Samuel’s Death

25 ^(A)Then Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and ^(B)mourned for him, and they ^(C)buried him at his house in Ramah. And David set out and went down to the ^(D)wilderness of Paran.

Nabal and Abigail

² Now there was a man in ^(E)Maon whose business was in ^(F)Carmel; and the man was very ^[a]rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while ^(G)he was shearing his sheep in Carmel ³ (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his ^(H)wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was ^[b]intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was ^(I)a Calebite), ⁴ that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. ⁵ So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel and ^[c]visit Nabal, and greet him in my name; ⁶ and this is what you shall say: ‘^[d]Have a long life, ^(J)peace to you, and peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! ⁷ Now then, I have heard ^(K)that you have shearers. Now, your shepherds have been with us; we have not harmed them, ^(L)nor has anything of theirs gone missing all the days they were in Carmel. ⁸ Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on ^(M)a ^[e]festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”

⁹ When David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal in accordance with all these words in David’s name; then they waited. ¹⁰ But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “^(N)Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master. ¹¹ Shall I then ^(O)take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men ^[f]whose origin I do not know?” ¹² So David’s young men made their way back and returned; and they came and informed him in accordance with all these words. ¹³ Then David said to his men, “Each of you strap on his sword.” So each man strapped on his sword. And David also strapped on his sword, and about ^(P)four hundred men went up behind David, while two hundred ^(Q)stayed with the baggage.

¹⁴ Now one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to ^[g](R)greet our master, and he spoke to them in anger. ¹⁵ Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not ^(S)harmed, nor did anything go missing ^[h]as long as we went with them, while we were in the fields. ^16 (T)They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep. ¹⁷ Now then, be aware and ^[i]consider what you should do, because harm is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a ^[j]worthless man that no one can speak to him.”

Abigail Intercedes

¹⁸ Then Abigail hurried and ^(U)took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine, and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain, and a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and she loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ Then she said to her young men, “^(V)Go on ahead of me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. ²⁰ And it happened as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; so she met them. ²¹ Now David had said, “It is certainly for nothing that I have guarded everything that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing has gone missing of all that belonged to him! For he has ^(W)returned me evil for good. ^22 (X)May God do so to the enemies of David, and more so, ^(Y)if by morning I leave alive as much as one ^[k]male of any who belong to him.”

²³ When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face in front of David ^(Z)and bowed herself to the ground. ²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, “On me ^[l]alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your slave speak ^[m]to you, and listen to the words of your slave. ²⁵ Please do not let my lord ^[n]pay attention to this ^[o]worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. ^[p]Nabal is his name, and stupidity is with him; but I your slave did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

²⁶ “Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, since the Lord has restrained you from ^[q]shedding blood, and ^(AA)from ^[r]avenging yourself by your own hand, now then, ^(AB)may your enemies and those who seek evil against my lord, be like Nabal. ²⁷ And now let ^(AC)this ^[s]gift which your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who ^[t]accompany my lord. ²⁸ Please forgive ^(AD)the offense of your slave; for ^(AE)the Lord will certainly make for my lord an ^[u]enduring house, because my lord is ^(AF)fighting the battles of the Lord, and ^(AG)evil will not be found in you all your days. ²⁹ Should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your ^[v]life, then the ^[w]life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; but the ^[x]lives of your enemies ^(AH)He will sling out ^[y]as from the hollow of a sling. ³⁰ And when the Lord does for my lord in accordance with all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and ^(AI)appoints you ruler over Israel, ³¹ this will not become an obstacle to you, or a ^[z]troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord’s having ^[aa]avenged himself. ^(AJ)When the Lord deals well with my lord, then remember your slave.”

³² Then David said to Abigail, “^(AK)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, ³³ and blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, ^(AL)who have kept me this day from ^[ab]bloodshed and from ^[ac]avenging myself by my own hand. ³⁴ Nevertheless, as the Lord God of Israel lives, ^(AM)who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, there certainly would not have been left to Nabal until the morning light as much as one ^[ad]male.” ³⁵ So David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “^(AN)Go up to your house in peace. See, I have listened to ^[ae]you and ^[af](AO)granted your request.”

