The Philistines Mistrust David

29 Now ^(A)the Philistines gathered together all their armies to ^(B)Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in ^(C)Jezreel. ² And the governors of the Philistines were proceeding on, leading hundreds and thousands, and ^(D)David and his men were proceeding in the back with Achish. ³ Then the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, ^(E)who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and ^(F)I have found nothing at all suspicious in him since the day he ^[a]deserted to me to this day?” ⁴ But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Make the man go back, so that he will return ^(G)to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, ^(H)or in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For how could this man find favor with his lord? Would it not be with the heads of ^[b]these men? ⁵ Is this not David, ^(I)of whom they sing in the dances, saying,

⁶ Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have indeed been honest, and ^(J)your ^[c]going out and your coming in with me in the army are pleasing in my sight; ^(K)for I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the governors. ⁷ Now then, return and go in peace, so that you will not do anything wrong in the sight of the governors of the Philistines.” ⁸ However, David said to Achish, “^(L)But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant since the day that I came before you, to this day, that I cannot go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” ⁹ But Achish replied to David, “I know that you are pleasing in my sight, ^(M)like an angel of God; nevertheless ^(N)the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us into the battle.’ ¹⁰ Now then, rise early in the morning ^(O)with the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have risen early in the morning and have light, leave.” ¹¹ So David got up early, he and his men, to leave in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David’s Victory over the Amalekites

30 Then it happened, when David and his men came to ^(P)Ziklag on the third day, that ^(Q)the Amalekites had carried out an attack on the ^[d]Negev and on ^(R)Ziklag, and had ^[e]overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; ² and they took captive the women and all who were in it, from the small to the great, ^[f](S)without killing anyone, and drove them off and went their way. ³ When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. ⁴ Then David and the people who were with him ^(T)raised their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. ⁵ Now ^(U)David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the ^[g]widow of Nabal the Carmelite. ⁶ Also, David was in great distress because ^(V)the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were ^[h]embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But ^(W)David felt strengthened in the Lord his God.

⁷ Then ^(X)David said to ^(Y)Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. ⁸ And ^(Z)David inquired of the Lord, saying, “^(AA)Shall I pursue this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them, ^(AB)and you will certainly rescue everyone.” ⁹ So David left, ^(AC)he and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where some who were left behind stayed. ¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for ^(AD)two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor stayed behind.

¹¹ Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink. ¹² They also gave him a slice of fig cake and two cakes of raisins, and he ate; ^(AE)then his spirit ^[i]revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. ¹³ Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master abandoned me when I became sick three days ago. ¹⁴ We carried out an attack on ^(AF)the ^[j]Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on ^(AG)the ^[k]Negev of Caleb, and ^(AH)we burned Ziklag with fire.” ¹⁵ Then David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this band of raiders?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will bring you down to this band.”

¹⁶ Now when he had brought him down, behold, they were dispersed over all the land, ^(AI)eating and drinking and celebrating because of ^(AJ)all the great plunder that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. ¹⁷ And David ^[l]slaughtered them ^(AK)from the twilight ^[m]until the evening of ^[n]the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on ^(AL)camels and fled. ¹⁸ So David ^(AM)recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and ^[o]rescued his two wives. ¹⁹ And nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, plunder, or anything that they had taken for themselves; ^(AN)David brought it all back. ²⁰ So David had ^[p]captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of ^[q]the other livestock, and they said, “^(AO)This is David’s plunder.”

The Plunder Is Divided

²¹ When ^(AP)David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David and ^[r]had been left behind at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them. ²² Then all the wicked and ^[s]worthless men among those who went with David said, “Since they did not go with ^[t]us, we will not give them any of the spoils that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, so that they may lead them away and leave.” ²³ But David said, “You must not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us, for He has protected us and handed over to us the band of raiders that came against us. ²⁴ And who will listen to you in this matter? For ^(AQ)as is the share of the one who goes down into the battle, so shall be the share of the one who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.” ²⁵ So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

²⁶ Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoils to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Behold, ^(AR)a ^[u]gift for you from the spoils of ^(AS)the enemies of the Lord: ²⁷ to those who were in ^(AT)Bethel, to those who were in ^(AU)Ramoth of the ^[v]Negev, to those who were in ^(AV)Jattir, ²⁸ to those who were in ^(AW)Aroer, to those who were in Siphmoth, to those who were in ^(AX)Eshtemoa, ²⁹ to those who were in Racal, to those who were in the cities of ^(AY)the Jerahmeelites, to those who were in the cities of ^(AZ)the Kenites, ³⁰ to those who were in ^(BA)Hormah, to those who were in ^(BB)Bor-ashan, to those who were in Athach, ³¹ to those who were in ^(BC)Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men ^(BD)walked.”

