1 Samuel 23:7-27:12

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Flight from Keilah. ⁷ When Saul was told that David had entered Keilah, he thought: “God has put him in my hand, for he has boxed himself in by entering a city with gates and bars.” ⁸ Saul then called all the army to war, in order to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men. ⁹ When David found out that Saul was planning to harm him, he said to the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod here.”^{(A) 10} “Lord God of Israel,” David prayed, “your servant has heard that Saul plans to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. ¹¹ Will they hand me over? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? Lord God of Israel, tell your servant.” The Lord answered: He will come down. ¹² David then asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” The Lord answered: They will deliver you. ¹³ So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and wandered from place to place. When Saul was informed that David had fled from Keilah, he did not go forth.

David and Jonathan in Horesh. ¹⁴ David now lived in the strongholds in the wilderness, or in the barren hill country near Ziph. Though Saul sought him continually, the Lord did not deliver David into his hand. ¹⁵ While David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh he was afraid that Saul had come out to seek his life. ¹⁶ Then Saul’s son, Jonathan, came down to David at Horesh and encouraged him in the Lord.^{(B) 17} He said to him: “Have no fear, my father Saul shall not lay a hand to you. You shall be king of Israel^[a] and I shall be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.”^{(C) 18} The two of them made a covenant before the Lord in Horesh, where David remained, while Jonathan returned to his home.^(D)

Treachery of the Ziphites. ¹⁹ Some of the Ziphites went up to Saul in Gibeah and said, “David is hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hachilah, south of Jeshimon.^{(E) 20} Therefore, whenever the king wishes to come down, let him do so. It will be our task to deliver him into the king’s hand.” ²¹ Saul replied: “The Lord bless you for your compassion toward me.^{(F) 22} Go now and make sure once more! Take note of the place where he sets foot for I am told that he is very cunning. ²³ Look around and learn in which of all the various hiding places he is holding out. Then come back to me with reliable information, and I will go with you. If he is in the region, I will track him down out of all the families of Judah.” ²⁴ So they went off to Ziph ahead of Saul. At this time David and his men were in the wilderness below Maon, in the Arabah south of the wasteland.^(G)

Escape from Saul. ²⁵ When Saul and his men came looking for him, David got word of it and went down to the gorge in the wilderness below Maon. Saul heard of this and pursued David into the wilderness below Maon. ²⁶ As Saul moved along one side of the gorge, David and his men took to the other. David was anxious to escape Saul, while Saul and his men were trying to outflank David and his men in order to capture them. ²⁷ Then a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly, because the Philistines have invaded the land.” ²⁸ Saul interrupted his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. This is how that place came to be called the Rock of Divisions.

Chapter 24

David Spares Saul.^{[b] 1} David then went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of Engedi. ² When Saul returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, he was told that David was in the desert near Engedi. ³ So Saul took three thousand of the best men from all Israel and went in search of David and his men in the direction of the wild goat crags. ⁴ When he came to the sheepfolds along the way, he found a cave, which he entered to relieve himself. David and his men were occupying the inmost recesses of the cave.^(H)

⁵ David’s servants said to him, “This is the day about which the Lord said to you: I will deliver your enemy into your hand; do with him as you see fit.” So David moved up and stealthily cut off an end of Saul’s robe. ⁶ Afterward, however, David regretted that he had cut off an end of Saul’s robe.^{(I) 7} He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to lay a hand on him, for he is the Lord’s anointed.”^{(J) 8} With these words David restrained his men and would not permit them to attack Saul. Saul then left the cave and went on his way. ⁹ David also stepped out of the cave, calling to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked back, David bowed, his face to the ground in homage, ¹⁰ and asked Saul: “Why do you listen to those who say, ‘David is trying to harm you’? ¹¹ You see for yourself today that the Lord just now delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I took pity on you instead. I decided, ‘I will not raise a hand against my master, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ ¹² Look here, my father. See the end of your robe which I hold. I cut off an end of your robe and did not kill you. Now see and be convinced that I plan no harm and no rebellion. I have done you no wrong, though you are hunting me down to take my life.^{(K) 13} May the Lord judge between me and you. May the Lord exact justice from you in my case. I shall not lay a hand on you. ¹⁴ As the old proverb says, ‘From the wicked comes wickedness.’ Thus I will not lay a hand on you. ¹⁵ What is the king of Israel attacking? What are you pursuing? A dead dog! A single flea!^{(L) 16} The Lord will be the judge to decide between us. May the Lord see this, defend my cause, and give me justice against you!”^(M)

