at this day? Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who among all thy servants is so faithful as David, which is 25 the king's son in law, and is taken into thy council,1 and is honourable in thine house? Have I to-day begun to inquire of God for him? be it far from me : let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knoweth nothing of all this, less or more. And 30 the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house. And the king said unto the guard that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD ; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me. But the servants of 35 the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD. And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and he slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the 40 priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and asses and sheep, with the edge of the sword. And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain the LORD'S priests. 45 And David said unto Abiathar, I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house. Abide thou with me, fear not; for he that seeketh my life 2 seeketh thy life for with me thou shalt be in safeguard.

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23 1 And they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they rob the threshing-floors. Therefore David inquired of the LORD,* saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. And David's men said unto 55 him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? Then David inquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered

1 For and is council read and is captain of thy bodyguard. 2 For he that .. thy life read he that seeketh thy life seeketh my life.

* An editor's note, which appears in our texts as 23. 6, explains how it was possible for David to inquire of the Lord: And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.'

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him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the 60 Philistines into thine hand. And David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and slew them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into 65 mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars. And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. And David knew that Saul devised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod. Then said David, 70 O LORD, the God of Israel, thy servant hath surely heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. Will Saul come down as thy servant hath heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the LORD said, He will come down. Then said David, Will the men 75 of Keilah deliver up me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, they will deliver thee up. Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare 80 to go forth.

14 And David abode in the wilderness in the strong holds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand. [25 1] And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of 85 Paran. 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 the woman was of good under90 standing, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb. And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. And David sent ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and 95 greet him in my name: and thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both unto thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: thy shepherds have now been with us, and we did them no hurt, neither was there aught missing 100 unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee: wherefore let the young men find

favour in thine eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand, unto thy servants, and to thy son David. And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, 105 and ceased. And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse ? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water,1 and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men of whom I 110 know not whence they be? So David's young men turned on their way, and went back, and came and told him according to all these words. And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after 115 David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he flew upon them. But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any 120 thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields they were a wall unto us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house is such a son of Belial, that one cannot speak to him. Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. And she said 130 unto her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. And it was so, as she rode on her ass, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept 135 all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him and he hath returned me evil for good. God do so unto David, and more also, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light so much as one man child. And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and 140 lighted off her ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground. And she fell at his feet, and said, Upon

1 For water read wine (S).

for he 125

me, my lord, upon me be the iniquity: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thine 145 handmaid. Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. And now this present which thy servant hath brought unto my lord, let it be 150 given unto the young men that follow my lord. Forgive, I pray thee, 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 shall not be found in thee all thy days. And though man be risen up 1 to pursue thee, and to seek thy 155 soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the hollow of a 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 160 have appointed thee prince 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 and when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. And David said to Abigail, 165 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me and blessed be thy wisdom, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. For in very deed, as the LORD, the God of Israel, liveth, which hath withholden me from 170 hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light so much as one man child. So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have 175 accepted thy person. 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. And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of 180 Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died. And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed

1 For And... risen up read And should a man rise up.

be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept back his servant from evil : 185 and the evil-doing of Nabal hath the LORD returned upon his own head. And David sent and spake concerning Abigail, to take her to him to wife. And when the servants of David were come

to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her saying, David hath sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife. And she arose, 190 and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, thine handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife. David also took 195 Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they became both of them his wives. Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim.

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26 1 And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is 200 before the desert ? 1 Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come of a certainty. And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched : and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay within the place of the 210 wagons, and the people pitched round about 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 people by night: 215 and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the place of the wagons, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head and Abner and the people lay round about him. Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered up thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear to 220 the earth at one stroke, and I will not smite him the second time. And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can put forth his hand against the LORD's anointed, and be guiltless? And David said, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him;

1 For before the desert read overlooking Jeshimon.