Old Testament

New Testament

1 Samuel 26:1-13 New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

1. Some people from Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah. They said, "David is hiding on the hill of Hakilah. It faces Jeshimon."

2. So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph. He took 3,000 of the best soldiers in Israel with him. They went to the desert to look for David.

3. Saul set up his camp beside the road. It was on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon. But David stayed in the desert. He saw that Saul had followed him there.

4. So he sent out scouts. From them he learned that Saul had arrived.

5. Then David started out. He went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner were lying down. Saul was lying inside the camp. The army was camped all around him. Abner was commander of the army. He was the son of Ner.

6. Then David spoke to Ahimelech, the Hittite. He also spoke to Joab's brother Abishai, the son of Zeruiah. He asked them, "Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?" "I'll go with you," said Abishai.

7. So that night David and Abishai went into the camp. They found Saul lying asleep inside the camp. His spear was stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying asleep around him.

8. Abishai said to David, "Today God has handed your enemy over to you. So let me pin him to the ground. I can do it with one jab of my spear. I won't even have to strike him twice."

9. But David said to Abishai, "Don't destroy him! No one can lay a hand on the Lord's anointed king and not be guilty.

10. You can be sure that the Lord lives," he said. "And you can be just as sure that the Lord himself will strike Saul down. Perhaps he'll die a natural death. Or perhaps he'll go into battle and be killed.

11. May the Lord keep me from laying a hand on his anointed king. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head. Then let's leave."

12. So David took the spear and water jug that were near Saul's head. Then he and Abishai left. No one saw them. No one knew about what they had done. In fact, no one even woke up. Everyone was sleeping. That's because the Lord had put them into a deep sleep.

13. David went across to the other side of the valley. He stood on top of a hill far away from Saul's camp. There was a wide space between them.

Read complete chapter 1 Samuel 26