The Daily Audio Bible

David again refuses to kill Saul

26 Some men from Ziph went to visit Saul at Gibeah. They said to him, ‘David is hiding on Hakilah hill, which is across the valley from Jeshimon.’

² So Saul went to the desert of Ziph to look for David. He took 3,000 strong Israelite soldiers with him. ³ Saul and his men arrived at Hakilah hill, near Jeshimon, where David was hiding. They put up their tents beside the road. David heard the news that Saul had followed him into the desert. ⁴ So David sent some men to see if that was true. They discovered that Saul had arrived at Hakilah.

⁵ One night, David went secretly to Saul's camp. Saul was asleep in the middle of the tents. The leader of his army, Ner's son Abner, was with him. He was asleep too. The army was all around them. David could see all this.

⁶ David spoke to two of his men. One of them was Ahimelech, a Hittite man. The other man was Abishai, who was Joab's brother (Zeruiah was their mother). David asked them, ‘Which one of you will go down into Saul's camp with me?’^[a]

Abishai said, ‘I will come with you.’

⁷ So David and Abishai went among Saul's army that night. They saw that Saul was asleep in the middle of the camp. He had pushed his spear into the ground near his head. Abner and the army were asleep around Saul. ⁸ Abishai said to David, ‘Tonight God has given your enemy into your power. I will push Saul's spear through his body and fix him to the ground. I will only have to do it once to kill him. I will not need to do it again.’

⁹ But David said to Abishai, ‘Do not kill Saul. He is the man that the Lord has chosen to be Israel's king. Anyone who attacks him will be guilty of a sin. ¹⁰ I know that the Lord himself will kill Saul one day. Saul may die when he has reached the age to die. Or someone may kill him in a battle. He will certainly come to his end. ¹¹ But I ask the Lord to stop me from hurting him, because he is the Lord's chosen king. Take the spear and the jar of water that are near Saul's head. We must leave here now!’

¹² So David took the spear and the jar of water from beside Saul's head. Then they left. Nobody saw them. Nobody knew that they had been in the camp. Nobody woke up. Saul's soldiers continued to sleep because the Lord caused it to happen.

¹³ David and Abishai then went across the valley to the other side of the hill. David stood on the top of the hill. He was far away from Saul's soldiers. ¹⁴ David shouted to Saul's army and to Ner's son, Abner, ‘Abner, wake up! Answer me!’

Abner replied, ‘Who is shouting to wake up the king? Who are you?’

¹⁵ David said to Abner, ‘Are you really the bravest soldier in Israel? You should have kept the king safe. Someone came into your camp to kill your master. ¹⁶ You have not done your job well. You and your men have not protected your master, who is the Lord's chosen king. As surely as the Lord lives, you all deserve to die. The king's spear and his water pot were beside his head. Look where they are now!’

¹⁷ Saul recognized David's voice. He said, ‘Is that you David, my son?’

David answered, ‘Yes, my master and my king, it is my voice that you can hear.’

¹⁸ David also said, ‘Why are you chasing after me, my master? What have I done that is wrong? Why am I guilty? ¹⁹ My master and my king, please listen to me. Has the Lord made you angry with me? If that is true, a sacrifice to him may change his thoughts. But if men have made you turn against me, I ask the Lord to curse them. They have chased me out of the land that belongs to the Lord's people. They have said to me, “Go away and worship other gods!” ²⁰ Do not let me die a long way away from the Lord's home. You are the king of Israel and I am like a small fly. But you are trying to catch me! You are like someone who is looking for a wild bird in the mountains!’

²¹ Then Saul said, ‘I have done a bad thing. Return home, David, my son. You chose not to kill me today, because you knew the value of my life. So I will not hurt you again. I have done foolish things. I have made a big mistake.’

²² David said, ‘Here is your own spear. Send one of your young men here to fetch it for you. ²³ The Lord wants everyone to do what is right and true. He blesses people who live like that. The Lord put you under my power today. But I would not agree to hurt the Lord's chosen king. ²⁴ Today I knew that your life is valuable. In the same way, I pray that the Lord will know that my life is valuable. I pray that he will keep me safe through all danger.’