³⁶ Then Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was having ^(AP)a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was cheerful within him, ^(AQ)for he was very drunk; so ^(AR)she did not tell him anything ^[ag]at all until the morning light. ³⁷ But in the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him so that he became like a stone. ³⁸ About ten days later, ^(AS)the Lord struck Nabal and he died.

David Marries Abigail

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has ^(AT)pleaded the cause of the shame inflicted on me by the hand of Nabal, and ^(AU)has kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent ^[ah](AV)a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife. ⁴⁰ When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” ⁴¹ And she got up ^(AW)and bowed with her face to the ground, and said, “Behold, your slave is a servant ^(AX)to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” ⁴² Then ^(AY)Abigail got up quickly, and rode on a donkey, with her five female attendants who ^[ai]accompanied her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

⁴³ David had also taken Ahinoam of ^(AZ)Jezreel, and ^(BA)they both became his wives.

⁴⁴ But Saul had given his daughter ^(BB)Michal, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from ^(BC)Gallim.

Genealogy from Issachar

7 Now the sons of Issachar were four: Tola, ^[a]Puah, ^[b]Jashub, and Shimron. ² The sons of Tola were Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Samuel, heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Tola were valiant warriors in their generations. ^(A)Their number in the days of David was 22,600. ³ The ^[c]son of Uzzi was Izrahiah. And the sons of Izrahiah were Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah; all five of them were ^(B)chief men. ⁴ And with them by their generations according to their fathers’ households were thirty-six thousand ^[d]troops of the army for war; for they had many wives and sons. ⁵ Their relatives among all the families of Issachar were valiant warriors, registered by genealogy, eighty-seven thousand in all.

Descendants of Benjamin

^6 (C)Benjamin had three sons: Bela, Becher, and Jediael. ⁷ The sons of Bela were five: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri. They were heads of fathers’ households, valiant warriors, 22,034 registered by genealogy. ⁸ The sons of Becher were Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher. ⁹ They were registered by genealogy according to their generations, heads of their fathers’ households, 20,200 valiant warriors. ¹⁰ The ^[e]son of Jediael was Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan were Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar. ¹¹ All these were sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers’ households, 17,200 valiant warriors who were ^[f]ready to go out with the army to war. ^12 [g]Shuppim and ^[h]Huppim were the sons of ^[i]Ir; Hushim was the ^[j]son of ^[k]Aher.

Sons of Naphtali

¹³ The sons of Naphtali were ^[l]Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and ^[m]Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.

Descendants of Manasseh

¹⁴ The sons of Manasseh were Asriel, to whom his Aramean concubine gave birth; she also gave birth to Machir, the father of Gilead. ¹⁵ Machir took a wife from Huppim and Shuppim, ^[n]whose name was Maacah. And the name of the second was Zelophehad, and Zelophehad had daughters. ¹⁶ Maacah the wife of Machir gave birth to a son, and she named him Peresh; the name of his brother was Sheresh, and his sons were Ulam and Rakem. ¹⁷ The ^[o]son of Ulam was Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh. ¹⁸ His sister Hammolecheth gave birth to Ishhod, ^[p]Abiezer, and Mahlah. ¹⁹ The sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.

Descendants of Ephraim

^20 (D)The sons of Ephraim were Shuthelah and ^[q]Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, ²¹ Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead, whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take their livestock. ²² Their father Ephraim ^(E)mourned for many days, and his relatives ^(F)came to comfort him. ²³ Then he went in to his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him ^[r]Beriah, because misfortune had come upon his house. ²⁴ His daughter was Sheerah, ^(G)who built lower and upper Beth-horon, as well as Uzzen-sheerah. ²⁵ Rephah was his son along with Resheph, Telah his son, Tahan his son, ²⁶ Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, ^27 [s]Non his son, and ^(H)Joshua his son.

^28 (I)Their possessions and dwelling places were Bethel with its towns, and to the east, ^[t]Naaran, and to the west, Gezer with its towns, and Shechem with its towns, as far as ^[u]Ayyah with its towns, ²⁹ and along the borders of the sons of Manasseh, Beth-shean with its towns, Taanach with its towns, Megiddo with its towns, and Dor with its towns. In these regions lived the ^(J)sons of Joseph the son of Israel.