Saul’s Remorse. ¹⁷ When David finished saying these things to Saul, Saul answered, “Is that your voice, my son David?” And he wept freely. ¹⁸ Saul then admitted to David: “You are more in the right than I am. You have treated me graciously, while I have treated you badly. ¹⁹ You have declared this day how you treated me graciously: the Lord delivered me into your hand and you did not kill me. ²⁰ For if someone comes upon an enemy, do they send them graciously on their way? So may the Lord reward you graciously for what you have done this day. ²¹ And now, since I know that you will certainly become king and that the kingship over Israel shall come into your possession,^{(N) 22} swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants and that you will not blot out my name from my father’s house.”^{(O) 23} David gave Saul his oath and Saul returned home, while David and his men went up to the stronghold.

Chapter 25

Death of Samuel. ¹ Samuel died, and all Israel gathered to mourn him; they buried him at his home in Ramah.^(P) Then David went down to the wilderness of Paran.

Nabal and Abigail. ² There was a man of Maon who had property in Carmel; he was very wealthy, owning three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. At the time, he was present for the shearing of his flock in Carmel.^{(Q) 3} The man’s name was Nabal and his wife was Abigail. The woman was intelligent and attractive, but Nabal, a Calebite, was harsh and bad-mannered.^{(R) 4} While in the wilderness, David heard that Nabal was shearing his flock, ⁵ so he sent ten young men, instructing them: “Go up to Carmel. Pay Nabal a visit and greet him in my name. ⁶ Say to him, ‘Peace be with you, my brother, and with your family, and with all who belong to you. ⁷ I have just heard that shearers are with you. Now, when your shepherds were with us, we did them no injury, neither did they miss anything while they were in Carmel. ⁸ Ask your servants and they will tell you. Look kindly on these young men, since we come at a festival time. Please give your servants and your son David^[c] whatever you can.’”

⁹ When David’s young men arrived, they delivered the entire message to Nabal in David’s name, and then waited. ¹⁰ But Nabal answered the servants of David: “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? Nowadays there are many servants who run away from their masters. ¹¹ Must I take my bread, my wine, my meat that I have slaughtered for my own shearers, and give them to men who come from who knows where?” ¹² So David’s young men retraced their steps and on their return reported to him all that had been said. ¹³ Thereupon David said to his men, “Let everyone strap on his sword.” And everyone did so, and David put on his own sword. About four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.

¹⁴ Abigail, Nabal’s wife, was informed of this by one of the servants, who said: “From the wilderness David sent messengers to greet our master, but he screamed at them. ¹⁵ Yet these men were very good to us. We were not harmed, neither did we miss anything all the while we were living among them during our stay in the open country. ¹⁶ Day and night they were a wall of protection for us, the whole time we were pasturing the sheep near them. ¹⁷ Now, see what you can do, for you must realize that otherwise disaster is in store for our master and for his whole house. He is such a scoundrel that no one can talk to him.” ¹⁸ Abigail quickly got together two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of pressed raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ She then said to her servants, “Go on ahead; I will follow you.” But to her husband Nabal she said nothing.

²⁰ Hidden by the mountain, she came down riding on a donkey, as David and his men were coming down from the opposite direction. When she met them, ²¹ David had just been saying: “Indeed, it was in vain that I guarded all this man’s possessions in the wilderness, so that nothing of his was missing. He has repaid good with evil. ²² May God do thus to David, and more, if by morning I leave a single male alive among all those who belong to him.”^{(S) 23} As soon as Abigail saw David, she dismounted quickly from the donkey and, falling down, bowed low to the ground before David in homage.

