Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹The Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.

²Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah; then they lined up in battle formation to face the Philistines.

³The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them.

⁴Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall

⁵and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds.

⁶There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders.

⁷His spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds. In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him.

⁸He stood and shouted to the Israelite battle formations: “Why do you come out to line up in battle formation?” He asked them, “Am I not a Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me.

⁹If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants. But if I win against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.”

¹⁰Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel today. Send me a man so we can fight each other!”

¹¹When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.

¹²Now David was the son of the Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah named Jesse. Jesse had eight sons and during Saul’s reign was already an old man.

¹³Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war, and their names were Eliab, the firstborn, Abinadab, the next, and Shammah, the third,

¹⁴and David was the youngest. The three oldest had followed Saul,

¹⁵but David kept going back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock in Bethlehem.

¹⁶Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand.

¹⁷One day Jesse had told his son David: “Take this half-bushel of roasted grain along with these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.

¹⁸Also take these ten portions of cheese to the field commander. Check on the well-being of your brothers and bring a confirmation from them.

¹⁹They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.”

²⁰So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with someone to keep it, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had charged him. He arrived at the perimeter of the camp as the army was marching out to its battle formation shouting their battle cry.

²¹Israel and the Philistines lined up in battle formation facing each other.

²²David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were.

²³While he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words, which David heard.

²⁴When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.

²⁵Previously, an Israelite man had declared: “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter. The king will also make the family of that man’s father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.”

²⁶David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

²⁷The troops told him about the offer, concluding, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

²⁸David’s oldest brother Eliab listened as he spoke to the men, and he became angry with him. “Why did you come down here?” he asked. “Who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your arrogance and your evil heart — you came down to see the battle!”

²⁹“What have I done now?” protested David. “It was just a question.”

³⁰Then he turned from those beside him to others in front of him and asked about the offer. The people gave him the same answer as before.

³¹What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, so he had David brought to him.

³²David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!”

³³But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.”

³⁴David answered Saul: “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,

³⁵I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it.

³⁶Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

³⁷Then David said, “The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”

³⁸Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David. He put a bronze helmet on David’s head and had him put on armor.

³⁹David strapped his sword on over the military clothes and tried to walk, but he was not used to them. “I can’t walk in these,” David said to Saul, “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off.

⁴⁰Instead, he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pouch, in his shepherd’s bag. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.

⁴²When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy and handsome.

⁴³He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?” Then he cursed David by his gods.

⁴⁴“Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!”

⁴⁵David said to the Philistine: “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel — you have defied him.

⁴⁶Today, the LORD will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God,

⁴⁷and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the LORD saves, for the battle is the LORD’s. He will hand you over to us.”

⁴⁸When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.

⁴⁹David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown to the ground.

⁵⁰David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword.

⁵¹David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled.

⁵²The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry, and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. Philistine bodies were strewn all along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

⁵³When the Israelites returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps.

⁵⁴David took Goliath’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.

⁵⁵When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army, “Whose son is this youth, Abner?” “Your Majesty, as surely as you live, I don’t know,” Abner replied.

⁵⁶The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is!”

⁵⁷When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand.

⁵⁸Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” “The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David answered.

¹When David had finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan was bound to David in close friendship, and loved him as much as he loved himself.

²Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him return to his father’s house.

³Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as much as himself.

⁴Then Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his military tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

⁵David marched out with the army and was successful in everything Saul sent him to do. Saul put him in command of the fighting men, which pleased all the people and Saul’s servants as well.

⁶As the troops were coming back, when David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments.

⁷As they danced, the women sang: Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.

⁸Saul was furious and resented this song. “They credited tens of thousands to David,” he complained, “but they only credited me with thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?”

⁹So Saul watched David jealously from that day forward.

¹⁰The next day an evil spirit sent from God came powerfully on Saul, and he began to rave inside the palace. David was playing the lyre as usual, but Saul was holding a spear,

¹¹and he threw it, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David got away from him twice.

¹²Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had left Saul.

¹³Therefore, Saul sent David away from him and made him commander over a thousand men. David led the troops

¹⁴and continued to be successful in all his activities because the LORD was with him.

¹⁵When Saul observed that David was very successful, he dreaded him.

¹⁶But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was leading their troops.

