16So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, t“Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept.
17uThen he said to David: “You are vmore righteous than I; for wyou 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 xthe 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 yI know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.
21z“Therefore swear now to me by the LORD athat you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s house.”
22So David swore to Saul. And Saul went home, but David and his men went up to bthe stronghold.
1 Samuel 25
Death of Samuel
1Then aSamuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and blamented for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah. And David arose and went down cto the Wilderness of 1Paran.
David and the Wife of Nabal
2Now there was a man din Maon whose business was in eCarmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3The 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 fCaleb.
4When David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was gshearing his sheep,
5David 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: h‘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, inor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel.
8‘Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore 2let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on ja feast day. Please give whatever comes to your hand to your servants and to your son David.’ ”
9So when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited.
10Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, k“Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master.
11l“Shall I then take my bread and my water and my 3meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?”
12So David’s young men turned on their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words.
13Then 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 mstayed with the supplies.
14Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he 4reviled them.
15“But the men were very good to us, and nwe were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields.
16“They were oa 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 pharm is determined against our master and against all his household. For he is such a qscoundrel5 that one cannot speak to him.”
18Then Abigail made haste and rtook 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.
19And she said to her servants, s“Go on before me; see, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
20So 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.
21Now 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 trepaid me evil for good.
22u“May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I vleave wone male of all who belong to him by morning light.”
23Now when Abigail saw David, she xdismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground.
24So she fell at his feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant 6speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant.
25“Please, let not my lord 7regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: 8Nabal 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, yas the LORD lives and as your soul lives, since the LORD has zheld you back from coming to bloodshed and from aavenging9 yourself with your own hand, now then, blet your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal.
27“And now cthis 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 dthe LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord efights the battles of the LORD, fand 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 gbound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall hsling 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 iruler 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.”
32Then David said to Abigail: j“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 kkept 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 lkept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely mby morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!”
35So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, n“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and orespected your person.”
36Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, pholding 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.
37So 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.
38Then it happened, after about ten days, that the LORD qstruck Nabal, and he died.
39So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, r“Blessed be the LORD, who has spleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has tkept His servant from evil! For the LORD has ureturned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.” And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife.
40When 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.”
41Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to vwash the feet of the servants of my lord.”
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p; 42So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, 10attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.
43David also took Ahinoam wof Jezreel, xand so both of them were his wives.
44But Saul had given yMichal his daughter, David’s wife, to 11Palti the son of Laish, who was from zGallim.
1 Samuel 26
David Spares Saul a Second Time
1Now the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, a“Is David not hiding in the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?”
2Then Saul arose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, having bthree thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the Wilderness of Ziph.
3And 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.
4David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul had indeed come.
5So David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and cAbner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Now Saul lay within the camp, with the people encamped all around him.
6Then David answered, and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai dthe son of Zeruiah, brother of eJoab, saying, “Who will fgo down with me to Saul in the camp?” And gAbishai said, “I will go down with you.”
7So 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.
8Then Abishai said to David, h“God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him 1at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!”
9But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; ifor who can stretch out his hand against the LORD’s anointed, and be guiltless?”
10David said furthermore, “As the LORD lives, jthe LORD shall strike him, or khis day shall come to die, or he shall lgo out to battle and perish.
11m“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.”
12So 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 na deep sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.
13Now David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of a hill afar off, a great distance being between them.
14And 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?”
15So 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.”
17Then Saul knew David’s voice, and said, o“Is that your voice, my son David?” David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.”
18And he said, p“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 qstirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, may they be cursed before the LORD, rfor they have driven me out this day from sharing in the sinheritance 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 ta flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”
21Then Saul said, u“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.”
22And David answered and said, “Here is the king’s spear. Let one of the young men come over and get it.
23v“May the LORD wrepay 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.”
25Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed, my son David! You shall both do great things and also still xprevail.” So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.
1 Samuel 27
David Allied with the Philistines
1And 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 1despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.”
2Then David arose aand went over with the six hundred men who were with him bto Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
3So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David cwith his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow.
4And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; so he sought him no more.
5Then 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?”
6So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore dZiklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.
7Now 2the time that David edwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.
8And David and his men went up and raided fthe Geshurites, gthe 3Girzites, and the hAmalekites. For those nations were the inhabitants of the land from 4of old, ias you go to Shur, even as far as the land of Egypt.
9Whenever David 5attacked 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.
10Then 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 jthe Jerahmeelites, or against the southern area of kthe Kenites.”
11David 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.
12So Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever.”
1 Samuel 28
Saul Consults a Medium
1Now ait 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.”
2So 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
(cf. Deut. 18:9–14)
3Now bSamuel had died, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him in cRamah, in his own city. And Saul had put dthe mediums and the spiritists out of the land.
4Then the Philistines gathered together, and came and encamped at eShunem. So Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped at fGilboa.
5When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was gafraid, and his heart trembled greatly.
6And when Saul inquired of the LORD, hthe LORD did not answer him, either by idreams or jby Urim or by the prophets.
7Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, kth
at 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.”
8So 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 lhe said, “Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.”
9Then the woman said to him, “Look, you know what Saul has done, how he has mcut off the mediums and the spiritists from the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?”
10And Saul swore to her by the LORD, saying, “As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”
11Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bring up for you?” And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”
12When 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!”
13And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid. What did you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I saw na1 spirit ascending out of the earth.”
14So he said to her, “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and he is covered with oa mantle.” And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down.
15Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you pdisturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul answered, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and qGod has departed from me and rdoes 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.”
16Then 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 2Himself sas He spoke by me. For the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David.
18t“Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD nor execute His fierce wrath upon uAmalek, 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 vme. The LORD will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 140
