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 Engedi.

And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.

And later, David was full of regret for cutting off Saul's skirt.

And David said to his men, Before the Lord, never let it be said that my hand was lifted up against my lord, the man of the Lord's selection, for the Lord's holy oil has been put on him.

And when Saul was up out of the cave and gone away, David arose and went out of the cave and cried after Saul, saying, "My lord king!" And Saul looked behind him. And David stooped to the earth and bowed himself,

Behold, this day thine eyes saw that Jehovah gave thee this day into my hand in the cave: and it was said to kill thee; and it had pity upon thee, and saying, I will not stretch forth my hand against my lord, for he is Jehovah's Messiah.

Now when David had said these words to Saul, Saul said, Is this your voice, David, my son? And Saul was overcome with weeping.

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.

Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman 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.

When David heard in the desert that Nabal was shearing his sheep,

And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.

So David’s young men made their way back and returned; and they came and told him everything that was said [to them by Nabal].

The men treated us well. When we were in the field, we weren’t harassed and nothing of ours was missing the whole time we were living among them.

And now know and see what thou wilt do; for evil was finished against our lord and upon all his house: and he a son of Belial, from speaking to him.

And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.

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 requited me evil for good.

And a man will rise to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: and the soul of my lord was bound up in the bundle of lives with Jehovah thy God; and the soul of thine enemies he will sling out in the midst of the hand of the sling.

And it was that Jehovah will do to my lord according to all the good which he spake concerning thee, and he commanded thee for leader over Israel;

But yet Jehovah the God of Israel lives who withheld me from doing thee evil, for unless thou hastenedst and came to meet me, for if there was left to Nabal by the light of the morning him pissing against the wall.

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.

But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.

And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.

And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.

And Abigail hasted and arose and gat her up upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went at her feet, and went after the messengers of David and was his wife.

But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim.

Saul camped by the road on the hill of Hakilah near Jeshimon, but David was staying in the desert. When he realized that Saul had come to the desert to find him,

David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come in very deed.

So David set out and went to the place where Saul was camped. David saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the general in command of his army, were sleeping. Now Saul was lying in the entrenchment, and the army was camped all around him.

That night, David and Abishai came to the troops, and Saul was lying there asleep in the inner circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. Abner and the troops were lying around him.

So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them.

Then David crossed to the other side and stood on the top of the hill some distance away; there was a considerable distance between them.

This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the LORD liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the LORD'S anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster.

And Saul, conscious that the voice was David's, said, Is that your voice, David, my son? And David said, It is my voice, O my lord king.

Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.

The Lord rewards each man for his integrity and loyalty. Even though today the Lord delivered you into my hand, I was not willing to extend my hand against the Lord's chosen one.

And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.

And David will say in his heart, Now shall I be added one day into the hand of Saul: nothing good to me but escaping, I will escape into the land of the rovers; and Saul despairing to seek me farther in all the bound of Israel: and I was saved out of his hand.

David stayed with Achish in Gath along with his men, each of whom was with his household. David had his two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, who had been the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him.

And Achish will give to him in that day Ziklag; for this Ziklag was to the kings of Judah, even to this day.

And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.

And David again and again made attacks on the land till not a man or a woman was still living; and he took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the clothing; and he came back to Achish.

Neither man nor woman would David leave alive so as to bring them back to Gath. He was thinking, "This way they can't tell on us, saying, 'This is what David did.'" Such was his practice the entire time that he lived in the country of the Philistines.

Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.

And the woman saw that it was Saul, and she gave a loud cry, and said to Saul, Why have you made use of deceit? for you are Saul.

And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.

Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.

And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.

The Philistines brought all their military units together at Aphek while Israel was camped by the spring in Jezreel.

And the chiefs of the rovers will say, What these Hebrews? and Achish will say to the chiefs of the rovers, Is not this David, servant of Saul king of Israel, who was with me these days or these years, and I found nothing in him from the day of his falling till this day

Is this not David, who was named in their songs, when in the dance they said to one another, Saul has put to death thousands, and David tens of thousands?

“But what have I done?” David replied to Achish. “From the first day I was with you until today, what have you found against your servant to keep me from going along to fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

David said to him, "To whom do you belong, and where are you from?" The young man said, "I am an Egyptian, the servant of an Amalekite man. My master abandoned me when I was ill for three days.

And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.

Then responded every man who was bad and abandoned, from among the men who had been with David, and said - Because they went not with me there shall not be given them of the spoil that we have rescued, - save, to every man, his wife and his children, let them put them forth, then, and go.

Who is going to give any attention to you in this question? for an equal part will be given to him who went to the fight and to him who was waiting by the goods: they are all to have the same.

And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

The gift was for those in the following locations: for those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir;

And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.

Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.

And when the men of Israel across the valley and on the other side of Jordan saw that the army of Israel was in flight and that Saul and his sons were dead, they came out of their towns and went in flight; and the Philistines came and took them for themselves.

His war-dress they put in the house of Astarte; and his body was fixed on the wall of Beth-shan.