The Daily Audio Bible

David Shames Saul

24 Now Saul had chased the Philistines away. Then he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” ² So he chose 3,000 men from all Israel. He took these men and began looking for David and his men. They looked near the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

³ Saul came to the sheep pens beside the road. A cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were hiding far back in the cave. ⁴ The men said to David, “Today is the day the Lord talked about! The Lord told you, ‘I will give your enemy to you. You can do anything you want with him.’”

Then David crawled near Saul. He cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. But Saul did not notice him. ⁵ Later David felt guilty because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. ⁶ He said to his men, “May the Lord keep me from doing such a thing to my master! Saul is the Lord’s appointed king. I should not do anything against him, because he is the Lord’s appointed king!” ⁷ David used these words to stop his men. He did not let them attack Saul. Then Saul left the cave and went his way.

⁸ When David came out of the cave, he shouted to Saul, “My master and king!” Saul looked back, and David bowed facedown on the ground. ⁹ He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when people say, ‘David plans to harm you’? ¹⁰ You have seen something with your own eyes today. You have seen how the Lord put you in my power in the cave. But I refused to kill you. I was merciful to you. I said, ‘I won’t harm my master, because he is the Lord’s appointed king.’ ¹¹ My father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe, but I didn’t kill you. Now understand and know I am not planning any evil against you. I did nothing wrong to you, but you are hunting me to kill me. ¹² May the Lord judge between us. And may he punish you for the wrong you have done to me! But I won’t fight you. ¹³ There is an old saying: ‘Evil things come from evil people.’ So I won’t hurt you. ¹⁴ Whom is the king of Israel coming out against? Whom are you chasing? You’re not chasing someone who will hurt you! It’s as if you are chasing a dead dog or a flea. ¹⁵ May the Lord be our judge and decide between you and me. May the Lord support me and show that I am right. May he save me from you!”

¹⁶ David finished saying these words. Then Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he cried loudly. ¹⁷ He said, “You are right, and I am wrong. You have been good to me. But I have done wrong to you. ¹⁸ You told me what good things you did. The Lord brought me to you, but you did not kill me. ¹⁹ If a man finds his enemy, he won’t send him away with goodness, will he? May the Lord reward you because you were good to me today. ²⁰ I know you will surely be king. You will rule the kingdom of Israel. ²¹ Now make a promise to me. Promise in the name of the Lord that you will not kill my descendants. Promise me that you won’t wipe out my name from my father’s family.”

²² So David made the promise to Saul. Then Saul went back home. David and his men went up to the protected place.

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.

²² The time came for the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. This was during the winter. ²³ Jesus was walking in the Temple in Solomon’s Porch. ²⁴ The Jews gathered around him and said, “How long will you make us wonder about you? If you are the Christ, then tell us plainly.”

Jesus Is the Son of God

²⁵ Jesus answered, “I told you already, but you did not believe. I do miracles in my Father’s name. Those miracles show who I am. ²⁶ But you don’t believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never die. And no person can steal them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father gave my sheep to me. He is greater than all, and no person can steal my sheep out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ The Father and I are one.”

³¹ Again the Jews picked up stones to kill Jesus. ³² But Jesus said to them, “I have done many good works from the Father. Which of these good works are you killing me for?”

³³ The Jews answered, “We are not killing you for any good work you did. But you say things that are against God. You are only a man, but you say you are the same as God!”

³⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written in your law that God said, ‘I have said you are gods!’^{[a] 35} This Scripture called those people gods, the people who received God’s message. And Scripture is always true. ³⁶ So why do you say that I speak against God because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? I am the one God chose and sent into the world. ³⁷ If I don’t do what my Father does, then don’t believe me. ³⁸ But if I do what my Father does, even though you don’t believe in me, believe what I do. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

³⁹ They tried to take Jesus again, but he escaped from them.

⁴⁰ Then Jesus went back across the Jordan River to the place where John had first baptized. Jesus stayed there, ⁴¹ and many people came to him. They said, “John never did a miracle. But everything John said about this man is true.” ⁴² And in that place many believed in Jesus.

Thanksgiving for Escaping Death