¹⁷Saul told David, “Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you as a wife, if you will be a warrior for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I don’t need to raise a hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

¹⁸Then David responded, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?”

¹⁹When it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

²⁰Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when it was reported to Saul, it pleased him.

²¹“I’ll give her to him,” Saul thought. “She’ll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.” So Saul said to David a second time, “You can now be my son-in-law.”

²²Saul then ordered his servants, “Speak to David in private and tell him, ‘Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Therefore, you should become the king’s son-in-law.’”

²³Saul’s servants reported these words directly to David, but he replied, “Is it trivial in your sight to become the king’s son-in-law? I am a poor commoner.”

²⁴The servants reported back to Saul, “These are the words David spoke.”

²⁵Then Saul replied, “Say this to David: ‘The king desires no other bride-price except a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Actually, Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.

²⁶When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived,

²⁷David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as full payment to the king to become his son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife.

²⁸Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved him,

²⁹and he became even more afraid of David. As a result, Saul was David’s enemy from then on.

³⁰Every time the Philistine commanders came out to fight, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers. So his name became well known.

¹Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much,

²so he told him: “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning and hide in a secret place and stay there.

³I’ll go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are and talk to him about you. When I see what he says, I’ll tell you.”

⁴Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul. He said to him: “The king should not sin against his servant David. He hasn’t sinned against you; in fact, his actions have been a great advantage to you.

⁵He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”

⁶Saul listened to Jonathan’s advice and swore an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be killed.”

⁷So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served him as he did before.

⁸When war broke out again, David went out and fought against the Philistines. He defeated them with such great force that they fled from him.

⁹Now an evil spirit sent from the LORD came on Saul as he was sitting in his palace holding a spear. David was playing the lyre,

¹⁰and Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear. As the spear struck the wall, David eluded Saul, ran away, and escaped that night.

¹¹Saul sent agents to David’s house to watch for him and kill him in the morning. But his wife Michal warned David, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead tomorrow!”

¹²So she lowered David from the window, and he fled and escaped.

¹³Then Michal took the household idol and put it on the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment.

¹⁴When Saul sent agents to seize David, Michal said, “He’s sick.”

¹⁵Saul sent the agents back to see David and said, “Bring him on his bed so I can kill him.”

¹⁶When the agents arrived, to their surprise, the household idol was on the bed with some goat hair on its head.

¹⁷Saul asked Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!” She answered him, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you? ’”

¹⁸So David fled and escaped and went to Samuel at Ramah and told him everything Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel left and stayed at Naioth.

¹⁹When it was reported to Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah,

²⁰he sent agents to seize David. However, when they saw the group of prophets prophesying with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came on Saul’s agents, and they also started prophesying.

²¹When they reported to Saul, he sent other agents, and they also began prophesying. So Saul tried again and sent a third group of agents, and even they began prophesying.

²²Then Saul himself went to Ramah. He came to the large cistern at Secu and asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “At Naioth in Ramah,” someone said.

²³So he went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God also came on him, and as he walked along, he prophesied until he entered Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴Saul then removed his clothes and also prophesied before Samuel; he collapsed and lay naked all that day and all that night. That is why they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

¹David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What did I do wrong? How have I sinned against your father so that he wants to take my life?”

²Jonathan said to him, “No, you won’t die. Listen, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This can’t be true.”

³But David said, “Your father certainly knows that I have found favor with you. He has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or else he will be grieved.’” David also swore, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”

⁴Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”

⁵So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I’m supposed to sit down and eat with the king. Instead, let me go, and I’ll hide in the countryside for the next two nights.

⁶If your father misses me at all, say, ‘David urgently requested my permission to go quickly to his hometown Bethlehem for an annual sacrifice there involving the whole clan.’

⁷If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he becomes angry, you will know he has evil intentions.

⁸Deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If I have done anything wrong, then kill me yourself; why take me to your father?”

⁹“No!” Jonathan responded. “If I ever find out my father has evil intentions against you, wouldn’t I tell you about it?”

¹⁰So David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”

¹¹He answered David, “Come on, let’s go out to the countryside.” So both of them went out to the countryside.

¹²“By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If I find out that he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you?

¹³If my father intends to bring evil on you, may God punish Jonathan and do so severely if I do not tell you and send you away so you may leave safely. May the LORD be with you, just as he was with my father.

