8. Abishai said to David, “Today God has turned your enemy over to you. Please let me nail him to the ground with one stab of the spear. I won’t have to do it twice!”
9. “Don’t kill him!” David told Abishai. “No one has ever attacked the Lord’s anointed king and remained free of guilt.
10. I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives,” David added, “the Lord will strike him. Either his time will come when he’ll die ⌊naturally⌋, or he’ll go into battle and be swept away.
11. It would be unthinkable for me to attack the Lord’s anointed king. But please take that spear near his head and that jar of water, and let’s go.”
12. David took the spear and the jar of water near Saul’s head, and they left. All of them were asleep. No one saw them, knew about it, or woke up. The Lord had made them fall into a deep sleep.
13. David went over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away. (There was a wide space between them.)
14. Then David called to the troops and to Ner’s son Abner. “Won’t you answer, Abner?” he asked.“Who is calling the king?” Abner asked.