1 Samuel 21-31

New King James Version

David and the Holy Bread

21 Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And ^(A)Ahimelech was ^(B)afraid when he met David, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?”

² So David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. ³ Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.”

⁴ And the priest answered David and said, “There is no ^[a]common bread on hand; but there is ^(C)holy^[b] bread, ^(D)if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.”

⁵ Then David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And ^[c]the ^(E)vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated ^(F)in the vessel this day.”

⁶ So the priest ^(G)gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread ^(H)which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.

⁷ Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was ^(I)Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.

⁸ And David said to Ahimelech, “Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.”

⁹ So the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in ^(J)the Valley of Elah, ^(K)there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here.”

And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

David Flees to Gath

¹⁰ Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ And ^(L)the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying:

¹² Now David ^(N)took these words ^[d]to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ So ^(O)he changed his behavior before them, pretended ^[e]madness in their hands, ^[f]scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. ¹⁴ Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? ¹⁵ Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

David’s Four Hundred Men^(P)

22 David therefore departed from there and ^(Q)escaped ^(R)to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. ^2 (S)And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was ^[g]discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about ^(T)four hundred men with him.

³ Then David went from there to Mizpah of ^(U)Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.” ⁴ So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

⁵ Now the prophet ^(V)Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

Saul Murders the Priests

⁶ When Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered—now Saul was staying in ^(W)Gibeah under a tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants standing about him— ⁷ then Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse ^(X)give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds? ⁸ All of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who reveals to me that ^(Y)my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse; and there is not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day.”

⁹ Then answered ^(Z)Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, “I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob, to ^(AA)Ahimelech the son of ^(AB)Ahitub. ^10 (AC)And he inquired of the Lord for him, ^(AD)gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ So the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were in Nob. And they all came to the king. ¹² And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahitub!”

He answered, “Here I am, my lord.”

¹³ Then Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day?”

¹⁴ So Ahimelech answered the king and said, “And who among all your servants is as ^(AE)faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, who goes at your bidding, and is honorable in your house? ¹⁵ Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? Far be it from me! Let not the king impute anything to his servant, or to any in the house of my father. For your servant knew nothing of all this, little or much.”

¹⁶ And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all ^(AF)your father’s house!” ¹⁷ Then the king said to the guards who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.” But the servants of the king ^(AG)would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the Lord. ¹⁸ And the king said to Doeg, “You turn and kill the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and ^[h]struck the priests, and ^(AH)killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod. ^19 (AI)Also Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep—with the edge of the sword.

^20 (AJ)Now one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, ^(AK)escaped and fled after David. ²¹ And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. ²² So David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s ^[i]house. ²³ Stay with me; do not fear. ^(AL)For he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you shall be safe.”

David Saves the City of Keilah

23 Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against ^(AM)Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.”

² Therefore David ^(AN)inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and ^[j]attack these Philistines?”

And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”

³ But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” ⁴ Then David inquired of the Lord once again.

And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” ⁵ And David and his men went to Keilah and ^(AO)fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶ Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech ^(AP)fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand.

⁷ And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” ⁸ Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

⁹ When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, ^(AQ)he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah ^(AR)to destroy the city for my sake. ¹¹ Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.”

And the Lord said, “He will come down.”

¹² Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah ^[k]deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?”

And the Lord said, “They will deliver you.”

¹³ So David and his men, ^(AS)about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.

David in Wilderness Strongholds

¹⁴ And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in ^(AT)the mountains in the Wilderness of ^(AU)Ziph. Saul ^(AV)sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. ¹⁵ So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph ^[l]in a forest. ¹⁶ Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and ^[m]strengthened his hand in God. ¹⁷ And he said to him, ^(AW)“Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. ^(AX)Even my father Saul knows that.” ¹⁸ So the two of them ^(AY)made a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.

¹⁹ Then the Ziphites ^(AZ)came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, 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 your soul to come down; and ^(BA)our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.”

²¹ And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. ²² Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty. ²³ See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the ^[n]clans of Judah.”

²⁴ So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness ^(BB)of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. ²⁵ When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down ^[o]to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. ²⁶ Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. ^(BC)So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men ^(BD)were encircling David and his men to take them.

^27 (BE)But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” ²⁸ Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place ^[p]the Rock of Escape. ²⁹ Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at ^(BF)En Gedi.

David Spares Saul

24 Now it happened, ^(BG)when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, “Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.” ² Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and ^(BH)went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. ³ So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and ^(BI)Saul went in to ^(BJ)attend to his needs. (^(BK)David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.) ^4 (BL)Then the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’ ” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. ⁵ Now it happened afterward that ^(BM)David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe. ⁶ And he said to his men, ^(BN)“The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.” ⁷ So David ^(BO)restrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.

