24Saul returned from chasing the Philistines. Then he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” ²So Saul took 3,000 of the best soldiers from the whole nation of Israel. He started out to look for David and his men. He planned to look near the Rocky Cliffs of the Wild Goats.

³He came to some sheep pens along the way. A cave was there. Saul went in to go to the toilet. David and his men were far back in the cave.

⁴David’s men said, “This is the day the Lord told you about. He said to you, ‘I will hand your enemy over to you. Then you can deal with him as you want to.’ ”

So David came up close to Saul without being seen. He cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

⁵Later, David felt sorry that he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. ⁶He said to his men, “May the Lord keep me from doing a thing like that to my master again. He is the Lord’s anointed king. So I promise that I will never lift my hand to strike him down. The Lord has anointed him.”

⁷David said that to warn his men. He didn’t allow them to attack Saul. So Saul left the cave and went on his way.

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