Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

1 Sh’mu’el died. All of Isra’el assembled to mourn him and bury him at his home in Ramah.

Then David set out and went down to the Pa’ran Desert.

2 Now there was a man in Ma‘on who had property in Karmel. He was very rich, having three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep in Karmel.

3 The man’s name was Naval, and his wife was named Avigayil. The woman was intelligent and attractive, but the man was surly and mean in his actions; he belonged to the clan of Kalev.

4 David, there in the desert, heard that Naval was shearing his sheep.

5 David sent off ten young men with these orders: “Go up to Naval in Karmel, and bring him greetings from me.

6 Say, ‘Long life andshalomto you,shalomto your household, andshalomto everything that is yours!

7 I’ve heard that you now have shearers. Your shepherds were with us [for a while], we did them no harm, and they found nothing missing all the time they were in Karmel.

8 Ask your own men; they’ll tell you. Therefore, receive my men favorably, since we have come on a festive day. Please give what you can to your servants and to your son David.’”

9 On arrival, David’s men said all these things to Naval in David’s name. When they had finished,

10 Naval answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Yishai? There are many servants nowadays running away from their masters.

11 Am I supposed to take my bread, my water and my meat that I slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men coming from who knows where?”

12 So David’s men turned around, went back and came and told him everything Naval had said.

13 David said to his men, “Buckle your swords on, all of you!” Each one buckled on his sword, David too; and there went up after David about four hundred men, while two hundred stayed with the equipment.

14 But one of Naval’s men told Avigayil his wife, “David sent messengers from the desert to greet our master, and he flew on them in a rage,

15 even though the men had been very good to us — they didn’t harm us, and we found nothing missing during the entire time we went with them, while we were out in the countryside.

16 They served as a wall protecting us day and night all the time we were with them caring for the sheep.

17 So now decide what you are going to do, for clearly harm is on its way to our master and all his household, but he’s so mean that no one can tell him anything.”

18 Avigayil wasted no time in taking 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already prepared, six quarts of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins and 200 fig cakes, and having them loaded on donkeys.

19 Then she said to her young men, “Go on ahead of me, and I’ll come along after you.” But she didn’t tell her husband Naval.

20 She was riding her donkey down past the hiding-place in the mountain, when David and his men descended toward her, and she met them.

21 David had said, “What a waste it has been guarding everything this fellow has in the desert, so that nothing of his was missing! He has repaid me bad for good!”

22 Then he swore, “May God do the same and more to David’s enemies if I leave alive even one male of everything he owns.”

23 When Avigayil saw David, she hurried to dismount from her donkey, fell on her face in front of David and bowed down to the ground.

24 Having fallen at his feet, she said, “It’s all my fault, my lord, all my fault! Please let your servant speak in your ears, and listen to what your servant says.

25 Please! My lord shouldn’t pay any attention to this worthless fellow Naval, because he’s just like his name — ‘Naval’ means ‘boor,’ and his boorishness stays with him. But I, your servant, did not see my lord’s men, whom you sent.

26 Therefore, my lord, asAdonailives, and as you live, inasmuch asAdonaihas kept you from the guilt of shedding blood and from taking vengeance into your own hands — therefore, may your enemies and anyone seeking your harm be [as worthless] as Naval.

27 Meanwhile, let this present which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the men in my lord’s service.

28 And please forgive the offense your servant has caused; becauseAdonaiwill certainly establish my lord’s dynasty, for my lord fightsAdonai’s battles, and nothing bad has been found in you all your life long.

29 Even if someone comes along searching for you and seeking your life, your life will be bound in the bundle of life withAdonaiyour God. But the lives of your enemies he will fling away as if from the pouch of a slingshot.

30 Then, whenAdonaihas done all the good to my lord that he has said about you and made you ruler over Isra’el,

31 what happens here will not have become an obstacle to you or a cause for remorse to my lord, neither that you shed blood without cause nor that my lord took vengeance into his own hands. Finally, whenAdonaihas dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

32 David said to Avigayil, “Blessed beAdonaithe God of Isra’el, who sent you today to meet me;

33 and blessed be your tactfulness, and blessed be yourself for having kept me today from the guilt of shedding blood and taking vengeance into my own hands.

34 For asAdonaithe God of Isra’el, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you hadn’t rushed to meet me, not even one male would have been left to Naval by morning!”

