So now, my lord, by the living God and by your living soul, seeing that the Lord has kept you from the crime of blood and from taking into your hands the punishment for your wrongs, may all your haters, and those who would do evil to my lord, be like Nabal.

I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.

Should a man arise to pursue you and to seek your life, may the life of my lord be wrapped in the pouch of the living with Yahweh your God. But as for the life of your enemy, he will sling it from within the pocket of the sling!

And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;

That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.

And David will say to Abigail, Blessed Jehovah the God of Israel who sent thee this day to meet me.

For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.

David took from her what she had brought him and told her, "Go up to your house in peace. Look, I've heard your request and will grant it."

Then Abigail came to Nabal, and he was holding a feast in his house [for the shearers], like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s mood was joyous because he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light.

And in the morning, when the effect of the wine was gone, Nabal's wife gave him an account of all these things, and all the heart went out of him, and he became like stone.

And it will be about ten days, and Jehovah will strike Nabal, and he will die.

And David will hear that Nabal died, and he will say, Blessed Jehovah who plead the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and held back his servant from evil: and the evil of Nabal Jehovah turned back upon his head. And David will send and will speak with Abigail to take her to him for wife.

And David's servants will come to Abigail to Carmel and will speak to her, saying, David sent us to thee to take thee to him for a wife.

She arose, bowed her face toward the ground, and said, "Your female servant, like a lowly servant, will wash the feet of the servants of my lord."

And Abigail will hasten and rise, and ride upon the ass with five of her girls going at her feet; and she will go after David's messengers and she will be to him for a wife.

And the Ziphites will come to Saul to the hill, saying, Is not David hiding in the hill of Hachilah, upon the face of the desert?

And Saul will rise and go down to the desert of Ziph, and with him three thousand men the chosen of Israel, to seek out David in the desert of Ziph.

Saul camped by the road on the hill of Hachilah, across from Jeshimon, while David was staying in the wilderness. When he realized that Saul had come after him in the wilderness,

And David will send spies, and he knew that Saul came for a certainty.

Then David got up and came to the place where Saul had encamped, and David saw the place where Saul [was] lying down, {as well as} Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. (Now Saul [was] lying in the encampment, and the army [was] encamping around him.)

Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.

So David and Abishai came to the army [by] night, and {there was} Saul lying asleep in the encampment with his spear thrust into the ground near his head, and Abner and the army [were] lying all around him.

Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.

And David said to Abishai Do not put him to death; for who, without sin, may put out his hand against the man on whom the Lord has put the holy oil?

And David said, As Jehovah liveth, Jehovah will smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall go down into battle and perish.

However, because of the Lord, I will never lift my hand against the Lord’s anointed. Instead, take the spear and the water jug by his head, and let’s go.”

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.

And David will pass over to the other side, and he will stand upon the head of the mountain from afar, and much place between them.

David called to the army and to Abner the son of Ner, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Abner replied, “Who are you who calls [and disturbs] the king?”

David said to Abner, "Aren't you a man? After all, who is like you in Israel? Why then haven't you protected your lord the king? One of the soldiers came to kill your lord the king.

What you have done is not good. As the Lord lives, all of you deserve to die since you didn’t protect your lord, the Lord’s anointed. Now look around; where are the king’s spear and water jug that were by his head?”

And Saul will know David's voice, and he will say, Is this thy voice, my son David? and David will say, My voice, my lord the king.

And he will say, Wherefore this my lord pursued after his servant? for what did I? and what evil in my hand?

And now will my lord the king hear now the words of his servant? If Jehovah moved thee against me, he will smell a gift; and if the sons of man, cursed are they before Jehovah; for they drove me out this day from adjoining myself to the inheritance of Jehovah, saying. Go, serve other gods.

And now my blood shall not fall to the earth from before the face of Jehovah; for the king of Israel came forth to seek one flea, as when the partridge will pursue in the mountains.

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.

And David will answer and say, Behold the king's spear: and will one of the boys pass over and take it?

And Jehovah will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; forasmuch as Jehovah delivered thee into my hand to-day, and I would not put forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed.

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.

Then Saul said to David, “May you be blessed, my son David; you will both accomplish much and certainly prevail.” So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.

And David will rise and pass over, he and six hundred men that are with him, to Achish, son of Maoch, king of Gath.

And it was announced to Saul that David fled to Gath; and he will no more add to seek him.

And David will say to Achish, If now I found grace in thine eyes, will they give me a place in one city of the field, and I will dwell there: and why shall thy servant dwell in the city of the kingdom with thee?

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 number of days which David dwelt in the field of the rovers will be days and four months.

David and his men went up and raided the descendants of Geshur, the descendants of Girzi, and the Amalekites, for they had been living in the land since ancient times, from the entrance of Shur all the way to the land of Egypt.

And David struck the land, and will not save alive a man and woman; and he took the sheep and oxen, and asses and camels, and garments, and he will turn back and come to Achish.

And Achish will say, Did ye not plunder this day? and David will say, Upon the south of Judah, and upon the south of the Jerahmeelite, and to the south of the Kenite.

And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.

And Achish trusted David, saying, "{He has made himself utterly hated} among his people in Israel, and he will be my servant forever."

