1 Samuel 27:1 David said to himself, “One of these days I’ll be swept away by Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape immediately to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me everywhere in Israel, and I’ll escape from him.”
1 Samuel 27:2 So David set out with his six hundred men and went over to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.
1 Samuel 27:3 David and his men stayed with Achish in Gath. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow.
1 Samuel 27:4 When it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
1 Samuel 27:5 Now David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. Why should your slave live in the royal city with you?”
1 Samuel 27:6 That day Achish gave Ziklag to him, and it still belongs to the kings of Judah today.
1 Samuel 27:7 The length of time that David stayed in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.
1 Samuel 27:8 David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. From ancient times they had been the inhabitants of the region through Shur as far as the land of Egypt.
1 Samuel 27:9 Whenever David attacked the land, he did not leave a single person alive, either man or woman, but he took flocks, herds, donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he came back to Achish,
1 Samuel 27:10 who inquired, “Where did you raid today?” David replied, “The south country of Judah,” “The south country of the Jerahmeelites,” or “The south country of the Kenites.”
1 Samuel 27:11 David did not let a man or woman live to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Or they will inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.'” This was David’s custom during the whole time he stayed in the Philistine territory.
1 Samuel 27:12 So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself repulsive to his people Israel, he will be my slave forever.”
1 Samuel 26:1 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah saying, “David is hiding on the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon.”
1 Samuel 26:2 So Saul, accompanied by three thousand of the fit young men of Israel, went immediately to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there.
1 Samuel 26:3 Saul camped beside the road at the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon. David was living in the wilderness and discovered Saul had come there after him.
1 Samuel 26:4 So David sent out spies and knew for certain that Saul had come.
1 Samuel 26:5 Immediately, David went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were lying down. Saul was lying inside the inner circle of the camp with the troops camped around him.
1 Samuel 26:6 Then David asked Ahimelech the Hethite and Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, “Who will go with me into the camp to Saul?” “I’ll go with you,” answered Abishai.
1 Samuel 26:7 That night, David and Abishai came to the troops, and noticed Saul lying there asleep in the inner circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. Abner and the troops were lying around him.
1 Samuel 26:8 Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy to you. Let me thrust the spear through him into the ground just once. I won’t have to strike him twice!”
1 Samuel 26:9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him, for who can lift a hand against Yahveh’s anointed and be innocent?”
1 Samuel 26:10 David added, “As Yahveh lives, Yahveh will certainly strike him down: either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.
1 Samuel 26:11 However, because of Yahveh, I will never lift my hand against Yahveh’s anointed. Instead, take the spear and the water jug by his head, and let’s go.”
1 Samuel 26:12 So David took the spear and the water jug by Saul’s head, and they went their way. No one saw them, no one knew, and no one woke up; they all remained asleep because a deep sleep from Yahveh came over them.
1 Samuel 26:13 David crossed to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance; there was a considerable space between them.
1 Samuel 26:14 Then David shouted to the troops and to Abner son of Ner: “Aren’t you going to answer, Abner?” “Who are you who calls to the king?” Abner asked.
1 Samuel 26:15 David called to Abner, “You’re a man, aren’t you? Who in Israel is your equal? So why didn’t you protect your lord the king when one of the people came to destroy him?
1 Samuel 26:16 What you have done is not good. As Yahveh lives, all of you deserve to die since you didn’t protect your lord, Yahveh’s anointed. Now look around; where are the king’s spear and water jug that were by his head?”
1 Samuel 26:17 Saul recognized David’s voice and asked, “Is that your voice, my son David?” “It is my voice, my lord and king,” David said.
1 Samuel 26:18 Then he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his slave? What have I done? What crime have I committed?
1 Samuel 26:19 Now, may my lord the king please hear the words of his slave: If it is Yahveh who has incited you against me, then may he accept an offering. But if it is people, may they be cursed in the presence of Yahveh, for today they have banished me from sharing in the inheritance of Yahveh saying, ‘Go and worship other gods.’