35 So David received from her what she had brought him, then said to her, “Go up in peace to your home. I have listened to what you said and granted your request.”

36 Avigayil came to Naval; there he was in his house, holding a feast fit for a king. He was in high spirits, because he was very drunk. So she told him nothing whatever until the next morning.

37 In the morning, when he was sober and his wife told him what had happened, he had a stroke and became as motionless as a stone.

38 Some ten days laterAdonaistruck Naval, and he died.

39 When David heard that Naval was dead, he said, “Blessed beAdonaifor having taken my side in the matter of Naval’s insult and for having prevented his servant from doing anything bad. On the contrary,Adonaihas caused Naval’s bad deeds to return on his own head.” Then David sent a message that he wanted to make Avigayil his own wife.

40 When David’s servants reached Avigayil in Karmel, they said to her, “David has sent us to you to bring you to him to be his wife.”

41 She got up, bowed with her face to the ground, and said, “Your servant is here to serve you, to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

42 Avigayil then hurried, set out and rode off on a donkey, with five of her female servants following her; she went after David’s messengers; and she became his wife.

43 David also took Achino‘am of Yizre‘el; both of them became his wives.

44 Meanwhile, Sha’ul had given Mikhal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Layish, who came from Gallim.

1 The people from Zif went to Sha’ul in Giv‘ah and said, “David is hiding himself on Hakhilah Hill, across from Yeshimon.”

2 Then Sha’ul set out and went down to the Zif Desert with three thousand men chosen from Isra’el, to search for David in the Zif Desert.

3 Sha’ul pitched camp on Hakhilah Hill, across from Yeshimon, near the road. David was staying in the desert, and he saw that Sha’ul was coming into the desert after him.

4 So David dispatched spies and determined that Sha’ul had definitely come.

5 David set out and went to where Sha’ul had pitched his camp. He saw where Sha’ul and Avner the son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping. Sha’ul was lying inside the barricade with the troops asleep all around him.

6 David said to Achimelekh the Hitti and Avishai the son of Tz’ruyah, Yo’av’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Sha’ul in the camp?” Avishai said, “I will go down with you.”

7 So David and Avishai went to the soldiers by night. Sha’ul was lying there asleep inside the barricade. His spear was stuck in the ground next to his head, with Avner and the troops asleep all around him.

8 Avishai said to David, “God has handed your enemy over to you today; so now, please, let me pin him to the ground with just one stroke of the spear. I won’t strike him a second time.”

9 But David said to Avishai, “Don’t destroy him! Nobody can raise his hand againstAdonai’s anointed without becoming guilty!”

10 David then added, “AsAdonailives,Adonaiwill strike him down, or the day will come for him to die, or he will go down to battle and be swept away.

11 Adonaiforbid that I should raise my hand againstAdonai’s anointed! But now, we’ll take the spear by his head and the jug of water, and get out of here.”

12 So David took the spear and the water jug from Sha’ul’s head and got away. Nobody saw or knew about it, and no one awoke, because they were all asleep — a deep sleep fromAdonaihad fallen over them.

13 David crossed to the other side and climbed to the top of the distant ridge, leaving a considerable space between them.

14 Then David called out to the troops and to Avner the son of Ner. “Avner! Aren’t you going to answer?” Avner answered, “Who are you, calling to the king?”

15 David said to Avner, “Aren’t you the brave one! Who is there in Isra’el to compare with you? So why haven’t you kept watch over your lord the king? Someone came in to kill the king, your lord!

16 It’s not good, what you’ve done! AsAdonailives, you deserve to die; because you didn’t keep watch over your lord,Adonai’s anointed. And now, see where the king’s spear is, and the jug of water that was next to his head!”

17 Sha’ul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” David said, “It is my voice, my lord king!”

18 and continued, “Why is my lord chasing his servant? What have I done? What evil am I planning?

19 Please, now, may my lord the king hear what his servant is saying. If it isAdonaiwho has stirred you up against me, let him receive an offering. But if it’s human beings, then a curse on them beforeAdonai! — because, as things stand today, they have driven me out, so that I can no longer share inAdonai’s inheritance — they’ve said, ‘Go, serve other gods!’

20 Now don’t let my blood fall on the ground away from the presence ofAdonai. The king of Isra’el has gone out in search of a single flea, as if he were hunting partridge in the mountains!”

21 Then Sha’ul said, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David. I won’t harm you any longer, because you regarded my life as precious today. Yes, I have behaved like a fool. I was altogether in the wrong.”