¹⁴If I continue to live, show me kindness from the LORD, but if I die,

¹⁵don’t ever withdraw your kindness from my household — not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

¹⁶Then Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.”

¹⁷Jonathan once again swore to David in his love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.

¹⁸Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the New Moon; you’ll be missed because your seat will be empty.

¹⁹The following day hurry down and go to the place where you hid on the day this incident began and stay beside the rock Ezel.

²⁰I will shoot three arrows beside it as if I’m aiming at a target.

²¹Then I will send a servant and say, ‘Go and find the arrows! ’ Now, if I expressly say to the servant, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you — get them,’ then come, because as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no problem.

²²But if I say this to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you! ’ then go, for the LORD is sending you away.

²³As for the matter you and I have spoken about, the LORD will be a witness between you and me forever.”

²⁴So David hid in the countryside. At the New Moon, the king sat down to eat the meal.

²⁵He sat at his usual place on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat facing him and Abner took his place beside Saul, but David’s place was empty.

²⁶Saul did not say anything that day because he thought, “Something unexpected has happened; he must be ceremonially unclean — yes, that’s it, he is unclean.”

²⁷However, the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why didn’t Jesse’s son come to the meal either yesterday or today?”

²⁸Jonathan answered, “David asked for my permission to go to Bethlehem.

²⁹He said, ‘Please let me go because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the town, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor with you, let me go so I can see my brothers.’ That’s why he didn’t come to the king’s table.”

³⁰Then Saul became angry with Jonathan and shouted, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you are siding with Jesse’s son to your own shame and to the disgrace of your mother?

³¹Every day Jesse’s son lives on earth you and your kingship are not secure. Now send for him and bring him to me — he must die!”

³²Jonathan answered his father back: “Why is he to be killed? What has he done?”

³³Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him, so he knew that his father was determined to kill David.

³⁴He got up from the table fiercely angry and did not eat any food that second day of the New Moon, for he was grieved because of his father’s shameful behavior toward David.

³⁵In the morning Jonathan went out to the countryside for the appointed meeting with David. A young servant was with him.

³⁶He said to the servant, “Run and find the arrows I’m shooting.” As the servant ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.

³⁷He came to the location of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, but Jonathan called to him and said, “The arrow is beyond you, isn’t it?”

³⁸Then Jonathan called to him, “Hurry up and don’t stop!” Jonathan’s servant picked up the arrow and returned to his master.

³⁹He did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement.

⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the servant who was with him and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”

⁴¹When the servant had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone Ezel, fell facedown to the ground, and paid homage three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept with each other, though David wept more.

⁴²Jonathan then said to David, “Go in the assurance the two of us pledged in the name of the LORD when we said: The LORD will be a witness between you and me and between my offspring and your offspring forever.” Then David left, and Jonathan went into the city.

¹David went to the priest Ahimelech at Nob. Ahimelech was afraid to meet David, so he said to him, “Why are you alone and no one is with you?”

²David answered the priest Ahimelech, “The king gave me a mission, but he told me, ‘Don’t let anyone know anything about the mission I’m sending you on or what I have ordered you to do.’ I have stationed my young men at a certain place.

³Now what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread or whatever can be found.”

⁴The priest told him, “There is no ordinary bread on hand. However, there is consecrated bread, but the young men may eat it only if they have kept themselves from women.”

⁵David answered him, “I swear that women are being kept from us, as always when I go out to battle. The young men’s bodies are consecrated even on an ordinary mission, so of course their bodies are consecrated today.”

⁶So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, for there was no bread there except the Bread of the Presence that had been removed from the presence of the LORD. When the bread was removed, it had been replaced with warm bread.

⁷One of Saul’s servants, detained before the LORD, was there that day. His name was Doeg the Edomite, chief of Saul’s shepherds.

⁸David said to Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword on hand? I didn’t even bring my sword or my weapons since the king’s mission was urgent.”

⁹The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want to take it for yourself, then take it, for there isn’t another one here.” “There’s none like it!” David said. “Give it to me.”

¹⁰David fled that day from Saul’s presence and went to King Achish of Gath.

¹¹But Achish’s servants said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Don’t they sing about him during their dances: Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands?”

¹²David took this to heart and became very afraid of King Achish of Gath,

¹³so he pretended to be insane in their presence. He acted like a madman around them, scribbling on the doors of the city gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

¹⁴“Look! You can see the man is crazy,” Achish said to his servants. “Why did you bring him to me?

