1 Samuel 26:1–5

¹⁹¶ Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?

¹SAVE me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.

²Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.

⁴Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

⁵He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.

⁶I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O Lord; for it is good.

⁷For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.

³And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.

²⁴Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth,

⁵⁵Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah,

²Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.

²Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.

²³See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.

²⁴And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.

²⁵Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

¹⁷And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.

⁴Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.

⁵The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.

⁶I said unto the Lord, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord.

⁷O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.

⁸Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.

⁹As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.

¹²They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.

¹⁹¶ Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?

¹AND the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?

¹⁶¶ Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

¹AND Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.

⁵⁵¶ And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.

⁵⁰And the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz: and the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.

⁵¹And Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

²⁰¶ And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.

³⁹And Ner begat Kish; and Kish begat Saul; and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchi-shua, and Abinadab, and Esh-baal.

¹NOW there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.

⁸¶ But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s host, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;

⁹And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

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

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

¹²¶ And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

²⁷And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.

³³And the king lamented over Abner, and said, Died Abner as a fool dieth?

³⁴Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him.

³⁵And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down.

³⁶And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people.

³⁷For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay Abner the son of Ner.

³⁸And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?

⁷And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my father’s concubine?

⁸Then was Abner very wroth for the words of Ish-bosheth, and said, Am I a dog’s head, which against Judah do shew kindness this day unto the house of Saul thy father, to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not delivered thee into the hand of David, that thou chargest me to day with a fault concerning this woman?