The Holy Bible

[25:1] After this, David went to the wilderness of Paran. Nabal was shearing his sheep in Carmel,

[25:4] and David, who was in the wilderness, heard about it,

[25:5] so he sent ten young men with orders to go to Carmel, find Nabal, and give him his greetings.

[25:6] He instructed them to say to Nabal: “David sends you greetings, my friend, with his best wishes for you, your family, and all that is yours.

[25:7] He heard that you were shearing your sheep, and he wants you to know that your shepherds have been with us and we did not harm them. Nothing that belonged to them was stolen all the time they were at Carmel.

[25:8] Just ask them, and they will tell you. We have come on a feast day, and David asks you to receive us kindly. Please give what you can to us your servants and to your dear friend David.”

[25:9] David's men delivered this message to Nabal in David's name. Then they waited there,

[25:10] and Nabal finally answered, “David? Who is he? I've never heard of him! The country is full of runaway slaves nowadays!

[25:11] I'm not going to take my bread and water, and the animals I have butchered for my sheepshearers, and give them to people who come from I don't know where!”

[25:12] David's men went back to him and told him what Nabal had said.

[25:13] “Buckle on your swords!” he ordered, and they all did. David also buckled on his sword and left with about four hundred of his men, leaving two hundred behind with the supplies.

[25:14] One of Nabal's servants said to Nabal's wife Abigail, “Have you heard? David sent some messengers from the wilderness with greetings for our master, but he insulted them.

[25:15] Yet they were very good to us; they never bothered us, and all the time we were with them in the fields, nothing that belonged to us was stolen.

[25:16] They protected us day and night the whole time we were with them looking after our flocks.

[25:17] Please think this over and decide what to do. This could be disastrous for our master and all his family. He is so mean that he won't listen to anybody!”

[25:18] Abigail quickly gathered two hundred loaves of bread, two leather bags full of wine, five roasted sheep, two bushels of roasted grain, a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dried figs, and loaded them on donkeys.

[25:19] Then she said to the servants, “You go on ahead and I will follow you.” But she said nothing to her husband.

[25:20] She was riding her donkey around a bend on a hillside when suddenly she met David and his men coming toward her.

[25:21] David had been thinking, “Why did I ever protect that fellow's property out here in the wilderness? Not a thing that belonged to him was stolen, and this is how he pays me back for the help I gave him!

[25:22] May God strike me dead if I don't kill every last one of those men before morning!”

[25:23] When Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted and threw herself on the ground

[25:24] at David's feet, and said to him, “Please, sir, listen to me! Let me take the blame.

[25:25] Please, don't pay any attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing! He is exactly what his name means—a fool! I wasn't there when your servants arrived, sir.

[25:26] It is the Lord who has kept you from taking revenge and killing your enemies. And now I swear to you by the living Lord that your enemies and all who want to harm you will be punished like Nabal.

[25:27] Please, sir, accept this present I have brought you, and give it to your men.

[25:28] Please forgive me, sir, for any wrong I have done. The Lord will make you king, and your descendants also, because you are fighting his battles; and you will not do anything evil as long as you live.

[25:29] If anyone should attack you and try to kill you, the Lord your God will keep you safe, as someone guards a precious treasure. As for your enemies, however, he will throw them away, as someone hurls stones with a sling.

[25:30] And when the Lord has done all the good things he has promised you and has made you king of Israel,

[25:31] then you will not have to feel regret or remorse, sir, for having killed without cause or for having taken your own revenge. And when the Lord has blessed you, sir, please do not forget me.”

[25:32] David said to her, “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me!

[25:33] Thank God for your good sense and for what you have done today in keeping me from the crime of murder and from taking my own revenge.

[25:34] The Lord has kept me from harming you. But I swear by the living God of Israel that if you had not hurried to meet me, all of Nabal's men would have been dead by morning!”

[25:35] Then David accepted what she had brought him and said to her, “Go back home and don't worry. I will do what you want.”

[25:36] Abigail went back to Nabal, who was at home having a feast fit for a king. He was drunk and in a good mood, so she did not tell him anything until the next morning.

[25:37] Then, after he had sobered up, she told him everything. He suffered a stroke and was completely paralyzed.