1 Samuel 26:20 So don’t let my blood fall to the ground far from Yahveh’s presence, for the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea, like one who pursues a partridge in the mountains.”
1 Samuel 26:21 Saul responded, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David, I will never harm you again because today you considered my throat precious. Notice I have been a fool! I’ve committed a grave error.”
1 Samuel 26:22 David answered, “Notice the king’s spear; have one of the boys come over and get it.
1 Samuel 26:23 Yahveh will repay every man for his righteousness and his loyalty. I wasn’t willing to lift my hand against Yahveh’s anointed, even though Yahveh handed you over to me today.
1 Samuel 26:24 Notice, Just as I considered your throat valuable today, so may Yahveh consider my throat valuable and rescue me from all trouble.”
1 Samuel 26:25 Saul said to him, “You are blessed, my son David. You will certainly do great things and will also prevail.” Then David went on his way, and Saul returned home.
1 Samuel 25:1 Samuel died, and all Israel assembled to mourn for him, and they buried him by his home in Ramah. David then went down to the Wilderness of Paran.
1 Samuel 25:2 A man in Maon had a business in Carmel; he was a very rich man with three thousand sheep and one thousand goats and was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
1 Samuel 25:3 The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name, Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.
1 Samuel 25:4 While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep,
1 Samuel 25:5 so David sent ten boys instructing them, “Go up to Carmel, and when you come to Nabal, greet him in my name.
1 Samuel 25:6 Then say this: ‘Long life to you, and peace to you, peace to your family, and peace to all that is yours.
1 Samuel 25:7 I hear that you are shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.
1 Samuel 25:8 Ask your boys, and they will tell you. So let my boys find favor with you, for we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have on hand to your slaves and to your son David.'”
1 Samuel 25:9 David’s boys went and said all these things to Nabal on David’s behalf, and they waited.
1 Samuel 25:10 Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is Jesse’s son? Many slaves these days are running away from their masters.
1 Samuel 25:11 Am I supposed to take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don’t know where they are from.”
1 Samuel 25:12 David’s boys retraced their steps. When they returned to him, they reported all these words.
1 Samuel 25:13 He said to his men, “All of you, put on your swords!” So each man put on his sword, and David also put on his sword. About four hundred men followed David while two hundred stayed with the supplies.
1 Samuel 25:14 One of Nabal’s boys informed Abigail, Nabal’s wife: “Notice, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed at them.
1 Samuel 25:15 The men treated us very well. When we were in the field, we weren’t harassed and nothing of ours was missing the whole time we were living among them.
1 Samuel 25:16 They were a wall around us, both day and night, the entire time we were with them herding the sheep.
1 Samuel 25:17 Now consider carefully what you should do, because there is certain to be trouble for our master and his entire family. He is such a worthless fool nobody can talk to him!”
1 Samuel 25:18 Abigail hurried, taking two hundred loaves of bread, two clay jars of wine, five butchered sheep, a bushel of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.
1 Samuel 25:19 Then she said to her boys, “Go ahead of me. Notice I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
1 Samuel 25:20 As she rode the donkey down a mountain pass hidden from view, she noticed David and his men coming toward her and met them.
1 Samuel 25:21 David had just said, “I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness for nothing. He was not missing anything, yet he paid me back evil for good.
1 Samuel 25:22 May God punish me and do so severely if I let any of his males survive until morning.”
1 Samuel 25:23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey and knelt down with her face to the ground and paid homage to David.
1 Samuel 25:24 She knelt at his feet and said, “The guilt is mine, my lord, but please let your servant speak to you directly. Listen to the words of your servant.
1 Samuel 25:25 My lord should pay no attention to this worthless fool Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means ‘stupid,’ and stupidity is all he knows. I, your female slave, didn’t see my lord’s boys whom you sent.
1 Samuel 25:26 Now my lord, as surely as Yahveh lives and as your throat lives — it is Yahveh who kept you from participating in bloodshed and avenging yourself by your own hand– may your enemies and those who intend to harm my lord be like Nabal.
