The Bible, Douay Rheims, Book 9: 1 Kings

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If I leave, etc... David certainly sinned in his designs against Nabal
and his family, as he himself was afterwards sensible, when he blessed
God for hindering him from executing the revenge he had proposed.

25:23. And when Abigail saw David, she made haste and lighted off the
ass, and fell before David, on her face, and adored upon the ground.

25:24. And she fell at his feet, and said: Upon me let this iniquity be,
my lord: let thy handmaid speak, I beseech thee, in thy ears, and hear
the words of thy servant.

25:25. Let not my lord the king, I pray thee, regard this naughty man,
Nabal: for according to his name, he is a fool, and folly is with him:
but I, thy handmaid, did not see thy servants, my lord, whom thou
sentest.

His name... Nabal, in Hebrew, signifies a fool.

25:26. Now therefore, my lord, the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, who
hath withholden thee from coming to blood, and hath saved thy hand to
thee: and now let thy enemies be as Nabal, and all they that seek evil
to my lord.

25:27. Wherefore receive this blessing, which thy handmaid hath brought
to thee, my lord: and give it to the young men that follow thee, my
lord.

25:28. Forgive the iniquity of thy handmaid: for the Lord will surely
make for my lord a faithful house, because thou, my lord, fightest the
battles of the Lord: let not evil therefore be found in thee all the
days of thy life.

25:29. For if a man at any time shall rise, and persecute thee, and seek
thy life, the soul of my lord shall be kept, as in the bundle of the
living, with the Lord thy God: but the souls of thy enemies shall be
whirled, as with the violence and whirling of a sling.

25:30. And when the Lord shall have done to thee, my lord, all the good
that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have made thee prince
over Israel,

25:31 This shall not be an occasion of grief to thee, and a scruple of
heart to my lord, that thou hast shed innocent blood, or hast revenged
thyself: and when the Lord shall have done well by my lord, thou shalt
remember thy handmaid.

25:32. And David said to Abigail: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,
who sent thee this day to meet me, and blessed be thy speech:

25:33. And blessed be thou, who hast kept me to day from coming to
blood, and revenging me with my own hand.

25:34. Otherwise, as the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, who hath
withholden me from doing thee any evil, if thou hadst not quickly come
to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light, any
that pisseth against the wall.

25:35. And David received at her hand all that she had brought him, and
said to her: Go in peace into thy house, behold I have heard thy voice,
and honoured thy face.

25:36. And Abigail came to Nabal: and behold he had a feast in his
house, like the feast of a king: and Nabal's heart was merry, for he was
very drunk: and she told him nothing less or more until morning.

25:37. But early in the morning, when Nabal had digested his wine, his
wife told him these words, and his heart died within him, and he became
as a stone.

25:38. And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal, and he
died.

25:39. And when David had heard that Nabal was dead, he said: Blessed be
the Lord, who hath judged the cause of my reproach, at the hand of
Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil, and the Lord hath returned
the wickedness of Nabal upon his head. Then David sent and treated with
Abigail, that he might take her to himself for a wife.

Blessed be, etc... David praiseth God, on this occasion, not out of joy
for the death of Nabal (which would have argued a rancour of heart), but
because he saw that God had so visibly taken his cause in hand, in
punishing the injury done to him; whilst, by a merciful providence he
kept him from revenging himself.

25:40. And David's servants came to Abigail, to Carmel, and spoke to
her, saying: David hath sent us to thee, to take thee to himself for a
wife.

25:41. And she arose, and bowed herself down with her face to the earth,
and said: Behold, let thy servant be a handmaid, to wash the feet of the
servants of my lord.

25:42. And Abigail arose, and made haste, and got upon an ass, and five
damsels went with her, her waiting maids, and she followed the
messengers of David, and became his wife.

25:43. Moreover David took also Achinoam of Jezrahel: and they were both
of them his wives.

25:44. But Saul gave Michol, his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti, the
son of Lais, who was of Gallim.

1 Kings Chapter 26

Saul goeth out again after David, who cometh by night where Saul and his
men are asleep, but suffereth him not to be touched. Saul again
confesseth his fault, and promiseth peace.

