¹³ Then David and his men, ^(A)about six hundred, rose up and departed from Keilah, and they went ^(B)wherever they could go. When it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up ^[a]the pursuit. ¹⁴ David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of ^(C)Ziph. And Saul searched for him every day, but ^(D)God did not hand him over to him.

Saul Pursues David

¹⁵ Now David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph, at Horesh. ¹⁶ And Jonathan, Saul’s son, set out and went to David at Horesh, and ^[b](E)encouraged him in God. ¹⁷ He said to him, “^(F)Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel, and I will be second in command to you; and ^(G)Saul my father knows that as well.” ¹⁸ So ^(H)the two of them made a covenant before the Lord; and David stayed at Horesh, while Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹ Then ^(I)Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not keeping himself hidden with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on ^(J)the hill of Hachilah, which is south of ^[c]Jeshimon? ²⁰ Now then, O king, come down, ^[d]since you fully desire to ^[e]do so; and ^(K)our part shall be to hand him over to the king.” ²¹ Saul said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, ^(L)since you have had compassion on me. ²² Go now, be more persistent, and investigate and see his place where ^[f]he is hiding, and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very cunning. ²³ So look, and learn about all the hiding places where he keeps himself hidden, and return to me with certainty, and I will go with you; and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”

²⁴ So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of ^(M)Maon, in the Arabah to the south of ^[g]Jeshimon. ²⁵ When Saul and his men went to seek him, they informed David, and he came down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard about it, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon. ²⁶ Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain; and David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men ^(N)were surrounding David and his men to apprehend them. ²⁷ But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have launched an attack against the land!” ²⁸ So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines; therefore they called that place ^[h]the Rock of Division. ^29 [i]And David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of ^(O)Engedi.

Prayer for Defense against Enemies.

For the music director; on stringed instruments. A ^[a]Maskil of David, ^[b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is David not keeping himself hidden among us?”

David Spares Saul’s Life

24 ^[a]Now ^(A)when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, ^(B)it was reported to him, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” ² Then ^(C)Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to search for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Mountain Goats. ³ And he came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul ^(D)went in to ^[b]relieve himself. Now ^(E)David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. ⁴ Then David’s men said to him, “Behold, ^(F)this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold; ^(G)I am about to hand your enemy over to you, and you shall do to him as it seems good ^[c]to you.’” Then David got up and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. ⁵ But it came about afterward that ^(H)David’s ^[d]conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. ⁶ So he said to his men, “^(I)Far be it from me because of the Lord that I would do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to reach out with my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” ⁷ And David rebuked his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul got up, ^[e]left the cave, and went on his way.

⁸ Afterward, however, David got up and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, ^(J)David bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself. ⁹ And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men ^[f]who say, ‘Behold, David is seeking ^[g]to harm you’? ^10 (K)Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had handed you over to me today in the cave, and ^(L)someone said to kill you, but ^[h]I spared you; and I said, ‘I will not reach out with my hand against my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ ¹¹ So, ^(M)my father, look! Indeed, look at the edge of your robe in my hand! For by the fact that I cut off the edge of your robe but did not kill you, know and understand that there is no evil or ^[i]rebellion in my hands, and I have not sinned against you, though you ^(N)are lying in wait for my life, to take it. ^12 (O)May the Lord judge between ^[j]you and me, and may the Lord take vengeance on you for me; but my hand shall not be against you. ¹³ As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘^(P)Out of the wicked comes wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. ¹⁴ After whom has the king of Israel gone out? Whom are you pursuing? ^(Q)A dead dog, ^(R)a single flea? ¹⁵ May ^(S)the Lord therefore be judge and decide between ^[k]you and me; and may He see and ^(T)plead my cause and save me from your hand.”

¹⁶ When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “^(U)Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul raised his voice and wept. ^17 (V)And he said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for ^(W)you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt maliciously with you. ¹⁸ You have declared today that you have done good to me, that ^(X)the Lord handed me over to you and yet you did not kill me. ¹⁹ Though if a man ^(Y)finds his enemy, will he let him go away ^[l]unharmed? May the Lord therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day. ²⁰ Now, behold, ^(Z)I know that you will certainly be king, and that ^(AA)the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. ²¹ So now ^(AB)swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my ^[m]descendants after me, and that you will not eliminate my name from my father’s household.” ²² And David swore an oath to Saul. Then Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to ^(AC)the stronghold.

Samuel’s Death

25 ^(AD)Then Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and ^(AE)mourned for him, and they ^(AF)buried him at his house in Ramah. And David set out and went down to the ^(AG)wilderness of Paran.