1 Samuel 25:27 Let this gift your female slave has brought to my lord be given to the boys who follow my lord.
1 Samuel 25:28 Please forgive your servant’s offense, for Yahveh is certain to make a lasting dynasty for my lord because he fights Yahveh’s battles. Throughout your life, may evil not be found in you.
1 Samuel 25:29 “Someone is pursuing you and seeks your throat. My lord’s throat is tucked safely in the place where Yahveh your God protects the living, but he is flinging away your enemies’ throats like stones from a sling.
1 Samuel 25:30 When Yahveh does for my lord all the good he promised you and appoints you ruler over Israel,
1 Samuel 25:31 there will not be remorse or a troubled conscience for my lord because of needless bloodshed or my lord’s revenge. And when Yahveh does good things for my lord, may you remember me your servant.”
1 Samuel 25:32 Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be Yahveh God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!
1 Samuel 25:33 May your discernment be blessed, and may you be blessed. Today you kept me from participating in bloodshed and avenging myself by my own hand.
1 Samuel 25:34 Otherwise, as surely as Yahveh God of Israel lives, who prevented me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, Nabal wouldn’t have had any males left by morning light.”
1 Samuel 25:35 Then David accepted what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. See, I have heard what you said and have granted your request.”
1 Samuel 25:36 Then Abigail went to Nabal, and noticed him in his house, holding a feast fit for a king. Nabal’s heart was cheerful, and he was very drunk, so she didn’t say anything to him until morning light.
1 Samuel 25:37 In the morning when Nabal sobered up, his wife told him about these events. His heart died and he became a stone.
1 Samuel 25:38 About ten days later, Yahveh struck Nabal dead.
1 Samuel 25:39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be Yahveh who championed my cause against Nabal’s insults and restrained his slave from doing evil. Yahveh brought Nabal’s evil deeds back on his own head.” Then David sent messengers to speak to Abigail about marrying him.
1 Samuel 25:40 When David’s slaves came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David sent us to bring you to him as a wife.”
1 Samuel 25:41 She stood up, paid homage with her face to the ground, and said, “Notice me, your female slave, a maid to wash the feet of my lord’s slaves.”
1 Samuel 25:42 Then Abigail got up quickly, and with her five female slaves accompanying her, rode on the donkey following David’s messengers. And so she became his wife.
1 Samuel 25:43 David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and the two of them became his wives.
1 Samuel 25:44 But Saul gave his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
1 Samuel 24:1 When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “Notice, David is in the wilderness near En-gedi.”
1 Samuel 24:2 So Saul took three thousand of Israel’s fit young men and went to look for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
1 Samuel 24:3 When Saul came to the sheep pens along the road, a cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself. David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave,
1 Samuel 24:4 so they said to him, “Notice, this is the day Yahveh told you about: ‘I will hand your enemy over to you so you can do to him whatever you desire.'” Then David got up and secretly cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.
1 Samuel 24:5 Afterward, David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.
1 Samuel 24:6 He said to his men, “I swear before Yahveh: I would never do such a thing to my lord, Yahveh’s anointed. I will never lift my hand against him, since he is Yahveh’s anointed.”
1 Samuel 24:7 With these words David persuaded his men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and went on his way.
1 Samuel 24:8 After that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David knelt low with his face to the ground and paid homage.
1 Samuel 24:9 David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of people who say, Notice, David intends to harm you’?
1 Samuel 24:10 Notice with your own eyes that Yahveh handed you over to me today in the cave. Someone advised me to kill you, but I took pity on you and said: I won’t lift my hand against my lord, since he is Yahveh’s anointed.
1 Samuel 24:11 Look, my father! Look at the corner of your robe in my hand, for I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. Recognize that I’ve committed no crime or rebellion. I haven’t sinned against you even though you are hunting me down seeking my throat.
1 Samuel 24:12 “May Yahveh judge between me and you, and may Yahveh take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you.