[25:38] Some ten days later the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

[25:39] When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, “Praise the Lord! He has taken revenge on Nabal for insulting me and has kept me his servant from doing wrong. The Lord has punished Nabal for his evil.” Then David sent a proposal of marriage to Abigail.

[25:40] His servants went to her at Carmel and said to her, “David sent us to take you to him to be his wife.”

[25:41] Abigail bowed down to the ground and said, “I am his servant, ready to wash the feet of his servants.”

[25:42] She rose quickly and mounted her donkey. Accompanied by her five maids, she went with David's servants and became his wife.

[25:43] David had married Ahinoam from Jezreel, and now Abigail also became his wife.

[25:44] Meanwhile, Saul had given his daughter Michal, who had been David's wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from the town of Gallim.

[26:1] Some men from Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah and told him that David was hiding on Mount Hachilah at the edge of the Judean wilderness.

[26:2] Saul went at once with three thousand of the best soldiers in Israel to the wilderness of Ziph to look for David,

[26:3] and camped by the road on Mount Hachilah. David was still in the wilderness, and when he learned that Saul had come to look for him,

[26:4] he sent spies and found out that Saul was indeed there.

[26:5] He went at once and located the exact place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, slept. Saul slept inside the camp, and his men camped around him.

[26:6] Then David asked Ahimelech the Hittite, and Abishai the brother of Joab (their mother was Zeruiah), “Which of you two will go to Saul's camp with me?” “I will,” Abishai answered.

[26:7] So that night David and Abishai entered Saul's camp and found Saul sleeping in the center of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the troops were sleeping around him.

[26:8] Abishai said to David, “God has put your enemy in your power tonight. Now let me plunge his own spear through him and pin him to the ground with just one blow—I won't have to strike twice!”

[26:9] But David said, “You must not harm him! The Lord will certainly punish whoever harms his chosen king.

[26:10] By the living Lord,” David continued, “I know that the Lord himself will kill Saul, either when his time comes to die a natural death or when he dies in battle.

[26:11] The Lord forbid that I should try to harm the one whom the Lord has made king! Let's take his spear and his water jar, and go.”

[26:12] So David took the spear and the water jar from right beside Saul's head, and he and Abishai left. No one saw it or knew what had happened or even woke up—they were all sound asleep, because the Lord had sent a heavy sleep on them all.

[26:13] Then David crossed over to the other side of the valley to the top of the hill, a safe distance away,

[26:14] and shouted to Saul's troops and to Abner, “Abner! Can you hear me?” “Who is that shouting and waking up the king?” Abner asked.

[26:15] David answered, “Abner, aren't you the greatest man in Israel? So why aren't you protecting your master, the king? Just now someone entered the camp to kill your master.

[26:16] You failed in your duty, Abner! I swear by the living Lord that all of you deserve to die, because you have not protected your master, whom the Lord made king. Look! Where is the king's spear? Where is the water jar that was right by his head?”

[26:17] Saul recognized David's voice and asked, “David, is that you, my son?” “Yes, Your Majesty,” David answered.

[26:18] And he added, “Why, sir, are you still pursuing me, your servant? What have I done? What crime have I committed?

[26:19] Your Majesty, listen to what I have to say. If it is the Lord who has turned you against me, an offering to him will make him change his mind; but if some people have done it, may the Lord's curse fall on them. For they have driven me out from the Lord's land to a country where I can only worship foreign gods.

[26:20] Don't let me be killed on foreign soil, away from the Lord. Why should the king of Israel come to kill a flea like me? Why should he hunt me down like a wild bird?”

[26:21] Saul answered, “I have done wrong. Come back, David, my son! I will never harm you again, because you have spared my life tonight. I have been a fool! I have done a terrible thing!”

[26:22] David replied, “Here is your spear, Your Majesty. Let one of your men come over and get it.

[26:23] The Lord rewards those who are faithful and righteous. Today he put you in my power, but I did not harm you, whom the Lord made king.

[26:24] Just as I have spared your life today, may the Lord do the same to me and free me from all troubles!”

[26:25] Saul said to David, “God bless you, my son! You will succeed in everything you do!” So David went on his way, and Saul returned home.

[28:3] Now Samuel had died, and all the Israelites had mourned for him and had buried him in his hometown of Ramah. Saul had forced all the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel.

