1 Samuel 21-25

I Samuel 21

¹And David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest; and Ahimelech trembled at meeting David, and said to him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?

²And David said to Ahimelech the priest, The king has commanded me a business, and has said to me, Let no man know anything of the business whereon I send thee, and what I have commanded thee; and I have directed the young men to such and such a place.

³And now what is under thy hand? give me five loaves in my hand, or what may be found.

⁴And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

⁵And David answered the priest and said to him, Yes indeed, women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, and the more so, because to-day new is hallowed in the vessels.

⁶And the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the shew-loaves that were taken from before Jehovah, to put on hot bread in the day when they were taken away.

⁷(Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Jehovah; and his name was Doeg, the Edomite, chief of the shepherds that belonged to Saul.)

⁸And David said to Ahimelech, And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, for the king's business was urgent.

⁹And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of terebinths, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if thou wilt take that, take it; for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that: give it me.

¹⁰And David arose, and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

¹¹And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul has smitten his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

¹²And David took to heart these words, and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

¹³And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down on his beard.

¹⁴And Achish said to his servants, Behold, ye see the man is mad: why did ye bring him to me?

¹⁵have I lack of madmen, that ye have brought this one to rave in my presence? shall this man come into my house?

I Samuel 22

¹And David departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And his brethren and all his father's house heard it, and they went down thither to him.

²And every one in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one of embittered spirit collected round him; and he became a captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men.

³And David went thence to Mizpeh in Moab, and said to the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth amongst you, till I know what God will do for me.

⁴And he brought them before the king of Moab; and they abode with him all the while that David was in the stronghold.

⁵And the prophet Gad said to David, Abide not in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth.

⁶And Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah under the tamarisk upon the height, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing by him.

⁷Then Saul said to his servants that stood by him, Hear now, ye Benjaminites: will the son of Jesse give every one of you also fields and vineyards? Will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds,

⁸that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that informs me when my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse; and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or informs me that my son has stirred up my servant as a lier-in-wait against me, as at this day?

⁹Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.

¹⁰And he inquired of Jehovah for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.

¹¹Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob; and they came all of them to the king.

¹²And Saul said, Hear now, son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord.

¹³And Saul said to him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me as a lier-in-wait, as at this day?

¹⁴And Ahimelech answered the king and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and has access to thy secret council, and is honourable in thy house?

¹⁵Was it to-day that I began to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king charge anything to his servant, nor to all the house of my father; for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.

¹⁶And the king said, Thou shalt certainly die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house.

¹⁷And the king said to the couriers that stood about him, Turn and put the priests of Jehovah to death; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not inform me. But the servants of the king were not willing to put forth their hand to fall on the priests of Jehovah.

¹⁸And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall on the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and fell on the priests, and put to death that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod.

¹⁹And Nob, the city of the priests, he smote with the edge of the sword, both men and women, infants and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.

²⁰And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.

²¹And Abiathar informed David that Saul had slain Jehovah's priests.

²²And David said to Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would certainly tell Saul: I am accountable for all the lives of thy father's house.

²³Abide with me, fear not; for he that seeks my life seeks thy life; for with me thou art in safe keeping.

I Samuel 23

¹And they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshing-floors.

²And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And Jehovah said to David, Go and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.

³But David's men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?

⁴And David inquired of Jehovah yet again. And Jehovah answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will give the Philistines into thy hand.

⁵And David and his men went to Keilah, and fought against the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand.

⁷And it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. Then Saul said, God has cast him off into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a city that has gates and bars.

⁸And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.

⁹And when David knew that Saul devised mischief against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring the ephod.

¹⁰Then said David, Jehovah, God of Israel, thy servant hath heard for certain that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.

¹¹Will the citizens of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? Jehovah, God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And Jehovah said, He will come down.

¹²And David said, Will the citizens of Keilah deliver up me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will deliver thee up.

¹³Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, and he forbore to go forth.

¹⁴And David abode in the wilderness in strongholds, and abode in the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

¹⁵And David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life; and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.

¹⁶And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

¹⁷And he said to him, Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father will not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; and that also Saul my father knows.

¹⁸And they two made a covenant before Jehovah; and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹And the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the wood, on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the waste?

²⁰And now, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and it will be for us to deliver him up into the king's hand.

²¹And Saul said, Blessed be ye of Jehovah; for ye have compassion upon me.

²²Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his track is, who has seen him there; for it is told me that he deals very subtilly.

²³And see, and ascertain all the lurking-places where he hides himself, and come ye again to me with sure information, that I may go with you; and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout the thousands of Judah.

²⁴And 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 the waste.

²⁵And Saul and his men went to seek him. And they told David; and he came down from the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul heard that, and he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

²⁶And 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 from Saul; and Saul and his men sought to surround David and his men to take them.

²⁷But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, Haste thee and come; for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.

²⁸And Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines; therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.

