1 Samuel 24–26

24TH CHAPTER^a

David Spares Saul’s Life

¹When Saul came back from ⸤fighting⸥ the Philistines, he was told “Now David is in the desert near En Gedi.” ²Then Saul took 3,000 of the best-trained men from all Israel and went to search for David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. ³He came to some sheep pens along the road where there was a cave. Saul went into ⸤it⸥ to relieve himself while David and his men were sitting further back in the cave. 

⁴David’s men told him, “Today is the day the Lord referred to when he said, ‘I’m going to hand your enemy over to you. You will do to him whatever you think is right.’ ” 

David quietly got up and cut off the border of Saul’s robe. ⁵But afterward, David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the border of Saul’s robe. ⁶He said to his men, “It would be unthinkable for me to raise my hand against His Majesty, the Lord’s anointed king, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” ⁷So David stoppedhis men by saying this to them and didn’t let them attack Saul. 

Saul left the cave and went out onto the road. ⁸Later, David got up, left the cave, and called to Saul, “Your Majesty!” When Saul looked back, David knelt down with his face touching the ground. ⁹David asked Saul, “Why do you listen to rumors that I am trying to harm you? ¹⁰Today you saw how the Lord handed you over to me in the cave. Although I was told to kill you, I spared you, saying, ‘I will not raise my hand against Your Majesty because you are the Lord’s anointed.’ ¹¹My master, look at this! The border of your robe is in my hand! Since I cut off the border of your robe and didn’t kill you, you should know and be able to see I mean no harm or rebellion. I haven’t sinned against you, but you are trying to ambush me in order to take my life. ¹²May the Lord decide between you and me. May the Lord take revenge on you for what you did to me. However, I will not lay a hand on you. ¹³It’s like people used to say long ago, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.’ But I will not lay a hand on you. ¹⁴Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? One flea? ¹⁵So the Lord must be the judge. He will decide between you and me. He will watch and take my side in ⸤this⸥ matter and set me free from you.” 

¹⁶When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that you speaking, my servant David?” and Saul cried loudly. ¹⁷He told David, “You are more righteous than I. You treated me well while I treated you badly. ¹⁸Today you have proved how good you’ve been to me. When the Lord handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me. ¹⁹When a person finds an enemy, does he send him away unharmed? The Lord will repay you completely for what you did for me today. ²⁰Now I know that you certainly will rule as king, and under your guidance the kingdom of Israel will prosper. ²¹Swear an oath to the Lord for me that you will not wipe out my descendants or destroy my name in my father’s family.” 

²²So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went home, and David and his men went to their fortified camp. 

25TH CHAPTER

Samuel Dies

¹Samuel died, and all Israel gathered to mourn for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David went to the desert of Paran. 

David, Nabal, and Abigail

²Now, there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very rich man. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³This man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was sensible and beautiful, but he was harsh and mean. He was a descendant of Caleb. 

⁴While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep. ⁵So David sent ten young men and told them, “Go to Carmel, visit Nabal, and greet him for me. ⁶Say to him, ‘May you live ⸤long⸥! May you, your home, and all you have prosper! ⁷I hear that your sheepshearers are with you. Your shepherds have been with us, ⸤and⸥ we have not mistreated them. Nothing of theirs has been missing as long as they’ve been in Carmel. ⁸Ask your young men, and let them tell you. Be kind to my young men, since we have come on a special occasion. Please give us and your son David anything you can ⸤spare⸥.’ ” 

⁹When David’s young men came to Nabal, they repeated all of this to him for David, and then they waited. 

¹⁰“Who is David?” Nabal answered David’s servants. “Who is Jesse’s son? So many servants nowadays are leaving their masters. ¹¹Should I take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to men coming from who knows where?” 

¹²David’s young men returned and told him all this. 

¹³“Each of you put on your swords!” David told his men. And everyone, including David, put on his sword. About four hundred men went with David, while two hundred men stayed with the supplies. 

¹⁴One of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master, who yelled at them. ¹⁵Those men were very good to us. They didn’t mistreat us, and we found that nothing was missing wherever we went with them when we were in the fields. ¹⁶They were a wall protecting us day and night as long as we were watching the sheep near them. ¹⁷Now, consider what you should do because our master and his whole household are doomed. And he’s such a worthless man that it’s useless to talk to him.” 

