David Spares Saul’s Life

24 ^[a]After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.^(A)” ² So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look^(B) for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

³ He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave^(C) was there, and Saul went in to relieve^(D) himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. ⁴ The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke^(E) of when he said^[b] to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’”^(F) Then David crept up unnoticed and cut^(G) off a corner of Saul’s robe.

⁵ Afterward, David was conscience-stricken^(H) 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,^(I) 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.

⁸ Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.^{(J) 9} He said to Saul, “Why do you listen^(K) when men say, ‘David is bent on harming^(L) you’? ¹⁰ This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared^(M) you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ ¹¹ See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut^(N) off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty^(O) of wrongdoing^(P) or rebellion. I have not wronged^(Q) you, but you are hunting^(R) me down to take my life.^{(S) 12} May the Lord judge^(T) between you and me. And may the Lord avenge^(U) the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. ¹³ As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,^(V)’ so my hand will not touch you.

¹⁴ “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog?^(W) A flea?^{(X) 15} May the Lord be our judge^(Y) and decide^(Z) between us. May he consider my cause and uphold^(AA) it; may he vindicate^(AB) me by delivering^(AC) me from your hand.”

¹⁶ When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice,^(AD) David my son?” And he wept aloud. ¹⁷ “You are more righteous than I,”^(AE) he said. “You have treated me well,^(AF) but I have treated you badly.^{(AG) 18} You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered^(AH) me into your hands, but you did not kill me. ¹⁹ When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward^(AI) you well for the way you treated me today. ²⁰ I know that you will surely be king^(AJ) and that the kingdom^(AK) of Israel will be established in your hands. ²¹ Now swear^(AL) to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.^(AM)”

²² So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.^(AN)

Personal Greetings

16 I commend^(A) to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon^[a][b] of the church in Cenchreae.^{(B) 2} I ask you to receive her in the Lord^(C) in a way worthy of his people^(D) and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.

¹⁷ I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.^(X) Keep away from them.^{(Y) 18} For such people are not serving our Lord Christ,^(Z) but their own appetites.^(AA) By smooth talk and flattery they deceive^(AB) the minds of naive people. ¹⁹ Everyone has heard^(AC) about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.^(AD)

²⁰ The God of peace^(AE) will soon crush^(AF) Satan^(AG) under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.^(AH)

²¹ Timothy,^(AI) my co-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius,^(AJ) Jason^(AK) and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.^(AL)

²² I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

²³ Gaius,^(AM) whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.

Erastus,^(AN) who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings. ^[24] [e]

²⁵ Now to him who is able^(AO) to establish you in accordance with my gospel,^(AP) the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery^(AQ) hidden for long ages past, ²⁶ but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings^(AR) by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from^[f] faith^(AS)— ²⁷ to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.^(AT)

² A certain man in Maon,^(A) who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy.^(B) He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing^(C) in Carmel. ³ His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail.^(D) She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite.^(E)

⁴ While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. ⁵ So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. ⁶ Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health^(F) to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!^(G)

⁷ “‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat^(H) them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. ⁸ Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever^(I) you can find for them.’”

⁹ When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David’s name. Then they waited.

¹⁰ Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who^(J) is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. ¹¹ Why should I take my bread^(K) and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”

¹² David’s men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. ¹³ David said to his men^(L), “Each of you strap on your sword!” So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went^(M) up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.^(N)

¹⁴ One of the servants told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, “David sent messengers from the wilderness to give our master his greetings,^(O) but he hurled insults at them. ¹⁵ Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat^(P) us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing.^{(Q) 16} Night and day they were a wall^(R) around us the whole time we were herding our sheep near them. ¹⁷ Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked^(S) man that no one can talk to him.”

¹⁸ Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs^[a] of roasted grain,^(T) a hundred cakes of raisins^(U) and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.^{(V) 19} Then she told her servants, “Go on ahead;^(W) I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell^(X) her husband Nabal.

²⁰ As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. ²¹ David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing.^(Y) He has paid^(Z) me back evil^(AA) for good. ²² May God deal with David,^[b] be it ever so severely,^(AB) if by morning I leave alive one male^(AC) of all who belong to him!”

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground.^{(AD) 24} She fell at his feet and said: “Pardon your servant, my lord,^(AE) and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. ²⁵ Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool^(AF),^(AG) and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. ²⁶ And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed^(AH) and from avenging^(AI) yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal.^{(AJ) 27} And let this gift,^(AK) which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you.

²⁸ “Please forgive^(AL) your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting^(AM) dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles,^(AN) and no wrongdoing^(AO) will be found in you as long as you live. ²⁹ Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life,^(AP) the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl^(AQ) away as from the pocket of a sling.^{(AR) 30} When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler^(AS) over Israel, ³¹ my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember^(AT) your servant.”^(AU)

³² David said to Abigail, “Praise^(AV) be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. ³³ May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed^(AW) this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. ³⁴ Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal^(AX) would have been left alive by daybreak.”

³⁵ Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted^(AY) your request.”

³⁶ When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high^(AZ) spirits and very drunk.^(BA) So she told^(BB) him nothing at all until daybreak. ³⁷ Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.^{(BC) 38} About ten days later, the Lord struck^(BD) Nabal and he died.

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.”

Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. ⁴⁰ His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife.”

⁴¹ She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” ⁴² Abigail^(BE) quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five female servants, went with David’s messengers and became his wife.

Jesus Calms the Storm^(A)(B)

²² One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. ²³ As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

²⁴ The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master,^(C) we’re going to drown!”

He got up and rebuked^(D) the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.^{(E) 25} “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man^(F)(G)

²⁶ They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes,^[a] which is across the lake from Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me,^(H) Jesus, Son of the Most High God?^(I) I beg you, don’t torture me!” ²⁹ For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

³⁰ Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. ³¹ And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.^(J)

³² A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. ³³ When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake^(K) and was drowned.

³⁴ When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, ³⁵ and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet,^(L) dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ³⁶ Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed^(M) man had been cured. ³⁷ Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them,^(N) because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman^(O)

⁴⁰ Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. ⁴¹ Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader,^(P) came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house ⁴² because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. ⁴³ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding^(Q) for twelve years,^[b] but no one could heal her. ⁴⁴ She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak,^(R) and immediately her bleeding stopped.

⁴⁵ “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master,^(S) the people are crowding and pressing against you.”

⁴⁶ But Jesus said, “Someone touched me;^(T) I know that power has gone out from me.”^(U)

⁴⁷ Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. ⁴⁸ Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.^(V) Go in peace.”^(W)

⁴⁹ While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader.^(X) “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”

⁵⁰ Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

⁵¹ When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James,^(Y) and the child’s father and mother. ⁵² Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning^(Z) for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”^(AA)

⁵³ They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. ⁵⁴ But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!”^{(AB) 55} Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. ⁵⁶ Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.^(AC)