⁸ David also arose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down. ⁹ And David said to Saul: ^(BP)“Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Indeed David seeks your harm’? ¹⁰ Look, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ ¹¹ Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is ^(BQ)neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you ^(BR)hunt my life to take it. ^12 (BS)Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you. ¹³ As the proverb of the ancients says, ^(BT)‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand shall not be against you. ¹⁴ After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? ^(BU)A dead dog? ^(BV)A flea? ^15 (BW)Therefore let the Lord be judge, and judge between you and me, and ^(BX)see and ^(BY)plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.”

¹⁶ So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, ^(BZ)“Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. ^17 (CA)Then he said to David: “You are ^(CB)more righteous than I; for ^(CC)you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. ¹⁸ And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when ^(CD)the Lord delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. ¹⁹ For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. ²⁰ And now ^(CE)I know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. ^21 (CF)Therefore swear now to me by the Lord ^(CG)that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s house.”

²² So David swore to Saul. And Saul went home, but David and his men went up to ^(CH)the stronghold.

Death of Samuel

25 Then ^(CI)Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and ^(CJ)lamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down ^(CK)to the Wilderness of ^[q]Paran.

David and the Wife of Nabal

² Now there was a man ^(CL)in Maon whose business was in ^(CM)Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. ³ The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of ^(CN)Caleb.

⁴ When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was ^(CO)shearing his sheep, ⁵ David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. ⁶ And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: ^(CP)‘Peace be to you, peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! ⁷ Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them, ^(CQ)nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel. ⁸ Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore ^[r]let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on ^(CR)a feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”

⁹ So when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited.

¹⁰ Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, ^(CS)“Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master. ^11 (CT)Shall I then take my bread and my water and my ^[s]meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?”

¹² So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words. ¹³ Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men went with David, and two hundred ^(CU)stayed with the supplies.

¹⁴ Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he ^[t]reviled them. ¹⁵ But the men were very good to us, and ^(CV)we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields. ¹⁶ They were ^(CW)a wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. ¹⁷ Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for ^(CX)harm is determined against our master and against all his household. For he is such a ^(CY)scoundrel^[u] that one cannot speak to him.”

¹⁸ Then Abigail made haste and ^(CZ)took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ And she said to her servants, ^(DA)“Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰ So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she went down under cover of the hill; and there were David and his men, coming down toward her, and she met them. ²¹ Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has ^(DB)repaid me evil for good. ^22 (DC)May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I ^(DD)leave ^(DE)one male of all who belong to him by morning light.”

²³ Now when Abigail saw David, she ^(DF)dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. ²⁴ So she fell at his feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant ^[v]speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. ²⁵ Please, let not my lord ^[w]regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: ^[x]Nabal is his name, and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. ²⁶ Now therefore, my lord, ^(DG)as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the Lord has ^(DH)held you back from coming to bloodshed and from ^(DI)avenging^[y] yourself with your own hand, now then, ^(DJ)let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. ²⁷ And now ^(DK)this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. ²⁸ Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For ^(DL)the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord ^(DM)fights the battles of the Lord, ^(DN)and evil is not found in you throughout your days. ²⁹ Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be ^(DO)bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall ^(DP)sling out, as from the pocket of a sling. ³⁰ And it shall come to pass, when the Lord has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you ^(DQ)ruler over Israel, ³¹ that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”

³² Then David said to Abigail: ^(DR)“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! ³³ And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have ^(DS)kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. ³⁴ For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has ^(DT)kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely ^(DU)by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” ³⁵ So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, ^(DV)“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and ^(DW)respected your person.”

³⁶ Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, ^(DX)holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. ³⁷ So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. ³⁸ Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord ^(DY)struck Nabal, and he died.

³⁹ So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, ^(DZ)“Blessed be the Lord, who has ^(EA)pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has ^(EB)kept His servant from evil! For the Lord has ^(EC)returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.”

And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. ⁴⁰ When the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, “David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife.”

⁴¹ Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to ^(ED)wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” ⁴² So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, ^[z]attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife. ⁴³ David also took Ahinoam ^(EE)of Jezreel, ^(EF)and so both of them were his wives.

⁴⁴ But Saul had given ^(EG)Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to ^[aa]Palti the son of Laish, who was from ^(EH)Gallim.

David Spares Saul a Second Time

26 Now the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, ^(EI)“Is David not hiding in the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?” ² Then Saul arose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, having ^(EJ)three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the Wilderness of Ziph. ³ And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon, by the road. But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. ⁴ David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul had indeed come.

⁵ So David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and ^(EK)Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Now Saul lay within the camp, with the people encamped all around him. ⁶ Then David answered, and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai ^(EL)the son of Zeruiah, brother of ^(EM)Joab, saying, “Who will ^(EN)go down with me to Saul in the camp?”

And ^(EO)Abishai said, “I will go down with you.”

