1 Samuel 24:1–26:25

¹And it came to pass when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. ²And Saul took three thousand men, chosen out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. ³And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet; and David and his men were abiding in the recesses of the cave. ⁴And David’s men said to him, Behold the day of which Jehovah said to thee, Behold, I will give thine enemy into thy hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good to thee. And David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe secretly. ⁵And it came to pass afterwards that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. ⁶And he said to his men, Jehovah forbid that I should do this thing to my master, Jehovah’s anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him, for he is the anointed of Jehovah. ⁷And David checked his men with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. And Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. ⁸David also arose afterwards, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king! And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and did obeisance.

⁹And David said to Saul, Why dost thou listen to words of men, saying, Behold, David seeks thy hurt? ¹⁰Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that Jehovah had given thee this day into my hand in the cave; and they bade me kill thee; but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord, for he is the anointed of Jehovah. ¹¹And see, my father, yes, 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 and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou liest in wait for my life to take it. ¹²Jehovah judge between me and thee, and Jehovah avenge me of thee; but my hand shall not be upon thee. ¹³As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked; but my hand shall not be upon thee. ¹⁴After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a single flea. ¹⁵Jehovah therefore shall be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and do me justice in delivering me out of thy hand.

¹⁶And as soon as David had ended speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. ¹⁷And he said to David, Thou art more 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 Jehovah had delivered me up into thy hand, thou didst not kill me. ¹⁹For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore Jehovah reward thee good for that thou hast done to me this day. ²⁰And now behold, I know that thou shalt certainly be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thy hand. ²¹Swear now therefore to me by Jehovah, that 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 swore to Saul. And Saul went home; and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Chapter 25

¹And Samuel died; and all Israel were gathered together, and lamented him; and they buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

²And there was a man at Maon, whose business was at Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep at Carmel. ³And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance; but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was a Calebite. ⁴And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. ⁵Then David sent out ten young men; and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. ⁶And thus shall ye say: Long life to thee! and peace be to thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be to all that thou hast! ⁷And now I have heard that thou hast shearers; now thy shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missed by them, all the while they were in Carmel. ⁸Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee. Therefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, what thy hand may find to thy servants, and to thy son David. ⁹And David’s young men came, and spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. ¹⁰And Nabal answered David’s servants and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his master. ¹¹And shall I take my bread, and my water, and my flesh which I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men whom I know not whence they are?

¹²And David’s young men turned their way, and went back, and came and reported to him according to all those words. ¹³And David said to his men, Gird ye 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 four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the baggage. ¹⁴And one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our master; and he has insulted them. ¹⁵And the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we companied with them, when we were in the fields. ¹⁶They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the while we were with them feeding the sheep. ¹⁷And now know and consider what thou wilt do, for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household; and he is such a son of Belial, that one cannot speak to him.

¹⁸And Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skin-bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred raisin-cakes, and two hundred fig-cakes, and laid them on asses. ¹⁹And she said to her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal. ²⁰And as she was riding on the ass, and coming down by the covert of the hill, behold, David and his men came down opposite to her; and she met them. ²¹Now David had said, Surely, in vain have I kept all that this man had in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that was his; and he has requited me evil for good. ²²So and more also do God to the enemies of David, if I leave of all that is his by the morning light any male. ²³And when Abigail saw David, she hasted and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, ²⁴and fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let the iniquity be; but let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear the words of thy handmaid. ²⁵Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; and I thy handmaid did not see the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. ²⁶And now, my lord, as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing Jehovah has restrained thee from coming with bloodshed, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. ²⁷And now this blessing which thy bondmaid has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men that follow my lord. ²⁸I pray thee, forgive the transgression of thy handmaid: for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a lasting house; because my lord fights the battles of Jehovah, and evil has not been found in thee all thy days. ²⁹And if a man is risen up to pursue thee and to seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out from the hollow of the sling. ³⁰And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall do to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee, and shall appoint thee ruler over Israel, ³¹that this shall be no stumbling-block to thee, nor offence of heart for my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall deal well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.

³²And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me. ³³And blessed be thy discernment, and blessed be thou, who hast kept me this day from coming with bloodshed, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. ³⁴But indeed, as Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, who has restrained me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light any male. ³⁵So David received of her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

³⁶And Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was drunken to excess; so she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. ³⁷And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things; and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. ³⁸And it came to pass in about ten days that Jehovah smote Nabal, and he died. ³⁹And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Jehovah, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil; but Jehovah has returned Nabal’s evil upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take…