1 After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.”
2
So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.
3
He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave.
4
The men said, “This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said[a] to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’ ” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
5
Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe.
6
He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the LORD.”
7
With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.