⁷ So David and Abishai came to the people by night; and there Saul lay sleeping within the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the people lay all around him. ⁸ Then Abishai said to David, ^(EP)“God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him ^[ab]at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!”

⁹ But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; ^(EQ)for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” ¹⁰ David said furthermore, “As the Lord lives, ^(ER)the Lord shall strike him, or ^(ES)his day shall come to die, or he shall ^(ET)go out to battle and perish. ^11 (EU)The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. But please, take now the spear and the jug of water that are by his head, and let us go.” ¹² So David took the spear and the jug of water by Saul’s head, and they got away; and no man saw or knew it or awoke. For they were all asleep, because ^(EV)a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.

¹³ Now David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of a hill afar off, a great distance being between them. ¹⁴ And David called out to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Do you not answer, Abner?”

Then Abner answered and said, “Who are you, calling out to the king?”

¹⁵ So David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy your lord the king. ¹⁶ This thing that you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not guarded your master, the Lord’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is, and the jug of water that was by his head.”

¹⁷ Then Saul knew David’s voice, and said, ^(EW)“Is that your voice, my son David?”

David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” ¹⁸ And he said, ^(EX)“Why does my lord thus pursue his servant? For what have I done, or what evil is in my hand? ¹⁹ Now therefore, please, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the Lord has ^(EY)stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, may they be cursed before the Lord, ^(EZ)for they have driven me out this day from sharing in the ^(FA)inheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ ²⁰ So now, do not let my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord. For the king of Israel has come out to seek ^(FB)a flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

²¹ Then Saul said, ^(FC)“I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.”

²² And David answered and said, “Here is the king’s spear. Let one of the young men come over and get it. ^23 (FD)May the Lord ^(FE)repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. ²⁴ And indeed, as your life was valued much this day in my eyes, so let my life be valued much in the eyes of the Lord, and let Him deliver me out of all tribulation.”

²⁵ Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed, my son David! You shall both do great things and also still ^(FF)prevail.”

So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

David Allied with the Philistines

27 And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will ^[ac]despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.” ² Then David arose ^(FG)and went over with the six hundred men who were with him ^(FH)to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³ So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David ^(FI)with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow. ⁴ And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; so he sought him no more.

⁵ Then David said to Achish, “If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” ⁶ So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore ^(FJ)Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. ⁷ Now ^[ad]the time that David ^(FK)dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.

⁸ And David and his men went up and raided ^(FL)the Geshurites, ^(FM)the ^[ae]Girzites, and the ^(FN)Amalekites. For those nations were the inhabitants of the land from ^[af]of old, ^(FO)as you go to Shur, even as far as the land of Egypt. ⁹ Whenever David ^[ag]attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achish. ¹⁰ Then Achish would say, “Where have you made a raid today?” And David would say, “Against the southern area of Judah, or against the southern area of ^(FP)the Jerahmeelites, or against the southern area of ^(FQ)the Kenites.” ¹¹ David would save neither man nor woman alive, to bring news to Gath, saying, “Lest they should inform on us, saying, ‘Thus David did.’ ” And thus was his behavior all the time he dwelt in the country of the Philistines. ¹² So Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever.”

Saul Consults a Medium

28 Now ^(FR)it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.”

² So David said to Achish, “Surely you know what your servant can do.”

And Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you one of my chief guardians forever.”

Saul Consults a Medium^(FS)

³ Now ^(FT)Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in ^(FU)Ramah, in his own city. And Saul had put ^(FV)the mediums and the spiritists out of the land.

⁴ Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at ^(FW)Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at ^(FX)Gilboa. ⁵ When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was ^(FY)afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶ And when Saul inquired of the Lord, ^(FZ)the Lord did not answer him, either by ^(GA)dreams or ^(GB)by Urim or by the prophets.

⁷ Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, ^(GC)that I may go to her and inquire of her.”

And his servants said to him, “In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor.”

⁸ So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And ^(GD)he said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.”

⁹ Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has ^(GE)cut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?”

¹⁰ And Saul swore to her by the Lord, saying, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”

¹¹ Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”

And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”

¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!”

¹³ And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?”

And the woman said to Saul, “I saw ^(GF)a^[ah] spirit ascending out of the earth.”

¹⁴ So he said to her, “What is his form?”

And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with ^(GG)a mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down.

¹⁵ Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you ^(GH)disturbed me by bringing me up?”

And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and ^(GI)God has departed from me and ^(GJ)does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may reveal to me what I should do.”

¹⁶ Then Samuel said: “So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? ¹⁷ And the Lord has done for ^[ai]Himself ^(GK)as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. ^18 (GL)Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon ^(GM)Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. ¹⁹ Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with ^(GN)me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”

²⁰ Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, and was dreadfully afraid because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no food all day or all night.

