Beginning

Samuel dies

25 Then Samuel died. All the Israelites met together and they were very sad. Then they buried Samuel at his home in Ramah.

David went down to the Paran desert.

Nabal insults David

^2-3 There was a very rich man who lived at Maon. His name was Nabal. He was a descendant of Caleb. His wife's name was Abigail. She was wise and beautiful. But Nabal was a cruel man who did evil things.

Nabal had some land near Carmel. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. He was with his men in Carmel as they cut the wool from his sheep.

⁴ While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was cutting the wool from his sheep. ⁵ So David sent ten young men to meet with Nabal. He said to them, ‘Go to Carmel and find Nabal. Tell him that David says “hello”. ⁶ Then give him this message: “We hope that you and your family are all well. We hope that everything you have is doing well. ⁷ David has heard that you are now cutting the wool from your sheep. When your shepherds were with us near Carmel, we did not hurt them. We did not take anything from them. ⁸ Your servants will tell you that, if you ask them. Now we have come to you at this special holiday time. So please be kind to the young men that David has sent to see you. They are your servants as well as his servants. Please give any extra food that you have to these young men and to your good friend David.” ’

⁹ David's men went to Carmel. They gave David's message to Nabal. They waited for Nabal to reply. ¹⁰ Nabal answered David's young men, ‘Who is this David? Do I know this son of Jesse? Many servants run away from their masters these days. ¹¹ I have food and drink for the men who are cutting the wool from my sheep. I have cooked meat for them to eat. But I will not give anything to you. You might have come from anywhere!’

¹² David's young men left Nabal. They returned to David and they told him everything that Nabal had said. ¹³ David said to his men, ‘Tie your swords onto your belts.’ So they all did that. David put his sword on his belt too. About 400 men went with David. About 200 men stayed at their camp.

¹⁴ One of Nabal's servants spoke to Nabal's wife, Abigail. He said to her, ‘David sent some of his men from the desert to say “hello” to our master. But our master insulted them. ¹⁵ David's men have been very kind to us. When we were with them in the fields, they did not hurt us. They did not take anything from us the whole time that we were there. ¹⁶ They kept us safe while we took care of Nabal's sheep. They kept us safe all the time, during the day and at night. ¹⁷ So please think carefully about this. Decide what you can do. If you do nothing, there will be great trouble for our master and all his family and servants. He is such a wicked man that he will not listen to anyone.’

¹⁸ Abigail quickly got some food. She got 200 loaves of bread, two leather bags of wine, five sheep that she had cooked, and five jars of grain that she had cooked. She also got 100 blocks of raisins and 200 blocks of dried figs. She put all these things on some donkeys. ¹⁹ She said to her servants, ‘You go first and I will follow you.’ But she did not tell her husband Nabal what she was doing.

²⁰ Abigail rode her donkey along the path beside a mountain. Then she saw David and his men as they were coming towards her. So they all met each other. ²¹ David had just said to his men, ‘I kept Nabal's people and all his things safe in the desert. We did not take anything from him. But that has not helped us. I was kind to him, but he has done an evil thing to me in return. ²² I pray that God will punish me if I do not kill all the men in Nabal's family by tomorrow morning.’

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey. She bent her body down low on the ground to respect David. ²⁴ She lay down at his feet. She said to David, ‘My master, I am the one who is guilty. I am your servant. Please let me say something and please listen to me. ²⁵ Please sir, do not think about that wicked man Nabal. His name means “fool” and he really is a fool. But as for me, I did not see the young men that you sent.

²⁶ I know this as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live: The Lord has stopped you from killing anyone today. You could have done that, but he has not let you do it. I pray that God will punish all your enemies in the same way that he will punish Nabal. ²⁷ My master, please accept these gifts that I have brought for you and for your men. ²⁸ I am your servant. Please forgive me for any sin. I know that the Lord will always choose someone from your family to be Israel's king. The Lord will do that because you fight battles on his behalf. I pray that you will not do any evil thing in your whole life. ²⁹ People may chase after you and try to kill you. But the Lord your God will always keep you safe. He will throw your enemies away like someone who throws a stone from his sling. ³⁰ The Lord will surely do for you all the good things that he has promised to do. He will make you the ruler of the Israelites. ³¹ When that happens, you will not feel sorry for something bad that you might have done today. You could have killed people today for no good reason. You could have tried to punish these people yourself. So please remember me when the Lord has helped you to rule as king.’

