Beginning

David and Nabal

25 Now Samuel died. All the Israelites met and had a time of sadness for him. They buried him at his home in Ramah.

Then David moved to the Desert of Maon.^{[a] 2} A man in Maon who had land at Carmel was very rich. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. He was cutting the wool off his sheep at Carmel. ³ His name was Nabal, and he was a descendant of Caleb. His wife was named Abigail. She was a wise and beautiful woman. But Nabal was cruel and mean.

⁴ David was in the desert. He heard that Nabal was cutting the wool from his sheep. ⁵ So he sent ten young men. He told them, “Go to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him for me. ⁶ Say to Nabal, ‘May you and your family have good health! And may all who belong to you have good health. ⁷ I have heard that you are cutting the wool from your sheep. When your shepherds were with us, we did nothing wrong to them. All the time your shepherds were at Carmel, we stole nothing from them. ⁸ Ask your servants, and they will tell you. We come at a happy time. So for this reason, be kind to my young men. Please give them anything you can find for them. Please do this for your son David.’”

⁹ When the men arrived, they gave the message to Nabal. But Nabal insulted them. ¹⁰ He answered them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many slaves are running away from their masters today! ¹¹ I have bread and water. And I have meat that I killed for my servants who cut the wool. But I won’t give it to men I don’t know.”

¹² David’s men went back and told him all Nabal had said. ¹³ Then David said to them, “Put on your swords!” So they put on their swords, and David put on his also. About 400 men went with David. But 200 men stayed with the supplies.

¹⁴ One of Nabal’s servants spoke to Abigail, Nabal’s wife. He said, “David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master. But Nabal insulted them. ¹⁵ These men were very good to us. They did nothing wrong to us. They stole nothing from us during all the time we were out in the field with them. ¹⁶ Night and day they protected us. They were like a wall around us while we were with them caring for the sheep. ¹⁷ Now think about it, and decide what you can do. Terrible trouble is coming to our master and all his family. Nabal is such a wicked man that no one can even talk to him.”

¹⁸ Abigail hurried. She took 200 loaves of bread, 2 leather bags full of wine and 5 cooked sheep. She took about a bushel of cooked grain, 100 cakes of raisins and 200 cakes of pressed figs. She put all these on donkeys. ¹⁹ Then she told her servants, “Go on. I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell her husband.

²⁰ Abigail rode her donkey and came down into the mountain ravine. There she met David and his men coming down toward her.

²¹ David had just said, “It’s been useless! I watched over Nabal’s property in the desert. I made sure none of his sheep were missing. I did good to him, but he has paid me back with evil. ²² May God punish me terribly if I let just one of Nabal’s family live until tomorrow.”

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey. She bowed facedown on the ground before David. ²⁴ She lay at David’s feet. She said, “My master, let the blame be on me! Please let me talk to you! Listen to what I say. ²⁵ My master, don’t pay attention to this worthless man Nabal. He is the same as his name. His name means ‘fool,’ and he is truly foolish. But I, your servant, didn’t see the men you sent. ²⁶ The Lord has kept you from killing and punishing people yourself. As surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live, may your enemies become like Nabal! ²⁷ I have brought a gift to you. Please give it to the men who follow you. ²⁸ Please forgive my wrong. The Lord will certainly let your family have many kings. He will do this because you fight his battles. As long as you live, people will find nothing bad in you. ²⁹ A man might chase you to kill you. But the Lord your God will keep you alive. He will throw away your enemies’ lives as he would throw a stone from a sling. ³⁰ The Lord will keep all his promises about good things for you. He will make you leader over Israel. ³¹ Then you won’t feel guilty. You won’t have problems about killing innocent people and punishing them yourself. Please remember me when the Lord brings you success.”

³² David answered Abigail, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel. He sent you to meet me. ³³ May you be blessed for your wisdom. You have kept me from killing or punishing people today. ³⁴ As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, he has kept me from hurting you. If you hadn’t come quickly to meet me, no one belonging to Nabal would have lived until tomorrow.”

³⁵ Then David accepted Abigail’s gifts. He told her, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words, and I will do what you have asked.”

Nabal’s Death

³⁶ When Abigail went back to Nabal, he was in the house. He was eating like a king. He was very drunk and in a good mood. So she told him nothing until the next morning. ³⁷ In the morning he was not drunk. Then his wife told him everything. His heart failed him, and he became like a stone. ³⁸ About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal and caused him to die.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise the Lord! Nabal insulted me, but the Lord has supported me! He has kept me from doing wrong. And the Lord caused Nabal to die because he did wrong.”

Then David sent a message to Abigail. He asked her to become his wife. ⁴⁰ His servants went to Carmel and spoke to Abigail. They said, “David sent us to take you so you can become his wife.”

⁴¹ Abigail bowed facedown on the ground. She said, “I am your servant. I’m ready to serve you. I’m ready to wash the feet of my master’s servants.” ⁴² Abigail quickly got on a donkey and went with David’s messengers. She had five maids following her. And she became David’s wife.

