Jonathan Helps David

¹Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? How have I sinned against your father, that he wants to take my life?”

²“Far from it!” Jonathan replied. “You will not die. Indeed, my father does nothing, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This cannot be true!”

³But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”

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

⁵So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon,and I am supposed to dine with the king. Instead, let me go and hide in the field until the third evening from now.

⁶If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David urgently requested my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because there is an annual sacrifice for his whole clan.’

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

⁸Therefore show kindness to your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?”

⁹“Never!” Jonathan replied. “If I ever found out that my father had evil intentions against you, would I not tell you?”

Jonathan and David Renew Their Covenant

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

¹¹“Come,” he replied, “let us go out to the field.”So the two of them went out into the field,

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

¹³But if my father intends to bring evil on you, then may the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if I do not tell you and send you on your way in safety. May the LORD be with you, just as He has been with my father.

¹⁴And as long as I live, treat me with the LORD’s loving devotion,that I may not die,

¹⁵and do not ever cut off your loving devotion from my household—not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

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

¹⁷And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.

¹⁸Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.

¹⁹When you have stayed three days, hurry down to the place you hid on the day this trouble began, and remain beside the stone Ezel.

²⁰I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target.

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

²²But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, for the LORD has sent you away.

²³And as for the matter you and I have discussed, the LORD is a witness between you and me forever.”

²⁴So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat.

²⁵He sat in his usual place by the wall, opposite Jonathan and beside Abner,but David’s place was empty.

²⁶Saul said nothing that day because he thought, “Something has happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.”

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

²⁸Jonathan answered, “David urgently requested my permission to go to Bethlehem,

²⁹saying, ‘Please let me go, because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That is why he has not come to the king’s table.”

Saul Seeks to Kill Jonathan

³⁰Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you?

³¹For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!”

³²“Why must he be put to death?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”

³³Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan to kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to kill David.

³⁴Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the month, for he was grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David.

³⁵In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a small boy was with him.

³⁶He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” And as the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.

³⁷When the boy reached the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called to him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?”

³⁸Then Jonathan cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.

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

⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the boy and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”

⁴¹When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone,fell facedown, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept together—though David wept more.

⁴²And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be a witness between you and me, and between your descendants and mine forever.’” Then David got up and departed, and Jonathan went back into the city.

The Death of Samuel

¹When Samuel died, all Israel gathered to mourn for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah.Then David set out and went down to the Wilderness of Paran.

David, Nabal, and Abigail

²Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.

³His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, 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 and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name

⁶and say to him, ‘Long life to you, and peace to you and to your house and to all that belongs to you.

⁷Now I hear that it is time for 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 the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can spare to your servants and to your son David.’”

⁹When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited.

¹⁰But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.

¹¹Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

¹²So David’s men turned around and went back, and they relayed to him all these words.

¹³And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men strapped on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

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

¹⁵Yet these men were very good to us. When we were in the field, we were not harassed, and nothing of ours went missing the whole time we lived among them.

¹⁶They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them.

¹⁷Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”

Abigail Intercedes for Nabal

¹⁸Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, five seahs of roasted grain,a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys

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

²⁰As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them.

²¹Now David had just said, “In vain I have protected all that belonged to this man in the wilderness. Nothing that belongs to him has gone missing, yet he has paid me back evil for good.

²²May God punish David,and ever so severely, if I let one male belonging to Nabal survive until morning.”

²³When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey, fell facedown, and bowed before him.

²⁴She fell at his feet and said, “My lord, may the blame be on me alone, but please let your servant speak to you; hear the words of your servant.

²⁵My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal,for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

²⁶Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, since the LORD has held you back from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, may your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal.

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

²⁸Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live.

²⁹And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.

³⁰When the LORD has done for my lord all the good He promised, and when He has appointed you ruler over Israel,

³¹then my lord will have no remorse or guilt of conscience over needless bloodshed and revenge. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, may you remember your servant.”

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

³³Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

³⁴Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”

³⁵Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, “Go home in peace. See, I have heeded your voice and granted your request.”

³⁶When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

³⁷In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him, and he became like a stone.