³² David said to Abigail, ‘I praise the Lord, Israel's God. He has sent you to meet me here today. ³³ I thank you for your wisdom. May the Lord bless you because of what you have done to help me. You have stopped me from killing people today. I would have punished these people myself. ³⁴ But the Lord has not let me hurt you. As surely as the Lord, Israel's God, lives, I would have killed all the men in Nabal's family before dawn. But you came quickly to meet me.’

³⁵ David accepted Abigail's gifts that she had brought with her. He said to her, ‘Go back to your home and do not be afraid. I have listened to what you have said. I will do what you have asked for.’

Nabal dies

³⁶ Abigail returned to her husband, Nabal. He was eating a big feast with people in his house. It was as good as a king's feast. Nabal was happy and drunk. So Abigail did not tell him anything until the next morning.

³⁷ The next morning, Nabal was no longer drunk. So Abigail told him about everything that she had done. Nabal's heart failed. His body became like a stone. ³⁸ About ten days after that, the Lord caused Nabal to die.

³⁹ David heard the news that Nabal had died. He said, ‘I praise the Lord. He has shown that I was right. Nabal insulted me but the Lord has punished him for that. The Lord stopped me from doing an evil thing. Now he has punished Nabal for the evil thing that he did.’

Then David sent a message to Abigail to ask her to marry him. ⁴⁰ David's servants went to Carmel. They said to Abigail, ‘David has sent us to you. We must take you back with us to become his wife.’

⁴¹ Abigail bent her body down low so that her face touched the ground. She said, ‘I am happy to be David's servant. I am ready to wash the feet of his servants.’

⁴² Abigail quickly prepared her donkey to go with David's men. She took with her five young girls to be her servants. Abigail went to David and she became his wife.

⁴³ David had already married Ahinoam from Jezreel town. So these two women became his wives. ⁴⁴ Saul's daughter Michal had been David's wife. But Saul had then given her to Palti as his wife. Palti was the son of Laish, who came from Gallim town.

David again refuses to kill Saul

26 Some men from Ziph went to visit Saul at Gibeah. They said to him, ‘David is hiding on Hakilah hill, which is across the valley from Jeshimon.’

² So Saul went to the desert of Ziph to look for David. He took 3,000 strong Israelite soldiers with him. ³ Saul and his men arrived at Hakilah hill, near Jeshimon, where David was hiding. They put up their tents beside the road. David heard the news that Saul had followed him into the desert. ⁴ So David sent some men to see if that was true. They discovered that Saul had arrived at Hakilah.

⁵ One night, David went secretly to Saul's camp. Saul was asleep in the middle of the tents. The leader of his army, Ner's son Abner, was with him. He was asleep too. The army was all around them. David could see all this.

⁶ David spoke to two of his men. One of them was Ahimelech, a Hittite man. The other man was Abishai, who was Joab's brother (Zeruiah was their mother). David asked them, ‘Which one of you will go down into Saul's camp with me?’^[a]

Abishai said, ‘I will come with you.’

⁷ So David and Abishai went among Saul's army that night. They saw that Saul was asleep in the middle of the camp. He had pushed his spear into the ground near his head. Abner and the army were asleep around Saul. ⁸ Abishai said to David, ‘Tonight God has given your enemy into your power. I will push Saul's spear through his body and fix him to the ground. I will only have to do it once to kill him. I will not need to do it again.’

⁹ But David said to Abishai, ‘Do not kill Saul. He is the man that the Lord has chosen to be Israel's king. Anyone who attacks him will be guilty of a sin. ¹⁰ I know that the Lord himself will kill Saul one day. Saul may die when he has reached the age to die. Or someone may kill him in a battle. He will certainly come to his end. ¹¹ But I ask the Lord to stop me from hurting him, because he is the Lord's chosen king. Take the spear and the jar of water that are near Saul's head. We must leave here now!’