22 David answered, “Here is the king’s spear. Send one of the men over to bring it back.

23 Adonaiwill give every person a reward suited to his uprightness and faithfulness.Adonaiput you in my power today, but I would not raise my hand againstAdonai’s anointed.

24 Look: just as I put great value on your life today, so may my life be given great value byAdonai.May he deliver me from every kind of trouble!”

25 Sha’ul answered David, “Blessings on you, my son David! No question that you will accomplish everything you set out to do!” So David went on his way, and Sha’ul returned to his place.

1 But David said to himself, “One day Sha’ul will sweep me away. The best thing for me to do is to escape into the territory of the P’lishtim. Then Sha’ul will give up trying to find me here or there in Isra’el’s territory, and at last I’ll be free of him.”

2 So David set out with his six hundred men and passed on to Akhish the son of Ma‘okh, king of Gat.

3 David lived with Akhish, he and his men, each man with his household — including David with his two wives Achino‘am from Yizre‘el and Avigayil from Karmel, Naval’s widow.

4 Sha’ul was told that David had escaped to Gat, whereupon he stopped searching for him.

5 David said to Akhish, “If you are now favorably disposed toward me, let me have a place to live in one of the cities in the countryside. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

6 That very day Akhish gave him Ziklag, and that’s why to this day Ziklag belongs to the kings of Y’hudah.

7 After David had been living in the country of the P’lishtim for a year and four months,

8 he and his men began going up and raiding the G’shuri, the Gizri and the ‘Amaleki (from ancient times these people had lived in the land in the direction of Shur, all the way to Egypt).

9 David would attack the land, leaving alive neither men nor women, but taking the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and clothing. Then he would return and go to Akhish.

10 Akhish would ask, “Where were you raiding today?” and David would answer, “Against the Negev of Y’hudah,” or “Against the Negev of the Yerachme’eli,” or “Against the Negev of the Keni.”

11 The reason David spared neither men nor women to be brought to Gat is that he thought, “We don’t want them telling on us, saying, ‘David did so-and-so.’” That’s how he conducted his raids for as long as he lived in the country of the P’lishtim.

12 And Akhish believed him; he said, “David has caused his own people Isra’el to despise him utterly; he will be my servant forever.”

1 In due time the P’lishtim assembled their armies for war against Isra’el. Akhish told David, “You know, of course, that you and your men will join me and the army in battle.”

2 David answered Akhish, “I see that you already know what your servant will do.” Akhish said to David, “For that answer, I am making you my personal bodyguard for life.”

3 Now Sh’mu’el was dead; all Isra’el had mourned him and buried him in his city, Ramah. Also Sha’ul had expelled from the land those who tell the future by communicating with the dead or with a demonic spirit.

4 The P’lishtim assembled; then they went and pitched camp at Shunem; while Sha’ul gathered all Isra’el together and pitched camp at Gilboa.

5 When Sha’ul saw the army of the P’lishtim, he became afraid — it struck terror in his heart.

6 But when he consultedAdonai,Adonaididn’t answer him — not by dreams, not byurimand not by prophets.

7 Then Sha’ul said to his servants, “Try to find a woman who tells the future by communicating with the dead; I want to go and consult with her.” His servants answered him, “Yes, there’s a woman in ‘Ein-Dor who tells the future by communicating with the dead.”

8 So Sha’ul disguised himself by wearing different clothing, went with two men, came to the woman by night and said, “Tell me the future, please. Bring up from the dead the person I name to you.”

9 The woman answered, “Here, you know what Sha’ul did, how he expelled from the land those who tell the future by communicating with the dead or with a demonic spirit. Why are you trying to entrap me into causing my own death?”

10 But Sha’ul swore to her byAdonai, “AsAdonailives, you will not be punished for doing this.”

11 Then the woman asked, “Whom should I bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up for me Sh’mu’el.”

12 When the woman saw Sh’mu’el, she let out a shriek. Then the woman said to Sha’ul, “Why have you deceived me? You yourself are Sha’ul!”

13 The king replied, “Don’t be afraid. Just tell me what you see.” The woman said to Sha’ul, “I see a god-like being coming up out of the earth.”

14 He asked her, “What does he look like?” She said, “An old man is coming up; he’s wearing a cloak.” Sha’ul realized it was Sh’mu’el, so he bowed with his face to the ground and prostrated himself.