²⁹And David went up from thence, and abode in the strongholds of Engedi.

I Samuel 24

¹And it came to pass when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.

²And Saul took three thousand men, chosen out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.

³And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet; and David and his men were abiding in the recesses of the cave.

⁴And David's men said to him, Behold the day of which Jehovah said to thee, Behold, I will give thine enemy into thy hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good to thee. And David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe secretly.

⁵And it came to pass afterwards that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt.

⁶And he said to his men, Jehovah forbid that I should do this thing to my master, Jehovah's anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him, for he is the anointed of Jehovah.

⁷And David checked his men with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. And Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.

⁸David also arose afterwards, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king! And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and did obeisance.

⁹And David said to Saul, Why dost thou listen to words of men, saying, Behold, David seeks thy hurt?

¹⁰Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that Jehovah had given thee this day into my hand in the cave; and they bade me kill thee; but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord, for he is the anointed of Jehovah.

¹¹And see, my father, yes, 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 and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou liest in wait for my life to take it.

¹²Jehovah judge between me and thee, and Jehovah avenge me of thee; but my hand shall not be upon thee.

¹³As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked; but my hand shall not be upon thee.

¹⁴After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a single flea.

¹⁵Jehovah therefore shall be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and do me justice in delivering me out of thy hand.

¹⁶And as soon as David had ended speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.

¹⁷And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I; for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.

¹⁸And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me, forasmuch as when Jehovah had delivered me up into thy hand, thou didst not kill me.

¹⁹For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore Jehovah reward thee good for that thou hast done to me this day.

²⁰And now behold, I know that thou shalt certainly be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thy hand.

²¹Swear now therefore to me by Jehovah, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house.

²²And David swore to Saul. And Saul went home; and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

I Samuel 25

¹And Samuel died; and all Israel were gathered together, and lamented him; and they buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

²And there was a man at Maon, whose business was at Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep at Carmel.

³And the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance; but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was a Calebite.

⁴And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.

⁵Then David sent out ten young men; and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name.

⁶And thus shall ye say: Long life to thee! and peace be to thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be to all that thou hast!

⁷And now I have heard that thou hast shearers; now thy shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missed by them, all the while they were in Carmel.

⁸Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee. Therefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, what thy hand may find to thy servants, and to thy son David.

⁹And David's young men came, and spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.

¹⁰And Nabal answered David's servants and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his master.

¹¹And shall I take my bread, and my water, and my flesh which I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men whom I know not whence they are?

¹²And David's young men turned their way, and went back, and came and reported to him according to all those words.

¹³And David said to 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 baggage.

¹⁴And one of Nabal's young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our master; and he has insulted them.

¹⁵And the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we companied with them, when we were in the fields.

¹⁶They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the while we were with them feeding the sheep.

¹⁷And now know and consider what thou wilt do, for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household; and he is such a son of Belial, that one cannot speak to him.

¹⁸And Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skin-bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred raisin-cakes, and two hundred fig-cakes, and laid them on asses.

¹⁹And she said to her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰And as she was riding on the ass, and coming down by the covert of the hill, behold, David and his men came down opposite to her; and she met them.

²¹Now David had said, Surely, in vain have I kept all that this man had in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that was his; and he has requited me evil for good.

²²So and more also do God to the enemies of David, if I leave of all that is his by the morning light any male.

²³And when Abigail saw David, she hasted and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,

²⁴and fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let the iniquity be; but let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear the words of thy handmaid.

²⁵Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; and I thy handmaid did not see the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

²⁶And now, my lord, as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing Jehovah has restrained thee from coming with bloodshed, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

²⁷And now this blessing which thy bondmaid has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men that follow my lord.

²⁸I pray thee, forgive the transgression of thy handmaid: for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a lasting house; because my lord fights the battles of Jehovah, and evil has not been found in thee all thy days.

²⁹And if a man is risen up to pursue thee and to seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out from the hollow of the sling.

³⁰And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall do to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning thee, and shall appoint thee ruler over Israel,

³¹that this shall be no stumbling-block to thee, nor offence of heart for my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall deal well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.

³²And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me.

³³And blessed be thy discernment, and blessed be thou, who hast kept me this day from coming with bloodshed, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.

³⁴But indeed, as Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, who has restrained me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light any male.

³⁵So David received of her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.

³⁶And 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 drunken to excess; so she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

³⁷And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things; and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

³⁸And it came to pass in about ten days that Jehovah smote Nabal, and he died.

³⁹And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Jehovah, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil; but Jehovah has returned Nabal's evil upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her as his wife.

⁴⁰And the servants of David came to Abigail to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to thee, to take thee as his wife.

⁴¹And she arose and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thy handmaid be a bondwoman to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

⁴²And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.

⁴³David had also taken Ahinoam of Jizreel; and they became, even both of them, his wives.

⁴⁴But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.