1 Samuel 24–26

And it came to pass, ^awhen Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi. ²Then Saul took three thousand ^bchosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. ³And he came to the ^csheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to ^dcover his feet: and ^eDavid and his men remained in the sides of the cave. ⁴And the men of David said unto him, ^fBehold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily. ⁵And it came to pass afterward, that ^gDavid’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. ⁶And he said unto his men, ^hThe Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, ⁱthe Lord’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord. ⁷So David stayed his servants with these words, and ^jsuffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. ⁸David also rose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself.

⁹And David said to Saul, ^kWherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? ¹⁰Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and ^lsome bade me kill thee: but ^mmine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord’s anointed. ¹¹Moreover, my father, see, yea see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. ¹²ⁿThe Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. ¹³As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. ¹⁴After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? ^oafter a dead dog, after ^pa flea. ^15qThe Lord therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and ^rsee, and ^splead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.

¹⁶And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, ^tIs this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lift up his voice, and wept. ^17uAnd he said to David, Thou art ^xmore righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. ¹⁸And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. ¹⁹For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. ²⁰And now behold, ^yI know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. ^21zSwear now therefore unto me by the Lord, ^athat thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house. ²²And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto ^bthe hold.

XXV.And ^aSamuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and ^blamented him, and buried him ^cin his house at ^dRamah. And David arose, and went down to ^ethe wilderness of Paran. ²And there was a man in ^fgMaon, whose possessions were in ^gCarmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was ^hof the house of Caleb. ⁴And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did ⁱshear his sheep. ⁵And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: ⁶and thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, ^jPeace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. ⁷And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought ^kmissing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. ⁸Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men ^lfind favour in thine eyes: for we come in ^ma good day: give, I pray thee, ⁿwhatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David. ⁹And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. ¹⁰And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, ^oWho is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days ^pthat break away every man from his master. ^11qShall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be? ¹²So David’s young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. ¹³And David said unto his men, Gird you on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about ^rfour hundred men; and ^rtwo hundred ^sabode by the stuff.

¹⁴But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to ^tsalute our master; and he railed on them. ¹⁵But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: ¹⁶they were ^ua wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. ¹⁷Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for ^wevil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such ^xa son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him. ¹⁸Then Abigail made haste, and ^ytook two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. ¹⁹And she said unto her servants, ^zGo on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. ²⁰And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. ²¹Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath ^arequited me evil for good. ^22bSo and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that ^cpisseth against the wall. ²³And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and ^dlighted off the ass, and ^efell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, ²⁴and fell at his feet, and said, ^fUpon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. ²⁵Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this ^gman of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. ²⁶Now therefore, my lord, ^has the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath ⁱwithholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now ^jlet thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. ²⁷And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. ²⁸I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will certainly make my lord ^ka sure house; because my lord ^lfighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. ²⁹Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he ^msling out as out of the middle of a sling. ³⁰And it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; ³¹that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. ³²And David said to Abigail, ⁿBlessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: ³³and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast ^okept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. ³⁴For in very deed, ^pas the Lord God of Israel liveth, which hath ^qkept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there ^rhad not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. ³⁵So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, ^sGo up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have ^taccepted thy person.

³⁶And Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, ^uhe held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and ^uNabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, ^wless or more, until the morning light. ³⁷But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. ³⁸And it came to pass about ten…