1 Samuel 26–28

David Spares Saul a Second Time

26Now the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, ^a“Is David not hiding in the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?” ²Then Saul arose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, having ^bthree thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the Wilderness of Ziph. ³And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon, by the road. But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. ⁴David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul had indeed come.

⁵So David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and ^cAbner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Now Saul lay within the camp, with the people encamped all around him. ⁶Then David answered, and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai ^dthe son of Zeruiah, brother of ^eJoab, saying, “Who will ^fgo down with me to Saul in the camp?”

And ^gAbishai said, “I will go down with you.”

⁷So David and Abishai came to the people by night; and there Saul lay sleeping within the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the people lay all around him. ⁸Then Abishai said to David, ^h“God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him ¹at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!”

⁹But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; ⁱfor who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” ¹⁰David said furthermore, “As the Lord lives, ^jthe Lord shall strike him, or ^khis day shall come to die, or he shall ^lgo out to battle and perish. ^11mThe Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. But please, take now the spear and the jug of water that are by his head, and let us go.” ¹²So David took the spear and the jug of water by Saul’s head, and they got away; and no man saw or knew it or awoke. For they were all asleep, because ⁿa deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.

¹³Now David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of a hill afar off, a great distance being between them. ¹⁴And David called out to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Do you not answer, Abner?”

Then Abner answered and said, “Who are you, calling out to the king?”

¹⁵So David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy your lord the king. ¹⁶This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not guarded your master, the Lord’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is, and the jug of water that was by his head.”

¹⁷Then Saul knew David’s voice, and said, ^o“Is that your voice, my son David?”

David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” ¹⁸And he said, ^p“Why does my lord thus pursue his servant? For what have I done, or what evil is in my hand? ¹⁹Now therefore, please, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the Lord has ^qstirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, may they be cursed before the Lord, ^rfor they have driven me out this day from sharing in the ^sinheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ ²⁰So now, do not let my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord. For the king of Israel has come out to seek ^ta flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

²¹Then Saul said, ^u“I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.”

²²And David answered and said, “Here is the king’s spear. Let one of the young men come over and get it. ^23vMay the Lord ^wrepay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. ²⁴And indeed, as your life was valued much this day in my eyes, so let my life be valued much in the eyes of the Lord, and let Him deliver me out of all tribulation.”

²⁵Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed, my son David! You shall both do great things and also still ^xprevail.”

So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

David Allied with the Philistines

27And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will ¹despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.” ²Then David arose ^aand went over with the six hundred men who were with him ^bto Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David ^cwith his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow. ⁴And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; so he sought him no more.

⁵Then David said to Achish, “If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” ⁶So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore ^dZiklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. ⁷Now ²the time that David ^edwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.

⁸And David and his men went up and raided ^fthe Geshurites, ^gthe ³Girzites, and the ^hAmalekites. For those nations were the inhabitants of the land from ⁴of old, ⁱas you go to Shur, even as far as the land of Egypt. ⁹Whenever David ⁵attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achish. ¹⁰Then Achish would say, “Where have you made a raid today?” And David would say, “Against the southern area of Judah, or against the southern area of ^jthe Jerahmeelites, or against the southern area of ^kthe Kenites.” ¹¹David would save neither man nor woman alive, to bring news to Gath, saying, “Lest they should inform on us, saying, ‘Thus David did.’ ” And thus was his behavior all the time he dwelt in the country of the Philistines. ¹²So Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever.”

28Now ^ait happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.”

²So David said to Achish, “Surely you know what your servant can do.”

And Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you one of my chief guardians forever.”

Saul Consults a Medium

³Now ^bSamuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in ^cRamah, in his own city. And Saul had put ^dthe mediums and the spiritists out of the land.

⁴Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at ^eShunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at ^fGilboa. ⁵When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was ^gafraid, and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶And when Saul inquired of the Lord, ^hthe Lord did not answer him, either by ⁱdreams or ^jby Urim or by the prophets.

⁷Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, ^kthat I may go to her and inquire of her.”

And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.”

⁸So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And ^lhe said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.”

⁹Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has ^mcut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?”

¹⁰And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”

¹¹Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”

And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

¹²When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”

¹³And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?”

And the woman said to Saul, “I saw ⁿa ¹spirit ascending out of the earth.”

¹⁴So he said to her, “What is his form?”

And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with ^oa mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down.

¹⁵Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you ^pdisturbed me by bringing me up?”

And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and ^qGod has departed from me and ^rdoes not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.”

¹⁶Then Samuel said: “So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? ¹⁷And the Lord has done for ²Himself ^sas He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. ^18tBecause you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon ^uAmalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. ¹⁹Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with ^vme. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”

²⁰Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night.

²¹And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was severely troubled, and said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice, and I have ^wput my life in my hands and…