1Sam 18:18 And David said unto Saul, Who am I, and what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king? 1Sam 18:19 But it came to pass at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife. 1Sam 18:20 And Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 1Sam 18:21 And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law a second time. 1Sam 18:22 And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king’s son-in-law. 1Sam 18:23 And Saul’s servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be the king’s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed? 1Sam 18:24 And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David.
1Sam 18:25 And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 1Sam 18:26 And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. And the days were not expired; 1Sam 18:27 and David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife. 1Sam 18:28 And Saul saw and knew that Jehovah was with David; and Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him. 1Sam 18:29 And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul was David’s enemy continually. 1Sam 18:30 Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, as often as they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by. 1Sam 19:1 And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should slay David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David.
1Sam 19:2 And Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to slay thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself in the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself: 1Sam 19:3 and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and if I see aught, I will tell thee. 1Sam 19:4 And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: 1Sam 19:5 for he put his life in his hand, and smote the Philistine, and Jehovah wrought a great victory for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice; wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? 1Sam 19:6 And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As Jehovah liveth, he shall not be put to death. 1Sam 19:7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as beforetime. 1Sam 19:8 And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him.
1Sam 19:9 And an evil spirit from Jehovah was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand. 1Sam 19:10 And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the spear into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. 1Sam 19:11 And Saul sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou wilt be slain. 1Sam 19:12 So Michal let David down through the window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. 1Sam 19:13 And Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair at the head thereof, and covered it with the clothes. 1Sam 19:14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. 1Sam 19:15 And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. 1Sam 19:16 And when the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at the head thereof. 1Sam 19:17 And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me thus, and let mine enemy go, so that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?
1Sam 19:18 Now David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. 1Sam 19:19 And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. 1Sam 19:20 And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 1Sam 19:21 And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 1Sam 19:22 Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah. 1Sam 19:23 And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 1Sam 19:24 And he also stripped off his clothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?
1Sam 20:1 And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? 1Sam 20:2 And he said unto him, Far from it; thou shalt not die: behold, my father doeth nothing either great or small, but that he discloseth it unto me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so. 1Sam 20:3 And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father knoweth well that I have found favor in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. 1Sam 20:4 Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. 1Sam 20:5 And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to-morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. 1Sam 20:6 If thy father miss me at all, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beth-lehem his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family. 1Sam 20:7 If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be wroth, then know that evil is determined by him.
1Sam 20:8 Therefore deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of Jehovah with thee: but if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father? 1Sam 20:9 And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee; for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee? 1Sam 20:10 Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me if perchance thy father answer thee roughly? 1Sam 20:11 And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. 1Sam 20:12 And Jonathan said unto David, Jehovah, the God of Israel, be witness: when I have sounded my father about this time to-morrow, or the third day, behold, if there be good toward David, shall I not then send unto thee, and disclose it unto thee? 1Sam 20:13 Jehovah do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do thee evil, if I disclose it not unto thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and Jehovah be with thee, as he hath been with my father. 1Sam 20:14 And thou shalt not only while yet I live show me the lovingkindness of Jehovah, that I die not; 1Sam 20:15 but also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever; no, not when Jehovah hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. 1Sam 20:16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, And Jehovah will require it at the hand of David’s enemies. 1Sam 20:17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 1Sam 20:18 Then Jonathan said unto him, To-morrow is the new moon: and thou wilt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. 1Sam 20:19 And when thou hast stayed three days, thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. 1Sam 20:20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark. 1Sam 20:21 And, behold, I will send the lad, saying, Go, find the arrows. If I say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee; take them, and come; for there is peace to thee and no hurt, as Jehovah liveth. 1Sam 20:22 But if I say thus unto the boy, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way; for Jehovah hath sent thee away. 1Sam 20:23 And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, Jehovah is between thee and me for ever.
1Sam 20:24 So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat food. 1Sam 20:25 And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon the seat by the wall; and Jonathan stood up, and Abner sat by Saul’s side: but David’s place was empty. 1Sam 20:26 Nevertheless Saul spake not anything that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean. 1Sam 20:27 And it came to pass on the morrow after the new moon, which was the second day, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to-day? 1Sam 20:28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Beth-lehem: 1Sam 20:29 and he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favor in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he is not come unto the king’s table.