¹² So David took the spear and the jar of water from beside Saul's head. Then they left. Nobody saw them. Nobody knew that they had been in the camp. Nobody woke up. Saul's soldiers continued to sleep because the Lord caused it to happen.

¹³ David and Abishai then went across the valley to the other side of the hill. David stood on the top of the hill. He was far away from Saul's soldiers. ¹⁴ David shouted to Saul's army and to Ner's son, Abner, ‘Abner, wake up! Answer me!’

Abner replied, ‘Who is shouting to wake up the king? Who are you?’

¹⁵ David said to Abner, ‘Are you really the bravest soldier in Israel? You should have kept the king safe. Someone came into your camp to kill your master. ¹⁶ You have not done your job well. You and your men have not protected your master, who is the Lord's chosen king. As surely as the Lord lives, you all deserve to die. The king's spear and his water pot were beside his head. Look where they are now!’

¹⁷ Saul recognized David's voice. He said, ‘Is that you David, my son?’

David answered, ‘Yes, my master and my king, it is my voice that you can hear.’

¹⁸ David also said, ‘Why are you chasing after me, my master? What have I done that is wrong? Why am I guilty? ¹⁹ My master and my king, please listen to me. Has the Lord made you angry with me? If that is true, a sacrifice to him may change his thoughts. But if men have made you turn against me, I ask the Lord to curse them. They have chased me out of the land that belongs to the Lord's people. They have said to me, “Go away and worship other gods!” ²⁰ Do not let me die a long way away from the Lord's home. You are the king of Israel and I am like a small fly. But you are trying to catch me! You are like someone who is looking for a wild bird in the mountains!’

²¹ Then Saul said, ‘I have done a bad thing. Return home, David, my son. You chose not to kill me today, because you knew the value of my life. So I will not hurt you again. I have done foolish things. I have made a big mistake.’

²² David said, ‘Here is your own spear. Send one of your young men here to fetch it for you. ²³ The Lord wants everyone to do what is right and true. He blesses people who live like that. The Lord put you under my power today. But I would not agree to hurt the Lord's chosen king. ²⁴ Today I knew that your life is valuable. In the same way, I pray that the Lord will know that my life is valuable. I pray that he will keep me safe through all danger.’

²⁵ Then Saul said to David, ‘I pray that the Lord will bless you, my son. I know that you will do great things.’

So David left there and Saul returned to his home.

David lives among the Philistines

27 Then David thought, ‘I am sure that Saul will catch me one day. Then he will kill me. I must go to the country of the Philistines so that I will be safe from Saul. That is the best thing that I can do. When I am no longer in the land of Israel, Saul will stop looking for me here. I will escape from him.’

² So David and his 600 men went across the border of Israel to Gath town. Maoch's son Achish was the king there. ³ David and his men lived in Gath with King Achish. They had their families with them. David's two wives were with him: Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Abigail from Carmel. Abigail was Nabal's widow. ⁴ Saul heard the news that David had run away to Gath. So he stopped looking for David.

⁵ One day David said to Achish, ‘I hope that you are pleased with me. If you are, please choose a place for me to live in one of the small towns. I do not need to live in the same big city as the king.’

⁶ So on that day King Achish gave Ziklag town to David.^[b] Since then, Ziklag has always belonged to Judah's king. ⁷ David lived in the country of the Philistines for one year and four months.

⁸ During that time David and his men attacked the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. These tribes had lived in that place for a very long time. Their land went as far as Shur and the border of Egypt. ⁹ Whenever David's men attacked them, they killed all the men and women. But they took all their sheep, cows, donkeys and camels, as well as their clothes. Then they would return to see King Achish.

¹⁰ Achish would ask David, ‘Which place did you go and attack today?’ Sometimes David would say, ‘We robbed the people of a town in Judah's desert.’ Or David might say, ‘We attacked a town in the desert where the people of Jerahmeel's clan live.’ Or he might say, ‘We attacked a town in the desert where the Kenites live.’

¹¹ David killed all the people in the places that he attacked. He never took anyone back to Gath. He thought, ‘If any of the people are still alive, they might go to Gath and tell people what we have done.’

That is what David did for the whole time that he lived among the Philistines. ¹² So King Achish trusted David. He thought, ‘The Israelites must now hate David very much. So David will have to be my servant for ever.’