26:1. And the men of Ziph came to Saul in Gabaa, saying: Behold David is
hid in the hill of Hachila, which is over against the wilderness.

26:2. And Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph having
with him three thousand chosen men of Israel, to seek David in the
wilderness of Ziph.

26:3. And Saul encamped in Gabaa Hachila, which was over against the
wilderness in the way: and David abode in the wilderness. And seeing
that Saul was come after him into the wilderness,

26:4. He sent spies, and learned that he was most certainly come
thither.

26:5. And David arose secretly, and came to the place where Saul was:
and when he had beheld the place, wherein Saul slept, and Abner, the son
of Ner, the captain of his army, and Saul sleeping in a tent, and the
rest of the multitude round about him,

26:6. David spoke to Achimelech, the Hethite, and Abisai, the son of
Sarvia, the brother of Joab, saying: Who will go down with me to Saul
into the camp? And Abisai said: I will go with thee.

26:7. So David and Abisai came to the people by night, and found Saul
lying and sleeping in the tent, and his spear fixed in the ground at his
head: and Abner and the people sleeping round about him.

26:8. And Abisai said to David: God hath shut up thy enemy this day into
thy hands: now then I will run him through with my spear, even to the
earth at once, and there shall be no need of a second time.

26:9. And David said to Abisai: Kill him not: for who shall put forth
his hand against the Lord's anointed, and shall be guiltless?

26:10. And David said: As the Lord liveth, unless the Lord shall strike
him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go down to battle, and
perish:

26:11. The Lord be merciful unto me, and keep me that I never put forth
my hand against the Lord's anointed. But now take the spear which is at
his head, and the cup of water, and let us go.

26:12. So David took the spear, and the cup of water which was at Saul's
head, and they went away: and no man saw it, or knew it, or awaked, but
they were all asleep, for a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon
them.

26:13. And when David was gone over to the other side, and stood on the
top of the hill afar off, and a good space was between them,

26:14. David cried to the people, and to Abner, the son of Ner, saying:
Wilt thou not answer, Abner? And Abner answering, said: Who art thou,
that criest, and disturbest the king?

26:15. And David said to Abner: Art not thou a man? and who is like unto
thee in Israel? why then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there
came one of the people in to kill the king thy lord.

26:16. This thing is not good, that thou hast done: as the Lord liveth,
you are the sons of death, who have not kept your master, the Lord's
anointed. And now where is the king's spear, and the cup of water, which
was at his head?

26:17. And Saul knew David's voice, and said: Is this thy voice, my son
David? And David said: It is my voice, my lord the king.

26:18. And he said: Wherefore doth my lord persecute his servant? What
have I done? or what evil is there in my hand?

26:19. Now therefore hear, I pray thee, my lord the king, the words of
thy servant: If the Lord stir thee up against me, let him accept of
sacrifice: but if the sons of men, they are cursed in the sight of the
Lord, who have cast me out this day, that I should not dwell in the
inheritance of the Lord, saying: Go, serve strange gods.

26:20. And now let not my blood be shed upon the earth before the Lord:
for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as the partridge is
hunted in the mountains.

26:21. And Saul said: I have sinned; return, my son David, for I will no
more do thee harm, because my life hath been precious in thy eyes this
day: for it appeareth that I have done foolishly, and have been ignorant
in very many things.

26:22. And David answering, said: Behold the king's spear: let one of
the king's servants come over and fetch it.

26:23. And the Lord will reward every one according to his justice, and
his faithfulness: for the Lord hath delivered thee this day into my
hand, and I would not put forth my hand against the Lord's anointed.

26:24. And as thy life hath been much set by this day in my eyes, so let
my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me
from all distress.

26:25. Then Saul said to David: Blessed art thou, my son David: and
truly doing thou shalt do, and prevailing thou shalt prevail. And David
went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

1 Kings Chapter 27

David goeth again to Achis king of Geth, and obtaineth of him the city
of Siceleg.

27:1. And David said in his heart: I shall one day or other fall into
the hands of Saul: is it not better for me to flee, and to be saved in
the land of the Philistines, that Saul may despair of me, and cease to
seek me in all the coasts of Israel? I will flee then out of his hands.