²⁴ As she fell at his feet she said: “My lord, let the blame be mine. Please let your maidservant speak to you; listen to the words of your maidservant.^{(T) 25} My lord, do not pay any attention to that scoundrel Nabal, for he is just like his name. His name means fool,^[d] and he acts the fool. I, your maidservant, did not see the young men whom my lord sent. ²⁶ Now, therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as you live, the Lord has kept you from shedding blood and from avenging yourself by your own hand. May your enemies and those who seek to harm my lord become as Nabal!^{[e](U) 27} Accept this gift, then, which your maidservant has brought for my lord, and let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. ²⁸ Please forgive the offense of your maidservant, for the Lord shall certainly establish a lasting house for my lord, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord. Let no evil be found in you your whole life long.^{(V) 29} If any adversary pursues you to seek your life, may the life of my lord be bound in the bundle of the living^[f] in the care of the Lord your God; may God hurl out the lives of your enemies as from the hollow of a sling.^{(W) 30} And when the Lord fulfills for my lord the promise of success he has made concerning you, and appoints you as ruler over Israel,^{(X) 31} you shall not have any regrets or burdens on your conscience, my lord, for having shed innocent blood or for having rescued yourself. When the Lord bestows good on my lord, remember your maidservant.” ³² David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today. ³³ Blessed is your good judgment and blessed are you yourself. Today you have prevented me from shedding blood and rescuing myself with my own hand. ³⁴ Otherwise, as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come so promptly to meet me, by dawn Nabal would not have had so much as one male left alive.” ³⁵ David then took from her what she had brought him and said to her: “Go to your home in peace! See, I have listened to your appeal and have granted your request.”

Nabal’s Death. ³⁶ When Abigail came to Nabal, he was hosting a banquet in his house like that of a king, and Nabal was in a festive mood and very drunk. So she said not a word to him until daybreak the next morning. ³⁷ But then, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him what had happened. At this his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. ³⁸ About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal and he died. ³⁹ Hearing that Nabal was dead, David said: “Blessed be the Lord, who has defended my cause against the insult from Nabal, and who restrained his servant from doing evil, but has repaid Nabal for his evil deeds.”

David Marries Abigail and Ahinoam. David then sent a proposal of marriage to Abigail.^{(Y) 40} When David’s servants came to Abigail in Carmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to make his proposal of marriage to you.” ⁴¹ Rising and bowing to the ground, she answered, “Let your maidservant be the slave who washes the feet of my lord’s servants.” ⁴² She got up immediately, mounted a donkey, and followed David’s messengers, with her five maids attending her. She became his wife. ^43 (Z)David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. Thus both of them were his wives. ⁴⁴ But Saul gave David’s wife Michal, Saul’s own daughter, to Palti, son of Laish, who was from Gallim.^(AA)

Chapter 26

David Spares Saul Again.^{[g] 1 (AB)}Men from Ziph came to Saul in Gibeah, reporting that David was hiding on the hill of Hachilah at the edge of Jeshimon. ² So Saul went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand of the best warriors of Israel, to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph. ³ Saul camped beside the road on the hill of Hachilah, at the edge of Jeshimon. David, who was living in the wilderness, saw that Saul had come into the wilderness after him ⁴ and sent out scouts, who confirmed Saul’s arrival. ⁵ David then went to the place where Saul was encamped and saw the spot where Saul and his general, Abner, son of Ner, had their sleeping quarters. Saul was lying within the camp, and all his soldiers were bivouacked around him.^{(AC) 6} David asked Ahimelech the Hittite, and Abishai, son of Zeruiah and brother of Joab, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?” Abishai replied, “I will.”^{(AD) 7} So David and Abishai reached Saul’s soldiers by night, and there was Saul lying asleep within the camp, his spear thrust into the ground at his head and Abner and his troops sleeping around him.

