1 Samuel 26–28

David Spares Saul’s Life a Second Time

²⁶Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “David is in hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon.”^{h* 2}So Saul rose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, with three thousand chosen men of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.^{* 3}Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon,ⁱ beside the road. But David remained in the wilderness. When he learned that Saul had come after him into the wilderness, ⁴David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed arrived. ⁵Then David set out and came to the place where Saul had encamped, and David saw the place where Saul lay, with Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within the encampment, while the army was encamped around him.^*

⁶Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, “Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” Abishai said, “I will go down with you.”^{* 7}So David and Abishai went to the army by night; there Saul lay sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. ⁸Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand today; now, therefore, let me pin him to the ground with one stroke of the spear; I will not strike him twice.” ⁹But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?”^{* 10}David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him down, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish.^{* 11}The Lord forbid that I should raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed, but now take the spear that is at his head and the water jar, and let us go.”^{* 12}So David took the spear that was at Saul’s head and the water jar, and they went away. No one saw it or knew it, nor did anyone awake, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.^*

¹³Then David went over to the other side and stood on top of a hill far away, with a great distance between them. ¹⁴David called to the army and to Abner son of Ner, saying, “Abner! Will you not answer?” Then Abner replied, “Who are you who calls to the king?” ¹⁵David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over 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 kept watch over your lord, the Lord’s anointed. See now, where is the king’s spear or the water jar that was at his head?”

¹⁷Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.”^{* 18}And he added, “Why does my lord pursue his servant? For what have I done? What guilt is on my hands?^{* 19}Now, therefore, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is mortals, may they be cursed before the Lord, for they have driven me out today from my share in the heritage of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’^{* 20}Now therefore, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of the Lord, for the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea, like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”^*

²¹Then Saul said, “I have done wrong; come back, my son David, for I will never harm you again, because my life was precious in your sight today; I have been a fool and have made a great mistake.”^{* 22}David replied, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and get it.^{* 23}The Lord rewards everyone for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, but I would not raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed. ²⁴As your life was precious today in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he rescue me from all tribulation.”^{* 25}Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

David Serves King Achish of Gath

²⁷David said in his heart, “I shall certainly perish one day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines; then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” ²So David set out and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath.^{* 3}David stayed with Achish at Gath, he and his troops, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow.^{* 4}When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought for him.

⁵Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your sight, let a place be given me in one of the country towns so that I may live there, for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” ⁶So that day Achish gave him Ziklag; therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.^{* 7}The length of time that David lived in the country of the Philistines was one year and four months.^*

⁸Now David and his men went up and made raids on the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the landed settlements from Telam^j on the way to Shur and on to the land of Egypt.^{* 9}David struck the land, leaving neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing and came back to Achish.^{* 10}When Achish asked, “Against whom^k have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.”^{* 11}David left neither man nor woman alive to be brought back to Gath, thinking, “They might tell about us and say, ‘David has done so and so.’ ” Such was his practice all the time he lived in the country of the Philistines. ¹²Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself utterly abhorrent to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”

²⁸In those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You know, of course, that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.”^{* 2}David said to Achish, “Very well, then you shall know what your servant can do.” Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”

Saul Consults a Medium

³Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. Saul had expelled the mediums and the wizards from the land.^{* 4}The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa.^{* 5}When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, not by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.^{* 7}Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants said to him, “There is a medium at Endor.”^*

⁸So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes and went there, he and two men with him. They came to the woman by night. And he said, “Consult a spirit for me, and bring up for me the one whom I name to you.”^{* 9}The woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the wizards from the land. Why then are you laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?”^{* 10}But Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.” ¹¹Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” He answered, “Bring up Samuel for me.” ¹²When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” ¹³The king said to her, “Have no fear; what do you see?” The woman said to Saul, “I see a divine being^l coming up out of the ground.” ¹⁴He said to her, “What is his appearance?” She said, “An old man is coming up; he is wrapped in a robe.” So Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did obeisance.^*

¹⁵Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams, so I have summoned you to tell me what I should do.”^{* 16}Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the Lord has turned from you and become your enemy? ¹⁷The Lord has done to you just as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David.^{* 18}Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you today.^{* 19}Moreover, the Lord will give Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me; the Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”^*

²⁰Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground filled with fear because of the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night. ²¹The woman came to Saul, and when she saw that he was terrified, she said to him, “Your servant has listened to you; I have taken my life in my hand and have listened to what you have said to me.^{* 22}Now, therefore, you also listen to your servant; let me set a morsel of bread before you. Eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.” ²³He refused and said, “I will not eat.” But his servants, together with the woman, urged him, and he listened to their words. So he got up from the ground and sat on the bed.^{* 24}Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house.…