¹⁵Do I have such a shortage of crazy people that you brought this one to act crazy around me? Is this one going to come into my house?”

¹So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When David’s brothers and his father’s whole family heard, they went down and joined him there.

²In addition, every man who was desperate, in debt, or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.

³From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God will do for me.”

⁴So he left them in the care of the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the stronghold.

⁵Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Leave and return to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

⁶Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. At that time Saul was in Gibeah, sitting under the tamarisk tree at the high place. His spear was in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him.

⁷Saul said to his servants, “Listen, men of Benjamin: Is Jesse’s son going to give all of you fields and vineyards? Do you think he’ll make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?

⁸That’s why all of you have conspired against me! Nobody tells me when my own son makes a covenant with Jesse’s son. None of you cares about me or tells me that my son has stirred up my own servant to wait in ambush for me, as is the case today.”

⁹Then Doeg the Edomite, who was in charge of Saul’s servants, answered: “I saw Jesse’s son come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob.

¹⁰Ahimelech inquired of the LORD for him and gave him provisions. He also gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹The king sent messengers to summon the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub, and his father’s whole family, who were priests in Nob. All of them came to the king.

¹²Then Saul said, “Listen, son of Ahitub!” “I’m at your service, my lord,” he said.

¹³Saul asked him, “Why did you and Jesse’s son conspire against me? You gave him bread and a sword and inquired of God for him, so he could rise up against me and wait in ambush, as is the case today.”

¹⁴Ahimelech replied to the king: “Who among all your servants is as faithful as David? He is the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard, and honored in your house.

¹⁵Was today the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Please don’t let the king make an accusation against your servant or any of my father’s family, for your servant didn’t have any idea about all this.”

¹⁶But the king said, “You will die, Ahimelech — you and your father’s whole family!”

¹⁷Then the king ordered the guards standing by him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD because they sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they didn’t tell me.” But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to execute the priests of the LORD.

¹⁸So the king said to Doeg, “Go and execute the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite went and executed the priests himself. On that day, he killed eighty-five men who wore linen ephods.

¹⁹He also struck down Nob, the city of the priests, with the sword — both men and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen, donkeys, and sheep.

²⁰However, one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped. His name was Abiathar, and he fled to David.

²¹Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the LORD.

²²Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that Doeg the Edomite was there that day and that he was sure to report to Saul. I myself am responsible for the lives of everyone in your father’s family.

²³Stay with me. Don’t be afraid, for the one who wants to take my life wants to take your life. You will be safe with me.”

¹It was reported to David: “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and raiding the threshing floors.”

²So David inquired of the LORD: “Should I launch an attack against these Philistines?” The LORD answered David, “Launch an attack against the Philistines and rescue Keilah.”

³But David’s men said to him, “Look, we’re afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!”

⁴Once again, David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him: “Go at once to Keilah, for I will hand the Philistines over to you.”

⁵Then David and his men went to Keilah, fought against the Philistines, drove their livestock away, and inflicted heavy losses on them. So David rescued the inhabitants of Keilah.

⁶Abiathar son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, and he brought an ephod with him.

⁷When it was reported to Saul that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with barred gates.”

⁸Then Saul summoned all the troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men.

⁹When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to the priest Abiathar, “Bring the ephod.”

¹⁰Then David said, “LORD God of Israel, your servant has reliable information that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the town because of me.

¹¹Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? LORD God of Israel, please tell your servant.” The LORD answered, “He will come down.”

¹²Then David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” “They will,” the LORD responded.

¹³So David and his men, numbering about six hundred, left Keilah at once and moved from place to place. When it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he called off the expedition.

¹⁴David then stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul searched for him every day, but God did not hand David over to him.

¹⁵David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in Horesh when he saw that Saul had come out to take his life.

¹⁶Then Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and encouraged him in his faith in God,

¹⁷saying, “Don’t be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. You yourself will be king over Israel, and I’ll be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows it is true.”

¹⁸Then the two of them made a covenant in the LORD’s presence. Afterward, David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home.

¹⁹Some Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “David is hiding among us in the strongholds in Horesh on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon.

²⁰Now, whenever the king wants to come down, let him come down. Our part will be to hand him over to the king.”

