Old Testament · History

1 Samuel chapter 24

When Saul came back from chasing the , he got a report: “David is in the wilderness of .”So Saul took three thousand handpicked men from all of Israel and went looking for David and his men in the direction of the .He came to some sheep pens along the road where there was a cave, and Saul went in to . David and his men were sitting further back in that very cave.David’s men whispered to him, “This is the day told you about when he said, ‘I’m going to hand your enemy over to you, and you can do whatever you think is best.’” So David crept up and quietly cut off the .But right after he did it, David’s for cutting Saul’s robe.He told his men, “Yahweh would never let me do such a thing to my master — Yahweh’s . I will not raise my hand against him, because he is Yahweh’s chosen leader.”David his men with these words and didn’t let them attack Saul. Then Saul got up, left the cave, and went on his way.After that, David got up and went out of the cave. He called after Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked back, David in respect.David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to people who say, ‘David is trying to destroy you’?Look, today you can see with your own eyes that Yahweh handed you over to me in that cave. Some of my men urged me to kill you, but I . I said, ‘I will not raise my hand against my master, because he is Yahweh’s chosen leader.’Look, — look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut the corner of your robe but I didn’t kill you. Understand this and see that I have no intention of harming you or rebelling against you. I haven’t wronged you, yet you are hunting me down to take my life.Let Yahweh between you and me. Let Yahweh take up my case and deliver justice for me against you — but my own hand will never touch you.As the says, ‘From wicked people, wickedness comes.’ But my hand will never touch you.Who is the king of Israel even chasing? Who are you pursuing? A ! A single !So let Yahweh be the judge and decide between you and me. Let him look into this, take up my case, and from your hand.When David finished saying all this, Saul said, “Is that your voice, David?” And Saul .He said to David, “You are than I am. You’ve treated me with goodness, and I’ve treated you with evil.You’ve shown today how good you’ve been to me — Yahweh handed me over to you, and you didn’t kill me.When a man finds his enemy, does he just let him walk away unharmed? May Yahweh for what you did for me today.Now look — I know for certain that you will be king, and that the under your leadership.Now that you won’t after me, and that you won’t from my father’s family.So David . Then Saul went home, but David and his men went back up to their .