1 Samuel 24

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.