²¹“May you be blessed by the LORD,” replied Saul, “for you have shown concern for me.

²²Go and check again. Investigate where he goes and who has seen him there; they tell me he is extremely cunning.

²³Investigate all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with accurate information, and I’ll go with you. If it turns out he really is in the region, I’ll search for him among all the clans of Judah.”

²⁴So they went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness near Maon in the Arabah south of Jeshimon,

²⁵and Saul and his men went to look for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. Saul heard of this and pursued David there.

²⁶Saul went along one side of the mountain and David and his men went along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away from Saul, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.

²⁷Then a messenger came to Saul saying, “Come quickly, because the Philistines have raided the land!”

²⁸So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to engage the Philistines. Therefore, that place was named the Rock of Separation.

²⁹From there David went up and stayed in the strongholds of En-gedi.

¹When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the wilderness near En-gedi.”

²So Saul took three thousand of Israel’s fit young men and went to look for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

³When Saul came to the sheep pens along the road, a cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself. David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave,

⁴so they said to him, “Look, this is the day the LORD told you about: ‘I will hand your enemy over to you so you can do to him whatever you desire.’” Then David got up and secretly cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.

⁵Afterward, David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.

⁶He said to his men, “I swear before the LORD: I would never do such a thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed. I will never lift my hand against him, since he is the LORD’s anointed.”

⁷With these words David persuaded his men, and he did not let them rise up against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and went on his way.

⁸After that, David got up, went out of the cave, and called to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David knelt low with his face to the ground and paid homage.

⁹David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of people who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’?

¹⁰You can see with your own eyes that the LORD handed you over to me today in the cave. Someone advised me to kill you, but I took pity on you and said: I won’t lift my hand against my lord, since he is the LORD’s anointed.

¹¹Look, my father! Look at the corner of your robe in my hand, for I cut it off, but I didn’t kill you. Recognize that I’ve committed no crime or rebellion. I haven’t sinned against you even though you are hunting me down to take my life.

¹²“May the LORD judge between me and you, and may the LORD take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you.

¹³As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.’ My hand will never be against you.

¹⁴Who has the king of Israel come after? What are you chasing after? A dead dog? A single flea?

¹⁵May the LORD be judge and decide between you and me. May he take notice and plead my case and deliver me from you.”

¹⁶When David finished saying these things to him, Saul replied, “Is that your voice, David my son?” Then Saul wept aloud

¹⁷and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have done what is good to me though I have done what is evil to you.

¹⁸You yourself have told me today what good you did for me: when the LORD handed me over to you, you didn’t kill me.

¹⁹When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed? May the LORD repay you with good for what you’ve done for me today.

²⁰“Now I know for certain you will be king, and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.

²¹Therefore swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”

²²So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

¹Samuel died, and all Israel assembled to mourn for him, and they buried him by his home in Ramah. David then went down to the Wilderness of Paran.

²A man in Maon had a business in Carmel; he was a very rich man with three thousand sheep and one thousand goats and was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

³The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name, Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful, but the man, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.

⁴While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep,

⁵so David sent ten young men instructing them, “Go up to Carmel, and when you come to Nabal, greet him in my name.

⁶Then say this: ‘Long life to you, and peace to you, peace to your family, and peace to all that is yours.

⁷I hear that you are shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.

⁸Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have on hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

⁹David’s young men went and said all these things to Nabal on David’s behalf, and they waited.

¹⁰Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is Jesse’s son? Many slaves these days are running away from their masters.

¹¹Am I supposed to take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to these men? I don’t know where they are from.”

¹²David’s young men retraced their steps. When they returned to him, they reported all these words.

¹³He said to his men, “All of you, put on your swords!” So each man put on his sword, and David also put on his sword. About four hundred men followed David while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

¹⁴One of Nabal’s young men informed Abigail, Nabal’s wife: “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed at them.

¹⁵The men treated us very well. When we were in the field, we weren’t harassed and nothing of ours was missing the whole time we were living among them.

¹⁶They were a wall around us, both day and night, the entire time we were with them herding the sheep.

¹⁷Now consider carefully what you should do, because there is certain to be trouble for our master and his entire family. He is such a worthless fool nobody can talk to him!”

¹⁸Abigail hurried, taking two hundred loaves of bread, two clay jars of wine, five butchered sheep, a bushel of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.