⁸ Abishai whispered to David: “God has delivered your enemy into your hand today. Let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I will not need to strike him twice!”^{(AE) 9} But David said to Abishai, “Do not harm him, for who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and remain innocent? ¹⁰ As the Lord lives,” David declared, “only the Lord can strike him: either when the time comes for him to die, or when he goes out and perishes in battle.^{[h](AF) 11} But the Lord forbid that I lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed! Now take the spear at his head and the water jug, and let us be on our way.” ¹² So David took the spear and the water jug from their place at Saul’s head, and they withdrew without anyone seeing or knowing or awakening. All remained asleep, because a deep slumber^[i] from the Lord had fallen upon them.^(AG)

David Taunts Abner. ¹³ Crossing over to an opposite slope, David stood on a distant hilltop. With a great distance between them ¹⁴ David called to the army and to Abner, son of Ner, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner shouted back, “Who is it that calls me?” ¹⁵ David said to Abner: “Are you not a man? Who in Israel is your equal? Why were you not guarding your lord the king when one of his subjects came to assassinate the king, your lord? ¹⁶ What you have done is not right. As the Lord lives, you people deserve death because you have not guarded your lord, the anointed of the Lord. Go, look: where are the king’s spear and the water jug that was at his head?”

Saul Admits His Guilt. ¹⁷ Saul recognized David’s voice and asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?”^[j] David answered, “Yes, my lord the king.” ¹⁸ He continued: “Why does my lord pursue his servant? What have I done? What evil am I planning? ¹⁹ Please, now, let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord has incited you against me, may an offering please the Lord. But if it is the people who have done so, may they be cursed before the Lord. They have driven me away so that today I have no share in the Lord’s heritage,^[k] but am told: ‘Go serve other gods!’^{(AH) 20} Do not let my blood spill on the ground far from the presence of the Lord. For the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea as if he were hunting partridge^[l] in the mountains.” ²¹ Then Saul said: “I have done wrong. Come back, David, my son! I will not harm you again, because you considered my life precious today even though I have been a fool and have made a serious mistake.” ²² But David answered: “Here is the king’s spear. Let an attendant come over to get it. ²³ The Lord repays everyone’s righteousness and faithfulness. Although the Lord delivered you into my hands today, I could not lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed.^{(AI) 24} Just as I regarded your life as precious today, so may the Lord regard my life as precious and deliver me from all dangers.” ²⁵ Then Saul said to David: “Blessed are you, my son David! You shall certainly succeed in whatever you undertake.” David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.^(AJ)

Chapter 27

David Flees to the Philistines. ¹ David said to himself: “I shall perish some day at the hand of Saul. I have no choice but to escape to the land of the Philistines; then Saul will give up his continual search for me throughout the land of Israel, and I will be out of his reach.” ² Accordingly, David departed with his six hundred soldiers and went over to Achish, son of Maoch, king of Gath.^{(AK) 3} David and his men lived in Gath with Achish; each one had his family, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel.^{(AL) 4} When Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

⁵ David said to Achish: “If I meet with your approval, let me have a place to live in one of the country towns. Why should your servant live with you in the royal city?” ⁶ That same day Achish gave him Ziklag, which has, therefore, belonged to the kings of Judah^[m] up to the present time.^{(AM) 7} In all, David lived a year and four months in Philistine territory.^(AN)

David Raids Israel’s Foes. ⁸ David and his men went out on raids against the Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites—peoples living in the land between Telam, on the approach to Shur, and the land of Egypt.^{(AO) 9} In attacking the land David would not leave a man or woman alive, but would carry off sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels, and clothes. Then he would return to Achish, ¹⁰ who would ask, “Against whom did you raid this time?” David would reply, “Against the Negeb of Judah,”^[n] or “Against the Negeb of Jerahmeel,” or “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.”^{(AP) 11} David never left a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath. He thought, “They will betray us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” This was his custom as long as he lived in Philistine territory. ¹² Achish trusted David, thinking, “His people Israel must certainly detest him. I shall have him as my vassal forever.”