1 Samuel 24:1–26:25

David Spares Saul’s Life

24^aAfter Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.^g” ²So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look^h for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

³He came to the sheep pens along the way; a caveⁱ was there, and Saul went in to relieve^j himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. ⁴The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke^k of when he said^b to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’ ”^l Then David crept up unnoticed and cut^m off a corner of Saul’s robe.

⁵Afterward, David was conscience-strickenⁿ for having cut off a corner of his robe. ⁶He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed,^o or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” ⁷With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

⁸Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.^{p 9}He said to Saul, “Why do you listen^q when men say, ‘David is bent on harming^r you’? ¹⁰This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared^s you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ ¹¹See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut^t off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty^u of wrongdoing^v or rebellion. I have not wronged^w you, but you are hunting^x me down to take my life.^{y 12}May the Lord judge^z between you and me. And may the Lord avenge^a the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. ¹³As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,^b’ so my hand will not touch you.

¹⁴“Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog?^c A flea?^{d 15}May the Lord be our judge^e and decide^f between us. May he consider my cause and uphold^g it; may he vindicate^h me by deliveringⁱ me from your hand.”

¹⁶When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice,^j David my son?” And he wept aloud. ¹⁷“You are more righteous than I,”^k he said. “You have treated me well,^l but I have treated you badly.^{m 18}You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord deliveredⁿ me into your hands, but you did not kill me. ¹⁹When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward^o you well for the way you treated me today. ²⁰I know that you will surely be king^p and that the kingdom^q of Israel will be established in your hands. ²¹Now swear^r to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.^s”

²²So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.^t

David, Nabal and Abigail

25Now Samuel died,^u and all Israel assembled and mourned^v for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah.^w Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran.^a

²A certain man in Maon,^x who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy.^y He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing^z in Carmel. ³His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail.^a She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite.^b

⁴While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. ⁵So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. ⁶Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health^c to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!^d

⁷“ ‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat^e them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. ⁸Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever^f you can find for them.’ ”

⁹When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David’s name. Then they waited.

¹⁰Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who^g is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. ¹¹Why should I take my bread^h and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”

¹²David’s men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. ¹³David said to his menⁱ, “Each of you strap on your sword!” So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went^j up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.^k

¹⁴One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings,^l but he hurled insults at them. ¹⁵Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat^m us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing.^{n 16}Night and day they were a wall^o around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. ¹⁷Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked^p man that no one can talk to him.”

¹⁸Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs^b of roasted grain,^q a hundred cakes of raisins^r and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.^{s 19}Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead;^t I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell^u her husband Nabal.

²⁰As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. ²¹David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing.^v He has paid^w me back evil^x for good. ²²May God deal with David,^c be it ever so severely,^y if by morning I leave alive one male^z of all who belong to him!”

²³When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground.^{a 24}She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord,^b and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. ²⁵Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool^c,^d and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. ²⁶And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed^e and from avenging^f yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal.^{g 27}And let this gift,^h which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you.

²⁸“Please forgiveⁱ your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting^j dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles,^k and no wrongdoing^l will be found in you as long as you live. ²⁹Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life,^m the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurlⁿ away as from the pocket of a sling.^{o 30}When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler^p over Israel, ³¹my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember^q your servant.”^r

³²David said to Abigail, “Praise^s be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. ³³May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed^t this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. ³⁴Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal^u would have been left alive by daybreak.”

³⁵Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted^v your request.”

³⁶When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high^w spirits and very drunk.^x So she told^y him nothing at all until daybreak. ³⁷Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.^{z 38}About ten days later, the Lord struck^a Nabal and he died.

³⁹When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.”

Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. ⁴⁰His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.”

⁴¹She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” ⁴²Abigail^b quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife. ⁴³David had also married Ahinoam^c of Jezreel, and they both were his wives.^{d 44}But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltiel^de son of Laish, who was from Gallim.^f

David Again Spares Saul’s Life

26The Ziphites^g went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding^h on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?ⁱ”

²So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand select Israelite troops, to search^j there for David. ³Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah^k facing Jeshimon, but…