1 Samuel 26 - 31 — Legacy Standard Bible

David Takes Saul’s Spear

26Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “^aIs not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before ¹Jeshimon?” ²So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having with him ^athree thousand chosen men of Israel, to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph. ³And Saul camped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before ¹Jeshimon, ^abeside the road. Now David was staying in the wilderness, and ^bhe saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. ⁴So David sent out spies and knew that Saul was certainly coming. ⁵David then arose and came to the place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, as well as ^aAbner the son of Ner, the commander of his army; and Saul was lying in the circle of the camp, and the people were camped around him.

⁶Then David answered and said to Ahimelech ^athe Hittite and to ^bAbishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, saying, “Who ^cwill go down with me to Saul in the camp?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” ⁷So David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people were lying around him. ⁸Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has surrendered your enemy into your hand; so now, please let me strike him with the spear ¹to the ground with one stroke, and I will not ²strike him the second time.” ⁹But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for ^awho can send forth his hand against the anointed of Yahweh and be without guilt?” ¹⁰David also said, “As Yahweh lives, ^asurely Yahweh will smite him, or ^bhis day will come that he dies, or ^che will go down into battle and be swept away. ¹¹“^aYahweh forbid that I should send forth my hand against the anointed of Yahweh; but now please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let us go.” ¹²So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul’s head, and they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because ^aa ¹sound sleep from Yahweh had fallen on them.

¹³Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance with a large area between them. ¹⁴And David called to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered and said, “Who are you who calls 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 to destroy the king your lord. ¹⁶“This thing that you have done is not good. As Yahweh lives, all of you ¹^,^amust surely die because you did not keep watch over your lord, the anointed of Yahweh. So now, see where the king’s spear is and the jug of water that was at his head.”

¹⁷Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “^aIs this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord the king.” ¹⁸He also said, “^aWhy then is my lord pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand? ¹⁹“So now, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If ^aYahweh has incited you up against me, ^blet Him ¹accept an offering; but ^cif it is ²men, cursed are they before Yahweh, for ^dthey have driven me out today so that I would have no attachment with the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ ²⁰“So now, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of Yahweh; for the king of Israel has come out to search for ^aa single flea, just as one pursues a partridge in the mountains.”

²¹Then Saul said, “^aI have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have committed a serious error.” ²²And David replied, “Behold the spear of the king! Now let one of the young men come over and take it. ²³“^aNow Yahweh will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for Yahweh gave you into my hand today, but ^bI was not willing to send forth my hand against the anointed of Yahweh. ²⁴“Now behold, as your life was ^ahighly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of Yahweh, and may He ^bdeliver me from all distress.” ²⁵Then Saul said to David, “^aBlessed are you, my son David; you will both accomplish much and surely prevail.” So ^bDavid went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

David Escapes to the Philistines

27Then David said in his heart, “Now I will be swept away one day by the hand of Saul. ^aThere is nothing better for me than that I should utterly escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.” ²So David arose and crossed over, he and ^athe six hundred men who were with him, to ^bAchish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, ^aeach with his household, even David with ^bhis two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife. ⁴And it was told to Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him.

⁵Then David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your sight, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” ⁶So Achish gave him Ziklag that day; therefore ^aZiklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. ⁷And the number of days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was ^aa year and four months.

⁸Now David and his men went up and raided ^athe Geshurites and the Girzites and ^bthe Amalekites; for they were the inhabitants of the land from ancient times, as you come to ^cShur even as far as the land of Egypt. ⁹And David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive, and he ^atook away the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish. ¹⁰And Achish said, “Where have you ^amade a raid today?” And David said, “Against the ¹Negev of Judah and against the ²Negev of ^bthe Jerahmeelites and against the ³Negev of ^cthe Kenites.” ¹¹And David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring to Gath, saying, “Lest they tell about us, saying, ‘So has David done and so has been his custom all the time he has lived in the country of the Philistines.’” ¹²So Achish believed David, saying, “He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever.”

