1 Samuel 24
David goes to the En-Gedi Desert
1David went away from the Maon Desert and he went to the mountains near the town of En-Gedi. 2Saul came back from making war_against the Philistines and the people told him that David was in the En-Gedi Desert. Saul chose 3 000 men from the Israelites and they went to look for David and his men near the Wild-Goat Rocks. 3Saul went to a sheep kraal and there was a cave. He went into the cave to relieve himself. David and his men were sitting in the back of the cave. 4David's men said to him: ‘The Lord is saying to you today: “I am giving your enemy to you. There he is. You may do to him what you want.” ’
So David went near to Saul and he cut a piece off of Saul's robe. 5But then he felt sorry that he had done it. 6He said to his men: ‘I pray that the Lord will stop me if I want to do anything wrong to my king. He is the anointed one of the Lord. I do not want to do anything wrong against him, because he is the anointed one of the Lord.’
7David talked to his men and he stopped them, so they did not attack Saul. Saul finished and got up and went out of the cave and he went further. 8Then David got up and went out of the cave and he shouted to Saul: ‘Your_Majesty.’
When Saul looked back, David knelt and bowed low. His face was on the ground. 9David said to Saul: ‘Why do you listen to people who say that I am your enemy? That is not true. 10You have seen that the Lord gave you to me today in the cave and if I had wanted to kill you, I could have. But I did not kill you. I said I would not do anything wrong to my king, because you are the anointed one of the Lord. 11My father, look here. I have a piece of your robe in my hand. Yes, I cut off a piece of your robe but I did not kill you. You can see I am not your enemy, and you should know it. But you chase me because you want to kill me. 12I pray that God will say who is right, you or me. I also pray that He will punish you for the things that you have done to me, but I will do nothing bad to you. 13They say that bad people do bad things, but I will do nothing bad against you. 14I ask: Why do you, the king_of_Israel, chase me? I am nothing. I am like a dead dog or an insect. 15The Lord will judge and say who is right, you or me. He will see and be my Witness against you. He will say I am right.’
16After David said this to Saul, Saul said: ‘My son David, is that you?’ Then Saul started to cry loudly. 17He said to David: ‘You are right. I have done wrong. You have been good to me but I have done bad things to you. 18Today you have shown that you are good to me. You did not kill me when the Lord gave me to you. 19No one would let his enemy go free or let him live when he finds him, but you did not kill me. You let me live. I pray that God will be good to you. 20And now, I know very well that you will be king and you will be king_of_Israel for many years. 21You must promise me that you will not kill my children or wipe out my name from my family. The Lord must be your Witness to this.’ 22David promised this to Saul and Saul went home. David and his men went up into the mountains.
English Bible for the Deaf © Bible Society of South Africa 2019. Used with permission. All rights reserved.