²⁵ Then Saul said to David, ‘I pray that the Lord will bless you, my son. I know that you will do great things.’

So David left there and Saul returned to his home.

David lives among the Philistines

27 Then David thought, ‘I am sure that Saul will catch me one day. Then he will kill me. I must go to the country of the Philistines so that I will be safe from Saul. That is the best thing that I can do. When I am no longer in the land of Israel, Saul will stop looking for me here. I will escape from him.’

² So David and his 600 men went across the border of Israel to Gath town. Maoch's son Achish was the king there. ³ David and his men lived in Gath with King Achish. They had their families with them. David's two wives were with him: Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Abigail from Carmel. Abigail was Nabal's widow. ⁴ Saul heard the news that David had run away to Gath. So he stopped looking for David.

⁵ One day David said to Achish, ‘I hope that you are pleased with me. If you are, please choose a place for me to live in one of the small towns. I do not need to live in the same big city as the king.’

⁶ So on that day King Achish gave Ziklag town to David.^[b] Since then, Ziklag has always belonged to Judah's king. ⁷ David lived in the country of the Philistines for one year and four months.

⁸ During that time David and his men attacked the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. These tribes had lived in that place for a very long time. Their land went as far as Shur and the border of Egypt. ⁹ Whenever David's men attacked them, they killed all the men and women. But they took all their sheep, cows, donkeys and camels, as well as their clothes. Then they would return to see King Achish.

¹⁰ Achish would ask David, ‘Which place did you go and attack today?’ Sometimes David would say, ‘We robbed the people of a town in Judah's desert.’ Or David might say, ‘We attacked a town in the desert where the people of Jerahmeel's clan live.’ Or he might say, ‘We attacked a town in the desert where the Kenites live.’

¹¹ David killed all the people in the places that he attacked. He never took anyone back to Gath. He thought, ‘If any of the people are still alive, they might go to Gath and tell people what we have done.’

That is what David did for the whole time that he lived among the Philistines. ¹² So King Achish trusted David. He thought, ‘The Israelites must now hate David very much. So David will have to be my servant for ever.’

28 At that time, the Philistine army joined together to fight against the Israelites. King Achish said to David, ‘I hope you know that you and your men must fight with me in the battle.’

² David said, ‘Yes, sir. Then you will see how well I can fight!’

Achish replied, ‘Good. Then you will always be my guard to keep me safe.’

King Saul visits a woman who uses magic

³ Samuel had died before this. All the Israelites had been very sad at his death. They had buried him in Ramah, the town where he had lived. When Samuel had been alive, Saul had removed magicians from Israel. Saul removed everyone who used magic to speak to the spirits of dead people.

⁴ The Philistine army came together and they put up their tents at Shunem. Saul called together the whole Israelite army. They put up their tents at Gilboa. ⁵ Saul saw the camp of the Philistine army. He became very afraid. ⁶ Saul asked the Lord what he should do. But the Lord did not answer him in any way. He did not give Saul a dream. He did not use the Urim. He did not give a message to the prophets. ⁷ So Saul said to his servants, ‘Look for a woman who can talk to dead people. Then I will go and ask her what will happen.’

His servants replied, ‘There is a woman at Endor who can do that.’

⁸ Saul changed his clothes so that no one would recognize him. At night, Saul and two of his men went to see the woman. Saul said to her, ‘Use your magic to bring up the spirit of a certain dead man. I will tell you his name.’

⁹ But the woman said to him, ‘You know what King Saul has done. He has removed all the magicians from Israel. Are you using a trap to catch me? Do you want me to die?’

¹⁰ Then Saul promised the woman very strongly. He said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, nobody will punish you if you do this.’^[c]

¹¹ The woman said, ‘Who is it that you want me to bring for you?’ Saul replied, ‘Bring Samuel to me.’

