1 Samuel 24:1–25:44
1 Now awhen Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, bhe was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.”
2 Then aSaul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
3 He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul awent in to 1relieve himself. Now bDavid and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.
4 The men of David said to him, “Behold, athis is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold; bI am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good 1to you.’ ” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly.
5 It came about afterward that aDavid’s 1conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe.
6 So he said to his men, “aFar be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.”
7 David 1persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, 2left the cave, and went on his way.
8 Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, aDavid bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself.
9 David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks 1to harm you’?
10 “aBehold, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had given you today into my hand in the cave, and bsome said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’
11 “Now, amy father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and perceive that there is no evil or 1rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you bare lying in wait for my life to take it.
12 “aMay the Lord judge between 1you and me, and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you.
13 “As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘aOut of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you.
14 “After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? aA dead dog, ba single flea?
15 “aThe Lord therefore be judge and decide between 1you and me; and may He see and bplead my cause and 2deliver me from your hand.”
16 When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “aIs this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept.
17 aHe said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for byou have dealt well with me, while I have dealt wickedly with you.
18 “You have declared today that you have done good to me, that athe Lord delivered me into your hand and yet you did not kill me.
19 “For if a man afinds his enemy, will he let him go away 1safely? May the Lord therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day.
20 “Now, behold, aI know that you will surely be king, and that bthe kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.
21 “So now aswear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my 1descendants after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household.”
22 David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to athe stronghold.
1 aThen Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and bmourned for him, and cburied him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the dwilderness of Paran.
2 Now there was a man in aMaon whose business was in bCarmel; and the man was very 1rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while che was shearing his sheep in Carmel
3 (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his awife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was 1intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was ba Calebite),
4 that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
5 So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, 1visit Nabal and greet him in my name;
6 and thus you shall say, ‘1Have a long life, apeace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.
7 ‘Now I have heard athat you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted them, bnor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel.
8 ‘Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on aa 1festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”
9 When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David’s name; then they waited.
10 But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “aWho is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master.
11 “Shall I then atake my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men 1whose origin I do not know?”
12 So David’s young men retraced their way and went back; and they came and told him according to all these words.
13 David said to his men, “Each of you gird on his sword.” So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about afour hundred men went up behind David while two hundred bstayed with the baggage.
14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to 1agreet our master, and he scorned them.
15 “Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not ainsulted, nor did we miss anything 1as long as we went about with them, while we were in the fields.
16 “aThey were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep.
17 “Now therefore, know and 1consider what you should do, for evil is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a 2worthless man that no one can speak to him.”
18 Then Abigail hurried and atook two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.
19 She said to her young men, “aGo on before me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
20 It came about as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them.
21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has areturned me evil for good.
22 “aMay God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, bif by morning I leave as much as one 1male of any who belong to him.”
23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David aand bowed herself to the ground.
24 She fell at his feet and said, “On me 1alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak 2to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant.
25 “Please do not let my lord 1pay attention to this 2worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. 3Nabal is his name and folly is with him; but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.
26 “Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, since the Lord has restrained you from 1shedding blood, and afrom 2avenging yourself by your own hand, now then blet your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal.
27 “Now let athis 1gift which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who 2accompany my lord.
28 “Please forgive athe transgression of your maidservant; for bthe Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is cfighting the battles of the Lord, and devil will not be found in you all your days.
29 “Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your 1life, then the 1life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the 1lives of your enemies aHe will sling out 2as from the hollow of a sling.
30 “And when the Lord does for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and aappoints you ruler over Israel,
31 this will not 1cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having 2avenged himself. aWhen the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”
32 Then David said to Abigail, “aBlessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me,
33 and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, awho have kept me this day from 1bloodshed and from 2avenging myself by my own hand.
34 “Nevertheless, as the Lord God of Israel lives, awho has restrained me from harming you, unless you had come quickly to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one 1male.”
35 So David received from her hand what she had brought him and said to her, “aGo up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to 1you and 2bgranted your request.”
36 Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding aa feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, bfor he was very drunk; so cshe did not tell him anything 1at all until the morning light.
37 But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became as a stone.
38 About ten days later, athe Lord struck Nabal and he died.
39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has apleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and bhas kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also …