¹⁹Then she said to her male servants, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

²⁰As she rode the donkey down a mountain pass hidden from view, she saw David and his men coming toward her and met them.

²¹David had just said, “I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness for nothing. He was not missing anything, yet he paid me back evil for good.

²²May God punish me and do so severely if I let any of his males survive until morning.”

²³When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey and knelt down with her face to the ground and paid homage to David.

²⁴She knelt at his feet and said, “The guilt is mine, my lord, but please let your servant speak to you directly. Listen to the words of your servant.

²⁵My lord should pay no attention to this worthless fool Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means ‘stupid,’ and stupidity is all he knows. I, your servant, didn’t see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

²⁶Now my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live— it is the LORD who kept you from participating in bloodshed and avenging yourself by your own hand—may your enemies and those who intend to harm my lord be like Nabal.

²⁷Let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.

²⁸Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD is certain to make a lasting dynasty for my lord because he fights the LORD’s battles. Throughout your life, may evil not be found in you.

²⁹“Someone is pursuing you and intends to take your life. My lord’s life is tucked safely in the place where the LORD your God protects the living, but he is flinging away your enemies’ lives like stones from a sling.

³⁰When the LORD does for my lord all the good he promised you and appoints you ruler over Israel,

³¹there will not be remorse or a troubled conscience for my lord because of needless bloodshed or my lord’s revenge. And when the LORD does good things for my lord, may you remember me your servant.”

³²Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today!

³³May your discernment be blessed, and may you be blessed. Today you kept me from participating in bloodshed and avenging myself by my own hand.

³⁴Otherwise, as surely as the LORD God of Israel lives, who prevented me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, Nabal wouldn’t have had any males left by morning light.”

³⁵Then David accepted what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. See, I have heard what you said and have granted your request.”

³⁶Then Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was in his house, holding a feast fit for a king. Nabal’s heart was cheerful, and he was very drunk, so she didn’t say anything to him until morning light.

³⁷In the morning when Nabal sobered up, his wife told him about these events. His heart died and he became a stone.

³⁸About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

³⁹When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the LORD who championed my cause against Nabal’s insults and restrained his servant from doing evil. The LORD brought Nabal’s evil deeds back on his own head.” Then David sent messengers to speak to Abigail about marrying him.

⁴⁰When David’s servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, “David sent us to bring you to him as a wife.”

⁴¹She stood up, paid homage with her face to the ground, and said, “Here I am, your servant, a slave to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

⁴²Then Abigail got up quickly, and with her five female servants accompanying her, rode on the donkey following David’s messengers. And so she became his wife.

⁴³David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and the two of them became his wives.

⁴⁴But Saul gave his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

¹Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah saying, “David is hiding on the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon.”

²So Saul, accompanied by three thousand of the fit young men of Israel, went immediately to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there.

³Saul camped beside the road at the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon. David was living in the wilderness and discovered Saul had come there after him.

⁴So David sent out spies and knew for certain that Saul had come.

⁵Immediately, David went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were lying down. Saul was lying inside the inner circle of the camp with the troops camped around him.

⁶Then David asked Ahimelech the Hethite and Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, “Who will go with me into the camp to Saul?” “I’ll go with you,” answered Abishai.

⁷That night, David and Abishai came to the troops, and Saul was lying there asleep in the inner circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. Abner and the troops were lying around him.

⁸Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy to you. Let me thrust the spear through him into the ground just once. I won’t have to strike him twice!”

⁹But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him, for who can lift a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be innocent?”

¹⁰David added, “As the LORD lives, the LORD will certainly strike him down: either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.

¹¹However, 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.”

¹²So David took the spear and the water jug by Saul’s head, and they went their way. No one saw them, no one knew, and no one woke up; they all remained asleep because a deep sleep from the LORD came over them.

¹³David crossed to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance; there was a considerable space between them.

¹⁴Then David shouted to the troops and to Abner son of Ner: “Aren’t you going to answer, Abner?” “Who are you who calls to the king?” Abner asked.

¹⁵David called to Abner, “You’re a man, aren’t you? Who in Israel is your equal? So why didn’t you protect your lord the king when one of the people came to destroy him?

¹⁶What 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?”

¹⁷Saul recognized David’s voice and asked, “Is that your voice, my son David?” “It is my voice, my lord and king,” David said.

