1 Samuel 23–26

Deliverance at Keilah

23It was reported to David: “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah ^zand raiding the threshing floors.”

²So David inquired of the Lord: ^a“Should I launch an attack against these Philistines?”

The Lord answered David, “Launch an attack against the Philistines and rescue Keilah.”

³But David’s men said to him, “Look, we’re afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!”

⁴Once again, David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered him: “Go at once to Keilah, for I will hand the Philistines over to you.” ^b5Then David and his men went to Keilah, fought against the Philistines, drove their livestock away, and inflicted heavy losses on them. So David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah. ⁶Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, and he brought an ephod with him.

⁷When it was reported to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with barred gates.” ⁸Then Saul summoned all the troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men.

⁹When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, ^c“Bring the ephod.” ^d

¹⁰Then David said, “Lord God of Israel, Your servant has heard that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the town because of me. ¹¹Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down as Your servant has heard? Lord God of Israel, please tell Your servant.”

The Lord answered, “He will come down.”

¹²Then David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?”

“They will,” ^ethe Lord responded.

¹³So David and his men, numbering about 600, ^fleft Keilah at once and moved from place to place. ^gWhen it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he called off the expedition. ¹⁴David then stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. ^hSaul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him. ⁱ

A Renewed Covenant

¹⁵David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in Horesh when he saw that Saul had come out to take his life. ¹⁶Then Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and encouraged him in his faith in God, ^j17saying, “Don’t be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. You yourself will be king over Israel, ^kand I’ll be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows it is true.” ^l18Then the two of them made a covenant in the Lord’s presence. ^mAfterward, David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home.

David’s Narrow Escape

¹⁹Some Ziphites ⁿcame up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “David is ^ohiding among us in the strongholds in Horesh on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon. ²⁰Now, whenever the king wants to come down, let him come down. Our part will be to hand him over to the king.” ^p

²¹“May you be blessed by the Lord,” replied Saul, “for you have taken pity on me. ^q22Go and check again. Investigate and watch carefully where he goes ^rand who has seen him there; they tell me he is extremely cunning. ²³Look and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with accurate information, and I’ll go with you. If it turns out he really is in the region, I’ll search for him among all the clans ^sof Judah.” ²⁴So they went to Ziph ahead of Saul.

Now David and his men were in the wilderness near Maon ^tin the Arabah south of Jeshimon, ²⁵and Saul and his men went to look for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. Saul heard of this and pursued David there.

²⁶Saul went along one side of the mountain and David and his men went along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away from Saul, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them. ^u27Then a messenger came to Saul saying, “Come quickly, because the Philistines have raided the land!” ²⁸So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to engage the Philistines. Therefore, that place was named the Rock of Separation. ^29vFrom there David went up and stayed in the strongholds of En-gedi. ^w

David Spares Saul

24When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, ^xhe was told, “David is in the wilderness near En-gedi.” ^y2So Saul took 3,000 of Israel’s choice men ^zand went to look for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. ³When Saul came to the sheep pens along the road, a cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself. ^abDavid and his men were staying in the back of the cave, ^c4so they said to him, “Look, this is the day the Lord told you about: ‘I will hand your enemy over to you so you can do to him whatever you desire.’ ” Then David got up and secretly cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.

⁵Afterward, David’s conscience bothered ^dehim because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe. ^f6He said to his men, “I swear before the Lord: I would never do such a thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed. ^gI will never lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” ^h7With these words David persuaded ⁱhis men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul.

Then Saul left the cave and went on his way. ⁸After that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed to the ground in homage. ^j9David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of people who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’? ¹⁰You can see with your own eyes that the Lord handed you over to me today in the cave. ^kSomeone advised me to kill you, ^lbut I ^mntook pity on you and said: I won’t lift my hand against my lord, since he is the Lord’s anointed. ¹¹See, my father! ^oLook at the corner of your robe in my hand, for I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. Look and recognize that there is no evil or rebellion in me. I haven’t sinned against you even though you are hunting me down to take my life. ^p

¹²“May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you. ^q13As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.’ ^rMy hand will never be against you. ¹⁴Who has the king of Israel come after? What are you chasing after? A dead dog? A flea? ^s15May the Lord be judge and decide between you and me. May He take notice and plead my case and deliver ^tme from you.” ^u

¹⁶When David finished saying these things to him, Saul replied, “Is that your voice, David my son?” ^vThen Saul wept aloud ¹⁷and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have done what is good to me though I have done what is evil to you. ^w18You yourself have told me today what good you did for me: when the Lord handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me. ^x19When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed? ^yzMay the Lord repay you with good for what you’ve done for me today.

²⁰“Now I know for certain you will be king, and the kingdom of Israel will be established ^ain your hand. ^b21Therefore swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.” ^c22So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went up to the stronghold. ^d

David, Nabal, and Abigail

25Samuel died, ^eand all Israel assembled to mourn for him, ^fand they buried him by his home in Ramah. ^gDavid then went down to the Wilderness of Paran. ^hi

²A man in Maon ^jhad a business in Carmel; ^khe was a very rich man with 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats and was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name, Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite, ^lwas harsh and evil in his dealings.

⁴While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep, ⁵so David sent 10 young men instructing them, “Go up to Carmel, and when you come to Nabal, greet him in my name. ^m6Then say this: ‘Long life to you, ⁿand peace to you, to your family, and to all that is yours. ^o7I hear that you are shearing. ^pWhen your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel. ^q8Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on a feast ^rday. ^sPlease give whatever you can afford to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

⁹David’s young men went and said all these things to Nabal on David’s behalf, ^tand they waited. ^u10Nabal asked them, “Who is David? ^vWho is Jesse’s son? Many slaves these days are running away from their masters. ¹¹Am I supposed to take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don’t know where they are from.”

¹²David’s men retraced their steps. When they returned to him, they reported all these words. ¹³He said to his men, “All of you, put on your swords!” So David and all his men put on their swords. About 400 men followed David while 200 stayed with the supplies. ^w

¹⁴One of Nabal’s young men informed Abigail, Nabal’s wife: “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, ^xbut he yelled at them. ¹⁵The men treated us well. When we were in the field, we weren’t harassed ^yand nothing of ours was missing the whole time we were living among them. ¹⁶They were a wall around us, both day and night, ^zthe entire time we were herding the sheep. ¹⁷Now consider carefully what you must do, because there is certain to be trouble for our master and his entire family. He is such a worthless fool nobody can talk to him!”

¹⁸Abigail hurried, taking 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, a bushel ^aof roasted grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. ^b19Then she said to her male servants, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” ^cBut she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰As she rode the donkey down a mountain pass hidden from view, she saw David and his men coming toward her and met…