1 Samuel · Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
1 Samuel 24 Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
DRB Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
1 Then David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds of Engaddi.
1 When Saul had returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of En Gedi.”
2 And when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, they told him, saying: Behold, David is in the desert of Engaddi.
2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the rocks of the wild goats.
3 Saul therefore took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went out to seek after David, and his men, even upon the most craggy rocks, which are accessible only to wild goats.
3 He came to the sheep pens by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were staying in the innermost parts of the cave.
4 And he came to the sheepcotes, which were in his way. And there was a cave, into which Saul went, to ease nature: now David and his men lay hid in the inner part of the cave.
4 David’s men said to him, “Behold, the day of which Yahweh said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe secretly.
5 And the servants of David said to him: Behold the day, of which the Lord said to thee: I will deliver thy enemy unto thee, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good in thy eyes. Then David arose, and secretly cut off the hem of Saul’s robe.
5 Afterward, David’s heart struck him because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.
6 After which David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off the hem of Saul’s robe.
6 He said to his men, “Yahweh forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, Yahweh’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is Yahweh’s anointed.”
7 And he said to his men: The Lord be merciful unto me, that I may do no such thing to my master the Lord’s anointed, as to lay my hand upon him, because he is the Lord’s anointed.
7 So David checked his men with these words, and didn’t allow them to rise against Saul. Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.
8 And David stopped his men with his words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rising up out of the cave, went on his way.
8 David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave and cried after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and showed respect.
9 And David also rose up after him: and going out of the cave cried after Saul, saying: My lord the king. And Saul looked behind him: and David bowing himself down to the ground, worshipped,
9 David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to men’s words, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks to harm you’?
10 And said to Saul: Why dost thou hear the words of men that say David seeketh thy hurt?
10 Behold, today your eyes have seen how Yahweh had delivered you today into my hand in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is Yahweh’s anointed.’
11 Behold this day thy eyes have seen, that the Lord hath delivered thee into my hand, in the cave, and I had a thought to kill thee, but my eye hath spared thee. For I said: I will not put out my hand against my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.
11 Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe and didn’t kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor disobedience in my hand. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt for my life to take it.
12 Moreover see and know, O my father, the hem of thy robe in my hand, that when I cut, off the hem of thy robe, I would not put out my hand against thee. Reflect, and see, that there is no evil in my hand, nor iniquity, neither have I sinned against thee: but thou liest in wait for my life, to take it away.
12 May Yahweh judge between me and you, and may Yahweh avenge me of you; but my hand will not be on you.
13 The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord revenge me of thee: but my hand shall not be upon thee.
13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness;’ but my hand will not be on you.
14 As also it is said in the old proverb: From the wicked shall wickedness come forth: therefore my hand shall not be upon thee. After whom dost thou come out, O king of Israel?
14 Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea?
15 After whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea.
15 May Yahweh therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of your hand.”
16 Be the Lord judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and judge my cause, and deliver me out of thy hand.
16 It came to pass, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” Saul lifted up his voice and wept.
17 And when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, Saul said: Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept.
17 He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have done good to me, whereas I have done evil to you.
18 And he said to David: Thou art more just than I: for thou hast done good to me, and I have rewarded thee with evil.
18 You have declared today how you have dealt well with me, because when Yahweh had delivered me up into your hand, you didn’t kill me.
19 And thou hast shewn this day what good things thou hast done to me: how the Lord delivered me into thy hand, and thou hast not killed me.
19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? Therefore may Yahweh reward you good for that which you have done to me today.
20 For who when he hath found his enemy, will let him go well away? But the Lord reward thee for this good turn, for what thou hast done to me this day.
20 Now, behold, I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.
21 And now as I know that thou shalt surely be king, and have the kingdom of Israel in thy hand:
21 Swear now therefore to me by Yahweh that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father’s house.”
22 Swear to me by the Lord, that thou wilt not destroy my seed after me, nor take away my name from the house of my father.
22 David swore to Saul. Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
23 And David swore to Saul. So Saul went home: and David and his men went up into safer places.
23 Not in this translation
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
David
The shepherd who became Israel's greatest king and a man after God's own heart.
Cited in the guide: 1 Sam. 16 - 1 Kings 2; 2 Sam. 7; 1 Chron. 2:15; Matt. 1:6
Cross references (22)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Samuel 23:28–29; Proverbs 29:12; Hosea 7:3; 1 Samuel 23:19; Ezekiel 22:9
- 2 1 Samuel 26:2; Psalm 141:6; Psalm 104:18; 1 Samuel 13:2; Psalm 38:12
- 3 Judges 3:24; Psalm 142:1–7; Psalm 57:1–11; Psalm 141:6
- 4 1 Samuel 26:8–11; 1 Samuel 26:23; 1 Samuel 24:10; 1 Samuel 25:28–30; 1 Samuel 24:18
- 5 2 Samuel 24:10; 2 Samuel 12:9; 1 John 3:20–21; 2 Kings 22:19
- 6 2 Samuel 1:14; Romans 12:14–13:2; Job 31:29–30; 1 Samuel 26:9–11; 1 Thessalonians 5:15
- 7 Psalm 7:4; Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:17–21; 1 Samuel 25:33
- 8 1 Samuel 25:23–24; 1 Samuel 26:17; Romans 13:7; 1 Samuel 20:41; Genesis 17:3
- 9 Ecclesiastes 7:21–22; Proverbs 29:12; Psalm 101:5; 1 Samuel 26:19; Proverbs 18:8
- 10 1 Samuel 24:4; Psalm 105:15; 1 Samuel 26:8–9
- 11 1 Samuel 26:20; 1 Samuel 23:23; 1 Samuel 23:14; 1 Samuel 26:18; 2 Kings 5:13
- 12 Psalm 43:1; Judges 11:27; Psalm 35:1; Genesis 16:5; Romans 12:19
- 13 Matthew 7:20; Matthew 7:16–18; Matthew 12:33–34; Matthew 15:19
- 14 1 Samuel 26:20; 2 Samuel 9:8; 1 Samuel 17:43; 2 Samuel 16:9; 2 Samuel 3:8
- 15 Psalm 43:1; Psalm 35:1; Psalm 119:154; 1 Samuel 24:12; Micah 7:9
- 16 1 Samuel 26:17; Acts 6:10; Luke 21:15; Proverbs 15:1; Genesis 33:4
- 17 Matthew 5:44; 1 Samuel 26:21; Genesis 38:26; Romans 12:20–21; Matthew 27:4
- 18 1 Samuel 26:23; 1 Samuel 23:12; 1 Samuel 23:7; 1 Samuel 26:8; 1 Samuel 24:10
- 19 Proverbs 25:21–22; 1 Samuel 26:25; Psalm 18:20; Judges 17:2; 1 Samuel 23:21
- 20 1 Samuel 23:17; Matthew 2:3–6; 2 Samuel 3:17–18; 1 Samuel 13:14; Matthew 2:16
- 21 Genesis 21:23; 2 Samuel 21:6–8; 1 Samuel 20:14–17; Genesis 31:53; Hebrews 6:16
- 22 1 Samuel 23:29; Matthew 10:16–17; John 2:24; Proverbs 26:24–25
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
For thus it is written: "And David's heart smote him because he had taken away the skirt of his cloak." But to the men with him, who advised him to destroy Saul thus delivered up into his hands, he saith, "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's christ, to lay my hand upon …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… shown: but Saul not even after their betrayal could seize David; but rather in a certain cave in that very country, when into his hands Saul had been given to slay, David spared him, and that which he had in his power he did not. But the other was seeking to do that which he had not in his power.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)