1 Samuel 24:13 As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.’ My hand will never be against you.
1 Samuel 24:14 Who has the king of Israel come after? What are you chasing after? A dead dog? A single flea?
1 Samuel 24:15 May Yahveh be judge and decide between you and me. May he take notice and plead my case and deliver me from you.”
1 Samuel 24:16 When David finished saying these things to him, Saul replied, “Is that your voice, David my son?” Then Saul wept aloud
1 Samuel 24:17 and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have done what is good to me though I have done what is evil to you.
1 Samuel 24:18 You yourself have told me today what good you did for me: when Yahveh handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me.
1 Samuel 24:19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed? May Yahveh repay you with good for what you’ve done for me today.
1 Samuel 24:20 “Now notice I know for certain you will be king, and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.
1 Samuel 24:21 Therefore swear to me by Yahveh that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”
1 Samuel 24:22 So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.
1 Samuel 23:1 It was reported to David: “Notice, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and raiding the threshing floors.”
1 Samuel 23:2 So David inquired of Yahveh: “Should I launch an attack against these Philistines?” Yahveh answered David, “Launch an attack against the Philistines and rescue Keilah.”
1 Samuel 23:3 But David’s men said to him, “Notice, we’re afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!”
1 Samuel 23:4 Once again, David inquired of Yahveh, and Yahveh answered him: “Go at once to Keilah, for I will hand the Philistines over to you.”
1 Samuel 23:5 Then David and his men went to Keilah, fought against the Philistines, drove their livestock away, and inflicted heavy losses on them. So David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah.
1 Samuel 23:6 Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, and he brought an ephod with him.
1 Samuel 23:7 When it was reported to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with barred gates.”
1 Samuel 23:8 Then Saul summoned all the troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men.
1 Samuel 23:9 When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod.”
1 Samuel 23:10 Then David said, “Lord God of Israel, your slave has reliable information that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the town because of me.
1 Samuel 23:11 Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down as your slave has heard? Lord God of Israel, please tell your slave.” Yahveh answered, “He will come down.”
1 Samuel 23:12 Then David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” “They will,” Yahveh responded.
1 Samuel 23:13 So David and his men, numbering about six hundred, left Keilah at once and moved from place to place. When it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he called off the expedition.
1 Samuel 23:14 David then stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him.
1 Samuel 23:15 David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in Horesh when he saw that Saul had come out to seek his throat.
1 Samuel 23:16 Then Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and encouraged him in his faith in God,
1 Samuel 23:17 saying, “Don’t be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. You yourself will be king over Israel, and I’ll be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows it is true.”
1 Samuel 23:18 Then the two of them made a covenant in Yahveh’s presence. Afterward, David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home.
1 Samuel 23:19 Some Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “David is hiding among us in the strongholds in Horesh on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon.
1 Samuel 23:20 Now, whenever the king’s throat wants to come down, let him come down. Our part will be to hand him over to the king.”
1 Samuel 23:21 “May you be blessed by Yahveh,” replied Saul, “for you have shown concern for me.
1 Samuel 23:22 Go and check again. Investigate where he goes and who has seen him there; they tell me he is extremely cunning.
1 Samuel 23:23 Investigate all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with accurate information, and I’ll go with you. If it turns out he really is in the region, I’ll search for him among all the clans of Judah.”
1 Samuel 23:24 So they went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness near Maon in the Arabah south of Jeshimon,
1 Samuel 23:25 and Saul and his men went to look for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. Saul heard of this and pursued David there.
1 Samuel 23:26 Saul went along one side of the mountain and David and his men went along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away from Saul, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.
1 Samuel 23:27 Then a messenger came to Saul saying, “Come quickly, because the Philistines have raided the land!”
1 Samuel 23:28 So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to engage the Philistines. Therefore, that place was named the Rock of Separation.
1 Samuel 23:29 From there David went up and stayed in the strongholds of En-gedi.
jeffersonvann 