[28:4] The Philistine troops assembled and camped near the town of Shunem; Saul gathered the Israelites and camped at Mount Gilboa.

[28:5] When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was terrified,

[28:6] and so he asked the Lord what to do. But the Lord did not answer him at all, either by dreams or by the use of Urim and Thummim or by prophets.

[28:7] Then Saul ordered his officials, “Find me a woman who is a medium, and I will go and consult her.” “There is one in Endor,” they answered.

[28:8] So Saul disguised himself; he put on different clothes, and after dark he went with two of his men to see the woman. “Consult the spirits for me and tell me what is going to happen,” he said to her. “Call up the spirit of the man I name.”

[28:9] The woman answered, “Surely you know what King Saul has done, how he forced the fortunetellers and mediums to leave Israel. Why, then, are you trying to trap me and get me killed?”

[28:10] Then Saul made a sacred vow. “By the living Lord I promise that you will not be punished for doing this,” he told her.

[28:11] “Whom shall I call up for you?” the woman asked. “Samuel,” he answered.

[28:12] When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed and said to Saul, “Why have you tricked me? You are King Saul!”

[28:13] “Don't be afraid!” the king said to her. “What do you see?” “I see a spirit coming up from the earth,” she answered.

[28:14] “What does it look like?” he asked. “It's an old man coming up,” she answered. “He is wearing a cloak.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed to the ground in respect.

[28:15] Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me? Why did you make me come back?” Saul answered, “I am in great trouble! The Philistines are at war with me, and God has abandoned me. He doesn't answer me any more, either by prophets or by dreams. And so I have called you, for you to tell me what I must do.”

[28:16] Samuel said, “Why do you call me when the Lord has abandoned you and become your enemy?

[28:17] The Lord has done to you what he told you through me: he has taken the kingdom away from you and given it to David instead.

[28:18] You disobeyed the Lord's command and did not completely destroy the Amalekites and all they had. That is why the Lord is doing this to you now.

[28:19] He will give you and Israel over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will join me, and the Lord will also give the army of Israel over to the Philistines.”

[28:20] At once Saul fell down and lay stretched out on the ground, terrified by what Samuel had said. He was weak, because he had not eaten anything all day and all night.

[28:21] The woman went over to him and saw that he was terrified, so she said to him, “Please, sir, I risked my life by doing what you asked.

[28:22] Now please do what I ask. Let me fix you some food. You must eat so that you will be strong enough to travel.”

[28:23] Saul refused and said he would not eat anything. But his officers also urged him to eat. He finally gave in, got up from the ground, and sat on the bed.

[28:24] The woman quickly killed a calf which she had been fattening. Then she took some flour, prepared it, and baked some bread without yeast.

[28:25] She set the food before Saul and his officers, and they ate it. And they left that same night.

[29:1] The Philistines brought all their troops together at Aphek, while the Israelites camped at the spring in Jezreel Valley.

[29:2] The five Philistine kings marched out with their units of a hundred and of a thousand men; David and his men marched in the rear with King Achish.

[29:3] The Philistine commanders saw them and asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” Achish answered, “This is David, an official of King Saul of Israel. He has been with me for quite some time now. He has done nothing I can find fault with since the day he came over to me.”

[29:4] But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said to him, “Send that fellow back to the town you gave him. Don't let him go into battle with us; he might turn against us during the fighting. What better way is there for him to win back his master's favor than by the death of our men?

[29:5] After all, this is David, the one about whom the women sang, as they danced, ‘Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.’”

[29:6] Achish called David and said to him, “I swear by the living God of Israel that you have been loyal to me; and I would be pleased to have you go with me and fight in this battle. I have not found any fault in you from the day you came over to me. But the other kings don't approve of you.

[29:7] So go back home in peace, and don't do anything that would displease them.”

[29:8] David answered, “What have I done wrong, sir? If, as you say, you haven't found any fault in me since the day I started serving you, why shouldn't I go with you, my master and king, and fight your enemies?”

[29:9] “I agree,” Achish replied. “I consider you as loyal as an angel of God. But the other kings have said that you can't go with us into battle.

[29:10] So then, David, tomorrow morning all of you who left Saul and came over to me will have to get up early and leave as soon as it's light.”