15 Sh’mu’el asked Sha’ul, “Why have you disturbed me and brought me up?” Sha’ul answered, “I’m very upset; because the P’lishtim are making war against me; and God has left me and doesn’t answer me any more, neither by prophets nor by dreams. This is why I’ve called you, so that you can let me know what to do.”

16 Sh’mu’el said, “Why ask me, ifAdonaihas left you and become your enemy?

17 Adonaihas done for himself what he foretold through me —Adonaihas torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to your fellow countryman David,

18 because you didn’t obey whatAdonaisaid and execute his furious anger toward ‘Amalek. That’s whyAdonaiis doing this to you today.

19 Adonaiis giving Isra’el as well as yourself over into the power of the P’lishtim, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me.Adonaiwill hand over Isra’el’s army to the power of the P’lishtim.”

20 Sha’ul immediately fell full length on the ground and became terribly frightened because of what Sh’mu’el had said. He had no strength left in him, for he had eaten nothing all that day and night.

21 The woman approached Sha’ul, saw that he was panic-stricken and said to him, “Here, your servant listened to what you said; I put my life in my hands and did what you requested me to do.

22 Now therefore, please, you listen to what your servant says: let me put a little food in front of you; then eat, so you will have some strength when you go on your way.”

23 But he refused and said, “I won’t eat.” Then his servants, together with the woman, urged him; and he heeded what they said. He got up off the ground and sat on the bed.

24 The woman had a fattened calf in the house; she hurried to slaughter it; then she took flour, kneaded it and bakedmatzahwith it.

25 She served it to Sha’ul and his servants, and they ate. Afterwards, they got up; and they went away that night.

1 The P’lishtim gathered all their army together at Afek, while Isra’el’s army pitched camp by the spring in Yizre‘el.

2 The leaders of the P’lishtim were passing by with their hundreds and thousands; David and his men were bringing up the rear with Akhish.

3 The chiefs of the P’lishtim asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” Akhish answered the chiefs of the P’lishtim, “This is David, who was a servant of Sha’ul, king of Isra’el. He’s been with me now for well over a year, and I haven’t found anything wrong with him between the time he deserted to me and now.”

4 But the chiefs of the P’lishtim became angry and said to him, “Have the man return and go back to the place you set aside for him. Don’t let him go into battle with us, because on the battlefield he might become our enemy. What better way could there be for him to get reconciled with his lord than by [cutting off] the heads of our men?

5 This is David! They used to dance and sing about him,

‘Sha’ul has killed his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands’!”

6 So Akhish summoned David and said to him, “AsAdonailives, you have been upright; and I myself would be more than pleased to have you go on campaign with me; because I haven’t found anything wrong with you between the day you arrived and now. However, the chiefs don’t trust you.

7 Therefore, now, go on back; and go in peace, so as not to do what appears bad to the chiefs of the P’lishtim.

8 David said to Akhish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant during the time I’ve been with you that disqualifies me from going and fighting against the enemies of my lord the king?”

9 Akhish answered David, “I know that you are as good, from my point of view, as an angel of God. Nevertheless, the chiefs of the P’lishtim have said, ‘He is not to go up with us to the battlefield.’

10 So get up early in the morning with the servants of your lord who came with you; and as soon as you are up and it gets light, leave.”

11 David got up early in the morning, he and his men, to leave and go back into the land of the P’lishtim; while the P’lishtim continued up to Yizre‘el.

1 Three days later, when David and his men arrived in Ziklag, they found that the ‘Amaleki had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had sacked Ziklag and burned it down;

2 and they had taken captive the women and everyone there, great and small. They hadn’t killed anyone but had carried them off as they went on their way.

3 So when David and his men arrived at the city, there it was, burned down, with their wives, sons and daughters taken captive.

4 Then David and the people with him cried aloud until they had no more power to cry.

5 David’s two wives had been taken captive — Achino‘am from Yizre‘el and Avigayil the widow of Naval from Karmel.

6 David was in serious trouble: the people were talking about stoning him to death, because all the people were in such deep grief, each man over his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself inAdonaihis God.

7 David said to Avyatar thecohen, the son of Achimelekh, “Please bring the ritual vest here to me.” Avyatar brought the vest to David.

8 Then David consultedAdonai. He asked, “Should I go in pursuit of these raiders? Will I catch up with them?” And[Adonai]answered him, “Go in pursuit, because you will overtake them and recover everyone and everything.”

