Saul Slaughters the Priests at Nob

⁶ Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gib′e-ah, under the tamarisk tree on the height, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. ⁷ And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, you Benjaminites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, ⁸ that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a league with the son of Jesse, none of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.” ⁹ Then answered Do′eg the E′domite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahim′elech the son of Ahi′tub, ¹⁰ and he inquired of the Lord for him, and gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

¹¹ Then the king sent to summon Ahim′elech the priest, the son of Ahi′tub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were at Nob; and all of them came to the king. ¹² And Saul said, “Hear now, son of Ahi′tub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” ¹³ And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, so that he has risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” ¹⁴ Then Ahim′elech answered the king, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and captain over^[a] your bodyguard, and honored in your house? ¹⁵ Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father; for your servant has known nothing of all this, much or little.” ¹⁶ And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahim′elech, you and all your father’s house.” ¹⁷ And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord; because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord. ¹⁸ Then the king said to Do′eg, “You turn and fall upon the priests.” And Do′eg the E′domite turned and fell upon the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. ¹⁹ And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both men and women, children and sucklings, oxen, asses and sheep, he put to the sword.

²⁰ But one of the sons of Ahim′elech the son of Ahi′tub, named Abi′athar, escaped and fled after David. ²¹ And Abi′athar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. ²² And David said to Abi′athar, “I knew on that day, when Do′eg the E′domite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house. ²³ Stay with me, fear not; for he that seeks my life seeks your life; with me you shall be in safekeeping.”

Paul’s Reason for Writing So Boldly

¹⁴ I myself am satisfied about you, my brethren, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. ¹⁵ But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God ¹⁶ to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. ¹⁸ For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has wrought through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, ¹⁹ by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyr′icum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ, ²⁰ thus making it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on another man’s foundation, ²¹ but as it is written,

Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome

²² This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. ²³ But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, ²⁴ I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be sped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little. ²⁵ At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem with aid for the saints. ²⁶ For Macedo′nia and Acha′ia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem; ²⁷ they were pleased to do it, and indeed they are in debt to them, for if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. ²⁸ When therefore I have completed this, and have delivered to them what has been raised,^[a] I shall go on by way of you to Spain; ²⁹ and I know that when I come to you I shall come in the fulness of the blessing^[b] of Christ.

³⁰ I appeal to you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, ³¹ that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, ³² so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. ³³ The God of peace be with you all. Amen.

David Saves the City of Keilah

23 Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Kei′lah, and are robbing the threshing floors.” ² Therefore David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Kei′lah.” ³ But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Kei′lah against the armies of the Philistines?” ⁴ Then David inquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, “Arise, go down to Kei′lah; for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” ⁵ And David and his men went to Kei′lah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and made a great slaughter among them. So David delivered the inhabitants of Kei′lah.

⁶ When Abi′athar the son of Ahim′elech fled to David to Kei′lah, he came down with an ephod in his hand. ⁷ Now it was told Saul that David had come to Kei′lah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand; for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” ⁸ And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Kei′lah, to besiege David and his men. ⁹ David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; and he said to Abi′athar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰ Then said David, “O Lord, the God of Israel, thy servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Kei′lah, to destroy the city on my account. ¹¹ Will the men of Kei′lah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as thy servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” ¹² Then said David, “Will the men of Kei′lah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will surrender you.” ¹³ Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Kei′lah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Kei′lah, he gave up the expedition. ¹⁴ And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

David Eludes Saul in the Wilderness

¹⁵ And David was afraid because^[a] Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the Wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. ¹⁶ And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose, and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. ¹⁷ And he said to him, “Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you; Saul my father also knows this.” ¹⁸ And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord; David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

¹⁹ Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gib′e-ah, saying, “Does not David hide among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachi′lah, which is south of Jeshi′mon? ²⁰ Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down; and our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” ²¹ And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the Lord; for you have had compassion on me. ²² Go, make yet more sure; know and see the place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there; for it is told me that he is very cunning. ²³ See therefore, and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you; and if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” ²⁴ And they arose, and went to Ziph ahead of Saul.

Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Ma′on, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshi′mon. ²⁵ And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told; therefore he went down to the rock which is^[b] in the wilderness of Ma′on. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Ma′on. ²⁶ Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain; and David was making haste to get away from Saul, as Saul and his men were closing in upon David and his men to capture them, ²⁷ when a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Make haste and come; for the Philistines have made a raid upon the land.” ²⁸ So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines; therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. ^29 [c] And David went up from there, and dwelt in the strongholds of En-ge′di.

Some Women Accompany Jesus

8 Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, ² and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Mag′dalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, ³ and Jo-an′na, the wife of Chu′za, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them^[a] out of their means.

The Parable of the Sower

⁴ And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: ⁵ “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. ⁸ And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

⁹ And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, ¹⁰ he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. ¹¹ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. ¹² The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. ¹⁴ And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵ And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.

A Lamp under a Jar

¹⁶ “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, that those who enter may see the light. ¹⁷ For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light. ¹⁸ Take heed then how you hear; for to him who has will more be given, and from him who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

The True Kindred of Jesus

¹⁹ Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him for the crowd. ²⁰ And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” ²¹ But he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”