[29:11] So David and his men started out early the following morning to go back to Philistia, and the Philistines went on to Jezreel.

[30:1] Two days later David and his men arrived back at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern Judah and attacked Ziklag. They had burned down the town

[30:2] and captured all the women; they had not killed anyone, but had taken everyone with them when they left.

[30:3] When David and his men arrived, they found that the town had been burned down and that their wives, sons, and daughters had been carried away.

[30:4] David and his men started crying and did not stop until they were completely exhausted.

[30:5] Even David's two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had been taken away.

[30:6] David was now in great trouble, because his men were all very bitter about losing their children, and they were threatening to stone him; but the Lord his God gave him courage.

[30:7] David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod,” and Abiathar brought it to him.

[30:8] David asked the Lord, “Shall I go after those raiders? And will I catch them?” He answered, “Go after them; you will catch them and rescue the captives.”

[30:9] So David and his six hundred men started out, and when they arrived at Besor Brook, some of them stayed there.

[30:10] David continued on his way with four hundred men; the other two hundred men were too tired to cross the brook and so stayed behind.

[30:11] The men with David found a young Egyptian out in the country and brought him to David. They gave him some food and water,

[30:12] some dried figs, and two bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, his strength returned; he had not had anything to eat or drink for three full days.

[30:13] David asked him, “Who is your master, and where are you from?” “I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite,” he answered. “My master left me behind three days ago because I got sick.

[30:14] We had raided the territory of the Cherethites in the southern part of Judah and the territory of the clan of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”

[30:15] “Will you lead me to those raiders?” David asked him. He answered, “I will if you promise me in God's name that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master.”

[30:16] And he led David to them. The raiders were scattered all over the place, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the enormous amount of loot they had captured from Philistia and Judah.

[30:17] At dawn the next day David attacked them and fought until evening. Except for four hundred young men who mounted camels and got away, none of them escaped.

[30:18] David rescued everyone and everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives;

[30:19] nothing at all was missing. David got back all his men's sons and daughters, and all the loot the Amalekites had taken.

[30:20] He also recovered all the flocks and herds; his men drove all the livestock in front of them and said, “This belongs to David!”

[30:21] Then David went back to the two hundred men who had been too weak to go with him and had stayed behind at Besor Brook. They came forward to meet David and his men, and David went up to them and greeted them warmly.

[30:22] But some mean and worthless men who had gone with David said, “They didn't go with us, and so we won't give them any of the loot. They can take their wives and children and go away.”

[30:23] But David answered, “My brothers, you can't do this with what the Lord has given us! He kept us safe and gave us victory over the raiders.

[30:24] No one can agree with what you say! All must share alike: whoever stays behind with the supplies gets the same share as the one who goes into battle.”

[30:25] David made this a rule, and it has been followed in Israel ever since.

[30:26] When David returned to Ziklag, he sent part of the loot to his friends, the leaders of Judah, with the message, “Here is a present for you from the loot we took from the Lord's enemies.”

[30:27] He sent it to the people in Bethel, to the people in Ramah in the southern part of Judah, and to the people in the towns of Jattir,

[30:28] Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,

[30:29] and Racal; to the clan of Jerahmeel, to the Kenites,

[30:30] and to the people in the towns of Hormah, Borashan, Athach,

[30:31] and Hebron. He sent it to all the places where he and his men had roamed.

[31:1] The Philistines fought a battle against the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. Many Israelites were killed there, and the rest of them, including King Saul and his sons, fled.

[31:2] But the Philistines caught up with them and killed three of Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua.

[31:3] The fighting was heavy around Saul, and he himself was hit by enemy arrows and badly wounded.

[31:4] He said to the young man carrying his weapons, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that these godless Philistines won't gloat over me and kill me.” But the young man was too terrified to do it. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it.

[31:5] The young man saw that Saul was dead, so he too threw himself on his own sword and died with Saul.

[31:6] And that is how Saul, his three sons, and the young man died; all of Saul's men died that day.

[31:7] When the Israelites on the other side of Jezreel Valley and east of the Jordan River heard that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had been killed, they abandoned their towns and fled. Then the Philistines came and occupied the towns.