Saul and the Woman of En-dor

28Now it happened in those days that ^athe Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men.” ²And David said to Achish, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.” So Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you ¹my bodyguard ^afor life.”

³Now ^aSamuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented for him and buried him ^bin Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who ^cwere mediums and spiritists. ⁴So the Philistines gathered together and came and camped ^ain Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they camped in ^bGilboa. ⁵Saul saw the camp of the Philistines and was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶^aSo Saul asked of Yahweh, but ^bYahweh did not answer him, either by ^cdreams or by ^dUrim or by prophets. ⁷So Saul said to his servants, “Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, ^athere is a woman who is a medium at ^bEn-dor.”

⁸Then Saul ^adisguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, “^bDivine for me, please, and ^cbring up for me whom I shall say to you.” ⁹But the woman said to him, “Behold, you know ^awhat Saul has done, how he has cut off those who are mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you then laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?” ¹⁰Then Saul swore to her by Yahweh, saying, “As Yahweh 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.” ¹²And the woman saw Samuel and 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; but what do you see?” And the woman said to Saul, “I see a ¹divine being coming up out of the earth.” ¹⁴And he said to her, “What is his form?” And she said, “An old man is coming up, and ^ahe is wrapped with a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and ^bhe bowed with his ¹face to the ground and prostrated himself.

¹⁵Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul answered, “I am greatly distressed, for the Philistines are waging war against me, and ^aGod has turned away from me and ^bno longer answers me, either by the hand of the prophets or by dreams; therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I should do.” ¹⁶And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since Yahweh has turned away from you and has become your adversary? ¹⁷“So Yahweh has done ¹accordingly ^aas He spoke by my hand, for Yahweh has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David. ¹⁸“As ^ayou did not listen to the voice of Yahweh and did not execute His burning anger on Amalek, so Yahweh has done this thing to you this day. ¹⁹“Moreover Yahweh will also give over Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow ^ayou and your sons will be with me. Indeed Yahweh will give over the camp of Israel into the hands of the Philistines!”

²⁰Then Saul quickly fell full length upon the ground and was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; also there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no ¹food all day and all night. ²¹And the woman came to Saul and saw that he was terrified and said to him, “Behold, your servant-woman has listened to your voice, and ^aI have ¹taken my life in my hand and have listened to your words which you spoke to me. ²²“So now also, please listen to the voice of your servant-woman, and let me set a piece of bread before you that you may eat and have strength when you go on your way.” ²³But he refused and said, “^aI will not eat.” ^bHowever, his servants together with the woman urged him, and he listened to ¹them. So he arose from the ground and sat on ^cthe bed. ²⁴And the woman had a ^afattened calf in the house, and she quickly sacrificed it; and she ^btook flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread from it. ²⁵And she brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and went away that night.

Achish Makes David Leave the Battle

29Then ^athe Philistines gathered together all their camps to ^bAphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in ^cJezreel. ²And the lords of the Philistines were proceeding on by hundreds and by thousands, and ^aDavid and his men were proceeding on in the rear with Achish. ³Then the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, ^awho has been with me these days, or rather these years, and ^bI have found no fault in him from the day he ¹deserted to me to this day?” ⁴But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Make the man return, that he may return ^ato his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, ^bor in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For with what could this man make himself acceptable to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of ¹these men? ⁵“Is this not David, ^aof whom they sing in the dances, saying, ‘Saul has struck his thousands,And David his ten thousands’?”

⁶Then Achish called David and said to him, “As Yahweh lives, you have been upright, and ^ayour going out and your coming in with me in the camp are pleasing in my sight; ^bfor I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords. ⁷“So now, return and go in peace, that you may not do evil in the sight of the lords of the Philistines.” ⁸And David said to Achish, “^aBut what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day when I came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” ⁹But Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are pleasing in my sight, ^alike an angel of God; nevertheless ^bthe commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us to the battle.’ ¹⁰“So now, arise early in the morning ^awith the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in the morning and have light, go.” ¹¹So David arose early, he and his men, to go in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David Strikes Down the Amalekites

30Then it happened when David and his men came to ^aZiklag on the third day, that ^bthe Amalekites had made a raid on the ¹Negev and on ^cZiklag and had struck Ziklag and burned it with fire; ²and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great—^athey did not put anyone to death—and carried them off and went their way. ³Then David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. ⁴So David and the people who were with him ^alifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. ⁵Now ^aDavid’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. ⁶Moreover David was greatly distressed because ^athe people said to stone him, for all the people were ¹embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But ^bDavid strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.

