David’s Last Days

Now King David was old and advanced in age.(A) Although they covered him with bedclothes, he could not get warm.(B) So his servants said to him, “Let us[a] search for a young virgin for my lord the king.(C) She is to attend the king and be his caregiver. She is to lie by your side so that my lord the king will get warm.” They searched for a beautiful girl throughout the territory of Israel; they found Abishag(D) the Shunammite[b](E) and brought her to the king. The girl was of unsurpassed beauty,(F) and she became the king’s caregiver. She attended to him, but he was not intimate with[c] her.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:2 Lit them
  2. 1:3 Shunem was a town in the hill country of Issachar at the foot of Mt. Moreh; Jos 19:17–18.
  3. 1:4 Lit he did not know

David in His Old Age

King David was now very old, and no matter how many blankets covered him, he could not keep warm. So his advisers told him, “Let us find a young virgin to wait on you and look after you, my lord. She will lie in your arms and keep you warm.”

So they searched throughout the land of Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag from Shunem and brought her to the king. The girl was very beautiful, and she looked after the king and took care of him. But the king had no sexual relations with her.

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