Jonathan Intercedes for David

19 Saul spoke with his son Jonathan and with all his servants about killing David. But Saul’s son Jonathan took great delight in David.^{(A) 2} Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying to kill you; therefore be on guard tomorrow morning; stay in a secret place and hide yourself. ³ I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you; if I learn anything I will tell you.”^{(B) 4} Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you and because his deeds have been of good service to you,^{(C) 5} for he took his life in his hand when he attacked the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced; why then will you sin against an innocent person by killing David without cause?”^{(D) 6} Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan; Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” ⁷ So Jonathan called David and related all these things to him. Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.^(E)

Michal Helps David Escape from Saul

⁸ Again there was war, and David went out to fight the Philistines. He launched a heavy attack on them, so that they fled before him. ⁹ Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing music.^{(F) 10} Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night.^(G)

¹¹ Saul sent messengers to David’s house to keep watch over him, planning to kill him in the morning. David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ¹² So Michal let David down through the window; he fled away and escaped.^{(H) 13} Michal took an idol^[a] and laid it on the bed; she put a net^[b] of goats’ hair on its head and covered it with the clothes. ¹⁴ When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”^{(I) 15} Then Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” ¹⁶ When the messengers came in, the idol^[c] was in the bed, with the covering^[d] of goats’ hair on its head. ¹⁷ Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go; why should I kill you?’ ”

David Joins Samuel in Ramah

¹⁸ Now David fled and escaped; he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and settled at Naioth.^{(J) 19} Saul was told, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” ²⁰ Then Saul sent messengers to take David. When they saw the company of the prophets in a frenzy, with Samuel standing in charge of^[e] them, the spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also fell into a prophetic frenzy.^{(K) 21} When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they also fell into a frenzy. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also fell into a frenzy. ²² Then he himself went to Ramah. He came to the great well that is in Secu; he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “They are at Naioth in Ramah.” ²³ He went there, toward Naioth in Ramah, and the spirit of God came upon him. As he was going, he fell into a prophetic frenzy, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.^{(L) 24} He, too, stripped off his clothes, and he, too, fell into a frenzy before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all that night. Therefore it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Do Not Judge Another

14 Welcome those who are weak in faith^[a] but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions.^{(A) 2} Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.^{(B) 3} Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat, for God has welcomed them. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on slaves of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord^[b] is able to make them stand.

⁵ Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶ Those who observe the day, observe it for the Lord. Also those who eat, eat for the Lord, since they give thanks to God, while those who abstain, abstain for the Lord and give thanks to God.^(C)

⁷ For we do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.^{(D) 8} If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.^(E)

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.^{[c](F) 11} For it is written,

¹² So then, each one of us will be held accountable.^[e](H)

Do Not Make Another Stumble

¹³ Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother or sister.^{(I) 14} I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who considers it unclean.^{(J) 15} If your brother or sister is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ So do not let your good be slandered. ¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.^{(K) 18} The one who serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and has human approval.^{(L) 19} Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.^{(M) 20} Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong to make someone stumble by what you eat; ²¹ it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble.^{[f](N) 22} Hold the conviction that you have as your own before God. Blessed are those who do not condemn themselves because of what they approve. ²³ But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat because they do not act from faith,^[g] for whatever does not proceed from faith^[h] is sin.^[i]

The Friendship of David and Jonathan

20 David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came before Jonathan and said, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin against your father that he is trying to take my life?”^{(A) 2} He said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. My father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me, and why should my father hide this from me? Never!” ³ But David also swore, “Your father knows well that you like me, and he thinks, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, or he will be grieved.’ But truly, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.” ⁴ Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.” ⁵ David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at the meal, but let me go, so that I may hide in the field until the third evening.^{(B) 6} If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’^{(C) 7} If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that evil has been determined by him. ⁸ Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a sacred covenant^[a] with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?”^{(D) 9} Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was decided by my father that evil should come upon you, would I not tell you?” ¹⁰ Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?” ¹¹ Jonathan replied to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field.

¹² Jonathan said to David, “By the Lord, the God of Israel! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow or on the third day, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? ¹³ But if my father intends to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan and more also, if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, so that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father.^{(E) 14} If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the Lord, but if I die,^{[b] 15} never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”^{(F) 16} Thus Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord seek out the enemies of David.” ¹⁷ Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own life.^(G)

Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son at Nain

¹¹ Soon afterward^[a] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.^{(A) 12} As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow, and with her was a large crowd from the town. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, he was moved with compassion for her and said to her, “Do not cry.”^{(B) 14} Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stopped. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”^{(C) 15} The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^[b] gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear seized all of them, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”^{(D) 17} This word about him spread throughout the whole of Judea and all the surrounding region.

Messengers from John the Baptist

¹⁸ The disciples of John reported all these things to him. So John summoned two of his disciples ¹⁹ and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?” ²⁰ When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?’ ” ²¹ Jesus^[c] had just then cured many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits and had given sight to many who were blind.^{(E) 22} And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight; the lame walk; those with a skin disease are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are raised; the poor have good news brought to them.^{(F) 23} And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

²⁴ When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus^[d] began to speak to the crowds about John:^[e] “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ What, then, did you go out to see? Someone^[f] dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. ²⁶ What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is the one about whom it is written,

²⁸ “I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John, yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹ (And all the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God,^[g] having been baptized with John’s baptism.^{(G) 30} But the Pharisees and the experts in the law, not having been baptized by him, rejected God’s purpose for themselves.)^(H)

³¹ “To what, then, will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

³³ “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’;^{(I) 34} the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’^{(J) 35} Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”