1Sam 20:30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of a perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own shame, and unto the shame of thy mother’s nakedness? 1Sam 20:31 For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die. 1Sam 20:32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore should he be put to death? what hath he done? 1Sam 20:33 And Saul cast his spear at him to smite him; whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to put David to death. 1Sam 20:34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no food the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame. 1Sam 20:35 And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. 1Sam 20:36 And he said unto his lad, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
1Sam 20:37 And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee? 1Sam 20:38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. 1Sam 20:39 But the lad knew not anything: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 1Sam 20:40 And Jonathan gave his weapons unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city. 1Sam 20:41 And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the South, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. 1Sam 20:42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of Jehovah, saying, Jehovah shall be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed, for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city. 1Sam 21:1 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?
1Sam 21:2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know anything of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed the young men to such and such a place. 1Sam 21:3 Now therefore what is under thy hand? give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatsoever there is present. 1Sam 21:4 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women. 1Sam 21:5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days; when I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was but a common journey; how much more then to-day shall their vessels be holy? 1Sam 21:6 So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread, that was taken from before Jehovah, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. 1Sam 21:7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Jehovah; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chiefest of the herdsmen that belonged to Saul.
1Sam 21:8 And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste. 1Sam 21:9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the vale of Elah, 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. 1Sam 21:10 And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 1Sam 21:11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands? 1Sam 21:12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 1Sam 21:13 And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. 1Sam 21:14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad; wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
1Sam 21:15 Do I lack madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? 1Sam 22:1 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. 1Sam 22:2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. 1Sam 22:3 And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. 1Sam 22:4 And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the stronghold. 1Sam 22:5 And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the stronghold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hereth.
1Sam 22:6 And Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him: now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk-tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. 1Sam 22:7 And Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, 1Sam 22:8 that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that discloseth to me when my son maketh a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or discloseth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? 1Sam 22:9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 1Sam 22:10 And he inquired of Jehovah for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. 1Sam 22:11 Then 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. 1Sam 22:12 And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord.
1Sam 22:13 And Saul said unto 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, to lie in wait, as at this day? 1Sam 22:14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who among all thy servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and is taken into thy council, and is honorable in thy house? 1Sam 22:15 Have I to-day begun to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father; for thy servant knoweth nothing of all this, less or more. 1Sam 22:16 And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father’s house. 1Sam 22:17 And the king said unto the guard that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of Jehovah; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of Jehovah.
1Sam 22:18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and he slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. 1Sam 22:19 And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and asses and sheep, with the edge of the sword. 1Sam 22:20 And one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. 1Sam 22:21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain Jehovah’s priests. 1Sam 22:22 And David said unto Abiathar, I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house. 1Sam 22:23 Abide thou with me, fear not; for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: for with me thou shalt be in safeguard. 1Sam 23:1 And they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing-floors. 1Sam 23:2 Therefore David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And Jehovah said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. 1Sam 23:3 And David’s men said unto him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?
1Sam 23:4 Then David inquired of Jehovah yet again. And Jehovah answered him, and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand. 1Sam 23:5 And David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and slew them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. 1Sam 23:6 And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. 1Sam 23:7 And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars. 1Sam 23:8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 1Sam 23:9 And David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod. 1Sam 23:10 Then said David, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, thy servant hath surely heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. 1Sam 23:11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Jehovah, the God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And Jehovah said, He will come down.
1Sam 23:12 Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver up me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will deliver thee up. 1Sam 23:13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth. 1Sam 23:14 And David abode in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill-country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand. 1Sam 23:15 And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the wood. 1Sam 23:16 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. 1Sam 23:17 And he said unto him, Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth. 1Sam 23:18 And they two made a covenant before Jehovah: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.
1Sam 23:19 Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert? 1Sam 23:20 Now therefore, O king, come down, according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him up into the king’s hand. 1Sam 23:21 And Saul said, Blessed be ye of Jehovah; for ye have had compassion on me. 1Sam 23:22 Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there; for it is told me that he dealeth very subtly. 1Sam 23:23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me of a certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah. 1Sam 23:24 And they 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. 1Sam 23:25 And Saul and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down to the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.
1Sam 23:26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them. 1Sam 23:27 But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have made a raid upon the land. 1Sam 23:28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth. 1Sam 23:29 And David went up from thence, and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi. 1Sam 24:1 And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi. 1Sam 24:2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. 1Sam 24:3 And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave.