¹² The woman screamed when she saw Samuel. She said to Saul, ‘You have deceived me! You are King Saul!’

¹³ The king said to her, ‘Do not be afraid. Tell me what you can see.’

She replied, ‘I can see a spirit that is coming up from the ground.’

¹⁴ Saul asked, ‘What does he look like?’ She said, ‘I see an old man who is wearing a long coat.’

Saul realized that this was Samuel. He bent down low on his knees with his face towards the ground.

¹⁵ Samuel said to Saul, ‘Why have you caused this trouble for me? Why have you brought me back?’

Saul said, ‘I have a lot of trouble. The Philistines are fighting against me. God has turned away from me. He will not use the prophets or give me dreams to answer my questions. So I have called you to come here. Please tell me what I should do.’

¹⁶ Samuel said, ‘The Lord has turned away from you and he has become your enemy. So do not ask me what you should do. ¹⁷ I told you what the Lord would do. Now he has done it! The Lord has taken the kingdom away from you. He has given it to another Israelite, David. ¹⁸ The Lord has punished you today because you did not obey him. The Lord was very angry with the Amalekites. He told you to destroy them all. But you refused to do that. ¹⁹ The Lord will put you and the Israelites under the power of the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me in the place for dead people. The Lord will also let the Philistines win against Israel's army.’

²⁰ Saul immediately fell down on the ground and he lay there. He was very afraid because of what Samuel had said. Saul was also very weak because he had eaten nothing all that day and night.

²¹ Then the woman came to Saul. She saw that he was very afraid. She said, ‘I have obeyed you, sir. I did what you asked me to do. I might have died because I did that. ²² Please listen to me now. I will give you some food to eat. Then you will be strong enough to travel back.’

²³ Saul refused and he said, ‘I will not eat.’ But the woman and Saul's servants continued to say that he must eat some food. So Saul agreed. He got up from the ground and he sat down on a bed.

²⁴ The woman had a fat calf at her home. She went quickly and she killed it. Then she took some flour and she cooked some flat bread without yeast. ²⁵ She gave the food to Saul and to his men and they ate it. Then they left her house that night.

Lazarus dies

11 There was a certain man, who was called Lazarus. He lived at Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived too. He became ill. ² It was this Mary who had poured oil with a nice smell over the feet of the Lord Jesus. Then she had cleaned his feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was ill. ³ So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus to say, ‘Lord, the friend that you love is ill.’

⁴ Jesus heard the message. Then he said, ‘This illness will not finish with Lazarus's death. No, its purpose is to show how great God is. Because of this, people will see how great God's Son is.’ ⁵ Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and their brother Lazarus, too. ⁶ He heard the news that Lazarus was ill. But then he stayed in the place where he was for two more days.

⁷ After that, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘We should return to Judea.’ ⁸ The disciples said, ‘Teacher, only a short time ago, the Jews there tried to kill you with stones. You should not return there!’ ⁹ Jesus answered, ‘You know that there are 12 hours in the day. Anyone who walks during the day will not fall down. He will not fall down because he sees this world's light. ¹⁰ But anyone who walks during the night will fall down. He will fall down because he has no light.’

¹¹ After Jesus said that, he said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus is sleeping. But I will go there to wake him up.’ ¹² So the disciples said to him, ‘If he is sleeping, Lord, he will get well again.’ ¹³ The disciples thought that Jesus was talking about sleep as rest. But Jesus meant that Lazarus had died. ¹⁴ So then, Jesus told them clearly, ‘Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ But I am happy that I was not there with him. I am happy about that because it will help you. Now you will believe in me. We must go to him now.’ ¹⁶ Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to the other disciples, ‘We should go with our Teacher, so that we can die with him!’^[a]

Jesus is able to give life to dead people

¹⁷ Jesus arrived at Bethany. He discovered that Lazarus had already been in the grave for four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was about 3 kilometres from Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Many Jews had come there to visit Martha and Mary. They wanted to help Martha and Mary because their brother had died.