Saul and His Sons Killed in Battle

31 ^(BE)Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines but fell fatally wounded ^(BF)on Mount Gilboa. ² And the Philistines also overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines ^[w]killed ^(BG)Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ^3 (BH)The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers found him; and he was gravely wounded by the archers. ^4 (BI)Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise ^(BJ)these uncircumcised Philistines will come and pierce me through, and abuse me.” But his armor bearer was unwilling, because he was very fearful. ^(BK)So Saul took ^[x]his sword and fell on it. ⁵ When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. ⁶ So Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.

⁷ Now when the people of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and settled in them.

⁸ It came about on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip those killed, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them ^[y]throughout the land of the Philistines, ^(BL)to bring the good news ^(BM)to the house of their idols and to the people. ¹⁰ They put his weapons in the ^[z]temple of ^(BN)Ashtaroth, and ^(BO)they nailed his body to the wall of ^(BP)Beth-shan. ¹¹ Now when ^(BQ)the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard ^[aa]what the Philistines had done to Saul, ^12 (BR)all the valiant men got up and walked all night, and they took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and ^(BS)burned them there. ¹³ And they took their bones and ^(BT)buried them under ^(BU)the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and ^(BV)fasted for seven days.

Evil Rulers to Be Judged

11 Now the ^(A)Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s house which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and ^(B)Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. ² Then He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise wrongdoing and ^(C)give evil advice in this city, ³ who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. ^[a]This ^(D)city is the pot and we are the meat.’ ⁴ Therefore, ^(E)prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man!”

⁵ Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘This is what the Lord says: “This is how you think, house of Israel, for ^(F)I know ^[b]your ^(G)thoughts. ⁶ You have ^(H)multiplied your slain in this city, and filled its streets with ^[c]them.” ⁷ Therefore, this is what the Lord ^[d]God says: “Your ^(I)slain whom you have laid in the midst of ^[e]the city are the meat and this city is the pot; but ^[f]I will ^(J)bring you out of it. ⁸ You have ^(K)feared a sword; so I will ^(L)bring a sword upon you,” the Lord God declares. ⁹ “And I will bring you out of the midst of ^[g]the city, and hand you over to ^(M)strangers, and ^(N)execute judgments against you. ¹⁰ You will ^(O)fall by the sword. I will judge you to the ^(P)border of Israel; so you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹¹ This city will ^(Q)not be a pot for you, nor will you be meat in the midst of it; I will judge you to the border of Israel. ¹² So you will know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes, nor have you ^(R)executed My ordinances, but you have acted in accordance with the ordinances of the ^(S)nations around you.”’”

¹³ Now it came about, as I prophesied, that ^(T)Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice, and said, “^(U)Oh, Lord God! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete destruction?”

Promise of Restoration

¹⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁵ “Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, ^[h]your fellow exiles, and the entire house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Keep far from the Lord; this land has been given ^(V)to us as a possession.’ ¹⁶ Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Though I had removed them far away among the nations, and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a ^(W)sanctuary for them for a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ ¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “I will ^(X)gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ ¹⁸ When they come there, they will ^(Y)remove all its ^(Z)detestable things and all its abominations from it. ¹⁹ And I will ^(AA)give them one heart, and put a new spirit within ^[i]them. And I will remove the ^(AB)heart of stone from their flesh and give them a ^(AC)heart of flesh, ²⁰ so that they may ^(AD)walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be ^(AE)My people, and I shall be their God. ^21 [j]But as for those whose hearts go after their ^(AF)detestable things and abominations, I will ^[k](AG)bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God.

²² Then the cherubim ^(AH)lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and ^(AI)the glory of the God of Israel ^[l]hovered over them. ²³ The ^(AJ)glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and ^(AK)stood over the mountain which is east of the city. ²⁴ And the ^(AL)Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to ^[m]Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen ^[n](AM)left me. ²⁵ And I ^(AN)told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.

Faith Brings Righteousness

3 ^[a]You foolish ^(A)Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ ^(B)was publicly portrayed as crucified? ² This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by works of ^[b]the Law, or by ^(C)hearing ^[c]with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun ^[d]by the Spirit, are you now ^[e]being perfected by the flesh? ⁴ Did you ^[f]suffer so many things in vain—^(D)if indeed it was in vain? ⁵ So then, does He who ^(E)provides you with the Spirit and ^(F)works ^[g]miracles among you, do it by works of ^[h]the Law, or by ^(G)hearing ^[i]with faith?

⁶ Just as ^(H)Abraham ^(I)believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. ⁷ Therefore, recognize that ^(J)it is those who are of faith who are ^(K)sons of Abraham. ⁸ The Scripture, foreseeing that God ^[j]would justify the ^[k]Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “^(L)All the nations will be blessed in you.” ⁹ So then, ^(M)those who are of faith are blessed with ^[l]Abraham, the believer.

