Study Desk

Saul then said to him, "Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, so that he would rise up against me by lying in ambush as it is this day?"

"Did I just begin to inquire of God for him today? Far be it from me! Do not let the king impute anything against his servant or against any of the household of my father, because your servant knows nothing at all of this whole affair."

And the king said to the guards who were attending him, "Turn around and put the priests of the LORD to death, because their hand also is with David and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not inform me." But the servants of the king were unwilling to reach out with their hands to attack the priests of the LORD.

"Stay with me; do not be afraid, even though he who is seeking my life is seeking your life. For you are safe with me."

When it was reported to Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, "God has handed him over to me, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars."

"Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? LORD God of Israel, please, tell Your servant." And the LORD said, "He will come down."

Then David said, "Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?" And the LORD said, "They will hand you over."

Saul said, "May you be blessed of the LORD, since you have had compassion on me.

"So look, and learn about all the hiding places where he keeps himself hidden, and return to me with certainty, and I will go with you; and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah."

So he said to his men, "Far be it from me because of the LORD that I would do this thing to my lord, the LORD'S anointed, to reach out with my hand against him, since he is the LORD'S anointed."

"Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the LORD had handed you over to me today in the cave, and someone said to kill you, but I spared you; and I said, 'I will not reach out with my hand against my lord, because he is the LORD'S anointed.'

"May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD take vengeance on you for me; but my hand shall not be against you.

"May the LORD therefore be judge and decide between you and me; and may He see and plead my cause and save me from your hand."

And he said to David, "You are more righteous than I; for you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt maliciously with you.

"You have declared today that you have done good to me, that the LORD handed me over to you and yet you did not kill me.

"Though if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? May the LORD therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day.

"So now swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not eliminate my name from my father's household."

Then she said to her young men, "Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

Now David had said, "It is certainly for nothing that I have guarded everything that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing has gone missing of all that belonged to him! For he has returned me evil for good.

She fell at his feet and said, "On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your slave speak to you, and listen to the words of your slave.