Day 76 of 365

¹David was told, "Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing floors."

²Therefore David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I go and strike these Philistines?" The Lord said to David, "Go strike the Philistines, and save Keilah."

³David'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?"

⁴Then David inquired of the Lord yet again. The Lord answered him, and said, "Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand."

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

⁶It happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.

⁷It was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. Saul said, "God has delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars."

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

⁹David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here."

¹⁰Then David said, "O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.

¹¹Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? Lord, the God of Israel, I beg you, tell your servant." The Lord said, "He will come down."

¹²Then David said, "Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" The Lord said, "They will deliver you up."

¹³Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. It was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he gave up going there.

¹⁴David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.

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

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

¹⁷He said to him, "Do not be afraid; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; and you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you; and that also Saul my father knows."

¹⁸They both made a covenant before the Lord: and David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his house.

¹⁹Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, "Doesn't David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert?

²⁰Now therefore, O king, come down, according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him up into the king's hand."

²¹Saul said, "You are blessed by the Lord; for you have had compassion on me.

²²Please go make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there; for it is told me that he deals very subtly.

²³See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself, and come again to me with certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall happen, if he is in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah."

²⁴They arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert.

²⁵Saul and his men went to seek him. When David was told, he went down to the rock, and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard that, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.

²⁶Saul 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 surrounded David and his men to take them.

²⁷But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come; for the Philistines have made a raid on the land!"

²⁸So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela Hammahlekoth.

²⁹David went up from there, and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi.

¹It happened, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, "Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi."

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

³He came to the sheep pens by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave.

⁴The men of David said to him, "Behold, the day of which the Lord said to you, 'Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.'" Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe secretly.

⁵It happened afterward, that David's heart struck him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt.

⁶He said to his men, "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, since he is the Lord's anointed."

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

⁸David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, "My lord the king!" When Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and showed respect.

⁹David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to men's words, saying, 'Behold, David seeks your hurt?'

¹⁰Behold, this day your eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered you today into my hand in the cave. Some urged me to kill you; but I spared you; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord; for he is the Lord's anointed.

¹¹Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor disobedience in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, though you hunt for my life to take it.

¹²May the Lord judge between me and you, and may the Lord avenge me of you; but my hand shall not be on you.

¹³As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness;' but my hand shall not be on you.

¹⁴Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea?

¹⁵May the Lord therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand."

¹⁶It came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.

¹⁷He said to David, "You are more righteous than I; for you have done good to me, whereas I have done evil to you.

¹⁸You have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, because when the Lord had delivered me up into your hand, you did not kill me.

¹⁹For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? Therefore may the Lord reward you good for that which you have done to me this day.

²⁰Now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.

²¹Swear now therefore to me by the Lord, that you will not cut off my seed after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house."

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

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

²There 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.

³Now 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 face: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

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

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

⁶You shall tell him, 'Long life to you! Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.

⁷Now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds have now been with us, and we did not hurt them, neither was there anything missing from them, all the while they were in Carmel.

⁸Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let the young men find favor in your eyes; for we come in a good day. Please give whatever comes to your hand, to your servants, and to your son David.'"

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

¹⁰Nabal answered David's servants, and said, "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants who break away from their masters these days.

¹¹Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men who I do not know where they come from?"

¹²So David's young men turned on their way, and went back, and came and told him according to all these words.

¹³David said to his men, "Every man put on his sword!" Every man put on his sword. David also put on his sword. About four hundred men followed David; and two hundred stayed by the baggage.

¹⁴But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to Greet our master; and he railed at them.

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

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

¹⁷Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house; for he is such a worthless fellow that one can't speak to him."

¹⁸Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two bottles of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.

¹⁹She said to her young men, "Go on before me. Behold, I come after you." But she did not tell her husband, Nabal.

²⁰It was so, as she rode on her donkey, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.

²¹Now David had said, "Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. He has returned me evil for good.

²²God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that belongs to him by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall."

²³When Abigail saw David, she hurried, and got off from her donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground.

²⁴She fell at his feet, and said, "On me, my lord, on me be the iniquity; and please let your handmaid speak in your ears. Hear the words of your handmaid.

²⁵Please do not let my lord regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your handmaid, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.

²⁶Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, since the Lord has withheld you from blood guiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

²⁷Now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.

²⁸Please forgive the trespass of your handmaid. For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord; and evil shall not be found in you all your days.

²⁹Though men may rise up to pursue you, and to seek your soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord your God. He will sling out the souls of your enemies, as from the hollow of a sling.

³⁰It shall come to pass, when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you prince over Israel,

³¹that this shall 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. When the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid."

³²David said to Abigail, "Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me!

³³Blessed is your discretion, and blessed are you, that have kept me this day from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand.

³⁴For indeed, as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn't have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall."

³⁵So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said to her, "Go up in peace to your house. Behold, I have listened to your voice, and have granted your request."

³⁶Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken. Therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.

³⁷It happened 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.

³⁸It happened about ten days after, that the Lord struck Nabal, so that he died.

³⁹When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed is the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil. The Lord has returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head." David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to him as wife.

⁴⁰When the servants of David had come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, "David has sent us to you, to take you to him as wife."

⁴¹She arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, "Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord."

⁴²Abigail hurried, and arose, and rode on a donkey, with five ladies of hers who followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.

⁴³David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they both became his wives.

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

¹The Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, "Doesn't David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert?"

²Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.

³Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert, by the way. But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.

⁴David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul had certainly come.

⁵David arose, and came to the place where Saul had encamped; and David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his army: and Saul lay within the place of the wagons, and the people were encamped around him.

⁶Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, "Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp?" Abishai said, "I will go down with you."

⁷So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the place of the wagons, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people lay around him.

⁸Then Abishai said to David, "God has delivered up your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore please let me strike him with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time."

⁹David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him; for who can put forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless?"

¹⁰David said, "As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall go down into battle and perish.

¹¹The Lord forbid that I should put forth my hand against the Lord's anointed; but now please take the spear that is at his head, and the jar of water, and let us go."

¹²So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head; and they went away: and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither did any awake; for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen on them.

¹³Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of the mountain afar off; a great space being between them;

¹⁴and David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, "Do you not answer, Abner?" Then Abner answered, "Who are you who cries to the king?"

¹⁵David said to Abner, "Aren't you a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord, the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord.

¹⁶This thing isn't good that you have done. As the Lord lives, you are worthy to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the Lord's anointed. Now see where the king's spear is, and the jar of water that was at his head."

¹⁷Saul knew David's voice, and said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" David said, "It is my voice, my lord, O king."

¹⁸He said, "Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand?

¹⁹Now therefore, please let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is so that the Lord has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, they are cursed before the Lord; for they have driven me out this day that I shouldn't cling to the Lord's inheritance, saying, 'Go, serve other gods!'

²⁰Now therefore, do not let my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord; for the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains."

²¹Then Saul said, "I have sinned. Return, my son David; for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly."

²²David answered, "Behold the spear, O king! Then let one of the young men come over and get it.

²³The Lord will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; because the Lord delivered you into my hand today, and I wouldn't put forth my hand against the Lord's anointed.

²⁴Behold, as your life was respected this day in my eyes, so let my life be respected in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me out of all oppression."

²⁵Then Saul said to David, "You are blessed, my son David. You shall both do mightily, and shall surely prevail." So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.