⁷Then ^aDavid said to ^bAbiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod near to me.” So Abiathar brought the ephod near to David. ⁸^aAnd David asked of Yahweh, saying, “^bShall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, ^cand you will surely deliver all.” ⁹So David went, ^ahe and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained. ¹⁰But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for ^atwo hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained behind.

¹¹Then they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David and gave him bread, and he ate, and they provided him water to drink. ¹²And they gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; ^athen his spirit ¹revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. ¹³And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man of Egypt, a slave of an Amalekite; and my master forsook me when I fell sick three days ago. ¹⁴“We made a raid on ^athe ¹Negev of the Cherethites and on that which belongs to Judah and on ^bthe ²Negev of Caleb, and ^cwe burned Ziklag with fire.” ¹⁵Then David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not put me to death or surrender me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.”

¹⁶So he brought him down, and behold, they were ¹spread over all the land, ^aeating and drinking and ²celebrating because of ^ball the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. ¹⁷Then David struck them ^adown from the twilight ¹until the evening of ²the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on ^bcamels and fled. ¹⁸So David ^adelivered all that the Amalekites had taken and ¹delivered his two wives. ¹⁹Indeed nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that they had taken for themselves; ^aDavid brought it all back. ²⁰And David took all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of ¹the other livestock, and they said, “^aThis is David’s spoil.”

David Apportions the Spoils

²¹Then ^aDavid came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David, who had also remained at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, and David approached the people and greeted them. ²²Then all the evil and vile men among those who went with David said, “Because they did not go with ¹us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have delivered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.” ²³Then David said, “You must not do so, my brothers, with what Yahweh has given us, who has kept us and given into our hand the band that came against us. ²⁴“And who will listen to you in this matter? For ^aas is the portion of the one who goes down to the battle, so shall the portion be of the one who remains by the baggage; they shall be apportioned together.” ²⁵So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and a judgment for Israel to this day.

²⁶Then David came to Ziklag and sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Behold, ^aa ¹gift for you from the spoil of ^bthe enemies of Yahweh: ²⁷to those who were in ^aBethel, and to those who were in ^bRamoth of the ¹Negev, and to those who were in ^cJattir, ²⁸and to those who were in ^aAroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in ^bEshtemoa, ²⁹and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of ^athe Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of ^bthe Kenites, ³⁰and to those who were in ^aHormah, and to those who were in ^bBor-ashan, and to those who were in Athach, ³¹and to those who were in ^aHebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men ^bwent about.”

The Death of Saul and His Sons

31^aNow the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain ^bon Mount Gilboa. ²And the Philistines closely pursued Saul and his sons; and the Philistines struck down ^aJonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ³^aAnd the battle became heavy against Saul, and the archers ¹hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. ⁴^aThen Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, lest ^bthese uncircumcised come and pierce me through and abuse me.” But his armor bearer was not willing, for he was greatly afraid. ^cSo Saul took his sword and fell on it. ⁵Then his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, so he also fell on his sword and died with him. ⁶Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.

⁷Then the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead. So they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸Now it happened on the ¹next day, that the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹Then they cut off his head and stripped off his weapons and sent them all around the land of the Philistines, ^ato proclaim the good news ^bto the house of their idols and to the people. ¹⁰And they placed his weapons in the ¹house of ^aAshtaroth and ^bfastened his body to the wall of ^cBeth-shan. ¹¹Then ^athe inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard ¹what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²^aso all the valiant men arose and walked all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and ^bburned them there. ¹³And they took their bones and ^aburied them under ^bthe tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and ^cfasted seven days.