27:2. And David arose, and went away, both he and the six hundred men
that were with him, to Achis, the son of Maoch, king of Geth.

27:3. And David dwelt with Achis at Geth, he and his men; every man with
his household, and David with his two wives, Achinoam, the
Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

27:4. And it was told Saul that David was fled to Geth, and he sought no
more after him.

27:5. And David said to Achis: If I have found favour in thy sight, let
a place be given me in one of the cities of this country, that I may
dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with
thee?

27:6. Then Achis gave him Siceleg that day: for which reason Siceleg
belongeth to the kings of Juda unto this day.

27:7. And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines,
was four months.

27:8. And David and his men went up, and pillaged Gessuri, and Gerzi,
and the Amalecites: for these were of old the inhabitants of the
countries, as men go to Sur, even to the land of Egypt.

Pillaged Gessuri, etc... These probably were enemies of the people of
God: and some, if not all of them, were of the number of those whom God
had ordered to be destroyed: which justifies David's proceedings in
their regard. Though it is to be observed here, that we are not under an
obligation of justifying every thing that he did: for the scripture, in
relating what was done, does not say that it was well done. And even
such as are true servants of God, are not to be imitated in all they do.

27:9. And David wasted all the land, and left neither man nor woman
alive: and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the
camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achis.

27:10. And Achis said to him: Whom hast thou gone against to day? David
answered: Against the south of Juda, and against the south of Jerameel,
and against the south of Ceni.

27:11. And David saved neither man nor woman, neither brought he any of
them to Geth, saying: Lest they should speak against us. So did David,
and such was his proceeding all the days that he dwelt in the country of
the Philistines.

27:12. And Achis believed David, saying: He hath done much harm to his
people Israel: Therefore he shall be my servant for ever.

1 Kings Chapter 28

The Philistines go out to war against Israel. Saul being forsaken by
God, hath recourse to a witch. Samuel appeareth to him.

28:1. And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered
together their armies, to be prepared for war against Israel: And Achis
said to David: Know thou now assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me
to the war, thou, and thy men.

28:2. And David said to Achis: Now thou shalt know what thy servant will
do. And Achis said to David: And I will appoint thee to guard my life
for ever.

28:3. Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel mourned for him, and buried
him in Ramatha, his city. And Saul had put away all the magicians and
soothsayers out of the land.

28:4. And the Philistines were gathered together, and came and encamped
in Sunam: and Saul also gathered together all Israel, and came to
Gelboe.

28:5. And Saul saw the army of the Philistines, and was afraid, and his
heart was very much dismayed.

28:6. And he consulted the Lord, and he answered him not, neither by
dreams, nor by priests, nor by prophets.

28:7. And Saul said to his servants: Seek me a woman that hath a
divining spirit, and I will go to her, and enquire by her. And his
servants said to him: There is a woman that hath a divining spirit at
Endor.

28:8. Then he disguised himself: and put on other clothes, and he went,
and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night, and he said
to her: Divine to me by thy divining spirit, and bring me up him whom I
shall tell thee.

28:9. And the woman said to him: Behold thou knowest all that Saul hath
done, and how he hath rooted out the magicians and soothsayers from the
land: why then dost thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to be put
to death?

28:10. And Saul swore unto her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord liveth,
there shall no evil happen to thee for this thing.

28:11. And the woman said to him: Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he
said, Bring me up Samuel.

28:12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice,
and said to Saul: Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

28:13. And the king said to her: Fear not: what hast thou seen? and the
woman said to Saul: I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

28:14. And he said to her: What form is he of? And she said: An old man
cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul understood that it
was Samuel, and he bowed himself with his face to the ground, and
adored.

Understood that it was Samuel... It is the more common opinion of the
holy fathers, and interpreters, that the soul of Samuel appeared indeed:
and not, as some have imagined, an evil spirit in his shape. Not that
the power of her magic could bring him thither, but that God was pleased
for the punishment of Saul, that Samuel himself should denounce unto him
the evils that were falling upon him. See Eccli. 46.23.