²¹ And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was severely troubled, and said to him, “Look, your maidservant has obeyed your voice, and I have ^(GO)put my life in my hands and heeded the words which you spoke to me. ²² Now therefore, please, heed also the voice of your maidservant, and let me set a piece of bread before you; and eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way.”

²³ But he refused and said, “I will not eat.”

So his servants, together with the woman, urged him; and he heeded their voice. Then he arose from the ground and sat on the bed. ²⁴ Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she hastened to kill it. And she took flour and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from it. ²⁵ So she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they rose and went away that night.

The Philistines Reject David

29 Then ^(GP)the Philistines gathered together all their armies ^(GQ)at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel. ² And the ^(GR)lords of the Philistines ^[aj]passed in review by hundreds and by thousands, but ^(GS)David and his men passed in review at the rear with Achish. ³ Then the princes of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me ^(GT)these days, or these years? And to this day I have ^(GU)found no fault in him since he defected to me.”

⁴ But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; so the princes of the Philistines said to him, ^(GV)“Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us to ^(GW)battle, lest ^(GX)in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads of these ^(GY)men? ⁵ Is this not David, ^(GZ)of whom they sang to one another in dances, saying:

⁶ Then Achish called David and said to him, “Surely, as the Lord lives, you have been upright, and ^(HB)your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight. For to this day ^(HC)I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me. Nevertheless the lords do not favor you. ⁷ Therefore return now, and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.”

⁸ So David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And to this day what have you found in your servant as long as I have been with you, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

⁹ Then Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are as good in my sight ^(HD)as an angel of God; nevertheless ^(HE)the princes of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ ¹⁰ Now therefore, rise early in the morning with your master’s servants ^(HF)who have come with ^[ak]you. And as soon as you are up early in the morning and have light, depart.”

¹¹ So David and his men rose early to depart in the morning, to return to the land of the Philistines. ^(HG)And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David’s Conflict with the Amalekites

30 Now it happened, when David and his men came to ^(HH)Ziklag, on the third day, that the ^(HI)Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, ² and had taken captive the ^(HJ)women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. ³ So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. ⁴ Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. ⁵ And David’s two ^(HK)wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. ⁶ Now David was greatly distressed, for ^(HL)the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was ^[al]grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. ^(HM)But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

^7 (HN)Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And ^(HO)Abiathar brought the ephod to David. ^8 (HP)So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?”

And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”

⁹ So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind. ¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men; ^(HQ)for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.

¹¹ Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. ¹² And they gave him a piece of ^(HR)a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So ^(HS)when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights. ¹³ Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?”

And he said, “I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. ¹⁴ We made an invasion of the southern area of ^(HT)the Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to Judah, and of the southern area ^(HU)of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.”

¹⁵ And David said to him, “Can you take me down to this troop?”

So he said, “Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my ^(HV)master, and I will take you down to this troop.”

¹⁶ And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all the land, ^(HW)eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. ¹⁷ Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. ¹⁸ So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. ¹⁹ And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; ^(HX)David recovered all. ²⁰ Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

²¹ Now David came to the ^(HY)two hundred men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near the people, he ^[am]greeted them. ²² Then all the wicked and ^(HZ)worthless^[an] men of those who went with David answered and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.”

²³ But David said, “My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. ²⁴ For who will heed you in this matter? But ^(IA)as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.” ²⁵ So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

²⁶ Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the ^[ao]spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord”— ²⁷ to those who were in Bethel, those who were in ^(IB)Ramoth of the South, those who were in ^(IC)Jattir, ²⁸ those who were in ^(ID)Aroer, those who were in ^(IE)Siphmoth, those who were in ^(IF)Eshtemoa, ²⁹ those who were in Rachal, those who were in the cities of ^(IG)the Jerahmeelites, those who were in the cities of the ^(IH)Kenites, ³⁰ those who were in ^(II)Hormah, those who were in ^[ap]Chorashan, those who were in Athach, ³¹ those who were in ^(IJ)Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to ^(IK)rove.

The Tragic End of Saul and His Sons^(IL)

31 Now ^(IM)the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount ^(IN)Gilboa. ² Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed ^(IO)Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. ^3 (IP)The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers ^[aq]hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers.

^4 (IQ)Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest ^(IR)these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and ^[ar]abuse me.”

But his armorbearer would not, ^(IS)for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and ^(IT)fell on it. ⁵ And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him. ⁶ So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.

⁷ And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. ⁸ So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ And they cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines, to ^(IU)proclaim it in the temple of their idols and among the people. ^10 (IV)Then they put his armor in the temple of the ^(IW)Ashtoreths, and ^(IX)they fastened his body to the wall of ^(IY)Beth^[as] Shan.

^11 (IZ)Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ^12 (JA)all the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and ^(JB)burned them there. ¹³ Then they took their bones and ^(JC)buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, ^(JD)and fasted seven days.