Descendants of Asher

^30 (K)The sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah was their sister. ³¹ The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith. ³² Heber fathered Japhlet, ^[v]Shomer, and Hotham, and their sister Shua. ³³ The sons of Japhlet were Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These were the sons of Japhlet. ³⁴ The sons of ^[w]Shemer were Ahi and Rohgah, and Jehubbah and Aram. ³⁵ The ^[x]sons of his brother Helem were Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal. ³⁶ The sons of Zophah were Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah, ³⁷ Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera. ³⁸ The sons of Jether were Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara. ³⁹ The sons of Ulla were Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia. ⁴⁰ All these were the sons of Asher, heads of the fathers’ houses, choice, valiant mighty men, and heads of the leaders. And the number of them registered by genealogy for service in war was twenty-six thousand men.

Paul in Thessalonica

17 Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to ^(A)Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ² And ^(B)according to Paul’s custom, he ^[a]visited them, and for three ^(C)Sabbaths reasoned with them from ^(D)the Scriptures, ^3 [b]explaining and ^[c]giving evidence that the ^[d]Christ ^(E)had to suffer and ^(F)rise from the dead, and saying, “^(G)This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the ^[e]Christ.” ^4 (H)And some of them were persuaded and joined ^(I)Paul and Silas, ^[f]along with a large number of the ^(J)God-fearing ^(K)Greeks and ^[g]a significant number of the ^(L)leading women. ⁵ But ^(M)the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and they attacked the house of ^(N)Jason and were seeking to bring them out to the people. ⁶ When they did not find them, they began ^(O)dragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset ^[h](P)the world have come here also; ^7 [i]and Jason ^(Q)has welcomed them, and they all act ^(R)contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” ⁸ They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. ⁹ And when they had received a ^[j]pledge from ^(S)Jason and the others, they released them.

Paul in Berea

^10 (T)The brothers immediately sent ^(U)Paul and Silas away by night to ^(V)Berea, ^[k]and when they arrived, they went into ^(W)the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ Now these people were more noble-minded than those in ^(X)Thessalonica, ^[l]for they received the word with ^[m]great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. ¹² Therefore, ^(Y)many of them believed, ^[n]along with a significant number of ^(Z)prominent Greek ^(AA)women and men. ¹³ But when the Jews of ^(AB)Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in ^(AC)Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴ Then immediately ^(AD)the brothers sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and ^(AE)Silas and ^(AF)Timothy remained there. ¹⁵ Now ^(AG)those who escorted Paul brought him as far as ^(AH)Athens; and receiving a command for ^(AI)Silas and Timothy to ^(AJ)come to him as soon as possible, they left.

Paul in Athens

¹⁶ Now while Paul was waiting for them in ^(AK)Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he observed that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he was reasoning ^(AL)in the synagogue with the Jews and ^(AM)the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present. ¹⁸ And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers as well were ^[o]conversing with him. Some were saying, “What could ^(AN)this ^[p]scavenger of tidbits want to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching ^(AO)Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹ And they ^(AP)took him and brought him ^[q]to the ^[r](AQ)Areopagus, saying, “May we know what ^(AR)this new teaching is ^[s]which you are proclaiming? ²⁰ For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.” ²¹ (Now all the Athenians and the strangers ^(AS)visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

Sermon on Mars Hill

²² So Paul stood in the midst of the ^[t]Areopagus and said, “Men of ^(AT)Athens, I see that you are very ^(AU)religious in all respects. ²³ For while I was passing through and examining the ^(AV)objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what ^(AW)you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. ^24 (AX)The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is ^(AY)Lord of heaven and earth, does not ^(AZ)dwell in temples made by hands; ²⁵ nor is He served by human hands, ^(BA)as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; ²⁶ and ^(BB)He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having ^(BC)determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, ²⁷ that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, ^(BD)though He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸ for ^(BE)in Him we live and move and ^[u]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His descendants.’ ²⁹ Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we ^(BF)ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought. ³⁰ So having ^(BG)overlooked ^(BH)the times of ignorance, God is ^(BI)now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent, ³¹ because He has set ^(BJ)a day on which ^(BK)He will judge ^[v](BL)the world in righteousness ^[w]through a Man whom He has ^(BM)appointed, having furnished proof to all people ^[x]by ^(BN)raising Him from the dead.”

³² Now when they heard of ^(BO)the resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We shall hear from you ^[y]again concerning this.” ³³ So Paul went out from among them. ³⁴ But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the ^(BP)Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.