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

David Marries Abigail

³⁹On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.”Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.

⁴⁰When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”

⁴¹She arose, bowed facedown, and said, “Here is your servant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

⁴²So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife.

⁴³David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives.

⁴⁴But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Paltison of Laish, who was from Gallim.

David Anointed King of Judah

¹Some time later, David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go up to one of the towns of Judah?”“Go up,” the LORD answered.Then David asked, “Where should I go?”“To Hebron,” replied the LORD.

²So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

³David also took the men who were with him, each with his household, and they settled in the towns near Hebron.

⁴Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”

⁵So David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead to tell them, “The LORD bless you, because you showed this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him.

⁶Now may the LORD show you loving devotionand faithfulness, and I will also show you the same favor because you have done this.

⁷Now then, be strong and courageous, for though Saul your lord is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me as their king.”

Ish-bosheth Made King of Israel

⁸Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth,moved him to Mahanaim,

⁹and made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin—over all Israel.

¹⁰Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for two years.The house of Judah, however, followed David.

¹¹And the length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

The Battle of Gibeon

¹²One day Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

¹³So Joab son of Zeruiah and the servants of David marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon. And the two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool.

¹⁴Then Abner said to Joab, “Let us have the young men get up and compete before us.”“Let them get up,” Joab replied.

¹⁵So they got up and were counted off—twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David.

¹⁶Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponent’s side, and they all fell together. So this place, which is in Gibeon, is called Helkath-hazzurim.

¹⁷The battle that day was intense, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by the servants of David.

¹⁸The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle,

¹⁹and he chased Abner, not turning to the right or to the left in his pursuit.

²⁰And Abner glanced back and said, “Is that you, Asahel?”“It is,” Asahel replied.

²¹So Abner told him, “Turn to your right or to your left, seize one of the young men, and take his equipment for yourself.”But Asahel would not stop chasing him.

²²Once again, Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I show my face to your brother Joab?”

²³But Asahel refused to turn away. So Abner thrust the butt of his spear into his stomach, and it came out his back, and he fell dead on the spot. And every man paused when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.

²⁴But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. By sunset, they had gone as far as the hill of Ammah opposite Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

²⁵The Benjamites rallied to Abner, formed a single unit, and took their stand atop a hill.

²⁶Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”

²⁷“As surely as God lives,” Joab replied, “if you had not spoken up, the troops would have continued pursuing their brothers until morning.”

²⁸So Joab blew the ram’s horn, and all the troops stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or continued to fight.

²⁹And all that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, marched all morning,and arrived at Mahanaim.

³⁰When Joab returned from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the troops.In addition to Asahel, nineteen of David’s servants were missing,

³¹but they had struck down 360 Benjamites who were with Abner.

³²And they took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at daybreak.

The LORD Has Chosen Zion

¹O LORD, remember on behalf of Davidall the hardships he endured,

²how he swore an oath to the LORD,and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:

³“I will not enter my houseor get into my bed,

⁴I will not give sleep to my eyesor slumber to my eyelids,

⁵until I find a place for the LORD,a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

⁶We heard that the ark was in Ephrathah;we found it in the fields of Jaar.

⁷Let us go to His dwelling place;let us worship at His footstool.

⁸Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place,You and the ark of Your strength.

⁹May Your priests be clothed with righteousness,and Your saints shout for joy.

¹⁰For the sake of Your servant David,do not reject Your anointed one.

¹¹The LORD swore an oath to David,a promise He will not revoke:“One of your descendantsI will place on your throne.

¹²If your sons keep My covenantand the testimony I will teach them,then their sons will also sit on your throneforever and ever.”

¹³For the LORD has chosen Zion;He has desired it for His home:

¹⁴“This is My resting place forever and ever;here I will dwell, for I have desired this home.

¹⁵I will bless her with abundant provisions;I will satisfy her poor with bread.

¹⁶I will clothe her priests with salvation,and her saints will sing out in joy.

¹⁷There I will make a horn grow for David;I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.

¹⁸I will clothe his enemies with shame,but the crown upon him will gleam.”