28:15. And Samuel said to Saul: Why hast thou disturbed my rest, that I
should be brought up? And Saul said: I am in great distress: for the
Philistines fight against me, and God is departed from me, and would not
hear me, neither by the hand of prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I
have called thee, that thou mayst shew me what I shall do.

28:16. And Samuel said: Why askest thou me, seeing the Lord has departed
from thee, and is gone over to thy rival?

28:17. For the Lord will do to thee as he spoke by me, and he will rend
thy kingdom out of thy hand, and will give it to thy neighbour David:

28:18. Because thou didst not obey the voice of the Lord, neither didst
thou execute the wrath of his indignation upon Amalec. Therefore hath
the Lord done to thee what thou sufferest this day.

28:19. And the Lord also will deliver Israel with thee into the hands of
the Philistines: and to morrow thou and thy sons shall be with me: and
the Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hands of the
Philistines.

With me... That is, in the state of the dead, and in another world,
though not in the same place.

28:20. And forthwith Saul fell all along on the ground; for he was
frightened with the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him,
for he had eaten no bread all that day.

28:21. And the woman came to Saul, (for he was very much troubled) and
said to him: Behold thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put
my life in my hand: and I hearkened unto the words which thou spokest to
me.

28:22. Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy
handmaid, and let me set before thee a morsel of bread, that thou mayst
eat and recover strength, and be able to go on thy journey.

28:23. But he refused, and said: I will not eat. But his servants and
the woman forced him, and at length hearkening to their voice, he arose
from the ground, and sat upon the bed.

28:24. Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she made haste
and killed it: and taking meal, kneaded it, and baked some unleavened
bread,

28:25. And set it before Saul, and before his servants. And when they
had eaten they rose up, and walked all that night.

1 Kings Chapter 29

David going with the Philistines is sent back by their princes.

29:1. Now all the troops of the Philistines were gathered together to
Aphec: and Israel also encamped by the fountain, which is in Jezrahel.

29:2. And the lords of the Philistines marched with their hundreds and
their thousands: but David and his men were in the rear with Achis.

29:3. And the princes of the Philistines said to Achis: What mean these
Hebrews? And Achis said to the princes of the Philistines: Do you not
know David who was the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, and hath
been with me many days, or years, and I have found no fault in him,
since the day that he fled over to me until this day?

29:4. But the prices of the Philistines were angry with him, and they
said to him: Let this man return, and abide in his place, which thou
hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest he
be an adversary to us, when we shall begin to fight: for how can he
otherwise appease his master, but with our heads?

29:5. Is not this David, to whom they sung in their dances, saying: Saul
slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

29:6. Then Achis called David, and said to him: As the Lord liveth, thou
art upright and good in my sight: and so is thy going out, and thy
coming in with me in the army: and I have not found any evil in thee,
since the day that thou camest to me unto this day: but thou pleasest
not the lords.

29:7. Return therefore, and go in peace, and offend not the eyes of the
princes of the Philistines.

29:8. And David said to Achis: But what have I done, or what hast thou
found in me thy servant, from the day that I have been in thy sight
until this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my
lord the king?

29:9. And Achis answering, said to David: I know that thou art good in
my sight, as an angel of God: But the princes of the Philistines have
said: He shall not go up with us to the battle.

29:10. Therefore arise in the morning, thou, and the servants of thy
lord, who came with thee: and when you are up before day, and it shall
begin to be light, go on your way.

29:11. So David and his men arose in the night, that they might set
forward in the morning, and returned to the land of the Philistines: and
the Philistines went up to Jezrahel.

1 Kings Chapter 30

The Amalecites burn Siceleg, and carry off the prey: David pursueth
after them, and recovereth all out of their hands.

30:1. Now when David and his men were come to Siceleg on the third day,
the Amalecites had made an invasion on the south side upon Siceleg, and
had smitten Siceleg, and burnt it with fire,

30:2. And had taken the women captives that were in it, both little and
great: and they had not killed any person, but had carried them with
them, and went on their way.