At that time the Philistines assembled their army for war to fight against Israel. Achish told David, "You know, of course, that you and your men will go out with me into the battle."

And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever.

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 the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa.

And Saul will see the camp of the rovers, and he will fearr and his heart will tremble greatly.

So Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim [used like lots by the priest to determine the will of God] or by prophets.

And Saul will say to his servants, Seek out for me a woman, mistress of necromancy, and I will go to her and inquire of her. And his servants will say to him, Behold, a woman mistress of necromancy in the Fountain of Dor.

So Saul, putting on other clothing, so that he might not be seen to be the king, took two men with him and went to the woman by night; and he said, Now, with the help of the spirit which you have, make the person whose name I will give you come up.

And the woman will say to him, Behold, thou knewest what Saul did who cut off the necromancers, and the wizards, from the land; wherefore art thou laying snares for my soul to kill me?

Then Saul swore to her by Yahweh, "{As Yahweh lives}, {you will not be punished} for this thing."

And the woman will say, Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he will say, Bring up to me Samuel

And the woman will see Samuel, and she will cry out, with a great voice: and the woman will say to Saul, saying, Why didst thou deceive me? and thou Saul.

And the king will say to her, Thou shalt not fear: What sawest thou? And the woman will say to Saul, I saw gods coming up out of the earth.

And he will say to her, What his form? And she will say, An old man coming up, and he covered with an upper garment. And Saul knew that he Samuel, and he will bow his face to the earth and worship him.

And Samuel said to Saul, Why have you made me come up, troubling my rest? And Saul in answer said, I am in great danger; for the Philistines are making war on me, and God has gone away from me and will no longer give me any answer, by the prophets or by dreams: so I have sent for you to make clear to me what I am to do.

Then said Samuel, "Wherefore dost thou ask of me? While the LORD is gone from thee and is thine enemy,

the LORD will do to thee as he said by my hand. For the LORD will rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and give it thy neighbour David,

Because you didn't obey the LORD and didn't display his fierce anger against Amalek, therefore, the LORD will do this thing to you today.

Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

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 will come to Saul, and she will see that he trembled greatly, and she will say to him, Behold, thy servant heard to thy voice, and I will put my soul in my hand, and heard thy words which thou spake to me.

So then, you also please listen to the voice of your female servant, and let me set before you a morsel of bread, and [you] eat so that {you will have strength} in you when you go on your way."

But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.

Now the woman had a well-fed calf at her home that she quickly slaughtered. Taking some flour, she kneaded bread and baked it without leaven.

And she will bring near before Saul, and before his servants; and they will eat, and rise and go away in that night.

Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is 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

But the commanders of [the] Philistines were angry with him and they said to him, "Send the man back so that he might return to his place where you have assigned him! But he will not go down with us into the battle, so that he does not become an adversary to us in the battle. By what could this fellow make himself favorable to his lord? Is it not with the heads of these men?

Is not this David which they will answer to him in dances, saying, Saul struck his thousands and David his ten thousands?

Then Achish called David and said unto him, "As sure as the LORD liveth thou art honest, and it pleaseth me well that thou shouldest accompany me in the host, for I have found none evil with thee since thou camest to me unto this day. Nevertheless, the lords of the Philistines favour thee not:

And David said to Achish, But what have I done? what have you seen in your servant while I have been with you till this day, that I may not go and take up arms against those who are now making war on my lord the king?

Achish answered and said to David, "I know well thou pleasest me, as it were an angel of God. Notwithstanding, the lords of the Philistines have said that thou shalt not go with them to battle.

So get up early in the morning, you and your masters’ servants who came with you. When you’ve all gotten up early, go as soon as it’s light.”

So David and his men got up early in the morning to return to Philistine territory, while the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

And it will be in the going up of David to Ziklag, and his men, in the third day, and the Amalekites plundered to the south, and to Ziklag, and they will strike Ziklag and burn it with fire.

and had taken captive the women and all that were therein, both small and great: they slew not any, but carried them off, and went their way.

And David will come, and his men, to the city, and behold, it burnt with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters were taken captive.

And David will lift up, and the people with him, their voice, and they will weep till power was not 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.

And David will say to Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, Bring now near to me the ephod. And Abiathar will bring near the ephod to David.

And David inquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

The LORD told David, "Pursue them! You will definitely overtake them and rescue the captives." So David and 600 men who were with him set out. They came to the Wadi Besor where those who were left behind stayed.

David and 400 men continued the pursuit, while the 200 men who were too exhausted to cross over the Wadi Besor remained there.

And they will find a man, an Egyptian, in the field, and they will take him to David, and they will give to him bread, and he will eat; and they will give him water to drink;

And they will give to him a piece of a cake of dried figs and two bunches of dried grapes: and he will eat and his spirit will turn back to him, for he ate not bread and drank not water three days and three nights.

Then David said to him, "{To whom do you belong}, and from where [are] you? The young man said, "I am an Egyptian young man, a servant of an Amalekite man, but my master abandoned me because I became ill three days ago.

And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.

And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.

And David will smite them from the dawn and even to the evening to their morrow: and a man escaped not from them, except four hundred men of youth who rode upon camels, and they will flee.