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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//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 24 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><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/24.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/24-1.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="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > 1 Samuel 24</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/23.htm" title="1 Samuel 23">◄</a> 1 Samuel 24 <a href="../1_samuel/25.htm" title="1 Samuel 25">►</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">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">David Lets Saul Live</h3><p class="par"><span class="v9_24_1"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.1" class="v9_24_1">1</span>When Saul got back from fighting off the Philistines, he heard that David was in the desert around En-Gedi. </span><span class="v9_24_2"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.2" class="v9_24_2">2</span>Saul led 3,000 of Israel's best soldiers out to look for David and his men near Wild Goat Rocks at En-Gedi. </span><span class="v9_24_3"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.3" class="v9_24_3">3</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.24.3!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> There were some sheep pens along the side of the road, and one of them was built around the entrance to a cave. Saul went into the cave to relieve himself.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_24_3">David and his men were hiding at the back of the cave. </span><span class="v9_24_4"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.4" class="v9_24_4">4</span>They whispered to David, “The <span class="nd">Lord</span> told you he was going to let you defeat your enemies and do whatever you want with them. This must be the day the <span class="nd">Lord</span> was talking about.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_24_4">David sneaked over and cut off a small piece<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.24.4!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> of Saul's robe, but Saul didn't notice a thing. </span><span class="v9_24_5"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.5" class="v9_24_5">5</span>Afterwards, David was sorry that he had even done that, </span><span class="v9_24_6"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.6-1Sam.24.7" class="v9_24_6">6-7</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.24.6-1Sam.24.7!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> and he told his men, “Stop talking foolishly. We're not going to attack Saul. He's my king, and I pray that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will keep me from doing anything to harm his chosen king.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_24_6">Saul left the cave and started down the road. </span><span class="v9_24_8"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.8" class="v9_24_8">8</span>Soon, David also got up and left the cave. “Your Majesty!” he shouted from a distance.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_24_8">Saul turned around to look. David bowed down very low </span><span class="v9_24_9"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.9" class="v9_24_9">9</span>and said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_24_9">Your Majesty, why do you listen to people who say that I'm trying to harm you? </span><span class="v9_24_10"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.10" class="v9_24_10">10</span>You can see for yourself that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> gave me the chance to catch you in the cave today. Some of my men wanted to kill you, but I wouldn't let them do it. I told them, “I will not harm the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s chosen king!” </span><span class="v9_24_11"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.11" class="v9_24_11">11</span>Your Majesty, look at what I'm holding. You can see that it's a piece of your robe. If I could cut off a piece of your robe, I could have killed you. But I let you live, and that should prove I'm not trying to harm you or to rebel. I haven't done anything to you, and yet you keep trying to ambush and kill me.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_24_12"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.12" class="v9_24_12">12</span>I'll let the <span class="nd">Lord</span> decide which one of us has done right. I pray that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will punish you for what you're doing to me, but I won't do anything to you. </span><span class="v9_24_13"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.13" class="v9_24_13">13</span>An old proverb says, “Only evil people do evil things,” and so I won't harm you.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_24_14"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.14" class="v9_24_14">14</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.24.14!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Why should the king of Israel be out chasing me, anyway? I'm as worthless as a dead dog or a flea. </span><span class="v9_24_15"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.15" class="v9_24_15">15</span>I pray that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will help me escape and show that I am in the right.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_24_16"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.16" class="v9_24_16">16</span>“David, my son—is that you?” Saul asked. Then he started crying </span><span class="v9_24_17"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.17" class="v9_24_17">17</span>and said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_24_17">David, you're a better person than I am. You treated me with kindness, even though I've been cruel to you. </span><span class="v9_24_18"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.18" class="v9_24_18">18</span>You've told me how you were kind enough not to kill me when the <span class="nd">Lord</span> gave you the chance. </span><span class="v9_24_19"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.19" class="v9_24_19">19</span>If you really were my enemy, you wouldn't have let me leave here alive. I pray that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will give you a big reward for what you did today.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_24_20"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.20" class="v9_24_20">20</span>I realize now that you will be the next king, and a powerful king at that. </span><span class="v9_24_21"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.21" class="v9_24_21">21</span>Promise me with the <span class="nd">Lord</span> as your witness, that you won't wipe out my descendants. Let them live to keep my family name alive.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_24_22"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.24.22" class="v9_24_22">22</span>So David promised, and Saul went home. David and his men returned to their hideout.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">24.4 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">small piece: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew “corner” or “lower hem.”</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. 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