¹⁰ For all who are of works of ^[m]the Law are under a curse; for it is written: “^(N)Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law, to do them.” ¹¹ Now, that ^(O)no one is justified ^[n]by ^[o]the Law before God is evident; for, “^[p](P)the righteous one will live by faith.” ^12 [q]However, the Law is not ^[r]of faith; on the contrary, “^(Q)The person who performs ^[s]them will live by ^[t]them.” ¹³ Christ ^(R)redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: “^(S)Cursed is everyone who hangs on ^(T)a ^[u]tree”— ¹⁴ in order that ^(U)in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we ^(V)would receive ^(W)the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Intent of the Law

^15 (X)Brothers and sisters, ^(Y)I speak ^[v]in terms of human relations: ^(Z)even though it is only a man’s ^[w]covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds ^[x]conditions to it. ¹⁶ Now the promises were spoken ^(AA)to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as one would in referring to many, but rather as in referring to one, “^(AB)And to your seed,” that is, Christ. ¹⁷ What I am saying is this: the Law, which came ^(AC)430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. ¹⁸ For ^(AD)if the inheritance is ^[y]based on law, it is no longer ^[z]based on a promise; but ^(AE)God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

^19 (AF)Why the Law then? It was added on account of the ^[aa]violations, having been ^(AG)ordered through angels ^(AH)at the hand of a ^[ab]mediator, until ^(AI)the Seed would come to whom the promise had been made. ²⁰ Now ^(AJ)a mediator is not ^[ac]for one party only; but God is only one. ²¹ Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? ^[ad](AK)Far from it! For ^(AL)if a law had been given that was able to impart life, then righteousness ^[ae]would indeed have been ^[af]based on law. ²² But the Scripture has ^(AM)confined ^[ag]everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

²³ But before faith came, ^[ah]we were kept in custody under the Law, ^(AN)being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed. ²⁴ Therefore the Law has become our ^[ai](AO)guardian to lead us to Christ, so that ^(AP)we may be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a ^[aj](AQ)guardian. ²⁶ For you are all ^(AR)sons and daughters of God through faith in ^(AS)Christ Jesus. ²⁷ For all of you who were ^(AT)baptized into Christ have ^(AU)clothed yourselves with Christ. ^28 (AV)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is ^[ak]neither male nor female; for ^(AW)you are all one in ^(AX)Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if ^(AY)you ^[al]belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s ^[am]descendants, heirs according to ^(AZ)promise.

The Purifier

3 “^(A)Behold, I am sending ^(B)My ^[a]messenger, and he will ^(C)clear a way before Me. And the Lord, whom you are seeking, will suddenly come to His temple; ^[b]and the ^[c](D)messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of armies. ² “But who can ^(E)endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a ^(F)refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap. ³ And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will ^(G)purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may ^(H)present to the Lord ^[d]offerings in righteousness. ⁴ Then the ^[e]offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be ^(I)pleasing to the Lord as in the ^(J)days of old, and as in former years.

⁵ “Then I will come near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the ^(K)sorcerers, the ^(L)adulterers, against those who ^(M)swear falsely, those who ^[f]oppress the ^(N)wage earner in his wages or the ^(O)widow or the ^[g]orphan, and those who turn away the ^(P)stranger from justice and do not ^[h]fear Me,” says the Lord of armies. ⁶ “For ^[i]I, the Lord, ^(Q)do not change; therefore you, the sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.

⁷ “From the ^(R)days of your fathers you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. ^(S)Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

You Have Robbed God

⁸ “Would anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In ^(T)tithes and ^[j]offerings. ⁹ You are ^(U)cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the entire nation of you! ^10 (V)Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the Lord of armies, “if I do not ^(W)open for you the windows of heaven and ^(X)pour out for you a blessing until ^[k](Y)it overflows. ¹¹ Then I will rebuke the ^(Z)devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruit of your ground; nor will the vine in the field prove fruitless to you,” says the Lord of armies. ¹² “^(AA)All the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a ^(AB)delightful land,” says the Lord of armies.

¹³ “Your words have been ^[l]arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ ¹⁴ You have said, ‘It is ^(AC)pointless to serve God; and what ^(AD)benefit is it for us that we have done what He required, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of armies? ¹⁵ So now we ^(AE)call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also put God to the test and ^(AF)escape punishment.’”

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶ Then those who ^[m]feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord ^(AG)listened attentively and heard it, and a ^(AH)book of remembrance was written before Him for those who ^[n]fear the Lord and esteem His name. ¹⁷ “And they will be ^(AI)Mine,” says the Lord of armies, “on the ^(AJ)day that I ^[o]prepare My ^(AK)own possession, and I will have compassion for them just as a man ^(AL)has compassion for his own son who serves him.” ¹⁸ So you will again ^(AM)distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.