30:3. So when David and his men came to the city, and found it burnt
with fire, and that their wives, and their sons, and their daughters,
were taken captives,

30:4. David and the people that were with him, lifted up their voices,
and wept till they had no more tears.

30:5. For the two wives also of David were taken captives, Achinoam, the
Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.

30:6. And David was greatly afflicted: for the people had a mind to
stone him, for the soul of every man was bitterly grieved for his sons
and daughters: but David took courage in the Lord his God.

30:7. And he said to Abiathar, the priest, the son of Achimelech: Bring
me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

30:8. And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I pursue after these
robbers, and shall I overtake them, or not? And the Lord said to him:
Pursue after them: for thou shalt surely overtake them and recover the
prey.

30:9. So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and
they came to the torrent Besor: and some, being weary, stayed there.

30:10. But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred
stayed, who, being weary, could not go over the torrent Besor.

30:11. And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to
David: and they gave him bread to eat, and water to drink,

30:12. As also a piece of a cake of figs, and two bunches of raisins.
And when he had eaten them, his spirit returned, and he was refreshed:
for he had not eaten bread, nor drunk water, three days and three
nights.

30:13. And David said to him: To whom dost thou belong; or whence dost
thou come? and whither art thou going? He said: I am a young man of
Egypt, the servant of an Amalecite: and my master left me, because I
began to be sick three days ago.

30:14. For we made an invasion on the south side of Cerethi, and upon
Juda, and upon the south of Caleb, and we burnt Siceleg with fire.

30:15. And David said to him: Canst thou bring me to this company? and
he said: Swear to me by God, that thou wilt not kill me, nor deliver me
into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee to this company. And
David swore to him.

30:16. And when he had brought him, behold they were lying spread abroad
upon all the ground, eating and drinking, and as it were keeping a
festival day, for all the prey and the spoils which they had taken out
of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Juda.

30:17. And David slew them from the evening unto the evening of the next
day, and there escaped not a man of them, but four hundred young men,
who had gotten upon camels, and fled.

30:18. So David recovered all that the Amalecites had taken, and he
rescued his two wives.

30:19. And there was nothing missing small or great, neither of their
sons or their daughters, nor of the spoils, and whatsoever they had
taken, David recovered all.

30:20. And he took all the flocks and the herds, and made them go before
him: and they said: This is the prey of David.

30:21. And David came to the two hundred men, who, being weary, had
stayed, and were not able to follow David, and he had ordered them to
abide at the torrent Besor: and they came out to meet David, and the
people that were with him. And David coming to the people, saluted them
peaceably.

30:22. Then all the wicked and unjust men, that had gone with David,
answering, said: Because they came not with us, we will not give them
any thing of the prey which we have recovered: but let every man take
his wife, and his children, and be contented with them, and go his way.

30:23. But David said: You shall not do so, my brethren, with these
things, which the Lord hath given us, who hath kept us, and hath
delivered the robbers that invaded us into our hands:

30:24. And no man shall hearken to you in this matter. But equal shall
be the portion of him that went down to battle, and of him that abode at
the baggage, and they shall divide alike.

30:25. And this hath been done from that day forward, and since was made
a statute and an ordinance, and as a law in Israel.

30:26. Then David came to Siceleg, and sent presents of the prey to the
ancients of Juda, his neighbours, saying: Receive a blessing of the prey
of the enemies of the Lord.

30:27. To them that were in Bethel, and that were in Ramoth to the
south, and to them that were in Jether.

30:28. And to them that were in Aroer, and that were in Sephamoth, and
that were in Esthamo,

30:29. And that were in Rachal, and that were in the cities of Jerameel,
and that were in the cities of Ceni,

30:30. And that were in Arama, and that were in the lake Asan, and that
were in Athach,

30:31. And that were in Hebron, and to the rest that were in those
places, in which David had abode with his men.

1 Kings Chapter 31

Israel is defeated by the Philistines: Saul and his sons are slain.

31:1. And the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel
fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gelboe.

31:2. And the Philistines fell upon Saul, and upon his sons, and they
slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchisua, the sons of Saul.

31:3. And the whole weight of the battle was turned upon Saul: and the
archers overtook him, and he was grievously wounded by the archers.

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