⁴³ David also had married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So they were both David’s wives. ⁴⁴ Saul’s daughter Michal was also David’s wife. But Saul had given her to Paltiel son of Laish. Paltiel was from Gallim.

David Shames Saul Again

26 The people of Ziph went to see Saul at Gibeah. They said to him, “David is hiding on the hill of Hakilah opposite Jeshimon.”

² So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph. His 3,000 chosen men of Israel went with him. They looked for David in the Desert of Ziph. ³ Saul made his camp on the hill of Hakilah, beside the road opposite Jeshimon. But David stayed in the desert. He heard Saul had followed him. ⁴ So David sent out spies and learned that Saul had come to Hakilah.

⁵ Then David went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner were sleeping. Abner was the commander of Saul’s army. Saul was sleeping in the middle of the camp with all the army around him.

⁶ David talked to Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah. Abishai was Joab’s brother. He asked them, “Who will go down into Saul’s camp with me?”

Abishai answered, “I’ll go with you.”

⁷ So that night David and Abishai went into Saul’s camp. Saul was asleep in the middle of the camp. His spear was stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the army were sleeping around Saul. ⁸ Abishai said to David, “Today God has let you defeat your enemy! Let me pin Saul to the ground with the spear. I’ll only do it once! I won’t hit him twice.”

⁹ But David said to Abishai, “Don’t kill Saul! No one can harm the Lord’s appointed king and still be innocent! ¹⁰ As surely as the Lord lives, the Lord himself will punish Saul. Maybe Saul will die naturally. Or maybe he will go into battle and be killed. ¹¹ But may the Lord keep me from harming his appointed king! Now pick up the spear and water jug that are near Saul’s head. Then let’s go.”

¹² So David took the spear and water jug that were near Saul’s head. They left, and no one saw them. No one knew about it or woke up. The Lord had made them stay asleep.

¹³ David crossed over to the other side of the hill. He stood on top of the mountain far from Saul’s camp. David’s and Saul’s camps were far apart. ¹⁴ David shouted to the army and to Abner son of Ner, “Answer me, Abner!”

Abner answered, “Who is calling for the king? Who are you?”

¹⁵ David said, “You’re the greatest man in Israel. Isn’t that true? Then why didn’t you guard your master the king? Someone came into your camp to kill your master the king! ¹⁶ What you have done is not good. As surely as the Lord lives, you and your men should die. You haven’t guarded your master, the Lord’s appointed king. Look! Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were near his head?”

¹⁷ Saul knew David’s voice. He said, “Is that your voice, David my son?”

David answered, “Yes, it is, my master and king.” ¹⁸ David also said, “Why are you chasing me, my master? What wrong have I done? What evil am I guilty of? ¹⁹ My master and king, listen to me. If the Lord caused you to be angry with me, let him accept an offering. But if men caused you to be angry with me, let the Lord curse them! They have made me leave the land the Lord gave me. They have told me, ‘Go and serve other gods.’ ²⁰ Now don’t let me die far away from the Lord’s presence. The king of Israel has come out looking for a flea! You’re like a man hunting a partridge bird in the mountains!”

²¹ Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. Today you respected my life. So I will not try to hurt you. I have acted foolishly. I have made a big mistake.”

²² David answered, “Here is your spear. Let one of your young men come here and get it. ²³ The Lord rewards every man for the things he does right and for his loyalty to him. The Lord put you into my power today. But I wouldn’t harm the Lord’s appointed king. ²⁴ I respected your life today. Surely, in the same way, the Lord will respect my life. Surely he will save me from all trouble.”

²⁵ Then Saul said to David, “You are blessed, my son David. You will do great things and succeed.”

So David went on his way, and Saul went back home.

David and the Philistines

27 But David thought to himself, “Saul will catch me someday. The best thing I can do is escape to the land of the Philistines. Then he will give up looking for me in Israel. That way I can get away from him.”

² So David and his 600 men left Israel. They went to Achish son of Maoch. Achish was king of Gath. ³ David, his men and their families made their home in Gath with Achish. David had his two wives with him. Their names were Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel. Abigail was the widow of Nabal. ⁴ Now Saul was told that David had run away to Gath. So he stopped looking for him.

⁵ Then David said to Achish, “If you are pleased with me, give me a place in one of the country towns. I can live there. I don’t need to live in the royal city with you.”

⁶ That day Achish gave David the town of Ziklag. That is why Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. ⁷ David lived in the Philistine land a year and four months.

⁸ David and his men went to raid the people of Geshur, Girzi and Amalek. (These people had lived for a long time in the land that reached to Shur and Egypt.) ⁹ When David fought them, he killed all the men and women. He took sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.

¹⁰ Many times Achish would ask David, “Where did you go raiding today?” And David would tell him that he had gone to the southern part of Judah. Or he would say he had gone to the territory of the Jerahmeelites or of the Kenites. ¹¹ David never brought a man or woman alive to Gath. He thought, “If we bring anyone alive, he may tell Achish, ‘This is what David really did.’” David did this all the time he lived in the Philistine land. ¹² Achish trusted David. He said to himself, “David’s own people, the Israelites, now hate David very much. So David will serve me forever.”