1Sam 24:4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold, the day of which Jehovah said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thy hand, and thou shalt do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily. 1Sam 24:5 And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. 1Sam 24:6 And he said unto his men, Jehovah forbid that I should do this thing unto my lord, Jehovah’s anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is Jehovah’s anointed. 1Sam 24:7 So 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. 1Sam 24:8 David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and did obeisance. 1Sam 24:9 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearkenest thou to men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? 1Sam 24:10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that Jehovah had delivered thee to-day into my hand in the cave: and some 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 Jehovah’s anointed.
1Sam 24:11 Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee, though thou huntest after my life to take it. 1Sam 24:12 Jehovah judge between me and thee, and Jehovah avenge me of thee; but my hand shall not be upon thee. 1Sam 24:13 As saith the proverb of the ancients, Out of the wicked cometh forth wickedness; but my hand shall not be upon thee. 1Sam 24:14 After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. 1Sam 24:15 Jehovah therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thy hand. 1Sam 24:16 And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 1Sam 24:17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I; for thou hast rendered unto me good, whereas I have rendered unto thee evil.
1Sam 24:18 And thou hast declared this day how that thou hast dealt well with me, forasmuch as when Jehovah had delivered me up into thy hand, thou killedst me not. 1Sam 24:19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore Jehovah reward thee good for that which thou hast done unto me this day. 1Sam 24:20 And now, behold, I know that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thy hand. 1Sam 24:21 Swear now therefore unto 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. 1Sam 24:22 And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the stronghold. 1Sam 25:1 And Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. 1Sam 25:2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 1Sam 25:3 Now 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 of the house of Caleb.
1Sam 25:4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 1Sam 25:5 And David sent ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: 1Sam 25:6 and thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be unto thee, and peace be to thy house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. 1Sam 25:7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: thy shepherds have now been with us, and we did them no hurt, neither was there aught missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. 1Sam 25:8 Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee: wherefore let the young men find favor in thine eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thy hand, unto thy servants, and to thy son David. 1Sam 25:9 And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. 1Sam 25:10 And 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. 1Sam 25:11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men of whom I know not whence they are?
1Sam 25:12 So David’s young men turned on their way, and went back, and came and told him according to all these words. 1Sam 25:13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the baggage. 1Sam 25:14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed at them. 1Sam 25:15 But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields: 1Sam 25:16 they were a wall unto us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 1Sam 25:17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house: for he is such a worthless fellow, that one cannot speak to him. 1Sam 25:18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched grain, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.
1Sam 25:19 And she said unto her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. 1Sam 25:20 And it was so, as she rode on her ass, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that, behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them. 1Sam 25:21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good. 1Sam 25:22 God do so unto the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light so much as one man-child. 1Sam 25:23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and alighted from her ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground. 1Sam 25:24 And she fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me be the iniquity; and let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy handmaid. 1Sam 25:25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, 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 thy handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
1Sam 25:26 Now therefore, my lord, as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing Jehovah hath withholden thee from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now therefore let thine enemies, and them that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. 1Sam 25:27 And now this present which thy servant hath brought unto my lord, let it be given unto the young men that follow my lord. 1Sam 25:28 Forgive, I pray thee, the trespass of thy handmaid: for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of Jehovah; and evil shall not be found in thee all thy days. 1Sam 25:29 And though men be risen up to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the hollow of a sling. 1Sam 25:30 And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee prince over Israel, 1Sam 25:31 that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord hath avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid. 1Sam 25:32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me: 1Sam 25:33 and blessed be thy discretion, and blessed be thou, that hast kept me this day from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. 1Sam 25:34 For in very deed, as Jehovah, the God of Israel, liveth, who hath withholden me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child. 1Sam 25:35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said unto her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. 1Sam 25:36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
1Sam 25:37 And 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. 1Sam 25:38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that Jehovah smote Nabal, so that he died. 1Sam 25:39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Jehovah, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept back his servant from evil: and the evil-doing of Nabal hath Jehovah returned upon his own head. And David sent and spake concerning Abigail, to take her to him to wife. 1Sam 25:40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David hath sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife. 1Sam 25:41 And she arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, thy handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. 1Sam 25:42 And 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. 1Sam 25:43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they became both of them his wives.