1 Samuel 26:13-20

Revised Geneva Translation

¹³ Then David went to the other side and stood on the top of a hill, far away, a great space being between them.

¹⁴ And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Do you not hear, Abner?” Then Abner answered, and said, “Who are you who cries to the king?”

¹⁵ And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man?! And who is like you in Israel?! Why, then, have you not kept your lord the king?! For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord!

¹⁶ “This is not well done by you! As the LORD lives, you are worthy to die, because you have not kept your master, the LORD’s anointed! And now, see where the king’s spear is, and the pot of water that was at his head!”

¹⁷ And Saul knew David’s voice, and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?!” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king!”

¹⁸ And he said, “Why does my lord persecute his servant like this?! For what have I done?! Or what evil is in my hand?!

¹⁹ “Now, therefore, please let my lord the king hear the words of his servant! If the LORD has stirred you up against me, let Him smell the savor of a Sacrifice! But if the children of men have done it, cursed be they before the LORD! For they have cast me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods!’

²⁰ “Now, therefore, 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 a flea, as one would hunt a partridge in the mountains!”