Nabal and Abigail

² Now there was a man in ^(AH)Maon whose business was in ^(AI)Carmel; and the man was very ^[n]rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while ^(AJ)he was shearing his sheep in Carmel ³ (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his ^(AK)wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was ^[o]intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was ^(AL)a Calebite), ⁴ that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. ⁵ So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and ^[p]visit Nabal, and greet him in my name; ⁶ and this is what you shall say: ‘^[q]Have a long life, ^(AM)peace to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! ⁷ Now then, I have heard ^(AN)that you have shearers. Now, your shepherds have been with us; we have not harmed them, ^(AO)nor has anything of theirs gone missing all the days they were in Carmel. ⁸ Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on ^(AP)a ^[r]festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

⁹ When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal in accordance with all these words in David’s name; then they waited. ¹⁰ But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “^(AQ)Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master. ¹¹ Shall I then ^(AR)take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men ^[s]whose origin I do not know?” ¹² So David’s young men made their way back and returned; and they came and informed him in accordance with all these words. ¹³ Then David said to his men, “Each of you strap on his sword.” So each man strapped on his sword. And David also strapped on his sword, and about ^(AS)four hundred men went up behind David, while two hundred ^(AT)stayed with the baggage.

¹⁴ Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to ^[t](AU)greet our master, and he spoke to them in anger. ¹⁵ Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not ^(AV)harmed, nor did anything go missing ^[u]as long as we went with them, while we were in the fields. ^16 (AW)They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep. ¹⁷ Now then, be aware and ^[v]consider what you should do, because harm is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a ^[w]worthless man that no one can speak to him.”

Abigail Intercedes

¹⁸ Then Abigail hurried and ^(AX)took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine, and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain, and a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and she loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ Then she said to her young men, “^(AY)Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. ²⁰ And it happened as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them. ²¹ Now David had said, “It is certainly for nothing that I have guarded everything that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing has gone missing of all that belonged to him! For he has ^(AZ)returned me evil for good. ^22 (BA)May God do so to the enemies of David, and more so, ^(BB)if by morning I leave alive as much as one ^[x]male of any who belong to him.”

²³ When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face in front of David ^(BC)and bowed herself to the ground. ²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, “On me ^[y]alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your slave speak ^[z]to you, and listen to the words of your slave. ²⁵ Please do not let my lord ^[aa]pay attention to this ^[ab]worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. ^[ac]Nabal is his name, and stupidity is with him; but I your slave did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

²⁶ “Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, since the Lord has restrained you from ^[ad]shedding blood, and ^(BD)from ^[ae]avenging yourself by your own hand, now then, ^(BE)may your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be like Nabal. ²⁷ And now let ^(BF)this ^[af]gift which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who ^[ag]accompany my lord. ²⁸ Please forgive ^(BG)the offense of your slave; for ^(BH)the Lord will certainly make for my lord an ^[ah]enduring house, because my lord is ^(BI)fighting the battles of the Lord, and ^(BJ)evil will not be found in you all your days. ²⁹ Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your ^[ai]life, then the ^[aj]life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the ^[ak]lives of your enemies ^(BK)He will sling out ^[al]as from the hollow of a sling. ³⁰ And when the Lord does for my lord in accordance with all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and ^(BL)appoints you ruler over Israel, ³¹ this will not become an obstacle to you, or a ^[am]troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord’s having ^[an]avenged himself. ^(BM)When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your slave.”

³² Then David said to Abigail, “^(BN)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, ³³ and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, ^(BO)who have kept me this day from ^[ao]bloodshed and from ^[ap]avenging myself by my own hand. ³⁴ Nevertheless, as the Lord God of Israel lives, ^(BP)who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, there certainly would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one ^[aq]male.” ³⁵ So David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “^(BQ)Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to ^[ar]you and ^[as](BR)granted your request.”

³⁶ Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was having ^(BS)a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was cheerful within him, ^(BT)for he was very drunk; so ^(BU)she did not tell him anything ^[at]at all until the morning light. ³⁷ But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became like a stone. ³⁸ About ten days later, ^(BV)the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

David Marries Abigail

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has ^(BW)pleaded the cause of the shame inflicted on me by the hand of Nabal, and ^(BX)has kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent ^[au](BY)a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife. ⁴⁰ When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” ⁴¹ And she got up ^(BZ)and bowed with her face to the ground, and said, “Behold, your slave is a servant ^(CA)to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” ⁴² Then ^(CB)Abigail got up quickly, and rode on a donkey, with her five female attendants who ^[av]accompanied her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

⁴³ David had also taken Ahinoam of ^(CC)Jezreel, and ^(CD)they both became his wives.

⁴⁴ But Saul had given his daughter ^(CE)Michal, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from ^(CF)Gallim.