[31:8] The day after the battle the Philistines went to plunder the corpses, and they found the bodies of Saul and his three sons lying on Mount Gilboa.

[31:9] They cut off Saul's head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers with them throughout Philistia to tell the good news to their idols and to their people.

[31:10] Then they put his weapons in the temple of the goddess Astarte, and they nailed his body to the wall of the city of Beth Shan.

[31:11] When the people of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

[31:12] the bravest men started out and marched all night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall, brought them back to Jabesh, and burned them there.

[31:13] Then they took the bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in town, and fasted for seven days.

[1:1] After Saul's death David came back from his victory over the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag for two days.

[1:2] The next day a young man arrived from Saul's camp. To show his grief, he had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head. He went to David and bowed to the ground in respect.

[1:3] David asked him, “Where have you come from?” “I have escaped from the Israelite camp,” he answered.

[1:4] “Tell me what happened,” David said. “Our army ran away from the battle,” he replied, “and many of our men were killed. Saul and his son Jonathan were also killed.”

[1:5] “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan are dead?” David asked him.

[1:6] He answered, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and I saw that Saul was leaning on his spear and that the chariots and cavalry of the enemy were closing in on him.

[1:7] Then he turned around, saw me, and called to me. I answered, ‘Yes, sir!’

[1:8] He asked who I was, and I told him that I was an Amalekite.

[1:9] Then he said, ‘Come here and kill me! I have been badly wounded, and I'm about to die.’

[1:10] So I went up to him and killed him, because I knew that he would die anyway as soon as he fell. Then I took the crown from his head and the bracelet from his arm, and I have brought them to you, sir.”

[1:11] David tore his clothes in sorrow, and all his men did the same.

[1:12] They grieved and mourned and fasted until evening for Saul and Jonathan and for Israel, the people of the Lord, because so many had been killed in battle.

[1:13] David asked the young man who had brought him the news, “Where are you from?” He answered, “I'm an Amalekite, but I live in your country.”

[1:14] David asked him, “How is it that you dared kill the Lord's chosen king?”

[1:15] Then David called one of his men and said, “Kill him!” The man struck the Amalekite and mortally wounded him,

[1:16] and David said to the Amalekite, “You brought this on yourself. You condemned yourself when you confessed that you killed the one whom the Lord chose to be king.”

[1:17] David sang this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan,

[1:18] and ordered it to be taught to the people of Judah. (It is recorded in The Book of Jashar.)

[1:19] “On the hills of Israel our leaders are dead! The bravest of our soldiers have fallen!

[1:20] Do not announce it in Gath or in the streets of Ashkelon. Do not make the women of Philistia glad; do not let the daughters of pagans rejoice.

[1:21] “May no rain or dew fall on Gilboa's hills; may its fields be always barren! For the shields of the brave lie there in disgrace; the shield of Saul is no longer polished with oil.

[1:22] Jonathan's bow was deadly, the sword of Saul was merciless, striking down the mighty, killing the enemy.

[1:23] “Saul and Jonathan, so wonderful and dear; together in life, together in death; swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

[1:24] “Women of Israel, mourn for Saul! He clothed you in rich scarlet dresses and adorned you with jewels and gold.

[1:25] “The brave soldiers have fallen, they were killed in battle. Jonathan lies dead in the hills.

[1:26] “I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan; how dear you were to me! How wonderful was your love for me, better even than the love of women.

[1:27] “The brave soldiers have fallen, their weapons abandoned and useless.”

[2:1] After this, David asked the Lord, “Shall I go and take control of one of the towns of Judah?” “Yes,” the Lord answered. “Which one?” David asked. “Hebron,” the Lord said.

[2:2] So David went to Hebron, taking with him his two wives: Ahinoam, who was from Jezreel, and Abigail, Nabal's widow, who was from Carmel.

[2:3] He also took his men and their families, and they settled in the towns around Hebron.

[2:4] Then the men of Judah came to Hebron and anointed David as king of Judah. When David heard that the people of Jabesh in Gilead had buried Saul,

[2:5] he sent some men there with the message: “May the Lord bless you for showing your loyalty to your king by burying him.

[2:6] And now may the Lord be kind and faithful to you. I too will treat you well because of what you have done.

[2:7] Be strong and brave! Saul your king is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me as their king.”