15 (A)A soft answer turns away wrath,
    but (B)a harsh word stirs up anger.

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15 With (A)patience a ruler may be persuaded,
    and a soft tongue will break a bone.

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12 Hatred stirs up strife,
    but (A)love covers all offenses.

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18 (A)A hot-tempered man (B)stirs up strife,
    but he who is (C)slow to anger quiets contention.

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22 (A)A man of wrath stirs up strife,
    and one given to anger causes much transgression.

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25 A greedy man (A)stirs up strife,
    but the one who trusts in the Lord will (B)be enriched.

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13 And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, 14 he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, (A)“My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for (B)it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which (C)the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The Kingdom Divided

16 And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. (D)To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents.

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Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna

(A)Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not (B)the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? (C)God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” (D)Then their anger[a] against him subsided when he said this.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 8:3 Hebrew their spirit

10 And Nabal answered David's servants, (A)“Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? (B)There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 11 Shall I take (C)my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to (D)men who come from I do not know where?” 12 So David's young men turned away and came back and told him all this. 13 And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And (E)about four hundred men went up after David, (F)while two hundred (G)remained with the baggage.

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And when I saw that you would not save me, (A)I took my life in my hand and crossed over against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?” Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, (B)“You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and Manasseh.” And the Gileadites captured (C)the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” When he said, “No,” they said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at (D)the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell.

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21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, (A)so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has (B)returned me evil for good. 22 (C)God do so to the enemies of David[a] and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”

23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried (D)and got down from the donkey (E)and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, (F)“On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25 Let not my lord regard (G)this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal[b] is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26 Now then, my lord, (H)as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because (I)the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from (J)saving with your own hand, now then (K)let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now let this (L)present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord (M)a sure house, because my lord (N)is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies (O)he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince[c] over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord (P)working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

32 And David said to Abigail, (Q)“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, (R)who have kept me this day from bloodguilt (S)and from working salvation with my own hand!

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 25:22 Septuagint to David
  2. 1 Samuel 25:25 Nabal means fool
  3. 1 Samuel 25:30 Or leader

43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, “We have (A)ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” (B)But the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

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