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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>1 Samuel 26 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_samuel/26.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/1_samuel/26-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > 1 Samuel 26</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_samuel/25.htm" title="1 Samuel 25">◄</a> 1 Samuel 26 <a href="../1_samuel/27.htm" title="1 Samuel 27">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/1_samuel/26.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">David Spares Saul Again</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Now some men from Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah to tell him, “David is hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which overlooks Jeshimon.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>So Saul took 3,000 of Israel’s elite troops and went to hunt him down in the wilderness of Ziph. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Saul camped along the road beside the hill of Hakilah, near Jeshimon, where David was hiding. When David learned that Saul had come after him into the wilderness, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>he sent out spies to verify the report of Saul’s arrival.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>David slipped over to Saul’s camp one night to look around. Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping inside a ring formed by the slumbering warriors. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>“Who will volunteer to go in there with me?” David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother.</p><p class="reg">“I’ll go with you,” Abishai replied. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>So David and Abishai went right into Saul’s camp and found him asleep, with his spear stuck in the ground beside his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying asleep around him.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>“God has surely handed your enemy over to you this time!” Abishai whispered to David. “Let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t need to strike twice!”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>“No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the LORD’s anointed one? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Surely the LORD will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>The LORD forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed! But take his spear and that jug of water beside his head, and then let’s get out of here!”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>So David took the spear and jug of water that were near Saul’s head. Then he and Abishai got away without anyone seeing them or even waking up, because the LORD had put Saul’s men into a deep sleep.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>David climbed the hill opposite the camp until he was at a safe distance. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Then he shouted down to the soldiers and to Abner son of Ner, “Wake up, Abner!”</p><p class="reg">“Who is it?” Abner demanded.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>“Well, Abner, you’re a great man, aren’t you?” David taunted. “Where in all Israel is there anyone as mighty? So why haven’t you guarded your master the king when someone came to kill him? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>This isn’t good at all! I swear by the LORD that you and your men deserve to die, because you failed to protect your master, the LORD’s anointed! Look around! Where are the king’s spear and the jug of water that were beside his head?”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Saul recognized David’s voice and called out, “Is that you, my son David?”</p><p class="reg">And David replied, “Yes, my lord the king. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>Why are you chasing me? What have I done? What is my crime? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>But now let my lord the king listen to his servant. If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then let him accept my offering. But if this is simply a human scheme, then may those involved be cursed by the LORD. For they have driven me from my home, so I can no longer live among the LORD’s people, and they have said, ‘Go, worship pagan gods.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>Must I die on foreign soil, far from the presence of the LORD? Why has the king of Israel come out to search for a single flea? Why does he hunt me down like a partridge on the mountains?”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Then Saul confessed, “I have sinned. Come back home, my son, and I will no longer try to harm you, for you valued my life today. I have been a fool and very, very wrong.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>“Here is your spear, O king,” David replied. “Let one of your young men come over and get it. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>The LORD gives his own reward for doing good and for being loyal, and I refused to kill you even when the LORD placed you in my power, for you are the LORD’s anointed one. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>Now may the LORD value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May he rescue me from all my troubles.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/1_samuel/26-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>And Saul said to David, “Blessings on you, my son David. You will do many heroic deeds, and you will surely succeed.” Then David went away, and Saul returned home.</p></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of <a href="http://www.tyndale.com">Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.</a>, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. 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