[ 1 Samuel Chapter 23 ]
1 Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah,
and they rob the threshingfloors.
2 Therefore David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these
Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and
save Keilah.
3 And David's men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much
more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?
4 Then David enquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered him and said,
Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
5 So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and
brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved
the inhabitants of Keilah.
6 And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to
Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
7 And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath
delivered him into mine hand, for he is shut in, by entering into a town that
hath gates and bars.
8 And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to
besiege David and his men.
9 And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him, and he said
to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.
10 Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that
Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.
11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as
thy servant hath heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant.
And the LORD said, He will come down.
12 Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand
of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver thee up.
13 Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out
of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David
was escaped from Keilah, and he forbare to go forth.
14 And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain
in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him
not into his hand.
15 And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the
wilderness of Ziph in a wood.
16 And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and
strengthened his hand in God.
17 And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find
thee, and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee, and
that also Saul my father knoweth.
18 And they two made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in the wood,
and Jonathan went to his house.
19 Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide
himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is
on the south of Jeshimon?
20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to
come down, and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand.
21 And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD, for ye have compassion on me.
22 Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is,
and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly.
23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth
himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and
it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out
throughout all the thousands of Judah.
24 And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in
the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.
25 Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David, wherefore he
came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard
that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.
26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that
side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul, for
Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them.
27 But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come, for the
Philistines have invaded the land.
28 Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the
Philistines: therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth.
29 And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at Engedi.
[ 1 Samuel Chapter 24 ]
1 And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines,
that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.
2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek
David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.
3 And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave, and Saul went in
to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.
4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto
thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to
him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of
Saul's robe privily.
5 And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had
cut off Saul's skirt.
6 And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my
master, the LORD's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he
is the anointed of the LORD.
7 So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise
against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.
8 David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul,
saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with
his face to the earth, and bowed himself.
9 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold,
David seeketh thy hurt?
10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to
day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared
thee, and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord, for he is the
LORD's anointed.
11 Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in
that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see
that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned
against thee, yet thou huntest my soul to take it.
12 The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine
hand shall not be upon thee.
13 As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked:
but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
14 After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after
a dead dog, after a flea.
15 The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and
plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.
16 And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto
Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his
voice, and wept.
17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded
me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.
18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me:
forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me
not.
19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD
reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day.
20 And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the
kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.
21 Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed
after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house.
22 And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home, but David and his men gat them
up unto the hold.
[ 1 Samuel Chapter 25 ]
1 And Samuel died, and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented
him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the
wilderness of Paran.
2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel, and the man was
very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was
shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3 Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail: and she
was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man
was churlish and evil in his doings, and he was of the house of Caleb.
4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you
up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:
6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee,
and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast.
7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were
with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the
while they were in Carmel.
8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find
favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever
cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
9 And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those
words in the name of David, and ceased.
10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the
son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from
his master.
11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for
my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
12 So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him
all those sayings.
13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded
on every man his sword, and David also girded on his sword: and there went up
after David about four hundred men, and two hundred abode by the stuff.
14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David
sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed on
them.
15 But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we
any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields:
16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with
them keeping the sheep.
17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do, for evil is determined
against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of
Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.
18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of
wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an
hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on
asses.
19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me, behold, I come after you.
But she told not her husband Nabal.
20 And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert on
the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her, and she met
them.
21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in
the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and
he hath requited me evil for good.
22 So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that
pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell
before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity
be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the
words of thine handmaid.
25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as
his name is, so is he, Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine
handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing
the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging
thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to
my lord, be as Nabal.
27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it
even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.
28 I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will
certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of the
LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.
29 Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my
lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God, and the souls
of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.
30 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according
to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed
thee ruler over Israel,
31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord,
either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged
himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember
thine handmaid.
32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee
this day to meet me:
33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day
from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
34 For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back
from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there
had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the
wall.
35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto
her, Go up in peace to thine house, see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have
accepted thy person.
36 And Abigail came to Nabal, and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like
the feast of a king, and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very
drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and
his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he
became as a stone.
38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he
died.
39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that
hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his
servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his
own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.
40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake
unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.
41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold,
let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
42 And Abigail hasted, and arose and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers
that went after her, and she went after the messengers of David, and became his
wife.
43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they were also both of them his
wives.
44 But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of
Laish, which was of Gallim.