¹⁸Then he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What crime have I committed?

¹⁹Now, may my lord the king please hear the words of his servant: If it is the LORD who has incited you against me, then may he accept an offering. But if it is people, may they be cursed in the presence of the LORD, for today they have banished me from sharing in the inheritance of the LORD saying, ‘Go and worship other gods.’

²⁰So don’t let my blood fall to the ground far from the LORD’s presence, for the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea, like one who pursues a partridge in the mountains.”

²¹Saul responded, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David, I will never harm you again because today you considered my life precious. I have been a fool! I’ve committed a grave error.”

²²David answered, “Here is the king’s spear; have one of the young men come over and get it.

²³The LORD will repay every man for his righteousness and his loyalty. I wasn’t willing to lift my hand against the LORD’s anointed, even though the LORD handed you over to me today.

²⁴Just as I considered your life valuable today, so may the LORD consider my life valuable and rescue me from all trouble.”

²⁵Saul said to him, “You are blessed, my son David. You will certainly do great things and will also prevail.” Then David went on his way, and Saul returned home.

¹David said to himself, “One of these days I’ll be swept away by Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape immediately to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me everywhere in Israel, and I’ll escape from him.”

²So David set out with his six hundred men and went over to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.

³David and his men stayed with Achish in Gath. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow.

⁴When it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

⁵Now David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

⁶That day Achish gave Ziklag to him, and it still belongs to the kings of Judah today.

⁷The length of time that David stayed in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.

⁸David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. From ancient times they had been the inhabitants of the region through Shur as far as the land of Egypt.

⁹Whenever David attacked the land, he did not leave a single person alive, either man or woman, but he took flocks, herds, donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he came back to Achish,

¹⁰who inquired, “Where did you raid today?” David replied, “The south country of Judah,” “The south country of the Jerahmeelites,” or “The south country of the Kenites.”

¹¹David did not let a man or woman live to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Or they will inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” This was David’s custom during the whole time he stayed in the Philistine territory.

¹²So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself repulsive to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”

¹At that time, the Philistines gathered their military units into one army to fight against Israel. So Achish said to David, “You know, of course, that you and your men must march out in the army with me.”

²David replied to Achish, “Good, you will find out what your servant can do.” So Achish said to David, “Very well, I will appoint you as my permanent bodyguard.”

³By this time Samuel had died, all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his city, and Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land.

⁴The Philistines gathered and camped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel, and they camped at Gilboa.

⁵When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he was afraid and his heart pounded.

⁶He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him in dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets.

⁷Saul then said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.” His servants replied, “There is a woman at En-dor who is a medium.”

⁸Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes and set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me. Bring up for me the one I tell you.”

⁹But the woman said to him, “You surely know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why are you setting a trap for me to get me killed?”

¹⁰Then Saul swore to her by the LORD: “As surely as the LORD lives, no punishment will come to you from this.”

¹¹“Who is it that you want me to bring up for you?” the woman asked. “Bring up Samuel for me,” he answered.

¹²When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed, and then she asked Saul, “Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!”

¹³But the king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?” “I see a spirit form coming up out of the earth,” the woman answered.

¹⁴Then Saul asked her, “What does he look like?” “An old man is coming up,” she replied. “He’s wearing a robe.” Then Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he knelt low with his face to the ground and paid homage.

¹⁵“Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Samuel asked Saul. “I’m in serious trouble,” replied Saul. “The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He doesn’t answer me anymore, either through the prophets or in dreams. So I’ve called on you to tell me what I should do.”

¹⁶Samuel answered, “Since the LORD has turned away from you and has become your enemy, why are you asking me?

¹⁷The LORD has done exactly what he said through me: The LORD has torn the kingship out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David.

¹⁸You did not obey the LORD and did not carry out his burning anger against Amalek; therefore the LORD has done this to you today.

¹⁹The LORD will also hand Israel over to the Philistines along with you. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and the LORD will hand Israel’s army over to the Philistines.”

²⁰Immediately, Saul fell flat on the ground. He was terrified by Samuel’s words and was also weak because he had not eaten anything all day and all night.

²¹The woman came over to Saul, and she saw that he was terrified and said to him, “Look, your servant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do.