²⁰ Martha heard the news that Jesus was coming. So she went out to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house with the visitors. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now, I know that God will answer you. He will do whatever you ask him.’ ²³ Jesus told her, ‘Your brother will rise and become alive again.’ ²⁴ Martha replied, ‘I know that he will rise on the last day, to become alive again.’ ²⁵ Jesus said to her, ‘I have authority over death. I raise dead people, and I give people true life. Anyone who believes in me will live. Even if that person dies, he will continue to live. ²⁶ People who believe in me while they are alive will never die. Do you believe that?’ ²⁷ Martha answered, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah. You are God's Son, the one that God promised to send into the world.’

²⁸ After this, Martha went back to the house. She took Mary to speak to her on her own. Martha said to her, ‘The Teacher is here, and he is asking to meet you.’ ²⁹ When Mary heard this, she got up immediately. She went out to meet Jesus. ³⁰ Jesus had not arrived in the village yet. He was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ There were still Jews in the house who were with Mary to help her. They saw her get up quickly and go out. So they followed her. They thought that she was going to the place where they had put Lazarus's dead body. They thought that she wanted to go there to weep.

³² Mary arrived at the place where Jesus was. When she saw Jesus, she bent down low at his feet. She said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ ³³ Jesus saw that Mary was weeping. He saw that the Jews who had come with her were weeping too. When Jesus saw them, he felt very sad in his spirit. He was upset about Lazarus's death. ³⁴ He asked them, ‘Where have you put his dead body?’ They answered, ‘Come and see, Lord.’ ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said to each other, ‘See how much he loved Lazarus!’ ³⁷ But some of them said, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man. So surely he would have been able to stop the death of Lazarus.’

Jesus makes Lazarus alive again

³⁸ Jesus arrived at the grave where they had put Lazarus's dead body. It was a cave. A large stone covered the front of the hole. Again, Jesus felt very upset. ³⁹ He said, ‘Take the stone away.’ Martha, the dead man's sister, said to Jesus, ‘But Lord, by now his dead body will have a bad smell. He has been dead for four days!’ ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, ‘I told you already that you must believe in me. Then you will see how great and how powerful God is.’ ⁴¹ So they moved the stone away. Jesus looked up towards the sky. He said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. ⁴² I know that you listen to me always. But I said this to help all the people who are standing here. I want them to believe that you sent me.’ ⁴³ When Jesus had said this, he shouted with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ ⁴⁴ The dead man came out. There were pieces of cloth round his hands and round his feet. Another piece of cloth was round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Undo the cloths and let him go.’

The Pharisees decide how to kill Jesus

⁴⁵ The Jews who had come to visit Mary saw this. They saw what Jesus did. So many of them believed in him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went to the Pharisees. They told the Pharisees what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ Then the Pharisees and the leaders of the priests had a meeting with the group of Jewish leaders. They asked each other, ‘What will we do? This man is doing so many miracles. ⁴⁸ If we let him do more things like this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman rulers will come and punish us.^[b] Their soldiers will destroy our temple and even destroy our whole country of Israel.’

⁴⁹ One of the group was the leader of the priests that year. He was called Caiaphas. He said, ‘You do not understand the problem. ⁵⁰ It is better that one man should die on behalf of our people. That is better than if all Israel's people should die.’ ⁵¹ Caiaphas did not say this because he had thought it by himself. No, he was speaking as a prophet, because he was the leader of the priests that year. That is why he said that Jesus would die on behalf of Israel's people. ⁵² And Jesus would die not only for Israel's people. He would also die for all God's people who lived in many different places. He would bring them all together. They would become like one big family.

⁵³ From that day, the Jewish leaders decided together how they could kill Jesus. ⁵⁴ So Jesus stopped travelling about in Judea where everyone could see him. Instead, he went away from there to a town called Ephraim that was near to the wilderness. He stayed there with his disciples.

Praise the Lord!^[a]