¹⁸So Abigail quickly took 200 loaves of bread, 2 full wineskins, 5 butchered sheep, a bushel of roasted grain, 100 bunches of raisins, and 200 fig cakes and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹“Go on ahead,” she told her young men, “and I’ll follow you.” But she didn’t tell her husband Nabal about it. 

²⁰She was riding on her donkey down a hidden mountain path when she met David and his men coming toward her. ²¹David had thought, “I guarded this man’s stuff in the desert for nothing! Not one of his possessions was missing. Yet, he has paid me back with evil when I was good to him. ²²May God punish me^aif I leave even one of his men^balive in the morning.” 

²³When Abigail saw David, she quickly got down from her donkey. She immediately bowed down in front of David with her face touching the ground. ²⁴After she bowed at his feet, she said, “Sir, let me be held responsible for this wrong. Please let me speak with you. Please listen to my words. ²⁵You shouldn’t take this worthless person Nabal seriously. He is like his name. His name is Nabal ^[Godless Fool^[, and he’s foolish. But I didn’t see the young men you sent. 

²⁶“The Lord has kept you from spilling innocent blood and from getting a victory by your own efforts. Now, sir, I solemnly swear, as the Lord and you live, may your enemies and those who are trying to harm you end up like Nabal. ²⁷Here is a gift I am bringing to you. May it be given to the young men who are in your service. ²⁸Please forgive my offense. The Lord will certainly give you, sir, a lasting dynasty, because you are fighting the Lord’s battles. May evil never be found in you as long as you live. ²⁹Even though someone pursued you and sought your life, your life is wrapped in the bundle of life which comes from the Lord your God. But he will dispose of the lives of your enemies like stones thrown from a sling. ³⁰When the Lord does all the good he promised and makes you ruler of Israel, ³¹you shouldn’t have a troubled conscience because you spilled blood for no good reason and claimed your own victory. When the Lord has given you success, remember me.” 

³²David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me. ³³May your good judgment be blessed. Also, may you be blessed for keeping me from slaughtering people today and from getting a victory by my own efforts. ³⁴But I solemnly swear—as the Lord God of Israel, who has kept me from harming you, lives—if you hadn’t come to meet me quickly, Nabal certainly wouldn’t have had one of his men left at dawn.” 

³⁵Then David accepted what she brought him and told her, “Go home in peace. I’ve listened to what you’ve said and granted your request.” 

³⁶When Abigail came to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his home. It was like a king’s banquet. He was in a good mood and very drunk, so she didn’t tell him anything until dawn. ³⁷But in the morning, when the effects of the wine had worn off, his wife told him what had happened. Nabal’s heart failed, and he could not move.³⁸About ten days later the Lord made him even more sick, and Nabal died. 

³⁹When David heard Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who defended me against the insults of Nabal and kept me from doing wrong. The Lord has turned Nabal’s own wickedness back on him.” 

Then David sent men ⸤on his behalf⸥ to propose marriage to Abigail. ⁴⁰When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they told her, “David has sent us to you so that we can take you to him to be his wife.” 

⁴¹She bowed down with her face touching the ground. “I am ready to serve,” she said. “I am ready to wash the feet of my master’s servants.” ⁴²Then Abigail quickly got up and rode on a donkey with five of her female servants following her. So she went with David’s messengers and became his wife. 

⁴³David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. Both she and Abigail were his wives. ⁴⁴Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti, Laish’s son, who was from Gallim. 

26TH CHAPTER

Saul’s Final Pursuit of David

¹The people of Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah. “David is hiding at the hill of Hachilah near Jeshimon,” they said. 

²Saul went to the desert of Ziph, taking with him 3,000 of Israel’s best-trained men to search for David. ³Saul camped by the road at the hill of Hachilah near Jeshimon, but David stayed in the desert. When he realized Saul had come to the desert for him, ⁴David sent spies to confirm that Saul had arrived. 

⁵Then David went to the place where Saul had camped. David saw the place where Saul and Ner’s son Abner, the commander of the army, were lying. Saul was lying in the camp, and the troops were camped around him. 

⁶David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and…