfulness, for Yahweh gave you into my hand today, but I was not willing to stretch out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed. 24 Look, as your life was precious in my eyes this day, may my life be great in the eyes of Yahweh, and may he rescue me from all trouble.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed are you, my son David; you will not only do many things, but also will always succeed!” Then David went on his way and Saul returned to his place.

1 Samuel 26:21–25 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. My son David, come back. Today you thought my life was very special. So I won’t try to harm you again. I’ve really acted like a foolish person. I’ve made a huge mistake.”

22 “Here’s your spear,” David answered. “Send one of your young men over to get it.

23 “The Lord rewards everyone for doing what is right and being faithful. He handed you over to me today. But I wouldn’t lay a hand on you. You are the Lord’s anointed king. 24 Today I thought your life had great value. In the same way, may the Lord think of my life as having great value. May he save me from all trouble.”

25 Then Saul said to David, “My son David, may the Lord bless you. You will do great things. You will also have great success.”

So David went on his way. And Saul returned home.

1 Samuel 26:21–25 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

21 Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have committed a serious error.”

22 David replied, “Behold the spear of the king! Now let one of the young men come over and take it.

23 “The Lord will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I refused to stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed.

24 “Now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the Lord, and may He deliver me from all distress.”

25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed are you, my son David; you will both accomplish much and surely prevail.” So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.


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