9 So David went, he and the six hundred men with him. They came toVadiB’sor, where those who were to stay behind waited.

10 Then David continued in pursuit with four hundred men, while two hundred too exhausted to crossVadiB’sor stayed behind.

11 They found an Egyptian in the countryside and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink;

12 they also gave him a lump of dried figs and two bunches of raisins. After eating, he revived; because he hadn’t eaten anything or drunk any water for three days and nights.

13 David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” He answered, “I’m an Egyptian boy, the slave of an ‘Amaleki. My master abandoned me three days ago, because I got sick.

14 We raided the Negev of the K’reti, the Negev of Y’hudah and the Negev of Kalev; and we burned down Ziklag.”

15 David asked him, “Will you lead me down to this raiding party?” He said, “If you will swear by God to me that you won’t kill me or hand me back to my master, I will lead you down to the raiders.”

16 He led them down, and there they were, spread out all over the ground, eating, drinking and celebrating how much spoil they had taken from the territory of the P’lishtim and the territory of Y’hudah.

17 David attacked them from dawn until the evening of the next day. Not one of them escaped, except for 400 young men who jumped on camels and got away.

18 David recovered all that the ‘Amaleki had taken; he also rescued his two wives.

19 They found nothing missing, big or little — not sons, not daughters, not plundered goods or anything else they had taken — David brought it all back.

20 David took all the flocks and herds and drove them ahead of their own livestock, announcing, “This is David’s spoil.”

21 David came to where the two hundred men were who had been too exhausted to follow him, whom they had let stay atVadiB’sor. They came out to meet David and the people with him. When David approached them he greeted them.

22 But some of the men who had gone with David were evil men, scoundrels; and they said, “They didn’t go with us, so we’re not giving them any of the property we’ve recovered. Each man can take his wife and children and leave.”

23 Then David said, “No, my brothers, don’t do this with the goodsAdonaihas given us. He protected us, and he handed the raiding party over to us.

24 Anyhow, no one agrees with you about this. No, the share of someone who stays with the equipment will be the same as the share of someone who goes out and fights — they will share equally.”

25 It has been that way from that day on; he established it as a ruling for Isra’el to this day.

26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the leaders of Y’hudah who were his friends with a note, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies ofAdonai.”

27 He sent such gifts

to those in Beit-El,

to those in Ramot,

to those in Yatir,

28 to those in ‘Aro‘er,

to those in Sifmot,

to those in Esht’moa,

29 to those in Rakhal,

to those in Yerachme’eli,

to those in the cities of the Keni,

30 to those in Hormah,

to those in Kor-‘Ashan,

to those in ‘Atakh,

31 to those in Hevron,

and to all the places where David and his men had frequently visited.

1 Now the P’lishtim pressed their attack on Isra’el. The men of Isra’el fled before the P’lishtim, leaving their dead on Mount Gilboa.

2 The P’lishtim pursued and overtook Sha’ul and his sons; and the P’lishtim killed Y’honatan, Avinadav and Malkishua, the sons of Sha’ul.

3 The fighting went hard against Sha’ul; then the archers overtook and wounded him, so that he was in agony.

4 Sha’ul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it. Otherwise these uncircumcised men will come, run me through and make sport of me.” But his armor-bearer refused, he was too frightened. So Sha’ul took his sword and fell on it.

5 When his armor-bearer saw that Sha’ul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died with him.

6 Thus Sha’ul, his three sons, his armor-bearer and all his men died that same day together.

7 When the men of Isra’el who were on the other side of the valley and those who were on the far side of the Yarden saw that the men of Isra’el had fled and that Sha’ul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the P’lishtim came and lived in them.

8 The following day, when the P’lishtim came to strip the dead, they found Sha’ul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa.

9 They cut off his head, stripped off his armor and sent these all over the territory of the P’lishtim to carry the news to the temples of their idols and to the people.

10 Then they put his armor in the temple for the‘ashtarotand fastened his body to the wall of Beit-Sh’an.

11 When the people living in Yavesh-Gil‘ad heard what the P’lishtim had done to Sha’ul,

12 all their warriors set out, traveling all night. They took the body of Sha’ul and the bodies of his sons off the wall of Beit-Sh’an, returned to Yavesh and burned them there.

13 Then they took their bones, buried them under the tamarisk tree in Yavesh and fasted seven days.