⁶He said to his men, “Far be it from me inⁱ Yahweh, that I do this thing to my lord, to Yahweh’s anointed one, by stretching out my hand against him! For he is the anointed one of Yahweh.” ⁷So David rebuked his men with the words and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave, and he went on his^j way.

⁸Then David got up afterward and went out of the cave and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked after him, David knelt down with his face to the ground and bowed down. ⁹Then David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of people who say: ‘Look, David is seeking to do you harm’?^k ¹⁰Look, this day your eyes have seen that Yahweh gave you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you. But I took pity^l on you and said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, because he is Yahweh’s anointed one.’ ¹¹Now, my father, see, yes, see, the hem of your robe in my hand! For when I cut^m the hem of your robe I did not kill you. Know and realizeⁿ that there is no evil or rebellion in my hand. I did not sin against you, but you are hunting down my life to take it. ¹²May Yahweh judge between me and you, and may Yahweh avenge me on you, but my hand will not be against you!

Read in Logos

Footnotes

iHebrew “from”
jHebrew “the”
kLiterally “seeking your evil”
lLiterally “she took pity,” with “she” = “my eye,” a common Hebrew expression
mLiterally “at my cutting”
nLiterally “see”