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Then Abigail quickly went and mounted her donkey, with five of her female servants accompanying her. She followed David's messengers and became his wife.

David had also married Ahinoam from Jezreel; the two of them became his wives.

(Now Saul had given his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Paltiel son of Laish, who was from Gallim.)

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.

So David and Abishai approached the army at night and found Saul lying asleep in the entrenchment with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. Abner and the army were lying all around him.

But David said to Abishai, "Don't kill him! Who can extend his hand against the Lord 's chosen one and remain guiltless?"

David went on to say, "As the Lord lives, the Lord himself will strike him down. Either his day will come and he will die, or he will go down into battle and be swept away.

This failure on your part isn't good! As surely as the Lord lives, you people who have not protected your lord, the Lord 's chosen one, are as good as dead! Now look where the king's spear and the jug of water that was by his head are!"

He went on to say, "Why is my lord chasing his servant? What have I done? What wrong have I done?

So let my lord the king now listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord has incited you against me, may he take delight in an offering. But if men have instigated this, may they be cursed before the Lord ! For they have driven me away this day from being united with the Lord 's inheritance, saying, ‘Go on, serve other gods!'

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.

Saul replied to David, "May you be rewarded, my son David! You will without question be successful!" So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

David thought to himself, "One of these days I'm going to be swept away by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of searching for me through all the territory of Israel and I will escape from his hand."

So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his six hundred men.

David settled with Achish in Gath, along with his men and their families. David had with him his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal's widow.

Then David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (They had been living in that land for a long time, from the approach to Shur as far as the land of Egypt.)

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.

So Achish trusted David, thinking to himself, "He is really hated among his own people in Israel! From now on he will be my servant."

Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented over him and had buried him in Ramah, his hometown. In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums and magicians from the land.

So Saul instructed his servants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go to her and inquire of her." His servants replied to him, "There is a woman who is a medium in Endor."