²²Now please listen to your servant. Let me set some food in front of you. Eat and it will give you strength so you can go on your way.”

²³He refused, saying, “I won’t eat,” but when his servants and the woman urged him, he listened to them. He got up off the ground and sat on the bed.

²⁴The woman had a fattened calf at her house, and she quickly slaughtered it. She also took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread.

²⁵She served it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Afterward, they got up and left that night.

¹The Philistines brought all their military units together at Aphek while Israel was camped by the spring in Jezreel.

²As the Philistine leaders were passing in review with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were passing in review behind them with Achish.

³Then the Philistine commanders asked, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” Achish answered the Philistine commanders, “That is David, servant of King Saul of Israel. He has been with me a considerable period of time. From the day he defected until today, I’ve found no fault with him.”

⁴The Philistine commanders, however, were enraged with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the battle. What better way could he ingratiate himself with his master than with the heads of our men?

⁵Isn’t this the David they sing about during their dances: Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands?”

⁶So Achish summoned David and told him, “As the LORD lives, you are an honorable man. I think it is good to have you fighting in this unit with me, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until today. But the leaders don’t think you are reliable.

⁷Now go back quietly and you won’t be doing anything the Philistine leaders think is wrong.”

⁸“But what have I done?” David replied to Achish. “From the first day I entered your service until today, what have you found against your servant to keep me from going to fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

⁹Achish answered David, “I’m convinced that you are as reliable as an angel of God. But the Philistine commanders have said, ‘He must not go into battle with us.’

¹⁰So 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.”

¹¹So David and his men got up early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

¹David and his men arrived in Ziklag on the third day. The Amalekites had raided the Negev and attacked and burned Ziklag.

²They also had kidnapped the women and everyone in it from youngest to oldest. They had killed no one but had carried them off as they went on their way.

³When David and his men arrived at the town, they found it burned. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been kidnapped.

⁴David and the troops with him wept loudly until they had no strength left to weep.

⁵David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had also been kidnapped.

⁶David was in an extremely difficult position because the troops talked about stoning him, for they were all very bitter over the loss of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

⁷David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,

⁸and David asked the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” The LORD replied to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them and rescue the people.”

⁹So David and the six hundred men with him went. They came to the Wadi Besor, where some stayed behind.

¹⁰David and four hundred of the men continued the pursuit, while two hundred stopped because they were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor.

¹¹David’s men found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink.

¹²Then they gave him some pressed figs and two clusters of raisins. After he ate he revived, for he hadn’t eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights.

¹³Then David said to him, “Who do you belong to? Where are you from?” “I’m an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite man,” he said. “My master abandoned me when I got sick three days ago.

¹⁴We raided the south country of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the south country of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag.”

¹⁵David then asked him, “Will you lead me to these raiders?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you won’t kill me or turn me over to my master, and I will lead you to them.”

¹⁶So he led him, and there were the Amalekites, spread out over the entire area, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.

¹⁷David slaughtered them from twilight until the evening of the next day. None of them escaped, except four hundred young men who got on camels and fled.

¹⁸David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken; he also rescued his two wives.

¹⁹Nothing of theirs was missing from the youngest to the oldest, including the sons and daughters, and all the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David got everything back.

²⁰He took all the flocks and herds, which were driven ahead of the other livestock, and the people shouted, “This is David’s plunder!”

²¹When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to go with him and had been left at the Wadi Besor, they came out to meet him and to meet the troops with him. When David approached the men, he greeted them,

²²but all the corrupt and worthless men among those who had gone with David argued, “Because they didn’t go with us, we will not give any of the plunder we recovered to them except for each man’s wife and children. They may take them and go.”

²³But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the LORD has given us. He protected us and handed over to us the raiders who came against us.

²⁴Who can agree to your proposal? The share of the one who goes into battle is to be the same as the share of the one who remains with the supplies. They will share equally.”

²⁵And it has been so from that day forward. David established this policy as a law and an ordinance for Israel and it still continues today.

²⁶When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”

²⁷He sent gifts to those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negev, and in Jattir;

²⁸to those in Aroer, in Siphmoth, and in Eshtemoa;

²⁹to those in Racal, in the towns of the Jerahmeelites, and in the towns of the Kenites;

³⁰to those in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, and in Athach;

³¹to those in Hebron, and to those in all the places where David and his men had roamed.